Hello friends,
What you are about to read is the first of what is to become a weekly newsletter/blog post written by me (Chrissy, the co-founder and big brain behind Ohms Collective Co./Big Brain Foods).
If this letter has arrived in your inbox and you don’t know who I am, you are receiving this because at some point over the past year or two you have either indulged in a Big Brain Bar and/or added your email address to the Ohms Collective mailing list at an art market, festival, or conference…hello all, and welcome.
I think it’s relevant to share that I really had to pep-talk myself into writing this despite the fact that I have been daydreaming and thinking about starting a blog for quite some time now.
I’m not sure exactly why getting started has been feeling so hard for me. I guess it’s because there is so much that I would like to say, explore, ask, and assess…it’s hard to know where to begin. And since February 1st* marked the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and Vernal Equinox, now seemed like as good a time as any to start sowing the seeds of this new project.
(*Imbolc is a traditional Gaelic festival celebrated on February 1st marking the beginning or coming of spring. This can be a potent time for getting clear on intentions and making preparations to start new projects)
Beginnings can be exhilarating and by the same token it can be terrifying to start something new. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the deep recognition that there is so much inherent risk in stepping into the unknown. Maybe it’s the fact that a beginning implies that an end is inevitable. Since there is no way of knowing or predicting when that end will come or how it will feel, it can be scary to think about. I think that most humans throughout our history have held fear about that - our inevitable end (aka… death).
But I’m SO not here to discuss death. Not today anyway.
Today I am here to discuss life, to begin to tell my story, and to introduce you to my emerging healthy snack and lifestyle brand, Big Brain Foods.
Whether you think you know me or you don’t I will start answering the question Who Am I?
My name is Chrissy, I am 29 years old.
Gemini Sun, Scorpio Moon, Leo Rising
(for those interested in astrology)
I live in Ojai, California with my loving husband Omar.
And since then I have been navigating some pretty big life transitions...
You see, in addition to entering a new marriage this past summer, I also transitioned out of my work with children and on to a new career path.
Since I was old enough to be trusted to be home alone, I have been trusted to care for children. My first job at age 12 was a babysitting job and since that age I have always worked with kids.
At the age of 23 I moved to Ojai California to follow my calling, live with purpose, and accept an opportunity to be a full time team member at a radical non-profit serving home schooled and unschooled children in the 805.
It was a dream come true for me. I got to move independently from my small town in rural, Western Massachusetts to the most gorgeous California community I had ever seen or knew existed. And I got to live out my ambition to be an educator in a self-directed learning environment (for those unfamiliar, SDE is the educational philosophy that I wrote my honors thesis about in college and have since been wholeheartedly passionate about…I actually believe this adopting this style of child rearing is the key to truly changing the world, you can learn more by visiting www.self-directed.org/sde/).
I gained so much from the six years I spent wearing a plethora of different hats working at Rock Tree Sky. And I still feel in me a desire to mentor, to educate, and to be a resource for those who might be seeking connection. But the time has come for me to spread my blue butterfly wings and nurture the radical education movement in different ways.
I know that there is so much information out there; we live in an age of infinite content. It seems that everyone these days has something to say (obviously, myself included or I wouldn’t be writing this letter). So I want to be real here and let you know that I don’t claim to be an authority or an expert on anything. I am merely a seeker. My intention is to use this platform to share stories, explore questions, and pose insights from my own experiences in the hopes that what I share will resonate with and encourage somebody else in some way. I want to be mindful not to use this blog to be prescriptive or dictate how you should live your life. My goal rather is to share from the heart and to inspire within you the innate desire to live well and nourish your brain.
In many ways I view this as an opportunity to pay forward some of the lessons and wisdom I have gained from my mentors and teachers. I have so much gratitude for the many people who have supported me on my journey and have shown me that it is possible to live life authentically. I aspire to live with the values that have been imparted onto me by those I look up to.
I aspire to live with honesty, to live courageously, to be joyful, to feel well, to love deeply, and (most especially) to be free. I have such a strong desire for freedom and security. And along with those core wants I also feel in me a responsibility to contribute something positive to this world. I guess you could say I have a Leave it better than I found it mentality.
I want to live a purpose driven life of creativity. And I want to create things that nourish and demonstrate love for those who I care about.
The formation of this brand is my attempt at that. My attempt to live out my authenticity, challenge myself to do something meaningful, and share what I can along the way.
I’ve always been better in writing, so my plan for the time being is to publish a weekly blog post/newsletter that highlights various aspects of the lifestyle of nourishment that Omar and I share. The idea is to provide a behind the scenes look at how two passionate creative types attempt to build a mission driven business founded on the values of transparency, community, wellness, sustainability, quality, and education.
Together, Omar and I are working to further develop our line of superfood snack products that each contain functional mushrooms for their brain boosting benefits.
Big Brain Foods is our brainchild. It is a brand born out of a mutual desire to discover the keys to optimizing the health of our brains and to live life vibrantly.
