Hammock Stories

On this episode, we invited Nate Gerber, a seeker and lover of life onto the hammock. He’s an expert in creating spaces for others to be alive, without fear of judgement. Nate shares his story of how he finds worth by getting into the moment of now. Outside of dancing, playing, and being, Nate is also a design strategist helping organizations large and small through their own journeys of finding life and meaning. This is a special episode is dedicated to our grandparents and all our elders who have recently passed on to to become angels in our lives.

Hammock Stories are told by everyday heroes about their journey of arriving at themselves. Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" is provided courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones and Erbalist.

Connect with us @hammockheroes and help us spread this story by telling a friend.

In our TENTH episode, we meet an emerging dance, choreographer and music artist name Sophie Dow and learn about her life-long relationship with music, busking and adventures into the unknown. Not even three concussions could dampen her creative spirit as it gave her a PhD in Patience over the past two years.She holds a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography from York University, receiving multiple scholarships for excellence in fine arts including the Indspire Building Brighter Futures Scholarship, Winnipeg Rotary Memorial Scholarship and The Golden Key Society Membership. While previously appearing in the work of various dance and theatre companies including the York Dance Ensemble, Sophie recently toured across Canada as both an independent artist and with SQx Dance Company. Highlights of the tour featured performing in the opening ceremonies of Shambhala Music Festival in Salmo River, filming with Vero Films in Vancouver and writing her first EP under musical alias: The Honeybee. You can catch Sophie playing with her band The Honeycomb Flyers or offering meditative healing as a licensed Holistic Practitioner of Traditional Thai Massage.You can hop on her adventure train at any of the following links:The Honeybee - https://www.facebook.com/thehoneybeeeeThe Honeycomb Flyers - https://www.facebook.com/thehoneycombflyers/Thai Massage - https://bahnthaispa.com/apps/mindbody/staff/100000109YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/SophCD333/featured?view_as=subscriberHammock Stories are told by everyday heroes about their journey of arriving at themselves. Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" is provided courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist.Connect with us @hammockheroes and help us spread this story by telling a friend.

In this episode, we meet Gabrielle Messier in the hammock. Currently she’s the creator of podcast called Young Queer, Sick inspired by her own lived experience of wanting to better the quality of life for the disabled, chronically ill queer individuals and bettering the communication with the medical establishment. Gabi shares her story of living with an unknown diagnosis, losing key physical abilities that forced her to stop her masters program. Here's some resources that Gabrielle wanted to share with our listeners:https://nonbinary.wiki/https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/scoliosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20350716https://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS/Types-of-MS/Relapsing-remitting-MShttps://www.blogto.com/city/2018/11/ttc-subway-parody-map-highlights-accessibility-issues/Some podcasts about grieving:You, me and the big C SickboyBeautiful Anonymousthe Podcast Formerly Known as In Sickness + In Health: A Chronic Illness PodcastHammock Stories are told by everyday heroes about their journey of arriving at themselves. Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" is provided courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist.Connect with us @hammockheroes and help us spread this story by telling a friend.

In this episode, we hear from our co-host, Thu Nguyen. She speaks about her journey which shifted from achievement in Silicon Valley to hosting community events in Toronto that amplify kindness, generosity and connection. She is currently building an inner transformation coaching practice where clients start the engagement with a conversation on a hammock.Hammock Stories are told by everyday heroes about their journey of arriving at themselves. Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" is provided courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist. Connect with us @hammockheroes and help us spread this story by telling a friend.

To start our second season, we hear from our very own co-host, Chenny Little and her experiments in slowing down. Chenny helps people access their authenticity in so many beautiful ways. She is the co-founder of Gotcare, a social venture that provides community-based healthcare to Canadians and from time to time she teaches empathy at the Canadian Forces CollegeHammock Stories are told by everyday heroes about their journey of arriving at themselves. Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" is provided courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist. Connect with us @hammockheroes and help us spread this story by telling a friend.

