Natalie Forstbauer is a TEDx speaker, award-winning entrepreneur, author, organic/biodynamic farmer and traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor. She is passionate about human potential and seeing people live their best lives. 

Raised on an organic farm, trained in Polarity Therapy, alternative medicine, Neurofeedback and Transformational Leadership she brings a wealth of knowledge and life experience to her audiences and clients.

In 2003 Natalie acquired a life changing brain injury.

Gardening and farming with a brain injury showed her healing is not always about "fixing what we perceive to be broken". Compassion and grace can to turn brain injuries and adversity into brain upgrades and new opportunities. 

Getting dirty in the fields, taking equipment apart and leaning into the powerful wisdoms of nature, Natalie learned what it is to nurture and harvest one's gifts and to compost adversity into something meaningful and valuable.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Heart & Soil Magazine she brings together quality information and advice on regenerative agriculture and global health. 

Free copy of my book, Health in a Hurry, Simple Solutions for the Time Starved

www.healthinahurry.com 

www.heartandsoilmagazine.com 

Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/NatalieForstbauer

https://www.instagram.com/natalieforstbauer/

TEDx Brain Injury to Brain Upgrade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AinF06mBUhs

Welcome to the GREEN Organic Gardener Podcast. Today. It is Friday, June 19, 2020, and what a day and the most exciting thing was you can't wait for this. The amazing Patti Armbrister actually came to our place and let me take video footage of her telling us what's going on in our garden, what we can do to improve it and just all the great things Mike's doing right. Also the Apple pruning trips and we're in touch with somebody else.

You can see that episode here:https://mikesgreengarden.com/2020/07/12/patti-armbrister-at-mikes-green-garden-with-the-green-organic-garden-podcast-fortine-mt/

So we all know Patti Armbrister is an amazing soil specialist. Today. We are going to talk to somebody else. Who's also going to talk about the importance of healthy soil.

So my guest today is a TEDx speaker and award-winning entrepreneur and author and organic biodynamic farmer and traumatic traumatic brain injury survivor, which is something super passionate to me because we had a first grader at my school, get hit by a car going 40 miles an hour, crossing the highway, getting off the bus. And she is recuperating down in Texas after being in a coma and had major.

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I was born and raised on an organic and biodynamic farm in BC, British Columbia, Canada in the phrase of Valley. So my parents were pioneers in the organic industry in, in Canada and really in North America, my mom was recognized throughout the organic industry and they helped put together the guiding principles for certification and verification of organic farming. And I kind of grew up, you know, the girl who went to school with odd ball lunches and a homemade everything. And I had Apple juice instead of Kool-Aid And I thought Kool-Aid was the best thing until I actually tried it and I was mortified and I was actually really grateful for the, the pressed Apple juice.

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And, and then I'm not sure I should really laugh about that because there are a lot of kids who grow up drinking Kool-Aid because it's affordable and they can't afford that super delicious Apple juice.

So that's right. And it's really though Jackie, because

00:08:56

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We also didn't grow up. Like we never had juices in our house. We drank water and Apple juice was huge street. It was only at the end of the season when we press the apples that were kind of, that were, you know, that were seconds. Or, or if we had like an excess amount of apples, then we got to make Apple juice. And then it was really coveted. Like it was not something we got all the time, but it was like our treat. And so we didn't get it all the time, but we were really blessed to have gotten it. And, and that was, you know, that was one of the only treats we didn't have juice or anything like that.

00:09:28

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And I always felt so ripped off until I actually tried that Koolaid. And I was like, what?

This is it, it looks really pretty, but it doesn't taste so good.

Like the difference between the, you know, it's like party in the mouth when you have something really fresh and, and like living in and full of nutrients. And it was this kind of flat and foreign the Koolaid.

So anyways, so that was very similar experience with like

Like my mom wouldn't buy that. It was just because she just wasn't going to, she did let us buy soda pop, but not a lot of it, you know, but yeah, I was surprised at Kool-Aid like when you would taste it like birthday parties and be like, I was like totally as such a downer.

00:10:14

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So super disappointing. So anyways, I grew up on this organic farm and we ran around barefoot and we all worked in the fields. I'm the oldest of 12 kids as well. And so it was it. And we all, I was big family and, and, and super intentional. My parents intentionally, they both wanted to have a large family and they, and they really included us in the farming operations.

Blueberry Girl

I was like looking after the blueberry fields that you pick and the end looking after the pickers at the age of 11 and, and, you know, taking people's money when they came and picked vegetables and berries and giving them change and all that kind of stuff. So really empowering.

