(gentle music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(upbeat music) ♪ Seven hours driving on the highway ♪ - Coming to you from Rochester, Minnesota.

♪ Far away ♪ R Town.

♪ Every moment I was spending on regret ♪ ♪ Was there to ask ♪ Studies show that having a doula present while giving birth has led to a decrease in preterm birth or low birth rate and a reduction in the rate of C-sections.

For black women who face some of the worst maternal health outcomes.

This support can make a life saving difference.

We are joined today by Psalms Fry, birth worker and doula here to talk to us more about her work as a doula and providing services to our community.

Welcome to R Town, Psalms.

- Thank you, Nicole.

It's a pleasure to be here.

- Well, I love talking about doula, so it's great to have you here.

Can you just tell us what a doula does and what role they play in the birth experience?

- So a doula is a professionally trained labor support person who provides evidence based information, physical support, and emotional support before, during and immediately after childbirth.

So we're there just to comfort the mom, give her information that she might need, or may not understand what the medical staff is telling her.

We are there to translate that and sort of be a liaison for the birthing mother and her family.

- And what made you become a doula?

- I wanted to become a doula because I'm a mom of five, but I never had a doula.

And so once I found out what a doula does, I was like, I shoulda had a doula.

And then I became aware of the maternal health crisis in the black community.

And it kinda scared me.

I found out about Charles Johnson out of Los Angeles and his wife had a cesarean section, C-section and she died.

He tried to get the attention of the medical staff and they told him your wife is not a priority right now.

And she died with like three liters of blood in her abdomen.

And that really scared me.

So I stayed home as long as I could.

I was like 10 centimeters when I went in and I had my baby naturally.

And so I didn't want that for another mother.

I wanted to be an advocate for the birthing mother.

And so that's when I decided let's be a part of the change.

- Wonderful.

And black birth workers and doulas and midwives have been part of the change historically, there's been a long legacy in the US where they've been instrumental in supporting just like you said, mothers and families and communities, really.

It is black history month and this year's theme is health and wellness.

Why is honoring and celebrating this legacy important as we consider all that we're just talking about with the health disparities that black mothers face?

- Sure, so celebrating and all of that and honoring this work, it brings awareness to what we do.

And so a lot of African American women don't realize, or don't even know what a doula does.

I didn't hear about a doula until I probably had my fourth child.

And so once they're aware that, hey, I can have someone alongside of me who can advocate for me in the hospital.

Then they usually opt for having a doula.

So I think just bringing awareness to the work that we do and how important it is in regards to the maternal health crisis.

I think that that's what's important about celebrating what we do, doula, what doulas do.

- Well, we will celebrate you every day.

- [Psalm] Thank you.

- People learn more about your work as a doula, as a birth worker and just in the community and get connected to your services.

- Sure so I'm here in the Rochester area, but I'm willing to travel to the twin cities.

They could go to my website, eandcompassionbirthservices.com.

I'm also on Facebook, Peace and Compassion Birth Services.

And you can find me on Instagram, PAC Birth Services.

- Wonderful.

Well, thank you Psalm so much for all that you do, and for joining us today.

- Thank you so much for having me, it's a pleasure.

(upbeat music) - Be sure to stick around.

We have much more coming your way on R Town.

We learn how to be a smart salter throughout the winter with Sadie Neuman.

And we meet Dr. Tej Khalsa to discuss her new podcast, The Last Breath.

But up first we meet a few cross country skiers in this week's our culture segment.

(dramatic music) - What I like about cross country skiing and I think most of our skiers like this too, or they grow to like it is, it's a wonderful way to enjoy winter, get outside and stay fit but it's just beautiful.

There's some days it's cold and nasty, but at least we're out there making use of winter.

And when other people are groaning that, oh, it's snowing again, we're cheering and it's really fun.

Hi, I'm David Herbert, the head coach of the Rochester Nordic Ski Team.

I start cross country skiing a long time ago when I was in college.

And I liked it when I came back, got a job back here.

I thought I'm going to do it more.

Started competing in longer races, like the (indistinct) and I've been doing it for over 40 years now.

I think we're a great cross country ski town.

And I hope someday we'll get publicized as that.

We've got three trails that have over 10 kilometers of groom trails.

Many of the coaches on the team are also groomers.

And then in addition to those groom trails where there's skating trails or classic trails, there's some beautiful back country skiing where we can go out on lakes, frozen river beds.

- Hi, I'm Lori Forstie, I'm the public relations and outreach coordinator here at Quarry Hill Nature Center and I work in the ski rental room, just like the rest of our staff on the weekends and the weekdays when we're renting cross country skis.

We try to make ski rental here at Quarry Hill as easy as one, two, three.