Zach Olesinski is a talented Japanese Acupuncture in Vancouver, BC at Qi Integrated Health.In this episode, Zach gives us a glimpse of his spirit of adventure, search for a simpler way of life and connection to nature. A major jury in rural Vietnam helped lead him to healing himself and others with his hands.Hammock Stories shines a light on everyday heroes who get comfortable on a hammock and feel held to dive into their vulnerability and wisdom. We get treated to stories  about when things fell apart in their lives, their struggles with mental health, grief, and their stories of resilience and healing. Through these stories, hopefully we can better understand our lived individual experiences and realize how much more interconnected our lives are.Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" is provided courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist.Connect with us @hammockheroes and help us spread this story by telling a friend.

Riley Mackenzie is a photographer, actress, artist in Toronto and shows up in the world with lightness, gentle grace and wisdom beyond her years. Seven years ago when she was a teenager, her single mom died of cancer suddenly and her stories of grief, resilience, resourcefulness is awe-inspiring. Hammock Stories shines a light on everyday heroes who get comfortable on a hammock and feel held to dive into their vulnerability and wisdom. We get treated to stories  about when things fell apart in their lives, their struggles with mental health, grief, and their stories of resilience and healing. Through these stories, hopefully we can better understand our lived individual experiences and realize how much more interconnected our lives are.Connect with us @hammockheroes and help us spread this story by telling a friend.Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" is provided courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist.Connect with us @hammockheroes and tell a friend who you think needs to hear Riley's story.

In this week's episode of Hammock Stories, we welcome Alex Oosterveen, co-founder and CEO of Caribou, a home care technology startup. From this episode, you’ll get to hear his story of adaptivity and resilience - from a childhood travelling around the world to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He’s an expert on reframing life-changing challenges to life-changing opportunities. He shares how his diagnosis has led him to shed identity roles that were no longer serving him and on the path to finding his authentic self.Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" is provided courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist.Connect with us @hammockheroes and join our conversations in the hammock

In this episode of Hammock Stories, Chenny and Thu invited an everyday hero, Sienna Che to join us on the hammock. Sienna is a gifted young singer-songwriter, community leader and trained in martial arts (amongst many other super powers). She's an incredibly generous human being involved in communities in Toronto like RISE Edutainment, Karma Kitchen in Moss Park, Building Roots and Story Planet and has lifted many with her voice and light.Sienna is an up-and-coming singer/songwriter who writes freedom songs that inspires her listeners to find their own power within. She brings her presence and voice to communities in Toronto like RISE Edutainment, Karma Kitchen in Moss Park, Building Roots and Story Planet.Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist. The ending song is called "Faith" courtesy of Sienna Che.Follow us @hammockheroes and join the conversation!

In Chenny and Thu's second episode of Hammock Stories, we invited an everyday hero, Terrence Ho to join us on the hammock. Terrence shares his unique journey of his role as a sibling caregiver, finding a support system through a men's circle and continued transformation. His lens of care giving is heavily influenced by his younger brother who lives with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a younger cousin who lives with Down Syndrome and family members experiencing mental health challenges and suicide. He and his brother co-founded a nonprofit, Equal Grounds, that explored the issues of employment for persons with disabilities, their flagship project, Enables Me, is a website curating stories on accessibility.Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist.Follow us @hammockheroes and join the conversation!

In Chenny and Thu's inaugural episode of Hammock Stories, we invited an everyday hero, Cheryl Hsu to join us on the hammock. We had an incredibly genuine conversation about her journey of curiosity at a young age and her exploration of identity and belonging. We feel honoured to receive the wisdom and insights that emerged while Cheryl was cradled in the hammock and share it with you.Special thanks to our audio production genius, Chris Harris. The song, "Slow it Down" courtesy of Sarah Calvert, Joker Jones, Locked & Erbalist.Follow us @hammockheroes and join the conversation!