Sunnyside Healing Arts

05/01/2025

Meet Ben, our Intern Therapist!

Bringing curiosity, respect & congruence to therapy, he will work with you to create the healthy change you are seeking 💫

Offering in-person (Thursdays) & online appointments, he can help you with anxiety, depression, life transitions, relationship challenges, self-esteem, self-confidence, sense of purpose and more 💡

Regular rate $75 with sliding scale spots available.

To book a free consultation call, or appointment:
https://sunnysidehealingarts.com/team/ben-nunes-2/

04/28/2025

It’s Stress Awareness Month 🧘‍♂️
Did you know that there are two different types of stress/stressors: Eustress & Distress

Stress is, unfortunately, a part of life and learning to manage our stress levels is a life skill

We won’t be able to eliminate stress, but we can change how we respond to it more adaptively.

This is empowering and connects us with our capacity and ability

03/02/2025

It’s World Teen Mental Awareness Day ✨

Teens experience mental, emotional and stress state challenges just like everyone else. When we talk to clients about their teenage years and the experience of high school, most adults would not choose to relive it (unless there was a pretty substantial prize for doing so) 👀

There are many factors that contribute to difficulty in the teen years, including peer pressure, the desire to fit in, the experience of individuating from family of origin, getting to know our true selves, social media influences, bullying and more.

The amygdala is fully formed, which means that teens can fully experience the depth and extent of our primal emotional states. The prefrontal cortex, however, is not fully formed, making it difficult to reason or rationalize with intense emotions 🧠

Learning how to healthily experience, process and soothe uncomfortable mental, emotional and stress states is possible. Sharing our discomfort with others can help to de-escalate some of the intensity. Like they say, a problem shared is a problem halved.

Our therapists are here to support you through the challenges that teens face.

02/20/2025

Are cold weather, shorter days, longer nights, less sunshine and lots of layers getting you down? Here are our top tips to beat the February blahs/blues.

Depending on how we’re framing and experiencing the season, it’s possible to enjoy our winter wonderland or enjoy some hygge in hibernation.

Graphics courtesy of .shortsleeves and

02/03/2025

How are you nourishing your sacred mind-body connection?

Our warm and caring Holistic Nutritionist, Jennifer, is here to help you optimiz

01/22/2025

Let’s honour our capacity to access such a broad spectrum and intense range of thought, emotion and sensation 💫

Let’s allow this shared human experience to serve as an opportunity to reconnect to our authenticity ✨

Let’s get curious about our emotional, mental and stress states of beingness, as they are full of information 💡

Let’s be realistic that we all have an ability to experience emotion, from very pleasant, to extremely devastating and everything in between 😊😞😡😭

Let’s learn to respond to ourselves, and others, in states of need 🤗

Let’s try to understand, not judge, our emotional states 💕

Let’s learn how to experience, manage, process and soothe our pain 🕯️

Let’s work on forgiveness that, even as adults, we may not have learned the skills and tools to do this

Let’s work on reducing the pathologization and medicalization of the human emotional experience

Let’s do this together 💕

💙

11/21/2024

It’s Men’s Mental Health Month and it’s time to expand the conversation related to male socialized invulnerability 💡

Like women, men are able to experience the vast range of human emotion.
However, there are major differences. Women are generally given permission to feel, whereas men tend not to be. The judgment and negative perception can lead to suppression of discomfort.

We’ve been making progress, for sure, but there’s still a long way to go.

The stigma around vulnerable, tender and painful emotions and weakness has affected men significantly.
This is a reminder of the tremendous courage and strength it takes to face and feel our pain.

10/29/2024

Improve your mood, increase your energy and manage stress with food! 🥘🍵🥙🥗

At this time of year, it’s common to experience a dip in mood, energy or outlook 💡
As our emotional, mental and physical bodies adjust to shorter, darker days & colder weather, this can impact our ability to manage stress and even affect our immune health 😲

Thankfully, we can do a lot to improve mood, increase energy and manage stress through what we choose to nourish ourselves with nutrition.

Dark chocolate 🍫 is a rich source of magnesium, which improves mood, can reduce anxiety and is involved in over 350 bodily processes.
Allow yourself to enjoy a square (or two) of high quality dark chocolate. You’re welcome in advance!

Sweet potatoes 🍠 contain vitamin C & fibre, which boost and maintain energy levels.
Enjoy the sweet taste, satiety and vibrant orange colour so emblematic of this beautiful time of year.

Leafy green vegetables 🥙 contain minerals and nutrients that our bodies need (and readily encode) to regulate our mental and emotional health. Allow the glorious green colours to soothe mood or invigorate your energy based on your needs.

To learn more or to book a free discovery call with Jennifer Kotwinski, our Holistic Nutritionist, contact us:
https://sunnysidehealingarts.com/team/jennifer-kotwinski/

🌟 Wellness Rewards Program 🌟
New Clients ~ 20% Off your Initial Assessment appointment!