Choose your boots, choose your skis, choose your poles.

And we get you out on the trails.

Here at Quarry Hill we groom about eight plus or minus miles of trails.

The trails are set up for both classic skiing and skate skiing.

We have trails here from beginner, kind of flat terrain, little bit of slope, all the way up to trails for a more skier that has some pretty hefty slope to them.

Lots of opportunity for skiers of all levels.

In Minnesota you have to take every chance you can to get out.

About 15 years ago, a friend of mine said, hey let's go cross country skiing.

I said, I don't know how, she taught me in a day.

And I cross country ski as much as I can now, it's a great workout in the winter time, freshly fallen snow and sunshine, that sort of sparkling crunch under your skis is really pretty magical.

- Hi, I'm Michael O'Connor.

I'm the president of the Rochester Active Sports Club.

The main thing we've been active in over the last 20 years is development of ski trails.

So we work with the city of Rochester to do a lot of this work.

So the trails you see all around Quarry Hill here were all done by volunteers where they cut to level the ground, put up bridges.

So they built the trail systems in this park and in Essex park.

- We're building out a new trail system south of town at Game Haven where we will have snow making.

- [Michael] Ideal day is the freshly groomed tracks, 20 degrees and sun.

And it's like you died and gone to heaven.

- Perfect day to me of cross country skiing would be what I think of as warm weather, 20 degrees, fresh snow, corduroy trail just groomed and laid out and skiing with friends, skiing with skiers on the team and listening to 'em laugh and have a good time.

- For more information about this story and other R Town features connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, @KSMQ #RTown or KSMQ.org/rtown.

(upbeat music) Hello, I'm Danielle Teal your moderator for R Town, the spotlight, this segment covers organization's, events and happenings across Rochester.

We'd like to thank 125 Live for hosting today and lining up today's guest.

Today we have Dan Sweeney from Great Harvest Bakery.

Welcome Dan.

- Thank you.

- And super excited to have you on because you do have the best bread.

How long has Great Harvest Bakery been around in Rochester and what all is offered?

- I started Great Harvest Bread Company in Rochester about 18 years ago.

And our specialty is bread.

We make everything from scratch every day.

Bread is our main thing, but we also have a variety of goodies and sandwiches.

- Perfect.

And one thing that I thought was really neat during the pandemic.

I know I had mentioned this to you earlier, was that you all had a cart that provided some bread for those that may have been struggling or just needed a lift up during the pandemic.

What compelled you to do that?

- I just wanted to do my part to help out people if it could just make somebody's day, then it's worth it.

It's kind of tough that, sometimes every thing that on a daily basis, what we make doesn't always sell, but I feel that if some good can come out of it, then it doesn't hurt quite as much.

- That's really remarkable.

What is the most popular bread that you have that people are like, I gotta have that bread?

- Definitely cinnamon chip.

- Cinnamon chip, I've had it.

It's very good.

Very, very good.

Where can people find more info about what the bread options are and any other details?

- Our menu is ongGreatharvesterrochester.com, Facebook, and then we have menus in the store.

- Perfect cause does the bread alternate like as far as options go?

- Yep, we change the menu every month.

We kind of go with a monthly theme and then we also have different varieties every day.

- Awesome, thank you so much for being on the show, Dan.

(upbeat music) - This is Michael Wojcik, with your R Town based look at what is going on at the Minnesota legislature.

The big news this week is the court ordered redistricting maps have come out and that has everybody talking.

We're gonna take a look at how that impacts Rochester and the state of Minnesota.

The constitutional responsibility of drawing new maps when redistricting occurs goes to the Minnesota legislature.

However, if there is not maps drawn 25 weeks prior to the primary, it then goes to the courts.

That's what happened this time and actually has happened every time I believe in my lifetime.

So this went to a five judge panel who drew up new districts for both state legislative seats and federal congressional districts.

Now that's not entirely a bad thing because drawing maps influences representation and can certainly have an impact on the makeup of legislative bodies.

And that's why groups like Lead Women Voters support bills to make redistricting independent done by independent bodies so it's not done by political parties or politicians.

In the decision where the maps were released this statement was also included and I feel that this is a really powerful statement worth mentioning.

"We are aware that the changes to district lines have consequences for incumbent legislators placing some outside the districts they currently represent and pairing some with incumbent legislators of their own or an opposing party, but election districts do not exist for the benefit of any particular legislator or political party.

Rather they exist for people to select their representatives."

I thought that was very well written and worth mentioning that that basis is what the courts went by.

And I think that shows up in the results.

One of the consequences of redistricting is places that are growing like Rochester, get more appropriate representation for their size.

And in this case, that certainly is the truth.

