S5E15 - Cathy Nesbitt
This week’s guest is Cathy Nesbitt, Worm Advocate and Laugher Ambassador based in Ontario, Canada.
What is a Worm Advocate? Someone who sees worms as useful in the fight against climate change for one! Cathy is actually the founder Cathy's Crawly Composters which is a worm-based composting business. In fact, she is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her company.
New to composting or not sure what it is? Listen up because we talk about that in the first 5 minutes.
Did you know worms have no eyes? Cathy mentions this and other interesting facts about them.
Before starting her business, Cathy was a social worker, focused on adults living with challenges. She continues to serve that community through education as part of her business.
Cathy also does laughter yoga. It is part of her personal wellness practice but also something she shares. She holds her own online group you can join, and she teaches a special needs class. Laughter yoga is intentional laughing. We chat about the origin of the practice in 1995 and how Cathy has incorporated this into her life and work. In 2016, she got trained as a teacher.
Have a listen and get to know Cathy!
Note from Rabiah (Host):
I was skeptical about laughter yoga before this chat but in hearing about it from Cathy, I get it. Admittedly, I haven’t practiced it yet though I think I do a form of it when I rewatch old Robin Williams clips…
This chat reminded me that I am often skeptical of things I hear about but when I dig deeper and remove my own ignorance, people are doing really cool things that work for them. It’s not much different than the sentiment of the adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” In editing, I always reflect on my conversations even more and Cathy made me think a lot about living with intention and purpose and being brave enough to pivot to fulfil that purpose when what we’re doing initially is no longer service us. I hope you get something out of the chat too.
Rabiah (London) and Cathy (Ontario, CAN) laughing before the recording even starts!
Find Cathy
Mentioned in the Episode
Transcript
Rabiah (Host): [00:04:13] This is More Than Work, the podcast reminding you that your self worth is made up of more than your job title. Each week, I'll talk to a guest about how they discovered that for themselves. You'll hear about what they did, what they're doing and who they are. I'm your host, Rabiah. I work in IT, perform standup comedy, write, volunteer and of course podcast. Thank you for listening.
Hey everyone. So if you're listening to this on the day that episode comes out, then it is the day before Earth Day and I am excited to have a guest on who is doing work that's for the environment. She really did find her passion around helping out the environment. She's Canadian and has a composting business.
But it involves some creepy crawlers, some worms, and she really talks enthusiastically about it. And [00:05:13] at first I was like, ah, I don't know, will, worms make a good topic for this podcast, but sure enough, the guest Cathy made it happen. And she also does laughter yoga, which is something I didn't know about.
And I was again, a little skeptical of, but now it makes sense. And I feel like in a way, if I do a really good job making an audience laugh, maybe they're getting a little laughter yoga in too. But, I try to tell you why I like the guest. And in this case, when I was listening back to my interview with Cathy, well, first of all, after we talked like pretty immediately, I just felt really great.
And it was really nice to get to know her, but then really upon reflecting on it when I listened to it back to edit, I just realized this, this is a special lady. She she's done service in her life. She had a career in it. And then she's now using her new career, her current company to continue to build upon that.
And a lot of what she does is service to others and service to the planet. Plus, it was really [00:06:13] informative. So, just have fun listening to this one. I'm not going to be too long. I'm really I'm trying my best. So last week I said, I wouldn't talk too long and it was like four or five minutes. This week I'm saying it and guess what I can see right now, I'm at a minute and 35. And so by two, we'll be done. Uh, thanks to everyone who rated me on Podchaser so far and followed me there. If you still want to all month, Podchaser is giving 25 cents to basically to World Kitchen, to help Ukraine. So if you leave a review for my podcast and other podcasts you listen to they'll donate 25 cents.
I did go over the two minutes, but not too much. So, enjoy this episode and have a great week!
Rabiah (Host): All right, everyone today my guest is Cathy Nesbitt. She is a Worm Advocate and Laughter Ambassador, and we're going to hear what all that means, especially that second part. You'll probably hear some laughter on this episode.
Thanks for being a guest, Cathy.
Cathy Nesbitt: Thank you, Rabiah. I'm excited to be here.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, I'm glad to have you. [00:07:13] So where am I talking to you from?
Cathy Nesbitt: I'm just north of Toronto and in Ontario, Canada,
Rabiah (Host): Nice. So that's on the east coast
Cathy Nesbitt: east coast, correct?
Rabiah (Host): east. Okay, cool. All right. Good. Well, yeah, I think you're only my second Canadian guests too. So this is cool. The first thing just we'll go through each thing, but you're a worm advocate, so, and you have your business Cathy's Crawly Composters, which we chatted right before, but I do love good alliteration, so well done.
Cathy Nesbitt: Thank you. Yes, it's the 20th anniversary.
Rabiah (Host): Oh my gosh. Well, congratulations. So, what is your business? I mean, I think the title tells you a lot, but can you go ahead and talk about it?