And then in 1989, we moved from Chilliwack BC to no, pardon me from Masley BC to Chilliwack BC. And it was really profound because I had grown up on an organic farm. So I only knew organic soil. I only knew weeds everywhere and, you know, having to like, well, my hands are in the dirt all the time weeding.

So when we moved out to Chilliwack, we bought a, my parents purchased a farm that had been used for like dairy farming and conventional dairy farming. So it's been sprayed heavily with different chemicals and Roundup and that type of thing.

And I remember walking onto the ground onto the farm and noticing the dirt was just like dirt and I will call it dirt was really dry. And I was like, huh, interesting.

And then the first thing I did, I was about 18 at the time, was I wanted go and find worms because I wanted to take my little brothers and sisters fishing in the Creek. Well, it wasn't Creek. It was like a ditch kind of a waterway that ran along the property.

00:12:01

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Fishing without worms?

And in Matzke where we were moving from wheat, we, we grew up with a stream that we used for fishing, just for fun. We never really caught anything. And, and you know, on this new property, we scoured the entire 110 acres for a worm.

We turned over every piece of wood. There was, we dug along the barns, we dug along the house and there was nothing like not one worm on the whole property!

And that was super foreign to me because I was used to worms everywhere. And not only were there no worms, but I noticed there were no bugs. And I was like, this is weird.

00:12:32

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I wonder if this is what it's like to like touch the surface of the moon, because it was that it was that vacant.

Where'd all the bugs go?

Mike and I were talking about how, when you sit, drive in Montana, your windshield would be covered with bugs. You know, you couldn't drive from Eureka to Whitefish, which is like 45 minutes. And that just doesn't happen anymore!

Wow. That's amazing because my I'm going, my girlfriend was saying that her friend who's not into like organic, anything really was driving through just, I can't remember what part of it's a States through Seattle, just East of Seattle and through like Idaho or Eastern Washington or Spokane Eastern Washington and she's, and I'd go down there all the time, every year.

00:13:30

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And she was saying the same thing. She said, it was so weird. She said, not one bug hit the windshield. And she said, usually it's covered. And she's like, every, but there's nothing like nothing. Like they didn't have to wash a windshield once on a six hour drive.

And so now we have to wash our windshield from like this like film that gets on there! But anyway, I didn't want to throw you off.

What you're saying is super powerful because that's what I experienced with the earth, right.

00:14:00

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With the soil. And then as we farmed it, I got to actually see it wake up and come back to life. And before that, I just was like, Oh yeah, organic farming. It's supposed to be better. I'm told it's better. And the food does taste better, even though at the time it might not have been the prettiest.

But then to experience the earth coming back to life was probably one of the most powerful and profound things to witness.

Like Jackie, it was, it was, it was like an awakening for me on a cellular and ethers level, because I didn't not know.

00:14:45

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I did not understand that the soil is a living organism that the soil can actually heal itself.

And it's nothing that we

00:14:52

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Did or didn't do in terms of, Ooh, we made it better. It was just nature taking care of itself and really like leading us to where it wanted to be when it's supported. So anyways, that changed my experience with soil and organic farming. And I got to really witness the power of nature.

Right. Well, that is just awesome. And like I said, it couldn't be more timely because yesterday Patti was here picking up our soil and like, I managed to like, turn my phone on video record and just kind of like, cause I could not take notes fast enough for what she was saying, but she really like went into the specifics about what's feeding your soil and how this is like, what's going on here.

00:15:37

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What's going on underneath here and all the micro organisms and micro, what is it? Or is it nematodes? And just all, exactly all the living soil, things that are going on. And she just explained it so well, like I was like, I could listen to you say this like 25 times before this is going to actually register.And I can still remember like Elaine Dr. Ingham much of this when I interviewed her.

00:16:08

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And, but it does take a lot to, for humans to grasp this. Like we just like look at soil and we think, Oh, it's Brown dirt. You know, we kind of know, I think most people know that you need worms, you know, the more worms, the healthier your soil, at least my listeners. I think a lot of them know that part. But yeah, so much of what you're saying is so powerful!

What, I guess I'm sure it's about your brain injury because not only did the student, but like Patty just told me about this guy, Brian. Nope. Jim Kwik, have you heard of him? He has this quick brain podcast and he also had some kind of traumatic brain injury

that's right. When he was quite young. Yeah. So, but you're going to tell us about how, how gardening and things help with that, right? Yes. Yeah. Do you have any questions that you want to start off with there Jackie or?

No. I mean like, I'm just curious, like what happened or,

okay, well, so in 2003, I was, I had just written my first book.

I was published in two other books and, and I just published my own first book is called Health in a Hurry, Simple Solutions for the Time-starved.