Now, formerly we had, what was Senate districts, 25 and 26.

We now have 24 and 25.

What's different this time is one of these Senate districts is almost entirely within the city of Rochester.

And that was not the case in the last redistricting.

Additionally, Rochester now has three seats that are almost entirely within the city of Rochester in the house.

And previously that was actually two seats.

So we are seeing increasing representation.

Now for somebody like myself, who is originally from the iron range.

One thing that I found fascinating is the representation in the Rochester area now is about the same as the area that covers the iron range and rural areas around that both at about two Senate districts.

And that's been a political shift that's been a long time in the making.

Rochester continues to be in congressional district one, that district has grown some because of population shifts.

And in particular, the areas around Rochester into the north of Rochester, that used to be a part of congressional district two are now a part of congressional district one.

This is probably good overall as those communities are largely tied to Rochester and now will be a part of a single congressional district.

Almost all of the growth in Minnesota in the last decade have been due to increases in the black, indigenous and people of color populations.

And that's reflected some in these new maps.

Certainly we're seeing more districts in the twin cities, metro and other metros, but additionally, congressional district eight now includes all of the Northern Minnesota tribal areas, which is important to getting representation to those tribes in a way that would not have been as strong if they had been spread out and also of interest is Senate district two really takes in a lot of native lands.

And that's going to be a great opportunity for native voices to be heard at the state level.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Danielle Teal with R Town walkabout and we're talking with our guests remotely, again.

In fact, we're more than remote than normal, our guest's name is Sadie Neuman and she works for the city of Rochester.

Our busy schedules couldn't agree.

So I'm passing along my questions to my producer.

He will talk to Sadie separately.

As we know here in Minnesota with winters comes some ice.

And with that comes a little salt.

- My name is Sadie Neuman, and I am currently serving as a Minnesota Green Corp Member with the city of Rochester's public works environmental services department.

- What is your role Sadie and what is smart salting?

- The city of Rochester is working with residents and businesses to try and salt better.

The salt within our water, the chlorides are a permanent pollutant.

Chloride contamination comes from a number of different sources.

It's not just our road salt.

It also comes from our water softeners, fertilizers, manure, and dust suppressant.

However, as you can see in the pie chart over here, that purple area of 42%, that is road salt.

And that's why our first program in addressing chloride pollution is tackling road salt.

- So I've slipped on ice before, and I know many friends and colleagues have also done the same.

- Smart salting is kind of not just salting.

It's also shoveling first, doing manual removal and preventing that ice from happening.

Next it's making sure that you're scattering that right amount.

And so the little catch phrase that we've come up with for city of Rochester is scatter matters.

And it's trying to teach people that you should know your product, make sure how much is the optimum amount to use.

We actually have sent out smart salting kits that includes these handy little cups that tells people that scatter matters.

- This is Danielle Teal with R Town walkabout.

♪ Going all the way up ♪ ♪ I'm going all the way up ♪ ♪ I ♪ - Did you know that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr and Congressman John Lewis both had practices of meditation and pause?

I learned that and so much more this week on the Last Breath Podcast.

And we're joined today by Dr. Tej Khalsa, a physician educator, a peace activist, a mother, wife and friend and host of the Last Breath Podcast here to tell us more about her work and her mission.

Thanks so much for joining us today on R Town.

- Oh, Nicole, it's always a delight to be with you.

Thank you for having me.

- So I was just so moved by the podcast and I wanted to know what inspired you to relaunch it and what is it about?

- Yeah, so the Last Breath Podcast for the listeners and for everyone at home watching this, it's an invitation to establish your own daily rest, reflection and deep relaxation practice.

I call it the last breath practice because every night before my head hits the pillow, I devote my final few breaths to deep reflection.

I sit in my bedroom under the light of the stars and I bathe myself in grace.

I breathe deeply and I go within and I reflect on this question and I offer it up to everyone watching right now to ask yourself at the end of each day, when I take my last breath, how do I want to feel?

This is a joy practice.

This is about expanding our capacity to come more fully alive, deepening into our courage to use our breath, to give life to our dreams.

So that's what it's about.

And I'm hoping everyone can really consider making this their own.

And if you need a little help, you have the podcast to be there, that voice in your ear.

- That's fantastic.

I think, I mean, everyone always needs a breath, but I think we've sort of collectively, or sort of at this moment, it feels like with the pandemic, with all of the social upheaval and churning that a breath and taking that time to sort of turn inward.

I was so struck by this idea that even our civil rights activists, these legends of Martin Luther King and John Lewis were taking moments to pause and meditate in the midst of all they were going through.

So how can we take that?

And my question to you is with all of the things we're swimming in, what do you think that this time is calling us into and inviting us into?