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah, absolutely. It's indoor composting with worms. How do you like me now? Worms in the house. See why I have to laugh now, too.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, exactly.
Cathy Nesbitt: So I started my business in 2002 because our landfill close. So, the landfill for the greater Toronto area closed. When the, the landfill for the largest city in the country closes, huge smelly problem, right?
Rabiah (Host): [00:08:13] Yeah,
Cathy Nesbitt: So, Yeah, although Canada is the second largest country in the world, we couldn't find a place for a new landfill, right? No one wants that in their backyard.
So we took the easy route. We're like, oh, oh, look, the U.S. Is begging for our scraps. So, we started exporting our garbage to the U S a thousand trucks a week.
Can you me?
Rabiah (Host): Wow.
Cathy Nesbitt: Wow. Yikes. So it was a business transaction, you know, just an exchange. We were giving our, our trash and, and cash. Actually. I guess we didn't get anything in the,
Rabiah (Host): You got rid of your trash.
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah, we got rid of, yeah, But you know, it's interesting Rabiah, because we talk about the environment. Like it's somewhere out there. But But it's all one, it's not like there's, you know, there's a border, but I mean, the air goes back and forth and the water goes back and forth. And there's no separate environment.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, no, totally. I mean, I'm from California originally and their . Environmental impact laws are very different than the rest of the United States. A lot of them they're more advanced and [00:09:13] you know, so if there's measures put in place by the federal government, California might already be hitting them in some cases.
And I was studying about actually in class recently, too, about some Carbon tax or something that took place in Canada or is, is in Canada. And the impact that we discussed was also the global impacts. It's not just the air there. It's not, like you said, the air's just staying over California, or it's not just staying over Canada.
It's it's everywhere and, and all the waste and everything. It's it's the land. I mean, we're, we're impacting each other, so, yeah, it's pretty wild though. I didn't realize, I guess that garbage is basically being transported across the borders. So then how did you, were you composting before that yourself anyway ?
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah, as an avid gardiner and composter, I, I have been composting for many, many years and worm composting is kind of another level
Rabiah (Host): Um,
Cathy Nesbitt: that offers the opportunity for people that live in condos or apartments, townhouses, people that are in cottage country, where there may be bears or wildlife that you don't want to attract to your backyard. [00:10:13] Or even in the urban centers, raccoons, rats, rodents, you know, that may be attracted to an outdoor composter.
This is inside. The worms are the hard part.
Rabiah (Host): yeah. Yeah. First of all, I know what composting is more or less just because I'm doing it here. So I live in London now and one thing that's cool is in the city anyway, you can just order a free bin from the. council and so, you know, I everyday put all my food scraps in a thing and have my biodegradable bag and it gets sent to wherever it gets sent here.
And you know, that's good, but this is the first time I did this personally. And so, can you, first of all, talk about what composting is and kind of what is allowed to go in it too.
Cathy Nesbitt: Absolutely. Yes. Thank you. Yeah. So composting is usually done outside. It's really nature's way. Nature's kind of garbage disposal. So it's carbon and nitrogen. So outside, it would be leaves, straw cardboard, not cardboard leaves, straw, you know, all your brown material and the nitrogen would be. Grass clippings all of your green materials.
So you would [00:11:13] put that in.
And after a certain amount of time it would turn into humus or, or soil element that you can put back into your garden. This is the same idea. It's for me composting. So indoor composting with worms. Inside you would use any container will do. There are some beautiful systems, a Rubbermaid container or whatever is fine. The carbon or the bedding is shredded paper. Could be, you know, drink trays, egg cartons, that kind of material. That's the Browns. And then the, the nitrogen or the food scraps are the scraps from your kitchen; potato peels, coffee, tea, all of those kinds of things. You mix them all in. The worms, eat both the paper and the food, and then they turn it into soil.
So you can, you know, they're actually amending the soil.
Rabiah (Host): Oh, wow. That's amazing. And so really quick, because I know one thing I learned and I just want to have it said on the podcast, but, the food scraps you put in, it's not like meat and stuff like that, or bread. It's actually like the organic,
Cathy Nesbitt: right? Thank you. Yes. All of [00:12:13] that stuff will break down the meat and everything, but in, in an indoor composter, or even in an outdoor composter, if you leave out meat, dairy, sauces, anything that might be attracted to the other rodents, like the carnivores. The raccoon, I mean, raccoons eat everything, but you know, they really like meat, right?
So if you can leave that stuff out, because in a worm bin, the worms will eat that as well, but those things take longer to rot. And as they're breaking down, you know, they may start rotting rather than composting. So the, the oxygen in the system may be converted to methane. So it's going to smell like rotting food.
Once we have that odor, it's not oxygen anymore. So we need to breathe oxygen. So do the worms. It's like a built-in mechanism. It's a beautiful thing.
