Balancing homeschooling, traveling, and staying healthy as a therapist might sound like a lot to juggle, but with the right mindset and strategies, it’s absolutely possible. Whether you’re managing a private practice on the road, teaching your kids from anywhere in the world, or trying to make sure you’re eating well and taking care of yourself, finding a rhythm that works can be a challenge.
In this episode of The Traveling Therapist Podcast, I sit down with Atara Parkinson, a therapist who has embraced this lifestyle while running a successful private practice. We dive into her approach to creating structure for her family, maintaining a thriving business, and prioritizing nutrition and self-care—even while constantly on the move. If you’ve been looking for ways to balance it all, this episode is packed with the best tips to help you make it work.
In This Episode, We Explore…
Connect with Atara:
https://www.ataraparkinson.com/
https://www.instagram.com/atara.parkinson
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565419883298
Connect with me:
Instagram: @thetravelingtherapist_kym
The Traveling Therapist Membership: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/travelingtherapistmembership
Revolutionize Your Private Practice with AI Course: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/ai
Signup to learn more about life as a Traveling Therapist: https://www.portablepracticemethod.com/free-training
The Traveling Therapist Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/onlineandtraveling/
Bill Like A Boss Insurance Billing Community: www.kymtolson.kartra.com/page/blab
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Kym: Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Traveling Therapist Podcast. Really excited today we have somebody with us named Atara Parkinson. Before I hit record, we were just like touching base because she's like near the Bozeman area. We lived there for a month and I just loved it up there.
[00:00:14] But Atara, thank you for coming. I always ask this question in the beginning, like how did you go from being a traditional therapist to a traveling therapist?
[00:00:22] Atara: Yes. Oh, that's a great question. And, by the way, thank you for having me.
[00:00:26] Kym: You're welcome.
[00:00:27] Atara: you. We were connecting on like, gosh, like the therapist world, right?
[00:00:32] And like how how do we all know each other
[00:00:34] Kym: and you know, Amberlyna, that's how you found me. Amber's Marketing Intensive,
[00:00:37] Atara: Oh, so good. So good. Hugely. Yeah. I didn't even have a website before
[00:00:43] this
[00:00:44] Kym: my
[00:00:44] Atara: I was able with the accountability there and what I learned to just like knock out a website and you know, like a month's time.
[00:00:49] So huge. Yeah. Life
[00:00:51] Kym: And your website
[00:00:52] Atara: out to Amber.
[00:00:53] Kym: Yeah, your website's
[00:00:54] Atara: you. Oh, you're
[00:00:55] Kym: at it before we hopped on. Yeah.
[00:00:58] Atara: right? You like pour, pour, pour, pour hours into this and you're like, yeah, it's here. So, how did I get traveling? Such a great question.
[00:01:05] I think I didn't even realize what was possible and I must have seen someone online doing it, and I was like, wait, what? why didn't I even think of that? I was raised overseas. I have parents who love traveling, so that's always been in my blood, in my genes, and I laugh that, like, as a child, I had seen more of other countries than I had ever seen of our, our United States.
[00:01:31] And now that we're up in Bozeman area, I'm from Southern California, but there's just so many options, right?
[00:01:39] And so many opportunities to get out and go and do and see things. And so. As we, transitioned our income, my husband left his job. He's Mr. Mom
[00:01:48] He stays with our four small children for most of the day. And I became quote, quote, the breadwinner and went. Wait, if we're not tied to anything right now, let's just start traveling.
[00:01:59] So last summer we bought our little travel trailer. And we drove down to southern California for a wedding and then spent six weeks on the road headed back towards Bozeman.
[00:02:12] So we went up. All the way through NorCal, hit Sequoia, Yosemite, drove to the coast, did like Bodega Bay area,
[00:02:21] Redwoods. Oh, it was so, I mean, magical. And so I would just like hop out of a session, right? You had a break and I would go just sit and hear the waves crash It was wonderful. You know, I, I say too, like what amazed me was we had four kids now they're eight, seven, five, and two. But 6 months ago, some of them were a little, you know, a little bit younger, but they didn't, ask for any toys that entire time.
[00:02:46] They didn't say, I miss this or that. They were just loving life and spent most of the day outside, adventuring, running around, exploring, and it was just so good, so good for me, so good for us as a family. And then we hit. Oregon coast. We had
[00:03:03] a pretty magical experience parking next to someone and they were like, Hey, we're crabbing.
[00:03:08] You want to go pull up the crab pots with us? And so we got to do that experience and then went across the Columbia river into inlands Washington and then up to quarter lane where my in laws live and then back across to Bozeman. And now, of course, we're planning our next adventure we're going to head down towards Texas area.
[00:03:27] Kym: Oh, I
[00:03:27] Atara: one of my kids, my oldest is like, I really want to see four corners, right? Where the States, I was like, all right, baby, let's, let's do it. Why not? Right. So that's how I got into this. And that was our first adventure is something I really value personally is freedom. And I think that this really offers an itches that scratch, if you will.
[00:03:46] Kym: Yes. And if you're anything like me, my first inkling that I could even do this was Amber Lida, that she's the one, you know, online therapist group. I never even knew it was a possibility until I found her in 2018. You know, she's like changed my whole life. I tell her about all the time.
