Trust Me, Try This

Your EastTO Spring To-Do List

By Kate Taylor Martin

The founder of nutbar, Leslieville’s organic superfood cafe, Kate Taylor Martin, powers through her day as a small business owner and busy mom of three kids four and under. Finding time for self-care can be a challenge, but Taylor Martin’s daily routine works in plenty of wellness hacks and plant-powered holistic nutrition. We asked about her favourite ways to take herself from hot mess to cool bean.

1

My polar bear wake-up routine

I’m up at 6 a.m. before my kids wake up, and I’ll start my day with a shower that ends with cold water for two minutes. It sounds weird, but I feel like I’ve been injected with twenty coffees—it does so much for my energy levels, focus, mood and vitality throughout the day and is a proven immune booster.

2

Smooth move

Next, I’ll create a beautiful elixir with nutbar’s housemade nut milk. It’s a delicious, creamy, organic mix of cashews, almonds, coconut, sea salt, and a dash of maple syrup, and it contains 30 percent nuts—most boxed nut milks only have about two percent. I’ll add coffee from Pilot Roastery or some Genuine Tea matcha, and nutbar’s cacao adaptogen drink blend called Chill Pill. → nutbar, 899 Queen St E

→ nutbar, nutbar.co

3

Brain boosters

I also love Canadian-grown functional mushrooms from Rainbo, a company founded by my friend, holistic nutritionist Tonya Papanikolov, and headquartered in Toronto. I’ll add different varieties as tinctures to drinks: chaga for vitality, cordyceps for energy, reishi for stress relief, and lion’s mane for brainpower.

→ Rainbo, rainbo.com

4

Disconnect & reconnect

I like to spend the next half hour screen-free and read a book until my kids wake up, and sometimes I’ll sit on my porch facing Withrow Park and watch the sunrise. On Saturdays from June to October, we’ll hit the farmers’ market and meet people who grow our food and pick up some fresh seasonal veggies, eggs, and maybe handcrafted vegan popsicles from Happy Pops.

→ Happy Pops, happypops.ca

5

Good vibes only

After a long day, I’ll head to Chi Junky yoga studio on McGee Street for an engergizing yet restorative class called Chi & Chill. It’s the type of place you can walk into and feel like you’re somewhere completely different like you’ve left the busy world behind. It’s a beautiful, community-focused space that’s very music-forward, and I love the live guitar music.

→ Chi Junky, 70 McGee St

6

Sleep prep

I try to prioritize sleep and get to bed early, but I need a solid wind-down routine at the end of the day. Once the kids go down, I’ll shut down my computer and make some adaptogenic tea from Lake & Oak called Ashwagandha & Chill—the blend of herbs reduces cortisol and inflammation.

→ Lake & Oak Tea Co., shoplakeandoak.com

7

Breathe Easy

Then I’ll open a breathwork app called Othership, a company co-founded by my brother Harry that also has a sauna and ice-bath physical space in the west end. Your breath is the quickest way to change your physiology, and you can use it to create a deliberate state shift, whether upwards or downwards. The app has more than 300 guided sessions that you can use at different times—sometimes, when I’m feeling overwhelmed during the day, I’ll do a five-minute reset and feel an instant calm come over me. At bedtime, I’ll do a longer 15-minute wind-down that really sets me up for a good night’s sleep.

→ Othership, othership.us