Rabiah (Host): Oh, interesting. So then with the element of the worms, so they're actually just, are they helping the process go quicker? Like breaking things down quicker or what are they doing exactly?
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah, so they're breaking it down quicker. There it's a whole host of organisms that [00:13:13] are in the bin which kind of freaks people out, you know, all the bacteria, all the little springtails and mites, all these little critters that we can't see they're microscopic.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah.
Cathy Nesbitt: But they're, they, they are essential because they are the ones doing the heavy lifting.
They're the ones breaking down the food, the worms don't have. So they break it all down and then the worms kind of eat their, their poop. Like, sorry if you're having a meal listeners, but it's a beautiful process and it's aerobic meaning with oxygen. So it doesn't smell bad. And the worms stay in the bin.
They don't have eyes. So no point in going sightseeing, you know, they eat about half their weight per day. So they're eating the food scraps, turn, eating into block, turning it into black gold, and then you're left with this nutrient rich soil.
Rabiah (Host): Huh. And so actually worms, so they don't have eyes, you said, and you'd have a TEDx talk, which I'll put up where you talked a little bit more about them, but can you tell some facts about worms that are interesting cause I didn't know. They didn't have eyes actually?
Cathy Nesbitt: [00:14:13] Yeah, no eyes, no ears, no bones. They really are like a little tube. They do have five hearts, five hearts, each.
Rabiah (Host): Oh,
Cathy Nesbitt: wow. And I, you know, I do a lot of school workshop and so the kids will say, why does the worms have five hearts? So I made up this lovely little diddy and I say, it's well, you know, millions of years ago when they were handing out body parts, they had this mountain of hearts left over and they're like, when are we going to do with all those hearts?
So they said, millions of thank you for giggling. Millions of years from now, you know, we're going to have this garbage crisis and we're going to need these worms. So let's give the extra hearts to the worms so we can love them a little more, right. Words have energy. I know, you
know. So words mean something.
They really, they impact us. So when, when I say that words have five hearts, I say worms are so loving and just the word love. It's just like, ah. I do love them a little more. I'm still creeped out until you find out about them, you know?
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, well that's, I mean, I [00:15:13] don't, I wasn't even just thinking, and this could be me, like trying to workshop your song you've already written or whatever, but like, too that they got five hearts cause they don't have the other limbs. So it's kind of replacing like it's, it's making up for that,
Cathy Nesbitt: Right. I think there's going to be a,
Rabiah (Host): little dark.
Cathy Nesbitt: yeah, a little children's story about, you know, all the worms that only had four hearts.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, exactly. But he had an arm or something so that he could kind of swim. I don't know, this is, yeah. I shouldn't be trusted to improv on this podcast, but so yeah. So then how did you turn this in decide to turn this into a business and, and also for your composting business, but also, as far as just, you said you go to schools and educate.
So can you talk about how you went from this being something you were just doing as a practice to how you decided to transition it into work?
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah. absolutely. I was a social worker before starting my own business, working with challenged adults. I loved it. And then I got injured at work and I, and I was sad that I had to leave that industry. Just, I [00:16:13] felt ineffective when I was injured. Not funny, but not funny. And then oh, it's just really interesting.
I find it fascinating how the universe does drop messages in your. If you pick up the, you know, the little, the little clues. So I came home from work. I was stressed and I was thinking about this business, but I haven't had no business background. There's no, nobody in my family or my circle were entrepreneurs.
You know, it was like, get a job, work hard and you'll get a gold watch. Who needs a gold watch when they retire? I don't know. Anyway, so that was my path.
but I think as an entrepreneur, I, I do believe that. That that's my path because I did, I do get bored easy. I need a lot of variety and on high energy. So I just want to, and I saw this problem, a avid gardener, avid composter, and then the landfill closed.
And I saw this huge opportunity. So since I didn't have the business background, I, I, It was silly what the [00:17:13] business that I chose. And it's really a miracle that I'm still here 20 years later. And here's why I'm selling worms by the pound. Worms breed more than rabbits. They're just not as cute as cuddly.
I think they are, but others don't, right? So, so once you get worms from me, if all is going well, you don't need to see me again. I've solved your problem. You've you got worms. They're managing your waste. They're creating beautiful soil. And on you go. When I meet people later on, they're like, oh, my worms are doing so great.
I gave some to my neighbor. I sent some to my kid's school. I'm like, "Hey, stop giving your worms away. It's bad for my business." And left, but I mean it.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, that really stopped doing it.
Cathy Nesbitt: but really like quit it. I mean it. Yeah.
so I tell people if you're going to start a word business, sell the compost
Rabiah (Host): Yeah.
Cathy Nesbitt: because you need to reapply the compost, right?
