LONG BRANCH

Is For Lovers

Enjoy The Simple Things In Life

By: Amanda Kirkland

Despite winter’s inactivity and lifelessness, it is still a season of growth. Soon the snow will melt, hatchlings will leave their nests, trees will bud, flowers will bloom, and those darn insects will awaken. If you’re like most people, you spend a lot of time thinking about your physical health. You might go to the gym, or yoga studio, or join a running club, and you have some idea of what foods are right for your body. But what about your mental health? Are you taking care of your mind as well? Mental health is as important as physical health. In fact, studies show that people who are happy and healthy in their minds are more successful in all aspects of life.

We spend a lot of time in our homes and gardens, so it’s no surprise that they can have an impact on our mental state. Having a home that you love can make you feel happy, even when things are off. Having a garden that you love can make you healthier and happier. Taking care of your home and garden is an excellent way to improve your state of mind. I don’t have a garden per se, but I treat my two decks as mini gardens. The moment frost is no longer a threat, I start shopping for flowers and greens to plant in my hanging planters. This makes me happy. The fact that I can see them from inside my home also makes me happy.

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4 Secrets Gritty, Strong Women Need to Know to Rise Above Toxic Relationships www.amandakirkland.com food sources that are most bioavailable to us are significant and incredibly supportive. When implemented consistently, they can boost our immune and gut function, balance metabolism and blood sugar, increase energy, and strengthen our relationship to ourselves. Some of my seasonal garden favorites to prioritize this April are:

Asparagus / Arugula / Artichokes / Beets / Carrots / Fennel / Onions / Parsnips / Spring garlic

Spring Clean Your Diet

By: Kira Bauer

Like the seasons shift and change, so do our habits and patterns as humans. The transition from winter to spring signifies many events in the external world: blooming, rebirth, and a new cycle in nature. Within this is an opportunity for us to tune into our internal gardens, and enter spring with deeper intentionality around supporting our health with seasonal eating.

The benefits of integrating high-quality

All of these choices are rich in antioxidants, prebiotics, and fiber–compounds your gut bugs love and crave! A valuable coaching tip is to slow down and use sensual eating while honoring these foods at home. This practice asks us to engage all of our senses: sight, smell, and taste, creating a deeper connection for your experience of wellness and satisfaction with food.

Looking for support in sustaining these changes? Let’s get in touch: kbauercoaching@gmail.com

Things that bring me joy: Celebrating students’ success!

One of the great things about Humber College is that there are always plenty of success stories to share as Principal of our Lakeshore Campus. Our students are continuously shining on the local, national and international stage. Their hard work and dedication to their education is inspiring and a testament to Humber’s incredible teaching and learning capacity.

I’m sharing another story of excellence involving students from our Forensic Identification program who traveled to Maryland to compete in the Robert Fram CSI Challenge. Humber proudly sent two teams to take part in the competition on February 25; this opportunity had students process a simulated crime scene.

The Mount St. Mary’s Criminal Justice Association’s officers and the Frederick Police Department worked hard to provide a realistic and stimulating crime scene investigation that tested the students’ critical thinking, teamwork, crime scene proficiency, forensic knowledge, and collegiality skills.

Our two teams were T.O. Trio, comprised of students Nick Popov, Cora Pouliot and Romina Saramout, and InvestaGators, which was made up of students Victoria Purnwasi, Ryan Trenton and Megan MacNeil. The two finished first and second, respectively. The team was led by Humber program coordinator, Debbie Harris and Forensic Identification faculty member, Mike Gamble.

I’m so proud of our students and the fact they emerged as the top teams out of the 18 total entries. It speaks to their dedication and passion for their future careers but also to the professionalism of our program and its instructors. We know Humber is world class and our students keep proving it with results like this!

Cora from the first-place team said taking part in the challenge was an “unforgettable experience” that expanded her knowledge and passion for forensics. Cora added that “the opportunity to challenge ourselves and utilize our learned knowledge in such a unique situation felt especially rewarding.”

The challenge started with each team receiving an evidence kit for collecting, preserving, and identifying evidence. Teams received a packet of instructions with information concerning the call to service they were investigating. This was followed by an oral briefing in which additional questions could be asked and answered.

All teams were dispatched to their respective crime scenes simultaneously and, from the time they arrived, they had 50 minutes to process the crime scene and interview witnesses. The judges, made up of Frederick Police Department Crime Scene Investigators, were located both in the crime scene and outside it to observe and grade the teams.