Get your free copy here: https://www.natalieforstbauer.com/healthinahurryebook

And I, I set up a special page so people can get a free copy of it. And I'll share that with you later. But anyway, so it was online. Yeah, I was, I had also met an organic farmer and we would just such a good fit for one another. And, and so I was in the process of moving out to Saskatchewan when to, to, to be a part of his farm and to a part of his,

00:17:50

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His business. And we had already married our businesses and we had already planned to merit our life together. And we were on the way back from Saskatchewan to BC to pick up for my book lunch. And on the way there, Jackie, we picked up, I think like 1500 copies of my book from the printer and a few hours after that, early in the morning with a light snowfall, my ground, we just accidentally went off the side of the road and over the side of the mountain.

00:18:22

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And if anyone's listening knows where the spiral tunnels are by field BC, that's where it happened. And, and so the tow truck driver said it took about 240 feet of cable to pull us back up and out. So that's where I landed with the brain injury. And before, before the brain injury, I was interest into organic farming.

I, I just, can't not interrupt. And just ask her, how was, how was your partner?

00:18:53

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Yeah, thanks for asking. He, you know, he was, how was he? He, he got whiplash and like had, I think some type of compressed, like fresher in his lower back. And so he was okay. Like, it's amazing when you see the vehicle, the, when we went to go get some stuff out of the vehicle, the people, the week that at the yard, we thought that people didn't make it because of the back of the truck was appealed. The roof of the truck was peeled back.

00:19:23

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The back cab was completely compressed. It was the, vehicle's a mess. And for us to survive, it was a miracle up like the hands of God and the angels literally had to catch us when we landed A bigger purpose. And you're here to share your message today and in the future and the message that you're sharing. Yeah. Yeah. So, so the brain injury was man, it was, it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever gone through my life because before the brain injury, I had a really easy, I CA I mean, there's lots of things that happened that were hard in life, but I just had that tapestry within which, where I always felt like I was looked after, and if I wanted something, I just go after it and I get it.

00:20:20

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And so I can manifest really quickly and I could heal, like if I was injured, I could heal myself really quickly. And my training was in alternative medicine. So I'd experienced like spontaneous healing and stuff like that. And I just, I had, I had, I had an easy life, but I had like a pretty effortless, effortless existence up until then. And then the brain injury hit and I couldn't fix myself. Like I couldn't, it didn't matter how many visualizations I did or how much I changed my thinking or how hard I focused on remembering something.

00:20:59

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I was still falling on my face. I was still not remembering people. I met, I was still leaving a trail behind me of unfinished things. I was still leaving the burner on and, and, you know, boiling pots dry, even though I would have reminders put around, I would still miss some phone appointments and appointments period, unless somebody called me right before it. And even if somebody called me before the appointment to remind me about the appointment, if it wasn't at the time of the appointment, and it was five minutes later, I'd still miss the appointment.

00:21:29

Milled Flax Packages

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It was just, it was almost crazy-making. And so there came a point and I was still working with our organic farm out in Saskatchewan and, and doing my best with that. And, you know, odd things were happening, Jackie, like we were, we had a, a line of, of milled flax that we sold into stores across Canada.

00:22:01

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And so an example of how the brainer jury was showing up is we had labels, of course, the front and back and on the back is it says how many calories are on the package? And I don't remember what the number was. I think it was like 25 calories per tablespoon or per three tablespoons.

And all of a sudden the name, the number was changed to 125 calories per tablespoon. And I was like, and, and the only reason I found out is because one of our customers called us and said, why does your flax has so many calories in it? Because no other flex does.

00:22:32

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And I, and so I looked, I could not believe that that was, had happened. And so I called the design company and I called the printing company. I totally took a piece out of them and was furious at their mistake. Like, how could they do that? Why would they do that?

And, and everything has to be signed off on. And, you know, finally we, and they said that I did it and I adamantly denied that. And then I was in a conversation with my sister about it and she just reflected back to me. She said, you know, Natalie, sometimes like sometimes your brain flips things and maybe, maybe have you ever considered that it was you who changed that number?

00:23:15

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And I'm like, yeah, but why would I do that? She's like, well, yeah, it might be something to consider kind of thing.

So she told me without telling me, and then I went back and I, and I, at that point I had the capacity to be able to see more how I was showing up. And it totally was me. I randomly like change the number and signed off on it.

And not only like, was it just a mistake with a number, but it was also like financially cost us a lot of money. Cause now we have to print new labels and also it, it,

it costs me more, my confidence, I was starting to doubt who I was, how I showed up.

00:23:56

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And it was, it was traumatizing to think you're one way and think you're a person and then just be showing up totally differently. And to be seeing that and witnessing it over and over and over again

I worked for a printer for a long time. I can totally imagine that whole, the whole thing. Right. I...