It's the fertilizer. You need to apply that all the time. the worms anyway, nevermind. It's 20 years. I'm not going to change now.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Yeah. That's how it is. And how do you do this as far as like, do you ship worms places or do you just [00:18:13] do it locally or how's it work?
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah, we ship across Canada. We're not it's, it's challenging shipping into the States and there are a lot of worm growers in the states. And same in you know. Shipping international, the worms, they're great travelers, but they don't want to be in a package for a couple of weeks. No.
The sooner they can get there the better.
And if people can get worms locally, you know, even better, I think that's, that's best way for the worms.
So, you know, early on I realized, oh my gosh, people don't buy what they need. Everyone needs this, but they don't buy what they need. They buy what they want. And I didn't know that it took me about 10 years to realize, cause I have all this energy, you know, I think sometimes when you start a business, when you're like, there's this big problem and I have a solution.
So you go forth and you start this thing that's gonna save the world. If you don't have business background, it can be a little bit of, you know, lots of hurdles like, oh, oh, oh, I didn't, oh, I didn't know that. And I didn't know people weren't going to want what I, what I was flogging. [00:19:13]
So that's why I started to do school workshops. And I was like, no, I just need to wait 20 years until they have buying power. Woo woo woo, I made it!
And it's so rewarding what I'm doing. I think I'm meeting people now that I went into their grade three, three class. So they're was like, wow, you came into my grade three class and taught us about worm composting.
And because of you, cause I leave a worm bin in the classroom, so they get to experience, you know, the magic. Because of you. I took environmental studies at university. And now I'm now I'm, you know, an environmental lawyer or I don't know, you know, it's just, wow. That's so affirming. Sometimes we never know the effect we've had on people.
Rabiah (Host): Sure. Yeah, because that does remind me of like, just, I was living back in my hometown for a little while as an adult, like when I was, you know, a couple of years ago and I got to see this one teacher I never thought I'd see it again and I got to tell her. I think two things. Like one, [00:20:13] people when they do get the opportunity, don't take the time to let someone know they've made an impact, right? But then sometimes they don't get the opportunity. So I would say this is just encouraged people. If you've thought about someone and meant to reach out, there's so many ways to do it, because you can hear from Cathy it's, it's really important, you know, to find out that they made an impact. It kind of, it does tell you that what you were doing had meaning, cause sometimes you don't know.
Cathy Nesbitt: I don't know. you don't know.
And it's so beautiful. I get, I get messages. Regularly. I mean, after 20 years I've affected a lot of people. I mean, 75,000 students have seen my presentation.
Rabiah (Host): Wow.
Cathy Nesbitt: before COVID I was doing about 200 events a year, you know, exhibiting, schlepping my stuff around, setting up because I'm so passionate.
I just think you need to know about this. But again, I mentioned at the beginning, the worms are the challenging part. If you're afraid of worms, you're not looking to worms to be the solution. And you're not listening to that podcast potentially. You're not reading that article, you know?
So, so I need to find other ways. And I'm actually working on a standup [00:21:13] show. 20 years selling worms by the pound. I have a lot of material.
Rabiah (Host): I'm sure. Y'all have a lot of, a lot of compost to sort through
Cathy Nesbitt: I've got a lot of detriment to what do you call it? Debris or.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah,
it's hard. Yeah, we can't... don't improv. Oh, that's what I learned. So just looking at, your first career social work, that was a career of service. And now in this, in a sense, the composting and the worm business is also partly in service to the environment and to others.
Do you see any parallels in kind of like your path there at all other than what I just said. And also, did you find things rewarding in social work that now you find rewarding in a different way or how's that kind of working together for you?
Cathy Nesbitt: Thank you, oh, great question. Yes. I actually have wonderfully merged the two. I went back to the organization that it was working at. They had 10 homes on a farm and I was able to install [00:22:13] a composting program there. So still working with that demographic. And now with laughter yoga. I know we haven't talked about that yet, um, the laughter actually saved my worm business. With, with the laughter yoga piece. I'm D I'm now doing work with a special needs group. Every Friday. We, we laugh together and it's, you know, it's just so magic. I feel like all of these things that I'm doing are coming together. I wasn't sure how. Like, what am I doing?
I'm laughing over here. I'm working with the soil. Like, who am I?
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Yeah.
Cathy Nesbitt: what is my message? It's so confused. And I actually have a scroll at sprout growing business too. So I would be exhibiting and I would have worms at one end, Sproat growing at the other and it's a hydroponic thing. So it doesn't have anything to do with the worms.
And people would be like, is that the worm bin? And. No, that's for eating. You eat those. And it's like, oh, this is what kind of what's happening at this booth.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Yeah. [00:23:13] Yeah. But it's, it's kind of shows that you can have more than one interest and they can get related. And I think part of what you said about like the universe, driving things in your path. I mean, people do or don't believe that and that's fine. But the thing is, if you're open to seeing opportunities, and then you're open to accepting them, you might end up with things that seem unrelated that are quite related actually. And in your case you have,
Cathy Nesbitt: Oh, it's beautiful. Yeah. I was like, nobody else does what I do. Oh, right. Do we want to do what everyone's doing? Or we would, we want to stand out, you know, and be different.