When the time limit had elapsed at the crime scene, the teams took all their written materials, designated evidence, photos, sketches, and other information to adjacent rooms for completing the final phase of the challenge. Each team had to complete a final report of their crime scene investigation and submit it for judging. Teams also submitted a crime scene rough and final sketch and collected evidence. Evidentiary photographs were presented to the judges along with a thorough explanation of the rationale and process. Teams had 50 minutes to complete this phase of the investigation.

Congratulations to our students for their success at the competition. You have made us all so proud. I also want to issue a sincere thank you to our Forensic Identification faculty team who continue to deliver courses and knowledge in innovative ways and share their depth of professional knowledge with our learners every day. Our goal at Humber is for our learners to have the knowledge and skills to succeed in the ever-evolving workplace and the success of our Forensic Identification students shows they are well on their way to be leaders in their respective fields.

By: June MacDonald-Jenkins, Principal - Lakeshore Campus

Mastering the Art of Self-Talk: How to Intentionally Direct Your Thoughts

By: Jonathan Nhan

Are you in conscious control of your thoughts? As functioning people, we often have learned and ingrained patterns of how we think, feel, and act so that we can navigate through the day without too much hardship. There inevitably comes a time when those patterns are challengedespecially when trying to learn something new. In these times, we may experience difficulty and struggle and to add on top of that, our thoughts can run wildly against what we want. If you are aware of having a thought, you can change it. In this article, I will share with you how to start using your conscious mind intentionally to your advantage.

Think of the last time that you felt like you were struggling. Do you remember the thoughts you were thinking? There are times when we repeat statements to ourselves like “I’m just not good at this” or “I can’t do it”. Know that the only way that this holds true is if you believe it. While you may think that these statements are accurate, they describe a state - a moment locked in time. When you believe statements like this, you are making a choice to stay stuck, and ignore the process of growth and development.

Reflect on your self-talk and ask yourself “Does my self-talk describe a state? Or does it leave room for the process of growth to occur?”. Before you can intentionally direct your thoughts, you need to be aware of your thoughts and accept that your beliefs may not serve your purpose. When you are ready to let go of your negative self talk, you’ll be ready to start intentionally crafting better self talk.

If you notice yourself making statements about your behaviors or capabilities (“I can’t…”, “I don’t…”, etc), repeat the same statement and add “yet” to the end. This simple change will move you from a stuck state and open yourself to the possibility of change. Consider how different it is to say “I can’t do this YET” or “I’m no good at this YET”. This is a great first step.

Now that you have begun shifting your negative self talk, let’s explore how to use empowering questions to lead us to better solutions. You’re ready to start discovering solutions, so the next important questions are “what?” and “how?”. “What will you do…?” and “How will you do it…?”. The most important thing is to know what your specific goal is. If you don’t yet know what that is, and instead have a long list of things that you don’t want, ask yourself “What would you like to have happen?”. Listen openly to the answers that come up because this will lead you to your desired target state. Once you know what you are moving towards, you can start consciously directing your attention towards solutions to get there.

Will simply asking questions like this be enough to get to your goals? On a conscious level - yes! Your conscious part has the capacity to create this guidance, but will definitely struggle in reaching the goal. This is where your unconscious mind comes in. Practice shifting your self talk, opening up possibilities, and formulating empowering questions. Next month, we’ll dive into how these questions direct your unconscious mind so you can fully leverage your inner potential.

READ MORE ABOUT THE HUMAN MIND: www.fiatluxmedia.com

Currently, a common mantra has Ontario losing hundreds of acres of farmland each day. This is misleading. It’s impossible to lose land; to urban sprawl or otherwise. What is possible, and is happening, is to stop using property to farm.

In 2009, Toronto implemented a “Green Roof Bylaw”. Simply, new buildings and some existing buildings are required to have some roof area dedicated to “green”. Since then how many communities have taken that same approach?

Calgary’s Agriplay Ventures Inc. is an innovative vertical farm and technology company. They are transforming legacy and underutilized commercial infrastructure into indoor farms and sustainable green building systems.

John Van Goch

American “Gotham Greens” uses industrial rooftops throughout America to grow food. Their greenhouses are some of the highest-yielding “farms”. Their hydroponic greenhouse technology means using less land, less water and less energy, while producing less pollution and less waste. Canada’s Good Leaf Farms have growing levels several layers high and have more crop cycles per year, producing more output per square foot than traditional farms. Indeed, in my own community, White Pines Family Farm is growing some crops using an underground greenhouse.

Losing our farmland? Let’s look up for it, or look down or look...outside the box!