[00:04:00] And now she's one of my best friends, which I feel so lucky about. But it's just, she is such an inspiration. you probably ran into her stuff too. I'm guessing. I
[00:04:07] Atara: I was going to say, I think I became a member of that group in like 2017.
[00:04:12] And I was so thankful because when COVID hit, I saw so many therapists struggle, right? With the transition to connecting through a video platform and like the pauses and how to engage. And I was really thankful.
[00:04:29] Oh my gosh. I had already had some exposure and some clients that did sessions online. So that wasn't as hard for me. And then when we made the switch completely, and also that's why we're in Bozeman, all my clients are in California,
[00:04:41] that's where I'm licensed, but I have the privilege of living wherever I want. And that's why actually we moved as well is because I had that flexibility.
[00:04:51] Kym: Did you just always want to go to Bozeman or were you just like, that sounds cool.
[00:04:54] Atara: it's a funny story. My husband was like, I need to get out of here. I need some open space. You know, he's
[00:04:59] a, complete opposite personality. Introvert would be so happy to be in a cabin in the woods and like see people twice a year. Right. Clearly I am not, that is not me. I love people. So we, we found a happy balance.
[00:05:10] And I, just kind of said, God will lead us, right. God will put us where he wants us. Yes. We almost ended up in Texas and then. The door shut there and he got a triple promotion at work where
[00:05:21] Kym: my gosh.
[00:05:21] Atara: think that means not now, but then he started applying again and he said, Oh, like Belgrade came up, which is right outside of Bozeman. And, I said, well, do the interviews. Let's see what, what's happened. I, Kim had been here once as a child
[00:05:37] as like a nine or 10 year old, but I remembered the nature
[00:05:43] that I experienced.
[00:05:44] Kym: It's so gorgeous there.
[00:05:45] Atara: on earth
[00:05:46] Kym: In the summer, I gotta
[00:05:48] Atara: You're right. Let's be honest about right. Six months out of the year.
[00:05:52] If you don't like snow, probably don't move here. Right. But Yeah. I I remembered it vividly. And so I just, I've always had an adventurous spirit. And so I said, Yeah. let's do it. And so we sold as much as we could, got a trailer, put as much as we could on that and drove up. And that was that.
[00:06:08] Kym: And then just like looked for a place to stay, like rented or bought
[00:06:11] Atara: I had done that? Yeah. I had done that before. So I looked
[00:06:14] for a place to rent. And so we rented for two years. And
[00:06:17] then again, by the grace of God Housing in Gallatin Valley is not cheap, and
[00:06:22] so it really was a blessing to be able to afford to buy, but that happened two years ago, and so
[00:06:28] now we own a home here, and that's kind of our home base for now and then we kind of venture out from home base.
[00:06:35] Kym: Yeah. Cause there's so many different types of traveling therapists. I try to emphasize that on this podcast. So much because people are like I could never do what you're doing. Like I need my home base I need my stuff, you know, and it's like you don't have to do it like this, you know I love hearing that like Hey this place called to me. We went there. We rent it for a little bit We decided we liked it and we stayed but going away for six weeks I mean, I guess you just button down the house or some people even rent their house out, you know.
[00:07:00] Okay, so, he's Mr. Mom, so I guess he got the job, but then decided to leave the job because, you know, that's the other question I get all the time. It's like, I can be totally mobile, but my husband or spouse cannot be, partner, whatever. Like, what do I do about that?
[00:07:13] So, , what was the decision process around that? And, like to even give people permission, listening, like, okay, let the other spouse quit, you know, Addie Whelan, I interviewed her on here a couple times. Her husband is a Mr. Mom. she runs her practice and does a coaching business and it works beautifully. So I'd love to just hear how that went or how it's going, you
[00:07:32] Atara: Yes. Well, so I, I mentioned we have four small children and our value has always been being present with them and sowing into their lives. And so for that reason, like we also homeschool and get to be with them in their learning experiences and. We just kind of looked at the reality, and the reality was he was going and working 40 hours a week for decent but not great pay, and then he would come home, and I would essentially throw the kids at him,
[00:08:05] and then transition to my clients that were all in the evenings and on the weekends at that point, and
[00:08:11] we were like, Passing ships in the night. we didn't see each other. We didn't really have a lot of connection. And that relationship is the foundation of the home and when that's not connected, it kind of sets It's up or has a ripple effect,
[00:08:25] which was our experience on the rest of the home, we wanted to be intentional in the opposite way of being connected.
[00:08:32] So we kind of had this talk and I said, he's a masculine man. Let me be very clear about that. So I thought never in a million years would he want to like not, be the provider or have an income. And so I asked him, I said. what do you think, would you ever want to, like, be this, quote unquote stay at homer? And he went, yeah, I'd love that. And I went,
[00:08:52] what?
[00:08:53] Kym: gosh. Wow.
[00:08:55] Atara: assumptions we make in life, right?
[00:08:57] About, about this or that. And we sometimes, I think, close ourself off. To so many possibilities because we have a preconceived notion of how it's going to be or how someone is going to show up and just asking, right, or being
[00:09:10] curious around something different opens up this whole other world.