Rabiah (Host): yeah. So can you talk a little bit about first of all, what is laughter yoga? I know what regular yoga is and I don't really laugh because it's really hard.
Cathy Nesbitt: Oh, okay, good. Yeah. So laughter yoga is not about fancy pants or poses. It's not doing yoga and laughing. It's intentional laughter exercises. So laughing is a cardiovascular workout. I mean ever had one of those giggle Fest with your friends and your stomach is hurting. Your cheeks are hurting. And you're just like, oh [00:24:13] my gosh, stop looking at me.
I, my stomach is hurting. Those are the laughter. So laughter yoga was started in 1995 by a medical doctor in India, Dr. Medan criteria and his goal is world peace with laughing. So there are clubs around the world and at a laughter. Maybe 30 or 60 minutes you come together, you do some clapping and chanting so that you clap Palm to Palm that's because you're activating the meridians in the body.
So that's, and it kind of gives us some priming. So when we're clapping for those that are very serious, you know, that are very in their head. It helps people get back into their body, like rather than just saying, okay, go ahead and laugh. Get your cardio. Here we are we're at the laughter.
club, laugh. Not jokes or comedy.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah.
Yeah.
Cathy Nesbitt: It's hard. And it's weird. Like your first time, it's just like, this is what's happening here. I don't even know what's going on. Your brain might be like, this is so weird. What, why am I laughing? Stop laughing. You look ridiculous. [00:25:13] But your body's like, Ooh, I feel great, right? As we're smiling and laughing and giggling, we're secreting the love drugs. Dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin endorphins; versus when we're stressed and it's creating cortisol. Like the amygdala, which is where the stress center is in the brain has not evolved. So when we go into stress, we go into that reptilian brain where we're just like, okay, I got to get out of stress. So we go into fight flight or freeze, you know. And it's bad for us. I mean, to be constantly in a state of stress,
Rabiah (Host): Yeah.
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. And I mean, I think that we've seen that and well, you see it in studies. I mean, there are studies about how in the U S for example, just like certain ethnicities, experience stress, more. Experiencing stress, more so their bodies are aging more which I found really sad, but then also, I think in the last two years, we've all been under a lot of stress.
And [00:26:13] now we're under a lot of stress even now with what's going on just in Ukraine. Even though I'm sitting in London, you're saying Canada, whatever, it's creating stress. And that is impacting people. And that is interesting. I'd never, I probably have heard it put that way, but I didn't resonate with me about the cortisol just kind of being released when you're under stress and it not your body, not evolving to even know what it's your stress or someone else's stress you're feeling. It's, it's like, even if it's empathetic stress, you're still going to release the chemicals.
Cathy Nesbitt: Well said, that's exactly right. Yes. It's a stressful time. And, and people say, how can I laugh? It's, you know, look at all the stuff that's happening. It's so scary. We're laughing because it's so scary. If we're not laughing, we're bawling in the corner, you know, we're, we're, we're so
. Afraid we were paralyzed.
Laughter opens us up. So here's what happens. When we're stressed, we're not breathing properly. Our brain requires 25% more oxygen than the rest of our body as an operating principle. Our [00:27:13] body's not getting what it needs. For sure our brain isn't like ever lost your keys.
And you're like, I got to go, you're flapping around, right? That's because you're, you're gone. You've gone into, you know, that reptilian brain you've gone into fight flight or freeze. You're just like searching around. .
As long as you're flopping around, you're never finding your keys in that state, so you need to stop, take a deep breath, laugh it off, apologize to everyone,
Rabiah (Host): Yeah.
Cathy Nesbitt: and then you'll find your keys, you know?
Yeah.
there, there was a gentleman Dr. Norman Cousins. And I don't know what year it was, but he was diagnosed with something. And the doctor said, you know, you got a couple months to live, go get your affairs in order. And he was like, I'm not ready yet. So he started watching comedies. This was before laughter yoga. He started watching comedies, just laughing, laughing, laughing.
And he, he realized that with 10 to 15 minutes of mirthful laughter he got about two hours of pain-free sleep. Wow. We're in charge of our own pharma.
You know, sometimes people will [00:28:13] do drugs or drink or have sex or eat some special food; whatever these things are so they can get those hits, those chemical hits.
Isn't that cool that we can just laugh and get the same beautiful benefits? And they're lasting benefits.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Well, yeah, and especially, I think a lot of you don't feel that guilty laughing. I guess if you laugh at a funeral, maybe that's the only time, but otherwise laughter is generally innocuous. You can do it and not feel really bad about it,
Cathy Nesbitt: Well, you know, the funeral is interesting because people laugh when it's uncomfortable as a stress release, you know, it's so much pressure. It's like the pressure cooker it's like going to the top's going to blow. So that's what happens when we're, let's say at a funeral and we're just like feeling really uncomfortable.
