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© 2023 SPARK, A Mother-Daughter Journey
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Hi, this is Jenny Kierstead and Sophia Rae, a Mother-Daughter duo. We’ve been through a lot together the last few years. As we moved through COVID self-isolation, we also dealt with our own traumatic grief from the massacre here in NS, which claimed the life of Jenny’s sister, and Sophia’s Aunt, Lisa McCully. We decided to channel our desire to spark a light amidst the darkness by creating this podcast.Our hope for this podcast is to ignite honest, whole-hearted conversations that bridge the generational gap, heal trauma and light the path for a healthy, united future.
24 Episodes
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In this episode, Sophia and I discuss the epidemic of loneliness, which millions are suffering from around the world.We open with the surprising detrimental effects that loneliness has on our mental and physical health, like how it rewires our brains and increases inflammation markers.What's tricky about loneliness, however, is that we often can't just go out and remedy the issue, because it's contingent on our social skills, the nature of our communities and the proximity of loved ones. Comp...
This stellar conversation is the fourth and final episode (for now) with our champion guest speaker, Sophia's Dad, and my hubby, Blair Abbass. We begin with updates on our lives since we chose to postpone our pod to give our chat with Cindy Thompson from A Resilience Project Podcast its full moment in the sun. It was a difficult one, but a beautifully honest chat on our journey and how we're doing post trauma. If you haven't listened yet, visit: We also had the honor of speaking with Nan...
In this third episode of our four part mini series on relationships with therapist, mindfulness teacher and educator, Blair Abbass, we discuss everything from dysfunctional relationships and red flags to healthy connections and green flags. We each share three red flags that arouse a sense of caution in us, such as addiction, criticism and lack of accountability. Given that Blair is my husband and Sophia's dad, we all found this conversation enlightening as we learned something we didn't know...
In this touching and informative family conversation, we discuss the popular phrase 'law of attraction' with regards to attracting partnerships. I start off by reminding us that our intimate relationships are the most important choice we'll ever make, so it's worth our time and reflection. Our guest, Blair Abbass (my husband and Sophia's father), shares about his conditioned attraction to blond haired, blue eyed women because of his catholic upbringing and the loving nurse that cared for him ...
Join us for our Summer 2023 Wrap up and Reflection!The practice of 'recapitulation' is a meaningful way of closing any experience, or season. Reflecting on the last season helps us to deepen our insight and savour the goodness we've enjoyed. This is what Sophia and I discuss in this episode, as we share:1. A peak experience2. A lesson learned3. A funny memory. Neither one of us knew what story we were going to share so it was a fun surprise.Tune in for an insightful, honest and...
In this episode with our repeat guest, the one and only Blair Abbass, we share a surprisingly serious and deep conversation about intimate relationships. After 22 years of being together, we continue to refine and define our partnership, and we share the details of our winning formula. As a witness to our relationship, and a participant within the family unit, Sophia has unique observations and insights that she also contributes, like our relentless willingness to return to love and let the p...
In this moving and emotional episode, Sophia and I have a very real conversation about the prevalence of self-harm (TW).We want to be clear that we discuss this topic in it's broadest sense, not by what is presented in the DSM-5, which describes self-harm as:Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), is defined as the deliberate, self-inflicted destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent, which includes behaviors such as cutting, burning, biting and scratching skin.We chose to discuss this topic ...
In this exciting SPARK episode, we chat with the one of a kind duo, singer/songwriter Meaghan Smith and her producer husBAND, Jason Mingo. It's fascinating to hear about them starting out, living and working in LA with the likes of renowned producer Greg Kurstin (who also worked with Pink and Tegan), and how Jason found inspiration in his modest recording set up that still enabled him to produce stellar work. Jason's work recently earned him the ECMA Musician Achievement Award.But aside ...
In this moving and frankly, inspiring conversation, this mother-daughter duo discusses the challenges and rewards involved in pursuing your own passions, even and especially when they lie outside of the cultural norm. This topic arose from Sophia's first big keynote speech that she did for the Mental Health Symposium in NB a few weeks ago (at the age of 17).I share about my difficult, yet fascinating journey of traveling to India to discover yoga and mindfulness and how my life, Sophia's life...
