Q&A with The Well Woman
Tonya is a Holistic Nutritionist, speaker and functional foods recipe developer currently based in Toronto.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do :)
A: Hi! I’m Tonya. I’m insatiably curious, passionate about wellbeing and longevity, using food as medicine, healing naturally, becoming more in touch with nature and our bodies, i’m a mushroom enthusiast, a woman, yogi, teacher and healing guide, holistic nutritionist, an artist, a CEO... I am many things! And I found a way to express this creative force through the work I do with The Well Woman and Rainbo. Ultimately I really love helping people heal and cultivate more self-love and awareness within themselves. We are all much nicer to ourselves, each other and the planet when this happens.
Q: Personally, as someone whose very interested in nutrition and natural eating, I find it hard at times to know what is “right” based on conflicting research. How do you navigate all this information to put plans together for your clients?
A: We eat for so many reasons; for survival, pleasure, for health and healing, based on our values and morals, eating is political and environmental, it’s emotional, it’s a way we celebrate, it brings us together but can also separate us. It’s a lot to navigate!
I approach food from a health, healing and environmental perspective. So the guidelines I follow are simple: eat mostly plants. This happens to be the most healing diet on the planet and one that has the lightest footprint on mother earth. We need to make some massive shifts as a collective over the next 11 years. Luckily these shifts can also positively impact our health.
It’s really about meeting people where they’re at and educating them. The clients I attract are often looking to go plant-based though. I try not to be too dogmatic but I do encourage people to move toward plant-based eating, lots of raw foods and educating them on the healing powers of eating this way. And the great thing is that it works! And clients feel amazing when they eat this way. And it’s not that some will never eat meat again, but its that it’s with much less frequency, they feel lighter, brighter, they discover how delicious plant-forward eating can be and when they choose animal products it’s with awareness and respect.
Q: With a Bachelor of Nutrition and Nutraceutical Sciences you have gone through all of the necessary education in order to fully understand the body’s process’. Since graduating, how do you keep up your knowledge and are there any resources that you recommend to others?
A: Books and reading! And lots of it. I love books tremendously and continue growing my physical collection. I’m always finding new authors and reading different experts and doctors and energy-based texts. I love to get a mix of both eastern and western thought and bring them together. It’s great to find a community of professionals in your industry to exchange articles, books, studies with because that always leads to deeper understanding and staying up to date.
Q: We live downtown Toronto, where people are very hard working, high stress, and are always on the go. Since the environment you live in directly affects your lifestyle, do you find a lot of commonality in your clients? For example, symptoms as a result of fast paced life?
A: Absolutely! 100%. Stress and a high-paced lifestyle are so often at the root of things. It’s very challenging for people to slow down and take time for themselves. We’re often just living at this baseline of stress, it becomes “normal.” The wheels are constantly in motion in a big city and the demands, pace and pressures of work and life (whether real or self-imposed) can really be the largest hurdle to overcome. It’s so important to take trips to nature for this reason and to just allow the body to find harmony there. There is so much disharmony in the city, in the form of unnatural lights, EMFs, cell phone towers, our own devices, cement…
Simply slowing down and not rushing through life has a huge ability to extend our lifespace, health and happiness!
Q: How do typically find your clients, or how do they find their way to you?
A: Word of mouth, Instagram, Workshops, Collaborations, Interviews and the wonderful World Wide Web!
Q: What are some rituals and routines that have helped transform your own life?
A: Mind/Mental/Energetic Health:
Meditation, breath work, kundalini yoga and the science of all the mantras. Those three have taught me above all else, to master my own energy. They have allowed me to find a peaceful mind, to trust myself, to create new neural pathways of abundance.
How can we be of service to the world around us if we don’t find this within ourselves first?
Physical Health:
Food! From a young age I had to learn to eat in new ways because I had a very sensitive body. It sounds SO cliche but green smoothies and a diet consisting of tons of green foods has been very healing for me. Using plants, adaptogens and mushrooms to manage stress, support my immunity, liver, adrenals and hormones also changed my life when I was 26 and those practices and daily routines and elixirs I continue to do every day. Mushrooms are so powerful at changing the body which is why I wanted to created potent products that were made in Canada, which is what I’m now doing with Rainbo.
Q: Lastly, when can the readers best find you? :)
A: You can find me and stay in touch via these various channels:
You can sign up for Well Woman Newsletter here: Link
Lots of holistic health, lifestyle, nutrition, food tips here: @thewellwomanco
My new medicinal mushroom company is called Rainbo: @rainbomushrooms and rainbo.com
And you can email me here: [email protected]
About the Creator
The Mirror Series
Hey there!
My name is Alex and I am a lover of all things wellness, lifestyle, and the pursuit of happiness.
In addition to my writing on Vocal, check out www.themirrorseries.com for journal prompting reflections!
Best,
Alex
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