Existing Clients ~ 25% Off your Follow-Up appointment (based on the completed referral of a new client’s Initial Assessment appointment)!

10/28/2024

🍁 So this happened while clearing the leaves today🍂
I love the saying that ‘Autumn Shows Us the Beauty of Letting Go’ and symbolism like this reinforces that!

I attended a training on Procrastination last week and we were discussing ways to navigate it. Forming a positive association with a task (the satisfaction of completion, a clear patio, a job well done) is important, as is staying present in order to observe how small delights like this warm our hearts, bring a smile to our faces and clearly demonstrate the beauty of Mother Nature (who also has a sense of humour, as another gust of wind reminds me of the next time I’ll perform this task again 😉).

06/20/2024

Ever felt trapped in a cycle of low energy, anxiety, depression, emotional eating, bloating, or unwanted weight gain?

You're not alone. These symptoms don't define you — or have to be your normal

Dive into a holistic approach to nutrition to nourish every facet of your being

Physical Nourishment encompasses the care and maintenance of our body through balanced nutrition, exercise, and rest. It is the tangible aspect of our health that we can see and feel. By prioritizing physical nourishment, we can enhance our strength, energy, and overall physical health, allowing us to live our lives to the fullest potential:
Home sanctuary
Love your job
Movement & grounding

Nutritional nourishment focuses on the quality and balance of the foods we consume to fuel our body and mind. t is not only about eating the right foods but also understanding how nutrients interact with our body to support optimal health. Nutritional nourishment empowers us to make informed food choices that promote wellness, enhance energy levels, and support our body's natural functions:
Eat with intention
Whole, fresh foods
Healthy cooking

Emotional nourishment recognizes that emotions are deeply embodied experiences that affect our entire being. It involves embracing our feelings, thoughts, and physical sensations, and creating meaning from them to foster emotional wellness. By allowing ourselves to deeply feel and understand our emotions, we can cultivate resilience, self-awareness, and emotional balance, empowering us to navigate life's challenges with grace and authenticity. We can learn to process and soothe emotional inflammation:
Social connection
Self care
Love life

Spiritual nourishment acknowledges the importance of connecting with our inner spirit and the world around us to find meaning, purpose, and peace. It involves exploring and nurturing our spiritual beliefs, values, and practices to cultivate a deeper sense of self-awareness, connection, and harmony. Spiritual nourishment encourages us to align with our core values and beliefs, fostering inner peace, joy, and a sense of belonging in the universe:
Creative expression
Gratitude
Spiritual or religious practice

What Happens In A Nutrition Counselling Session?
• Nutritional assessment
• Personalized approach tailored to your unique health & wellness goals
• Customized nutrition plan including dietary supplements, lifestyle recommendations, personalized meal plans, recipes, habit trackers, grocery tips & more!

Here’s how we can help:

Meet Jennifer
As a Holistic Nutritionist, I take a personalized and compassionate approach to help my clients reach their health goals. I believe that each person’s journey is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to wellness.

My mission as a Holistic Nutritionist is to empower and inspire individuals to take charge of their health and transform their lives positively. I believe that small changes in our daily habits can lead to significant improvements in our overall health, happiness, and vitality. Through continuous education and staying up to date with the latest research, I strive to provide my clients with the most accurate and effective guidance on their journey to wellness.

I’m genuinely excited to embark on this wellness journey with you. If you’re interested in transforming your health, have any questions, or just want to say hello, feel free to reach out. Together, we can take the next steps towards a healthier, happier you:

https://sunnysidehealingarts.com/team/jennifer-kotwinski/

Wellness Rewards: New Clients receive 20% Off an Initial Assessment appointment!

06/10/2024

We agree! Holistic interventions through foods/ingredients that our bodies are primed and ready to respond to is a great place to start.

To learn more about how to improve your health through nutrition, contact us to book a discovery call with our Holistic Nutritionist, Jennifer.
info@sunnysidehealingarts.com
416-220-1100

I’m not against using drugs or psychotherapy, but I think there is much more that we can do to boost mood -- including anxiety and depression -- by focusing on the foods we eat.⠀⁣⁣
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You need to treat the body because the body and brain are one interconnected system. What you do to your body, you do to your brain. Treat your body and you treat your brain. ⠀⁣⁣
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When you fix your body, you fix your broken brain.⠀⁣

01/01/2024

Happy, Healthy New Year! 🎉

Today's a great day to focus on your INTENTIONS for 2024.
How do you want to feel this year?
Do you intend for more energy? more fun? more adventure? more joy? more connection? more self-care? more emotional, cognitive, nutritional, physical or spiritual nourishment?
It's time to forget the resolutions and focus on more sustainable & motivating intentions ✨

https://sunnysidehealingarts.com/happy-new-year-goodbye-resolutions-hello-intentions/

As we ring in a new year, let’s leave pressurizing and disappointing resolutions in 2023. Instead, try focusing on what your INTENTIONS are for the new year. Resolutions create significant pressure and tend to end in disappointment and reduced motivation. The challenge is that resolutions can be t...