Sometimes we break into giggles as a, as a release. And then you notice that when that happens, often other people will start laughing too. [00:29:13] Like there was a great episode with Mary Tyler Moore and Chuckles the Clown at his funeral. You know, Mary. Like break breaks out laughing and she can't stop laughing.
And it's, it's like hilarious episode, but that's what happens is it's just, you know,
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, that's true. So how did you get into laughter yoga?
Cathy Nesbitt: It was about, thank you. About 2012 or 2013. One more person said, "Ew, worms in the house." And I'd heard it many times. Just that time. It hit me in the heart and I thought, oh my gosh, how am I going to put worms in every living space if people are not hearing the message? Like, I don't care if you have worms in the house or not, but if you're not, if you don't know what's an option, you're not doing it. . For sure, you're not. And then so I was kind of getting really discouraged and thought this is really hard. I don't have repeat customers. So I couldn't go back to my customers and say, you want more worms? So, so I was at a business meeting and the, [00:30:13] and the speaker gave a five minute intro into laughter yoga and I don't do yoga.
I don't, I don't do traditional yoga. So I was like, oh, laughter yoga. That sounds like something I could do. And then that same week, I was at a networking event, hundreds of people at BC. And the very first woman I met was a laughter yoga teacher. So again, that thing about the universe, I said, wow, twice in one week, I said, laugh, laughter yoga is mainstream.
And she said, no, it isn't. So we trooped around together. I asked everybody, "have you heard of laughter yoga? Have you, have you, have you?" And nobody had, so I started to attend her. And then I was like, I love this. It took me a couple of years. In 2015. I got trained as a leader. Love that got trained as a teacher in 2016 and kind of the rest is history now.
With COVID I started the laughter club online in June 2020. Every Tuesday, I have a free club. So, people are, you know, for, they want to come and check it out [00:31:13] and not have to pay, come and check it out. And as a laughter leader, I've incorporated different healing modalities like tapping and brain gym and all of the, all that, all these healing modalities, because I know people need to get out of stress and that's my goal, to serve again another way.
And during COVID you know, I was really getting called to bring laughter. I'm a natural I'm uh really really great. I'm really great at this. And so I would just was getting so many, so many requests for paid laughter gigs. Corporations, cancer clinics, hospice, with special needs again, I was telling her about my project with special needs and I, and so I realized, wow.
If you're, if you're in a mental crisis, you can't even think about anything else. You can't think about. Oh, the plan that I better do something for the planet, or maybe I can go volunteer somewhere. You really can't even think about helping somebody else. You need to help yourself first.
Rabiah (Host): I hundred percent agree [00:32:13] with that. I think there's Brené Brown, do you know
her? Yeah. A while ago she was saying about how you can't really give to others. And if you don't give to yourself, like if you haven't filled yourself up, you can't.
And I w I had to reflect on, on something recently, a death of a family member from my brother from a long time ago, but I had to reflect on it for a thing I was working on. And I found myself doing the thing where I did laugh at some memories, right? Cause you, you think with that, you have to always be sad.
And I was talking to someone else about that recently too. Like you don't always have to be sad about the person who's gone. You can also laugh and enjoy the memories. I think that people forget that even when you are sad or down, it's still okay to feel okay in some ways too. And I think thinking about if someone is going to your session, it's almost giving them permission to do something they're not giving themselves permission to do.
Do
Cathy Nesbitt: Absolutely. Yes. Yes. And [00:33:13] people come and they say, okay like it's really hard. This is hard to laugh. So it's like, just allow yourself. It's really giving yourself permission because doctors being squished out of us, you know, but, but um, addressing the thing about somebody that's died, you know, I hear from people that have lost their spouse and sometimes people are so afraid to mention that person again, and they just want to hear their name.
Like it's, it's really okay to mention them because they were a big part of their life. You know, I've been married for, well, I think it's 33 years, 30, 40. I did a long time decades, a long time. Right.
Who seeks? So I want you to get a prize.
Um,
you know, w I really hope that we die at the same time cause I can't imagine being without him.
But, but if, if he goes before me, I, I definitely don't want him to just disappear and people to not be afraid to mention. So I'm very mindful now when I see people that have lost a spouse or something, I, I am [00:34:13] like, you know, I asked them, is it okay if we talk about them. You know, cause sometimes they might still, it might still be too tender, but you know, just, just ask people, Hey, do you want to talk about your mom? Or, you know, your uncle or whatever? Cause sometimes it is very comforting. Like, you know, death is part of what we're going through. We're all gonna end up there.