From practices that support mental wellness to habits that promote longevity, Omar and I are committed to nourishing our brains as best we can. We invite you to come with us on this journey.
Before we embark, allow me to share a bit more about my background and my interests so that you can get a sense of some of the topics I will be writing about with this blog.
As I stated earlier in this letter, I have over 15 years experience caring for children with a particular passion for radical pedagogy and philosophical alignment towards self-directed education. I hold a bachelor's degree in Holistic Education with a minor in Education and a Certificate of Civic Engagement. I have completed 500 hours of Yoga Teacher Training, I am a certified yoga instructor, and I teach yoga professionally at Light & Space in Ojai, Ca. I have taken courses in herbalism. I have studied Ayurvedic principles and apprenticed with an Ayurvedic practitioner. I maintain a dedicated fitness regimen. I require lots of time to be immersed in nature. I love to dance. I am self-taught in sewing and garment construction and I occasionally make clothes for myself and loved ones. I love to cook and to eat good food. I have a strong sense of faith deeply instilled in me and I move through life with an ever evolving spiritual practice.
I also move through life with a chronic anxiety diagnosis accompanied by a sprinkling of OCD symptoms. My anxiety has presented itself in different ways throughout my life but I think it is pretty safe to say that I was born predisposed to this condition. My mom describes me in infancy as being a “screaming ball of fire.” Suffice it to say that anxiety is something that I have been learning to manage from a young age.
Since I have spent much of my life learning to navigate and live with the various aspects of this condition and the ways it shows up for me, I have developed a robust tool kit to help me manage. Nourishing my brain with foods that promote mental clarity and provide me with clean energy is one of my essential tools.
One of my goals with this blog and the brand at large is to lean into vulnerability by sharing any helpful insights that I have gained through my life experiences in the hopes that my story might benefit others who are navigating challenges with mental wellness. My hope is that together we can support each other in finding ways to better understand and care for mental health as a collective.
In addition to my lifelong interest in improving mental wellness, I also have a vested interest in optimizing the health of my brain due to three close losses in my family to brain related disease.
Look, I know I said I wasn’t here to talk about death today…just bear with me for a moment.
When I was a young child, my great grandmother passed away due to Alzheimer's disease. Although I was only about eight years old when she passed away, I remember spending time with her during my early childhood and witnessing her health decline. When I was four years old my great grandmother was a vibrant, dignified, and loving old woman. By the time I was 7 she had become gray and frail and unable to recall the name of her own children let alone her great grandchildren. I viscerally remember the eeriness of seeing her like that. Hers was the first funeral I attended. The whole experience left a remarkable impression on me and provided me with an early understanding of the incredible importance of our brains.
Then, early in 2021 my papou (grandfather), once an esteemed neurosurgeon, passed away due to complications with COVID-19 exasperated by his advanced dementia. Although he passed rather quickly once he contracted the COVID-19 virus, I recognise dementia as being the real disease that took his life. The road to his death was quite long and challenging for my family to witness and handle due to the brain degeneration that had been progressing for years. It was painful to watch as the patriarch of our family slowly lost his mind, and lost the ability to live his final months in full touch with reality.
And most recently, my mother’s mother passed away due to a very aggressive brain cancer. This one was craziest (and for me the most tragic), seeing how quickly the cancer shut down my mema’s brain's ability to function. In October 2022, Mema was dancing with our whole family at my brother’s wedding, so full of energy and life. In November 2022 she was diagnosed with cancer. And by January 7th, 2023 she had passed away. I remember being with her in the assisted living home where she received care in her final days. Seeing her try and try and try to tell what was on her mind but being completely unable to get the message out. Heartbreaking doesn't even begin to describe the feeling.
Surely, there must be ways to prevent brain degradation and diseases. Surely, there must be actions we can all be taking to preserve the wellness of our control centers, the matter between our ears, our most essential organs. As I stated before, I do not claim to be an authority on anything. I am merely a seeker. But from what I can tell from the studies that have been published by those who are experts in the fields of neuroscience and nutrition, I think that there are simple lifestyle choices we can make and adjustments we can implement that will position us well to live long happy lives with strong healthy brains. And that is what I want. Holistic nourishment for our bodies and brains. That is what this brand is all about.
Some topics I will explore in these blog posts and newsletters include yoga virtues, healthy recipes, mindfulness practices, brain games, seasonal living, navigating relationships, community events, brand updates, and more.
Thank you so much for supporting us on our mission to bring radically vital, nutrient dense, delightfully indulgent superfood snacks that promote the happiness and health of people and our shared planet.
Let’s nourish our brains together, one mouthwatering bite at a time.
Oh! And while you're here...we would soooo love it if you would head over to our shop products page and order a pack of Big Brain Bars!
Be well and Stay Curious,
With SO MUCH love from
Chrissy Dasco-Uribe
co-founder/CEO
Please contact me Robby low Cochran on Facebook or instagram