[00:09:14] And I said, really? And he said, yeah. And so we kind of started to set things in motion. And for a few months I was building my caseload. Oh, my gosh. And that was with very limited hours. Right. And that
[00:09:25] was so hard. But eventually. He was like, okay, I'm going to do it. I'm going to put my two weeks in. And he did.
[00:09:32] And we've been, this has been our lifestyle for almost a year and a half.
[00:09:37] And again, it also opens up for us the possibilities of seeing, so much of the world that we're in. And just having freedom in those ways.
[00:09:47] Kym: Yes. And are you guys following a certain like homeschooling curriculum? Because I've talked to a couple other traveling therapists and I've heard there's different curriculums. Like is there a particular one y'all follow? Like
[00:09:58] Atara: yes. So we use and have always used the classical model of education. When I Saw the logic behind it. I was like, oh, Yeah that makes sense. Right? So it's based on child development of their brains are capable of memorizing a lot of information when they're little. And so my kids, right? We'll know words like the Vulgate. or Mesopotamia. They have no context for that. Right? You know, last week we were talking about Japan's Heian period, right? they don't actually know or have a lot of context for these things yet, but you build in that information first.
[00:10:34] So they have the facts and then add context as they mature and get older.
[00:10:39] So that's what classical education is about. So we've used for years a program called Classical Conversations, which has memory work put to song, it's pretty wild, they can sing all of history's major events
[00:10:53] Kym: my gosh. Really?
[00:10:56] Atara: until the last event now on the timeline is 2001, 9 11. I'm sure we'll be adding, COVID really
[00:11:03] Kym: Yeah, right.
[00:11:04] Atara: but they can sing all the major events to song. And so, it's really incredible what their
[00:11:09] Kym: And they'll always remember that. Like when you, I mean, I can think of songs, obviously when you're a kid, like that stuff just stays with you forever. Wow.
[00:11:15] Atara: right. right. I, I'm sure you have this, you're like, why is that song stuck in my head. you know, I kind of thought about that and went like, yeah, why wouldn't we put then information that is useful to us to song and keep it in that way.
[00:11:28] So it's really fun. We walk around singing the songs and then you can imagine with that. It's really flexible as well because we want to do our homeschooling.
[00:11:36] We're on the road one day. Put in the CD or put, you
[00:11:39] know, that's old, but like,
[00:11:41] Kym: Yeah.
[00:11:41] Atara: Put on the, put on the tracks on my iPhone and
[00:11:44] we sing the memory work for the week and, you know, we got half of our homeschooling done for the day. So it's
[00:11:50] fun.
[00:11:51] Kym: so cool. I just love that you're just making your own path with it. You're creating it how your family wants it to be, which is really cool to me.
[00:11:58] Atara: And the beauty of it, too, is that we have really different learners. So my eldest is not formally diagnosed. We haven't done testing yet, but for sure, dyslexic poor guy and perhaps some ADHD in there as well. And so his learning style is very different than, let's say, my second born.
[00:12:16] The beauty is we get to craft and shape then how we're going to approach learning with him versus maybe the second born. And that is wonderful, too.
[00:12:25] Kym: Yeah. I've just heard so many cool stories about that, like, I think it's called world schooling where it's like, we're just doing adventure that day and then we build lessons around the adventure and they learn that way and they take a quiz or whatever and they pass world history or whatever it is, like, or geology because we went to the beach and we looked at this type of, you know, sediment or whatever, you know, it's like so cool.
[00:12:45] I just think that's such a better way to teach your kids than just like some. Silly curriculum. They have to learn, you know,
[00:12:51] Atara: Yeah. And I think you and I could speak to, we understand because we see it every day with clients,
[00:12:57] that people learn best through experience,
[00:13:00] And so, same with kiddos,
[00:13:02] right? We are giving them. Experiences
[00:13:05] and learning through that really helps us hold the memory.
[00:13:08] Kym: I think that's so cool. If I ever had kids, I don't, I won't, but if I ever did, I would totally do it that way.
[00:13:13] Atara: Yeah. And you know, there's a whole world schooling Facebook
[00:13:16] Kym: Yes. I've heard, and they meet up in different places and they have friends and they all decide to travel to the same place at the same time. And they have like soccer leagues. And I was just amazed when I heard about that. It's
[00:13:26] Atara: It is really cool. Yeah.
[00:13:27] Kym: There's just so many ways to do it, I guess, is the message.
[00:13:30] You know, I just want people listening to hear like, you don't have to do that traditional, like. I'm a therapist and a brick and mortar and I see my clients and we put the kids in daycare and they go to school and you don't have to do that. A husband doesn't have to work or whatever.
[00:13:42] So tell us about what you do as a therapist, because another cool thing about you is you've kind of scaled into other things too. So tell us what your model looks like and then how you incorporate that into, like, when you are six weeks on the road, like, how do you handle that?
[00:13:56] What do you do with the kids? I mean, I guess he takes them, but how does all that work?
[00:13:59] Atara: Yeah. So I could talk about what I do all day because I love it.
[00:14:04] Kym: Yeah.
