Healthy Chicks

Happy April, beauties! The sun is out, and I’m totally feeling that energy of spring — the lightness, positive changes flowing and sense of life and beauty in nature. How about you?

Anyway, I’m excited to introduce you to this month’s feature on Healthy Chicks in the Community, a series highlighting rockstar Girl Bosses doing their thang in the wellness community. Marybeth Keener is a healthcare practitioner (trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine), wellness enthusiast and Owner of Meadowbrook Estate, a beautiful retreat and event venue nestled in the Connecticut countryside.

In this interview, we chat about stress relief techniques, her eyeopening adventure to China, and why she sees her ADD as a blessing instead of a hindrance. Want more? Marybeth will be hosting an all-inclusive wellness retreat this May with farm-to-table meals, yoga, sound healing, workshops and more!

  

NAME: Marybeth Keener

DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS/LINE OF WORK: Owner of Meadowbrook Estate, an elegant retreat and event venue in Connecticut. I’m also the host of Wellness Through Balance Wellness Retreats!

WHERE YOU LIVE: Marlborough, CT

INTENTIONS/GOALS YOU HAVE FOR YOURSELF IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS: Our goal in the next three years is to have Meadowbrook Estate established as a premier venue rental for events — incuding wellness and corporate workshops, retreats, showers and wedding weekends in the summer season!

ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’D TELL YOUR CHILDHOOD SELF: Learn healthy stress relief techniques!

FOODS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL ALIVE & BRING THE MOST JOY: I absolutely love vegetables of any kind, especially roasted with olive oil! I’m not a big fan of fruits believe it or not; if I crave something sweet, I will have a clementine or a bite of something sweet and I never feel guilty about it– it’s all about being in balance!

SONG THAT MOVES YOU: I know that it’s cheesy, but the National Anthem. I am unapologetically patriotic, and cry when I hear it being sung by a crowd.

THREE FAB THINGS ABOUT YOU:
1. My ADD: To some, it may be a hindrance but I would never have done the adventurous things I’ve done without having that kind of brain. I would never have owned my own business, traveled to all the places I’ve been, and taken some of the risks/rewards without it.
2. My meditation and yoga practice has helped significantly with taming my monkey mind, and I feel that I have laser-focus now on things that need to be done (another byproduct of ADD is actually a laser-focus on things that interest you )
3. My healthcare practitioner in Traditional Chinese Medicine. I actually went to China to learn this as there were no schools on the East Coast years ago, plus my adventurous side enjoyed going straight to the source! That knowledge combined with my modern nutrition science background (nutrition biochemist) has made me a unique provider of nutritional knowledge.

FAVORITE BODY PART & WHY: My legs, as they keep me running, and are the strong base for my tai qui, Qi gong, yoga and meditation practices.

I GET MY INSPIRATION FROM: My meditation practice

EXERCISE THAT MAKES YOU SHINE: Running, as it has always helped me feel better. Again, everything in balance so I only run three days per week for about 4-5 miles, then yoga the other days. I exercise in the morning — even when I had 3 young children at home — because I know that a million things could come up the rest of the day that may interfere with my exercise. My exercise always comes first! If I don’t feel good, then I’m not of any value to anyone else.

SOMETHING IN YOUR “WELLNESS TOOLBOX” YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: I always carry in my mind the mental picture of a bucket in my chest where my stressed is stored. It’s actually true that most people store their muscle tension from stress in the chest and neck muscles. I have the goal of emptying that bucket as often as possible throughout the day, either through a quick meditation before eating (which also helps my digestion) or a few yoga stretches.

But most of all emptying that bucket in the morning so that it never fills to the top throughout the day anyway.You will find that if you don’t empty that bucket, eventually even just the smallest stress drop will set that bucket to overflowing. Once that starts, it’s really hard to stop and turn it all off. That’s why so many people are bewildered when just the smallest thing, that probably never bothered them normally, can set off a chain of stress events.

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Learning stress management techniques that have helped me to manage not only my own mental health, but helped me to deal with my loved ones mental health issues and attendant family stress. Also, helping my clients to find their way to a less stressful lifestyle!

FEMALE LEADER YOU LOOK UP TO: Michelle Obama

IF YOU COULD PICK ONE PERSON TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULD IT BE: I would love to have dinner with the Dali Lama! When I was studying Buddhism, he gave me such incredible inspiration.

MESSAGE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH OTHER HEALTHY CHICKS: My most important message to all is to take the time to be present. Put down the phone and actually be part of a moment. Also, stop and really look at what you are eating; never ever eat standing up or while doing something else. You lose contact with what you are eating, and lose out on one of life’s true joys — how our food tastes. Mindless eating always leads to overeating.