So we really do need to be okay with. And live. We've gotta live, you know. Everyone's talking about, oh, you know, whatever dying, or you only live, you only live once. No, actually we only die once. You live every day. We've got it switched around. We die once we live every day so let's get on with living.
Rabiah (Host): I really liked that. That that's probably the episode title too.
Cathy Nesbitt: Yay.
Rabiah (Host): you go. So for you in your practice, do you practice every day, this the laughter yoga? Like, do you do your own practice yourself or what other things do you maybe do also for mindfulness and stuff?
Cause you seem pretty grounded.
Cathy Nesbitt: [00:35:13] Oh, yes. I'm I'm my, thank you. Yes. My my social media feed is flooded with positive healing summits and I'm addicted to them so I go to them all and then I share that, that information. That's really interesting. Okay. Yeah,
every day I meditate every day I walk, I have good thoughts. I do laughter yoga every day.
I do tap in brain gym, Qi gong,. I, I really do all these healing things. And I think working from home for 20 years so that, so when we got locked down, that wasn't the hard part for me. The hard part for me was actually going out and going grocery shopping or going out and seeing people in masks and, you know, walking down the street, down the sidewalk, and then people have some people like cross to the other side of the street, like, like I'm a leper or something.
Cause I know at the beginning we didn't know what was happening. It's been so divisive this time so I really think that it's essential that we take care of our mental health, that we do these [00:36:13] practices. And I would say, Limit your time watching the news. We do need to know what's happening, but you know, you don't need all the details.
Rabiah (Host): right. Yeah, I agree. I, I definitely had to cut myself off from my habits. I would listen to four or five podcasts every single day. The first thing, that was what I did to figure out what was going on, but that was also through, you know, what we had going on at US prior to the pandemic and with, with the person I won't even name this point, but everyone knows who it is.
And so who's now back in the news but that was hard, you know, just to, just to listen to that all the time and to have this need to have the knowledge, but also then to be constantly upset and constantly stressed all the time. And so now it's like, oh, I can still get the news, but in a healthier way or a healthier amount or increments, or do something first, like meditate or something in the morning, then go into the day and not just start off with, turn on the podcast in bed and start listening, right?
Cathy Nesbitt: Right. [00:37:13] Yes. Very important Robbie, because how you start your day sets the tone for the day. So if you hear news, you know, I, I say to people, you know, sometimes when we get a message on social media, somebody that we don't even know has commented and written something that's offensive that we take offense to, and we get all upset and we start composing a message. Right?
And you don't even freaking know the person, like move on, like scroll on by, because it's only affecting us. We get all upset and we're like, oh, I, and we started composing a message. It's like, do some deep breaths. Move along, like, and then go, do I know that person, do I care what they think? Okay, good. Move along.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, that's good. Yeah. And I even got cut up and I posted something the other day and then someone commented and I know that they were meaning well, but they, it really went all over me because it was kind of not showing up. But they, to me, it was showing empathy just to the person who actually did the thing to [00:38:13] me.
And, but I know they didn't mean to, they were just trying to make a point like, oh, are you getting both sides? But it's like, I was one of those. And so then I wrote back and then they wrote back and then I wrote back and it's just, now, now it's just this negative energy that's sitting there on Facebook, you know?
And
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah.
Rabiah (Host): just, it's a bummer, right? Because now I don't even know that. I think the person's probably mad at me or maybe they're not, I don't know, but that's energy. I'm carrying too, right? And so I agree that it's healthier just to not engage. Once someone said something. You know, unless you really have to, but like I could have just left it.
It would have been better.
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah. I mean, this it's social media is designed to get a response and it's so good at it. It's so good at inciting us. Like that's, that's what they want for us to engage, right? And so when do you engage when you're emotional? If you don't care, you're like, oh, I don't care. So you don't engage.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah, that's true. That's true. [00:39:13] Well, this has been, this is really great. And I think you've said a lot. That's really meaningful and good advice just embedded in what we've talked about, but do you have any advice or mantra that you just like to share with people?
Cathy Nesbitt: I would love for people to just kind of lighten up. Just be easier on yourself. Love yourself a little.
Rabiah (Host): Cool. So I have a set of questions called the fund five, so we'll just go through those now. What's the oldest t-shirt you have and still wear if you even wear a t-shirt it's I don't know. It's not everyone's style.
Cathy Nesbitt: I do actually, when I started my worm business somebody suggested if I was going to be vending to get. T-shirts so my oldest t-shirt is my company shirt. It's Cathy's Crawly Composters. Has my website on the back. I mean, it would be funny if I gave them to you know, the alvation army or something. I saw people walking around with my company shirt.
That would be fun.
Rabiah (Host): We, we had something like that happen at a company I worked for. It was not great advertising at [00:40:13] the, in the end. So, okay. So it seemed a lot and you talked about a little bit about your experience. You were already working from home, but just going out for walks was hard.