[00:14:05] Atara: I just was so, yeah, I'm so passionate about what I do. So, my journey really started actually after graduate school in about 2012, 2013, where my body was done.
[00:14:16] My body was like no more you You have been pushing pushing abusing and when I say that I mean I was taking my classes I was doing 20 hours a week of my practicum I was working full time with men who had been incarcerated on a life sentence.
[00:14:34] So not a gentle population, really heavy, lots of trauma, lots of stuff there. And same with my practicum hours actually were with girls emancipated from the foster care system.
[00:14:46] So you can imagine the trauma and the feelings of abandonment and just the heaviness, right, in that population. I was training for half marathons.
[00:14:56] So I was running between three and seven miles on an average day. Eating horribly like a meal would be like sunflower seeds and a Slurpee from 7
[00:15:06] Eleven. So I was not nourishing my body. And then on top of that, you know, I'm 22, 23, and, trying to figure out my life and the stress of all of this. So binge drinking,
[00:15:16] right? Binge drinking on the weekends with friends. And all of this along with my history of who I am, but also experiencing some domestic violence in the household, divorced parents, all of some of this childhood stuff. My body was done.
[00:15:33] And had been in fight or flight mode for probably a very long time and gave out on me.
[00:15:39] And what I mean when I say that was I could not get up
[00:15:43] out of bed for more than two hours at a time
[00:15:47] and I would be so physically exhausted that I would literally have to lay down and try to sleep again. And
[00:15:54] now this was was pro would probably be diagnosed as like chronic fatigue.
[00:16:00] something of that sort, maybe fibro. So this began the journey.
[00:16:04] Of hi, I'm, 22, 23. I don't think this is supposed to be
[00:16:09] happening. And I'd always been really high energy, like
[00:16:12] go from the sun comes up to the, after the sun goes down, do all the things.
[00:16:15] So this was very. uncomfortable for me and out of my wheelhouse.
[00:16:19] And I began to look at what is happening. And when I went to my allopathic doctor, Western medicine, he goes, Oh, we're going to go. We're going to run some labs. Great. Awesome. So excited. Come back a week or two later. And he basically looks at me and kind of shrugged and goes, I don't know. Everything's looks great. And I was like, Well, it's not great. So what else you got?
[00:16:40] Kym: relate so much undiagnosed celiac for like probably 20 years. You know, gut health, exhaustion, burnout, cortisol levels. Totally gone like, oh my God, I hear you.
[00:16:51] Atara: Kim. Yes, that's exactly it. You're, you're, shooting in the right space, which is
[00:16:56] that my neurotransmitters. that were responsible for fight or flight were through the roof
[00:17:01] and all of my calming neurotransmitters were bottomed out, literally didn't even show up on the charts. And so as I started working with a functional medicine doctor she started to help me understand what had happened to my body. Now, fast forward, then I kind of do some healing. I get corrected with some diet and lifestyle changes. Fast forward to babies and I, a few years later, get pregnant with my first child.
[00:17:31] And what then shows up is postpartum anxiety. And what we can label now is like postpartum rage, which I understand is tied to the anxiety.
[00:17:41] so this is seven, eight years ago, so we didn't have that language even back then, which is kind of wild to think about all we kind of assess for was depression.
[00:17:50] And do you want to kill yourself or hurt your baby? No, great. Okay.
[00:17:54] That part of my journey put me on and I got connected with the idea and concept of minerals for our body and the importance of minerals specifically for a healthy functioning metabolism
[00:18:11] and They're and then mitochondria, which we
[00:18:14] all know right powerhouses of the cell But we don't always understand the nuance of mitochondria Also are responsible for producing and regulating.
[00:18:28] Our neurotransmitters, and so if our mitochondria are not functioning well, because they don't have what they need, then the rest of the body and the rest of the systems cannot also do what it needs.
[00:18:41] Kym: start, you gotta have a solid base. Yeah.
[00:18:44] Atara: So there's a wonderful explosion right now in the field, which I'm so excited for out of Harvard and Stanford of a concept called metabolic psychiatry.
[00:18:54] What they're doing is literally putting people into remission with diagnoses like schizophrenia, with bipolar.
[00:19:03] Kym: I've, been reading about this obviously with the new administration and the FDA and all the dyes and all of that. Like it's just, and Dr. Mark Hyman and just all of that, it's just fascinating to me. And they're putting a lot of Alzheimer's. dementia all of that.
[00:19:17] Yeah, not to over trump what you're saying, but it's just like yeah. Oh my
[00:19:21] Atara: You've seen it, which is really cool. Yeah
[00:19:23] I love that. That is getting more mainstream
[00:19:26] and people are understanding. Oh, wait, hold on. These are very interconnected
[00:19:30] and actually metabolic psychiatry goes back over 100 years.
[00:19:34] They were treating brain dysfunction of epilepsy seizures, which is a brain disorder as well with a ketogenic diet. Which is amazing to see. So that's the metabolic world. And what I do is for clients interested in that, certainly what I say is we dabble.
[00:19:57] Right now, I am not a medical doctor that I cannot walk you through without a medical practitioner also involved A ketogenic diet or you know, tirading your meds down that is not my role But if that's a journey you want to go on my role is support,
[00:20:13] right.