- I think it's inviting us into exactly what you alluded to with our ancestors and freedom fighters, great American heroes like Dr. King, Congressman John Lewis.

They each had their own daily last breath practice, but Dr. King called it a daily personal commitment to affirming the philosophy and methods of the nonviolent movement of love.

And Congressman John Lewis called it.

And I think this is so accessible to everyone, he called it a daily executive session with himself, a daily executive session with myself, this deep source of connection, our first relationship as humans when we enter this world is with our breath of life.

It is elicited the moment we shift from the water realm with our mother into the breathing realm.

It is the beginning, the initiation of everything that follows.

It makes sense to me then that some of America's most inspiring social movements would've had at their core, this very authentic, deep reflection back to the source, to their own breath of life as that reset button that allows them to launch and to go forward and create something new.

This is what the breath can do.

And when we position it within this legacy, this rich tradition and ancestry of the black liberation movement, descendants of West Africa, indigenous peoples, this has always been one of the methods that allows us into a deeper relationship of courage, compassion, critical reflection within to the truth of who we are as humanity and this time, and this legacy that our brother has offered to us, Mr. George Floyd is a call to awaken our collective dreams to come fully alive with each breath and invest in the whispers of your own heart.

So all these people exiting jobs, and there's been so much said about that.

There's something much deeper going on.

We are being forced to face having 2022 as humanity, we have yet to fully awaken to what it means to be humanity, what it means to be in relationship with one another.

Our breath of life is here as a resource to invest in our dreams.

And when we do that, when we move in the direction of joy, we move in the direction of life.

We move in the direction of peace and justice.

So that idea that I can't listen to those whispers of my heart that are telling me I'm not supposed to be with this person who's draining me.

I'm not supposed to be in this place where there's so many indignities coming my way, and I'm not even supposed to be doing this activity, even though I'm really good at it.

I'm supposed to be over there doing that thing that I love.

The thing you love for everybody at home, who has that whisper, because I know you do, the thing you love is a sacred trust and inheritance that has been planted in you by the grace of whatever holds us here.

It is your responsibility to invest your breath of life in it, because in doing so, you invest in giving life to all of us.

This is a time for us to awaken into being more of who we were born to be, every one of us.

And as we do that, we bring each other along with us.

- Definitely.

It's a great journey, I guess, that we're all on.

And you spoke so much in just the last few seconds, just about intentionally centering black and indigenous knowledge in your work.

And I think what's so interesting is the ways in which you're sort of bringing all of these things together in terms of thinking about health and wellbeing.

And I'm wondering, and you alluded to this already, but for those listening at home, as they're sort of thinking about, well, what can I be doing every day?

How can I have that executive session with myself?

What is one thing you would recommend that people do every day to take a pause?

- Yeah, I do think everybody needs to sit down right now and ask themselves, how am I going to protect and create that space of grace for myself?

Are you a morning person, are you an evening person?

I know you all carry so much and show up for others in so many ways, but even within all of that, that you carry, there is a breathing space somewhere in your day there's a time.

And if it's only a few minutes, well, then we take that.

That is the seed we plant of grace that we can, as we water it, it will expand in your life.

But where are you going to protect time?

What space do you feel safe in that uplifts you, that connects you to peace?

Can you go and bathe in your own grace, can you deeply reflect within?

Using whatever naturally brings you into connection.

So for me, it's yoga and meditation.

I have an auntie, for her, it's reading from scripture, maybe, I have my father-in-law, it's singing the blues.

Whatever brings you into connection is your own sacred joy practice, where you can reflect.

But I would really encourage people that as a they go there, they ask these questions that allow them permission to come more fully alive, to ask yourself before you go to sleep when I take my last breath, how do I want to feel when you wake up in the morning, consider as you crown yourself in front of the mirror, look into your own eyes and ask yourself, how am I going to come alive today?

- That's a wonderful way to close it up here.

For those out there listening and watching.

How can they learn more and listen to your podcast?

- Yeah, so the podcast is available wherever you get your podcast, but to make it really easy, if folks wanna go to thelastbreathpodcast.com.

So that's thelastbreathpodcast.com, sign up is free.

And all of the podcasts are available to you as a free service.

We even have a free meditation you can download onto your iPhone, so you can wake up every morning, waking up with ease.

It's a meditation that you can make your alarm clock so that you actually wake up and it asks you, how am I gonna come alive today?

So it's my offering to you.

- Well, thank you much, thank you so much for joining us today and thank you for joining us today.

We have a great show and we have wonderful content that's produced right here in Rochester.

So please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter at #RTown, be well and stay safe.

And we will see you next time on R Town, the show about Rochester.

I'm Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara, see you next time.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.