And I had the same experience if every day was really Groundhog's Day, like it seemed back then, what song would you have your alarm clock set to play every morning?
Cathy Nesbitt: Well, I don't use an alarm clock. It's been years, but if I did have an alarm clock my song would be Hope Is Coming by the Naeimi Children's Choir.
And just, and it is my Anthem. I actually played that song every day and I sing and dance to it every single day. My poor husband. I hope he likes it too.
Rabiah (Host): Now, now we're trying to see who deserves the award, but we'll see. Okay. All right. Coffee or tea or neither?
Cathy Nesbitt: Actually how about both? I do enjoy both, but coffee.
Rabiah (Host): coffee. Yeah. Do you have your coffee any specify way?
Cathy Nesbitt: I actually, I'm a drinker of Organo Reishi Mushroom Coffee.
Rabiah (Host): Okay.
Cathy Nesbitt: I drink it black.
Rabiah (Host): Nice. Okay. And can you think, well, this, I mean, this is kind of a silly question for you, but it's really the question that I ask is can you think of a time you laughed so hard, you cried or something that [00:41:13] it just gets you going, but you kind of laugh anyway. So.
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah. I laugh every day. So, I would say, yeah, the last time was this morning. I have a laughter buddy. I start my day with four minutes of laughter every morning. And it, you know, it might be, people might be thinking, oh, four minutes. What's that? Yeah. Just try laughing for one full minute full on like ha not just giggling, like, just like full on. I have rock-hard apps from laughing,
Rabiah (Host): Wow. I should. Yeah. It seems like something that's more doable than sit-ups
Cathy Nesbitt: right? It is. It
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Cause you have to do eight minute abs if you do sit ups is eight minute abs, so you can do four minute abs. So you really, you really did invent four minute abs now. Good.
Cathy Nesbitt: Whew.
Rabiah (Host): That was in some movie. Was it There's Something About Mary or something, they talked about that, but yeah. . You've got it. Okay. And the last one who inspires you right now?
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah, I would have to there's there's many people there's many, especially during this cuckoo time, there's lots of people to, to look at. I would say staying on the environmental theme, I would have to go with Greta Thunberg at this [00:42:13] time. Um, she's like incredible, you know, at such a young age to stand up against the powers that be.
And and to lead that Friday school strike and make it a global mission and become a world, you know, a household name. Greta. yeah. Greta for PM. Yeah. think she should
run the world.
Rabiah (Host): great. And she gets, she gets bullied a lot too online, like a lot and she just still go going and yeah, it's really something.
Cathy Nesbitt: Yeah, It's, it's a challenge. You know, you've made it when you have haters and I have some haters. And I think it's like, how could you hate someone that's like...
Rabiah (Host): yeah.
Cathy Nesbitt: I've got world hunger and world peace solve with my two branches. Like, how could you hate someone that ha that's trying to solve world hunger or world peace?
I don't know.
Although I think that the reason that people that are kind of like, you know, dissing on Greta or whatever it's because look at what she's doing now, what am I going to do? Like, [00:43:13] oh, how am I going to, oh, now she's making all the 15 year old sound look bad. I know she's probably 17 or 18 now, but.
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Still young.
Cathy Nesbitt: Right. You know, and it's I say that I know we're over, but it's like, if somebody smokes and they're like, declare to their friends, Hey, I'm going to quit smoking.
And all their smoker friends are like, Yeah.
sure. You want to go for a smoke?
Rabiah (Host): Yeah. Yeah. Oh,
Cathy Nesbitt: Like, remember last time you, you can't do it. Come on. Because if you quit smoking, then what, what happens to them now? They got to quit or now it's uncomfortable for them.
Rabiah (Host): yeah, no, that's true. That's a good point. Well, this has been really a lot of fun talking to you, Cathy, and learning more about worms and composting and laughter yoga. So thanks so much. How do you want people to find you online? Where do you want them to follow you, but
Cathy Nesbitt: Probably my worm website is the easiest it's Cathys composters dot com (cathyscomposters.com). And everything's there.
Rabiah (Host): All your social media and I'll link to everything anyway, in the show notes so people can find them there. Cool. Well, thanks so much for chatting with me. Really appreciate it.
Cathy Nesbitt: Thank you, [00:44:13] Rabiah.
Rabiah (Host): Thanks for listening. You can learn more about the guest and what was talked about in the show notes. Joe Maffia created the music you're listening to. You can find him on Spotify at Joe M A F F I A. Rob Metke does all the design for which I am so grateful. You can find him online by searching Rob M E T K E.
Please leave review if you'd like to show. And get in touch if you have feedback or guest ideas. The pod is on all the social channels at at more than work pod (@morethanworkpod) or at Rabiah comedy on TikTok. And the website is more than work pod dot com (morethanworkpod.com). While being kind to others, don't forget to be kind to yourself.
