Lemon Cree healing First Nations from coast to coast

Like a rolling stone that gathers no moss, Theresa Ducharme has once again reinvented the concept of her Lemon Cree business. She has created add-on products to improve the life and wellness of the people she has so diligently trained in Canada’s First Nations communities.

“Lemon Cree is celebrating its seventh year and I am I reflecting on its beginnings which takes me back to Quebec. Montreal is where the company was created and I forever am grateful for those who helped grow LC into what it is today. The Nation magazine was there to record the growth and expansion of its beginnings,” said Ducharme.

Now living in Vancouver, where her business is based, Ducharme is more than just a trainer who travels to First Nations to bring her brand of engaging exercise with the use of yoga balls and resistance bands as well as training courses to become certified Lemon Cree trainers. Today, Ducharme has taken her business to another level with a new line of homeopathic products.

Shortly after Ducharme founded Lemon Cree in 2010, she was hired by the Cree Nation to offer her exercise program in the different communities. She said it was like having a “fitness party” in each community.

“It was the laughs, the music, the tears at times, but most of all the inspiring stories we all witnessed. It was Holly Danyluk (of the Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association) who coined the movement by saying, ‘It is a fitness revolution.’ And this revolution spread to every Cree community in the James Bay Cree Nation in Quebec and later spread into the James Bay Ontario side.”

Now, seven years on, after a stint in Toronto, Ducharme has moved Lemon Cree’s base to beautiful British Columbia. Over those years, Ducharme and her team managed to certify 117 people across Canada to keep the Bounce Fit program alive and healthy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After working with First Nations groups across the country, Durcharme saw what ailed many people and what was sending them to an early grave.

“Diabetes, cancer, heart diseases, depression, anxiety and obesity are plaguing the communities at alarming rates. I believe maintenance and upkeep and nourishing our bodies is extremely important to our whole well-being,” said Ducharme.

To do this, she would frequently buy over-the-counter treatments and concoctions from health food stores to help with prevention naturally. However, the problem was that with so much business on the go and so much traveling, working it out this way was becoming less and less practical.

“I found that it was very costly and took up a lot of my time blending, mixing and shaking. It was feeling more like work and I started dreading the upkeep. I needed something fast and convenient, but I wanted something organic, natural, effective and fast. So putting that energy out there is how I met Jerry Whiting, a well-known geneticist and former acupuncture teacher in Seattle. He understood how the human body worked,” said Ducharme.

Already making natural medicines, Ducharme was able to convey to Whiting the suffering she had seen in Canada’s north when it came to preventable diseases and certain kinds of cancers that are common among Aboriginal people.

From there they developed three homeopathic products that are now available via Ducharme’s Lemon Cree website.

“For months I tested the roots mixtures. They had so many healing properties that I thought it just couldn’t be possible. But the more I researched, read and tested, the more I was convinced. I now love that I know exactly what was going into my body and each drop is something positive for my body and mind. No chemicals, no preservatives, everything is grown in Jerry’s garden and harvested according to the earth and moon elements. The water mixture is a rare find in Washington state that I can share with everyone,” said Ducharme.

“I love the fact that I can carry it in my purse and no mixing or shaking is needed. Just directly drop under the tongue and carry on.”

The three new products that they have created are the Lemon Cree Bitter Roots, the Lemon Cree Relief Rub and the Lemon Cree Balance Rub.

“I am 54 years old so I am in the menopause phase of life and I train a lot of people with menopause. So with that I was able to come up with a cream that you just rub on your head and I tested it for months until we reached perfection. Also, we now have another (remedy) for sports injuries and headaches,” explained Durcharme.

According to Ducharme, each product targets a different need. Her Bitter Roots is made from a combination of turmeric, a classic burdock and dandelion root formulation that features ginger, black pepper and citrus peel. Together this unique concoction is an effective remedy for a host of ailments.

Here is a list of what each of its ingredients can treat homeopathically:

• Turmeric root – powerful anti-inflammatory, used for arthritis, cholesterol regulator, Alzheimer antioxidant, antidepressant;

• Burdock root – skin conditions, increases bile production, mild diuretic, mild laxative;

• Dandelion root – gentle liver tonic, diuretic, detoxifying agent, digestive bitter;

• Ginger root – anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-emetic, antibacterial;

• Black pepper oil – increases the bioavailability of turmeric because it contains piperine;

• Tangerine peel – bittering agent and flavouring.

Next up is the Lemon Cree Relief rub for pain described as a treatment “for everyday sore muscles from strenuous workouts, arthritis pain, neck pain, muscle spasms, bruises, bone pain, headaches and inflammation.” This product contains eucalyptus oil, camphor oil, menthol oil, chamomile oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil with organic natural beeswax.

Then there’s the Balance rub to treat menopausal symptoms and “balancing” out hot flashes, body aches, mood swings and headaches. This one contains clary sage oil, peppermint oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil with organic natural beeswax.

According to Ducharme, because she and her business partner are making these products in their own lab, the cost has been significantly cut for the consumer. As essential oils tend to have a high market value, particularly when they are organic, by making the products themselves, the costs are much lower for the consumer.

Ducharme still works as a personal trainer and will see over 20 clients in a span of three days. The rest of her time is spent with BC’s Tsleil-Waututh First Nation near Vancouver, where Ducharme is running her brand of fitness programs. She can also make arrangements for participants to take courses with her via Skype.

For more information or to book a private or group workout with Ducharme or any of her products, go to www.lemoncree.com.