[00:20:13] How can we deal with some of the issues that and conversations that are maybe coming up internally?
[00:20:19] How can we deal with the social? Right, the social issues, you know, talking with a client the other week of, I'm going to this church event and there's nothing for me to eat,
[00:20:28] right? Everything has a lot of potatoes or bread or this or that. or people don't even understand, or maybe I feel judged in this space. And
[00:20:38] how can we walk through that, help people understand what you're trying to do? Maybe it's around the fear of tirading your medication down.
[00:20:45] Right. When you've had psychotic symptoms, or even like major depression.
[00:20:49] There's a huge fear there of like, Oh my gosh, if I, lower this, these come back, right? And this fear. So helping people walk through that, that's what I do in the therapy space, as well as I'm. Super passionate about somatic work and
[00:21:02] specifically I do brain spotting. I love brain spotting and also somatic experiencing,
[00:21:08] which is incorporating understanding how the body is holding or responding to memories, experiences, and how we can help better healing for the mind using somatic methods.
[00:21:25] And then in the coaching side,
[00:21:27] Kym: I was
[00:21:27] going to
[00:21:27] Atara: I get to be a little more involved, a little more hands on with the health stuff. And so that's where I will walk clients through looking at minerals.
[00:21:37] where your mineral status is, what symptoms are we seeing and based on symptoms we can, okay, probably some more magnesium right in and here's ways, whether it's some supplements, a lot of what I do is food based
[00:21:52] when I was on the road I can't eat oysters.
[00:21:55] Kym: Mm hmm.
[00:21:56] Atara: but they're a powerhouse.
[00:21:58] Kym: Right.
[00:21:59] Atara: of zinc copper, which is so important for our bodies. Lots of B vitamins in there and so on and so forth. So I feel amazing,
[00:22:07] right? When I'm taking oysters, but how can I get oysters in another form
[00:22:11] or a form when I'm on the road? And so there's
[00:22:14] this great company they're out of Ireland called Oyster Max
[00:22:17] they actually have oysters freeze dried,
[00:22:20] grounded up and put into a capsule.
[00:22:22] it's so cool. And so that's one of the things that I take daily food based.
[00:22:26] It's not synthetic. which is better for the balance, right?
[00:22:30] We don't have to be as cautious there, but highly impactful for
[00:22:34] somebody's body.
[00:22:35] What I also help people with is how can I take what I love and what I already eat and tweak it a little bit
[00:22:42] I'm not going to come in and say to you, stop eating this, this, this, this, this, and this and replace it with these foods that you're like, gross, I don't want to eat that.
[00:22:51] that I don't think is healthy, to be honest, because there's a mental game in connection to our food that is so important. And so if you're sitting around going, I hate this, I don't like this. This isn't enjoyable. Your body is going to pick up on that, right?
[00:23:04] Those are messages signals that we're sending to our body.
[00:23:06] And that that is going to, in my opinion, inhibit healing.
[00:23:09] So
[00:23:10] Kym: Yeah. You're not going to be consistent either,
[00:23:12] Atara: Yeah.
[00:23:12] Oh, for sure. For sure. Right. That's
[00:23:14] why we, we give ourselves cheat days, right? Because what we're eating, we don't, we're not enjoying.
[00:23:19] And so I love using what I call nourishing wisdom,
[00:23:22] which is how can I pick foods that my body is already calling for?
[00:23:28] Cause my body carries a wisdom
[00:23:29] in knowing what it's drawn to and what I like. A great example I'll give here is bacon.
[00:23:35] People love bacon. Right? Like, we're obsessed with bacon,
[00:23:40] and especially, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. I, I, I mean, watch a little kid eat.
[00:23:44] Right? And they will even display, right? Like, I have a strong preference right now for this food.
[00:23:50] Yeah, because your body is telling you, there's something in there that I like and that I need. Now, let me qualify that
[00:23:56] with whole foods,
[00:23:58] right? If you're trying, you're like, Oh, I really need to eat that pack of Oreos. Let's talk about that,
[00:24:02] right? Like, there is, I mean, your body is right. There is something in there, those carbohydrates and that quick sugar fix that is giving your body energy,
[00:24:10] right?
[00:24:10] But it doesn't have the wisdom piece, which is the understanding of what also this food is doing to your
[00:24:15] body. So I help people make little switches and understanding how can I still have this food, but have it in a nourishing way so that it's supporting my metabolism and then my mental health as well. So an example I'll give here is like chicken, fried chicken.
[00:24:31] I love fried chicken. Most
[00:24:32] people enjoy fried chicken. Well, unfortunately, maybe the chicken isn't well sourced. It's not fed right. And then it's being drudged in a flour sprayed with glyphosate.
[00:24:43] And then also it's being fried in an oil that is really rancid and destructive for your body.
[00:24:49] Well, what can we do there? Find a well sourced chicken. Find a flower that maybe is organic or where they don't use glyphosate. We actually have a local brand here called Wheat Montana,
[00:25:00] and I called them up and I said, Hey, do you spray glyphosate? Nope. Okay, great. I'm gonna keep buying your flower, right?