In this very special Mother's Day episode, we chat with Emily Kierstead, my (Jenny's) mother, Sophia's grandmother and a woman who's lost three of her four children. The three generations discuss Mom's early years when she bravely left NB to attend theological college in Toronto, which women didn't commonly do back then, and how that experience shaped her career in ministry and teaching. She speaks tenderly about her first child, Jennifer, who was stillborn at full term and the fai...
In this beautiful conversation on the sometimes frightening yet necessary experience of change, we open with our stories of change and how important they were for our personal growth and alignment of our true path.We then reference and unpack the beloved Jewish, Austrian psychiatrist and nazi concentration camp survivor, Dr. Victor Frankl, who once said “Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstanc...
In this crazy amazing episode, Sophia and her bestie, Mylene Cormier, share two different conversations, a year apart. The first one is when they were both 15 and the second one was recorded a year later. In these chats, they openly discuss friendship, motivation, body image issues, depression, anxiety and perfectionism and more.Despite their youthful ages, they speak with clarity and wisdom about the struggles of being a girl and a female athlete in today's world. If you have teens...
In this episode, this mother-daughter duo discusses the uncomfortable, yet necessary topic of conflict and confrontation. Sophia starts us off with a quote from the Guardian: “Confrontation is the willingness to address difficult topics, while conflict is the willingness to engage in tense interpersonal relationships” We discuss our relationship with conflict and confrontation and marvel at the generational differences in how we react to them (hint, Sophia’s great with confrontation, Jen...
They're back!!! After a short hiatus from podcasting, this mother-daughter duo comes back together to update you, our listeners, on their lives now. Sophia candidly shares about her struggle to come to the decision to take accutane, the hefty acne medication, and what it was like being on it. She bravely speaks about her experience with therapy and how it supported her journey through this very challenging period in her life. The conversation then shifts to Mom, where Jenny shares about ...
In this podcast episode, Jenny and Sophia chat with beloved educator Colleen Shannon.Colleen is an extraordinary educator who commands a lot from her students and gives a lot in return. Sophia knows this well because she was taught by Colleen in grade 9. Colleen shares how yoga changed her perspective on what's possible in the classroom, which spurred her on to do her second Masters in Counselling. Jenny clearly remembers Colleen's Yoga Teacher Training and Girl on Fire Trai...
This very special episode, recorded on Mother's Day, is a candid conversation between hosts Jenny and Sophia AND Sophia's younger sister, Bella Rose. After a few minutes of awe inspiring details of Bella's cooking creations, Bella bravely shares about her dyslexia diagnosis. What for many would be a life changing setback, she's learned to view her learning disability as a quality that makes her unique. Bella reminds us not to let our struggles define us and offers concrete strategies for...
*Potential Sensitive Content Warning*We are thrilled to introduce Dan Millman, who’s been transforming humanity for over 40 years, with his dedicated work on personal development and human potential. Author of PEACEFUL HEART, WARRIOR SPIRIT: the True Story of my Spiritual Quest, Dan is a former world trampoline champion, Stanford University gymnastics coach, martial arts instructor, and college professor. His 18 books are published in 29 languages and his first book, Way of the Peaceful Warri...
In this episode, Sophia and Jenny share reflections on their public speaking to a school in NB, and have a good chuckle at Jenny’s rather intense approach to health and healing with grade eights. They discuss the training opportunities coming up with Women of Light and Girl on Fire Empowerment, and share some excitement about their upcoming visit to California. The conversation with Strong Beauty author, Karen Furneaux begins with the acknowledgment of what a generous and kind person Kar...
As the Public Inquiry into the mass shooting of April 18-19th was approaching, the Mass Casualty Commission asked the public how the massacre has affected their lives?Sophia shares honestly about how unrecognizable she was right after the events. She withdrew from socialization for a year and a half and dealt with her feelings of hopelessness and fear by micro-managing her environment with A LOT of OCD tendencies. We talk about big picture questions, like "Why now, with the girls so...
In this episode, we interview my husband and Sophia's Dad, Blair Abbass. He's an award winning educator, therapist and mindfulness expert whose survived a trainwreck and many other close calls, leaving him convinced that there is a greater purpose to his life.Blair candidly shares the challenges he faced growing up with a Dad who lived with untreated PTSD from fighting in World War 2, which led to alcoholism in the family. He shares how he developed resilience at an early age and the pr...
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