Dr Ailsa has been out and about supporting one of Dr Indra’s favourite charities, Trust Leeds by talking to attendees at the well-being summer camp about ways to eat more healthily on a limited budget.
Trust Leeds is a charity which works – and walks – alongside people helping them to change their lives by building financial independence, confidence and self-reliance.
They do this in two ways:
- Micro-FinanceThey invest small, ethical loans for business purposes.
- Self-Reliant Groups (or SRGs). They nurture local groups where people support each other, save together, build confidence and skills and grow enterprising ideas.
The morning started with an introduction from Liza Kellett the CEO to the principles of Self Reliant Groups. She brought out the SRG box which contained all sorts of random items which each represented something about SRGs (self-reliant groups) – like a pair of contact lenses to represent maybe seeing things differently, clearer or through someone else’s eyes, a toothbrush to represent that by already being committed to doing small things they have the potential to commit to other things, an empty coke can prompted an exercise to think of different ways it could be used from an ashtray to a plant pot, even a bra to represent support and something uplifting!
Next, they had a QweGong morning routine demonstration from Amina that everyone joined in with showing how easy it is to get a little movement into your morning routine to help you feel good and get your blood circulating.
Dr Ailsa talked about what our bodies need to be healthy and compared this to what plants need to be healthy. Everyone recognises a sick plant when the soil is dry, the leaves droopy and maybe yellowing and know that it needs water, more light and good food. Maybe it isn’t as easy to recognise those signs in ourselves when we are ill but they have very similar basic needs with perhaps the addition of good sleep, movement and love.
Talking to a small group enabled discussions about specific foods to support mood, menopause, balance blood sugars. They looked at how to build a healthy plate with a balance of vegetables/fibre, protein, healthy fats and starchy foods, including brightly coloured vegetables and trying to have a variety of foods which provide a range of nutrients. Later they visited the local food pantry/bank as they now had an idea of what they could choose to build their healthy plate. Their challenge was to come up with a recipe with food they could source from the food pantry
Later, they sowed some different coloured lettuce seeds in pots that they could take home and grow on a windowsill to demonstrate how easy it is to grow a little food for the price of some compost and a packet of seeds.
This small group of women will continue to meet as an SRG and have named themselves ‘The Well-being Warriors’. We look forward to following their progress; And as they always say, with knowledge and awareness comes change. You only need to start with a few seeds for something nourishing to grow!