[00:25:06] And then we're going to spray it with avocado oil and
[00:25:10] air fry it, or we're going to fry it in a healthy fat,
[00:25:14] like lard, right? Like maybe duck fat, so that then there's even more Nourishment for your body. So that's just a quick example of what I do day to day for my coaching clients.
[00:25:26] Kym: Yes. That is amazing. And I love what you said before you started telling us about that. You differentiated between the therapist role and the coaching role, and that's so important. We talk about that all the time in here. It's like, what is the difference that I, I like hearing you say as a therapist, I would never be giving like med advice or mineral advice or anything like that, but as a coach, it gives you a little more freedom to be.
[00:25:47] Exploring that with people and you don't have to stick to your license in California, right? Just staying licensed there and just seeing people in California You can see people all over the world that want to do this type of work.
[00:25:58] Atara: Yes, oh gosh, and it's so fun. It's so fun to see because it also we talk obviously we talk a lot about food
[00:26:05] So we get to talk a lot about like, oh, what what is your culture bringing? What is the nourishing traditions in your culture? And how can we incorporate those? You know, so there's a really great if you want to kind of get start start rolling on this Um, have you heard of weston a price?
[00:26:19] Kym: think so, but tell me
[00:26:21] Atara: he was actually a dentist in like
[00:26:23] the 1930s, 1940s, I want to say. And he looked at what was happening in Western culture with jaw teeth, but also cavities and went, why are we like having all this teeth crowding and issues and tooth decay, but, and also like other health. issues like heart disease, right?
[00:26:44] Cancer rates. he traveled the world and he looked at traditional cultures.
[00:26:50] And, and looked at, right, like maybe deep in the Amazon up in Alaska, right? Studying the Inuit and saying, what are they eating that they have these broad, beautiful smiles, but also radiant health all over.
[00:27:04] And he discovered some really key tenants or principles like eating healthy fats, like eating what we call nose to tail.
[00:27:12] So consuming the whole animal, which is not something we do
[00:27:16] in our culture. Someone says you want some beef liver.
[00:27:19] Most people are going to turn up their nose,
[00:27:21] right? Be like, Ooh, so I help people learn. Okay. How can I get these things in in a palatable way for me? A real great other example is making bone broth,
[00:27:32] So something we lack a lot of is collagen
[00:27:35] in our diets. People complain about hair, skin, nails, kind of diminishing quickly because those are where the body kind of starts to deteriorate. First,
[00:27:44] In some ways when we're mineral deficient you think of a postpartum woman
[00:27:48] And what does she complain about?
[00:27:49] My hair is falling out.
[00:27:50] My nails are brittle and my skin is awful
[00:27:53] Well, my dear you need some minerals
[00:27:55] How can we get that in and bone broth? when we are Boiling those bones and joints and oftentimes some skin in there from maybe some of the meats that we don't often consume. All of that is pulled and sucked into the broth. And then that's a really great way we could sip on that daily and get some of those extra minerals in.
[00:28:18] Kym: Oh my gosh, I could talk to you for hours.
[00:28:21] Atara: Yeah, I was gonna say, then we can talk all day
[00:28:23] on this,
[00:28:24] Kym: because it's like the gut health and just all of that, how it's all connected. And, I mean, it just really blows your mind. Especially, over the years as I evolved with understanding, okay, my nutrition is obviously connected to how I'm feeling.
[00:28:37] And then just seeing client after client after client, just screaming in my head like, oh my god, this is obviously functional medicine type related also, but not having like the words or the knowledge or the Capabilities of therapists to like coach on that stuff. I love that you're doing that.
[00:28:51] Atara: Yes. Thank you. So I guess the next like reasonable question is how do you do this on the road?
[00:28:57] Right? Like, how do you
[00:28:59] Kym: let's talk about it. I've had episodes on gluten free and celiac on the road It's been tough, but I'd love to hear your tips and all that. Yeah.
[00:29:06] Atara: tell me real quick, like what did you pick up from those conversations, or what were you
[00:29:09] Kym: Well, it's been my Learning, you know I use an app find me gluten free that helps me find like restaurants and stuff that are kind of safe but even then I'm still getting contaminated. A lot of the restaurants, you know, they try, but they're not 100 percent unless it's a totally dedicated, gluten free facility.
[00:29:25] And a lot of times you can find restaurants like that. I was telling you before we hit record in Bozeman, we found a place called Feast up there that we still talk about. They were so good with it. They had, the menu was just amazing. So I definitely do that, but I've got my own like pots and pans. We actually pack in the car and take with us.
[00:29:42] So I'm not cooking in. pots and pans that have had gluten in them, or I don't know You know, I still struggle with living in Air B. B. s. The kitchens are all contaminated with gluten. So there's, you know, issues like that. There's things like toaster bags that you can use and put in toasters so you're not cross contaminating bread.
[00:29:57] But really, we travel with an air fryer. I toast my bread. I do everything in the air fryer. so that helps a lot. But that's just some of the things kind of like had to adapt to, but let's hear your tips. I'm sure you've got a
[00:30:07] Atara: Yeah. One thing I'll say is we pay in two ways.
[00:30:12] We either are paying in money. Or we're paying with our time,
[00:30:15] And I like to find that balance for clients because it's really important to just be honest, which. Are you wanting to sacrifice in,
[00:30:23] or are you capable or willing to? So like in our household, for example, it's, a pretty split down the middle. We do things to save time because we have four small children, but sometimes we do things to save money, because
[00:30:36] that's practical and needed for our household. An example would be packaged snacks, like string cheeses.
[00:30:44] Lunch me or we eat a lot of salami in our house a lot of salami And so those were things that we really thought ahead
[00:30:53] and planned for as we traveled Of course, we had our little fridge, but we also
[00:30:59] actually kept two coolers one in the truck and one in the trailer of just Kind of supplies like that, which were easy grabs, but also nourishing and filling protein
[00:31:12] packed, ideally for our bodies.
[00:31:14] and we also created a list
[00:31:16] before we left of, okay, here's all of the ideas. Because sometimes, I don't know if you run into that, like when you're hungry or when you're on the road and you're jumping out for something and half the battle is thinking about
[00:31:27] What are we going to eat right now? Right?
[00:31:29] Kym: Instead of a bag of Doritos at the 7 Eleven, I'll opt in for like hard boiled eggs or something. You know, try to, right, right, right, right.
[00:31:36] Atara: yeah, so planning in that way so that, okay, we can just look at the list and go, okay, let me go grab that. I love that you brought up eggs. The list is another way also to keep track, Of, oh, okay. We just finished our last boiled eggs.
[00:31:48] And the next stop we make, we need to, to make another batch, right? Or go for that again. What are some other things? Oh, coconut water.
[00:31:55] So 98 percent of Americans do not get their daily recommended amount of potassium. so coconut water is a really easy way a quick grab to get a heavy hit of potassium and and one thing that I love doing.
[00:32:12] I didn't always do this on the road because it's a little harder. But if you're at home or if you're parked somewhere, you can also do a squeeze of lime.
[00:32:19] a sprinkle of sea salt in the bottom of that coconut water.
[00:32:22] Kym: Oh. Okay, .
[00:32:24] Atara: Yes, very refreshing. So again, these are the ways that we could get something in that our body really
[00:32:32] needed, but in an
[00:32:34] easy, attainable way.
[00:32:35] Yep. The other one I was thinking of as I was talking about that was the broth, the bone
[00:32:40] Kym: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Mm hmm.
[00:32:42] Atara: And if you're full time on the road this might be a little trickier. You might have to buy the pre package or if you can find maybe a local farmer's market or even a local person
[00:32:53] that was willing or sold, right?
[00:32:56] Sold
[00:32:56] that for you. Because I know even making bone broth at home, it's a, it's
[00:33:01] Kym: I've thought about it. it's so daunting. It's like, okay, I need bones. I need a carcass. I need to know how to like, yeah, the whole thing. Straighten it.
[00:33:10] Atara: Yeah. Messy. You don't want, you know, all that liquid splashing all over the kitchen in the trailer. You know, so what we did was like, we did prepare. So we had
[00:33:19] frozen like two or three jars of frozen.
[00:33:22] And then guess what? That's also your ice pack.
[00:33:24] Right. Part of the ice supply in the cooler.
[00:33:27] And then we would, we would kind of take that out and drink that. But towards the end of the trip, obviously we were out. And so then we just bought, right, I think it's called Kettle Fire. They're like an organic brand. So it's
[00:33:37] not as gonna be as great as homemade.
[00:33:40] But it's, it's kind of, I have tiers or steps for things, right?
[00:33:44] Of like, this is the best, most ideal. But if you can't do that, that's okay. Here's another option. If you can't do that, that's okay. Here's another option, right?
[00:33:51] The lowest rung, it's still going to benefit your body. Butter is another example,
[00:33:57] right?
[00:33:57] Okay. Ideally organic grass fed
[00:34:00] raw. Okay. Well, we're not going to necessarily be able to find that everywhere. So the next step down. Okay, great. Just try to aim for grass fed,
[00:34:08] right? You can see the color difference.
[00:34:11] Bright yellow versus that pale, almost white. Okay. If you can't get that, guess what? Just buy the butter at the store or at Costco or
[00:34:19] whatever. And that's still going to be nourishing. It's still going to have amazing benefits for your brain, which is 70 percent cholesterol people. So we need a lot of fat. So it's just, again, how can we pivot and be flexible, do what we can, but also know, okay, today or this week, we're going to have regular store butter and that's going to be okay.
[00:34:41] And no big deal.
[00:34:42] Kym: We'll live. Yeah.
[00:34:43] Atara: Yeah, exactly.
[00:34:44] Kym: Wow. I bet you've got a million amazing tips.
[00:34:47] Atara: Yeah. And the way that I work with clients in the coaching space is ideally have it like a six week package in a 12
[00:34:54] week I mean the six week even sometimes still I feel like a fire hose. Right. Just
[00:34:58] blah, blah, blah, like all the information at people but also I understand, right?
[00:35:03] Like that's the price point you're at. Great. Let's like get it
[00:35:06] all. But implementing it in the six weeks sometimes can be really hard for people because it's a lot. It's a lot of shifting in our thinking and how we're relating to our bodies. let's talk about eating out for a second, right? Because also when you're on the road, you typically tend to eat out
[00:35:23] a lot more and so going back to what we were talking about earlier is like just looking at the options or possibilities and being creative,
[00:35:32] So some things that I'll do is ask, I'll just make a request like, hey I'm getting that burger or that chicken breast. Can you cook that in butter?
[00:35:42] Instead of the oil that they're probably using back there and just making a request sometimes they'll say no and I'll say okay great like and
[00:35:50] just move on with my life, but making the request where I can obviously another really great tip would be just taking the buns off of things and eating it kind of that protein style way and that takes some of that anti nutrients out.
[00:36:04] Oh, we were talking about potassium potatoes. Potatoes.
[00:36:07] Kym: Right.
[00:36:08] Atara: specifically are a great powerhouse of potassium as well. And that's something you can batch cook,
[00:36:15] right? So cooking five, six sweet potatoes at once, putting them in the freezer or cooler, and then pulling them out one by one at breakfast or with your meal,
[00:36:25] and eating them with a great scoop of heaping butter, salt, and pepper, right?
[00:36:30] Delicious.
[00:36:31] Nourishing. We're actually hitting several nutrient houses there
[00:36:36] with that food, right? We're hitting the potassium.
[00:36:40] We're hitting with the butter. We got some great vitamin vitamin D, vitamin K, vitamin A in there. And then the salt, the sodium is actually one of the other crucial four minerals
[00:36:51] that our body really calls for and craves.
[00:36:53] So we're hitting that as well. So.
[00:36:55] Kym: I always crave salt. Like, I'll just put, like, sea salt, like, crank it in my hand and just eat it. Yeah.
[00:37:00] Atara: first of all, great job listening to your body,
[00:37:02] your body is saying, Hey, there's something lacking or missing here.
[00:37:06] And then on top of that, I'll say, Kim, because we talked about the potassium, it's very likely that if there's a really strong sodium craving, Getting more potassium in will help.
[00:37:18] Yes, and I want to say too, sometimes I get people that are very much into
[00:37:22] seeing the evidence, and I get that. So I work with two, actually, Functional practitioners and what they do or run is called an htm a hair tissue mineral analysis
[00:37:33] So if you're one of those people they're like I want to see Where I met on paper and not just go by the symptoms Then that's who I refer to and they can do that for you And then we can look at
[00:37:44] where all of those are on the charts.
[00:37:46] Yeah,
[00:37:46] Kym: I love that. I love getting like test results back
[00:37:49] Atara: I know it's
[00:37:50] Kym: this confirms like what I feel is going on. Totally. Yeah. So how would people work with you if they wanted to, get your services and
[00:37:59] Atara: Yeah.
[00:38:00] Kym: to offer?
[00:38:01] How would they find you?
[00:38:02] Atara: Yeah. Absolutely. Remember we talked about my fancy new website.
[00:38:05] I'm so proud of it. So It's just my name, a Tara, a T a R a Parkinson P a R K I N S O N. com.
[00:38:14] And you can look through there. It has some of the somatic work, the brain spotting, and then it has a whole page dedicated to what's called like integrative work.
[00:38:23] So how can we pull together, Some of the practical diet stuff that maybe you do need. Right. A
[00:38:28] little support in processing through something or somatic work. And so I pull that in as well with my coaching clients when it's
[00:38:35] really needed,
[00:38:36] Again, holistic, right? We don't want to just
[00:38:38] be doing the body when the mind maybe is producing this stress over and over.
[00:38:43] We
[00:38:43] also want to be hitting that. I have some clients who already have their therapists and are doing that work.
[00:38:48] Wonderful. Okay. Then let's, just do the practical because your brain. We know that psychotherapy produces and exercises regions of the brain that are perhaps underdeveloped at times.
[00:39:01] That's wonderful. Love it. Need it. Also, however, we need a brain that is capable
[00:39:07] of holding those changes.
[00:39:10] That's why I'm so passionate about this, is because I've heard and seen so many people say, I've been in therapy for years.
[00:39:16] Right. or I've done this work for years and I feel like I'm still stuck in this way and that's where I would go.
[00:39:22] Maybe your brain needs some actual Biochemical changes and support so that it can hold those changes. So
[00:39:29] that's my website I have a love hate relationship. I realized this weekend with social media
[00:39:33] sometimes I'm like, Oh, it's contrived and fake,
[00:39:36] but also it can be such a resource and it can be such a light.
[00:39:39] And so I'm, reestablishing my perception there,
[00:39:42] but you can find me on Facebook. My business page is just a tar. Again, my name, a Tara Parkinson on my Instagram, it's a Tara dot Parkinson and.
[00:39:51] Kym: Awesome.
[00:39:51] Atara: That might be a great place for you to start because there's lots of free information on there. You mentioned eggs earlier, right?
[00:39:57] Why would we want to eat eggs? Well, there's a post on that.
[00:39:59] Kym: I love that.
[00:40:00] Atara: and you can see all of the nutrition, nutritional benefits in eggs or steak or bacon, as we mentioned,
[00:40:07] and you can get a lot of free information if you want to just start slowly implementing some of these things into your life.
[00:40:13] Kym: Well, thank you so much for coming and sharing today.