What Sarah McLachlan Can’t Live Without

I’ve been wearing Birkenstocks for the last 35 years, and I have about 20 pairs. They are my favorite shoes. When I moved out to Vancouver in 1987, everybody there was wearing them, and it was the first time I’d ever seen them. They were like fancy flip-flops to me and I fell in love with them. They’re so comfortable. I have a very high arch, and they were super comfy. I usually go barefoot when I’m onstage, but Birks are what I live in every day. Both of my daughters have a Birkenstock problem as well. And unfortunately, they’re both the same size as me. That’s a bit dangerous. I’m constantly like, “Where are my blue clogs?” And they’re in my daughter’s closet.

I just got a pair of small-buckle Arizonas in all dark-gray suede. I dropped my daughter off at university in Los Angeles and went to Venice Beach and had a little shop. There’s a Birkenstock store there. I’m always looking online to see what they have, but I found these in the store. They are really beautiful. Even the outside foot thing is all suede. It’s kind of like if Rick Owens had designed a Birkenstock. I should have bought three pairs because they only seem to last about a year and a half with me because I wear them every day. But I guess I’m a little bit hard on them.

I don’t wear bras if I can possibly help it. But when I do wear one, this is all I wear now. Vuori has the best colors. My favorite is this beautiful chocolate brown. The bra doesn’t have a ton of support, but it holds you in and it’s got enough material on the side so there’s not a lot of back fat poking out. It’s so soft. It just feels really great.

One of my dear friends gave me a Kindle for Christmas because we travel a lot together, and I was constantly hauling three or four heavy books along with me. She was like, “This is ridiculous. It’s taking up too much real estate.” I love to read real books, but for travel, the Kindle is absolutely amazing. I just finishedAll the Colors of the Dark, which is really good, and the new Wally Lamb book,The River Is Waiting, about a father who mistakenly runs over his son and kills him and ends up in jail. He’s a beautiful writer. I love him. I like reading about the dark underbelly of things and why people do stupid things and how they overcome challenges. And I also love reading about redemption.

I got quite sick last year and had to cancel the Canadian leg of my Fumbling Towards Ecstasy 30th-anniversary tour, which I am redoing this October. I have a blood deficiency too, so I am a little more susceptible to viruses than most people; I just have to be really cautious. And I had tried a lot of different Rishi Chenga mushrooms the last couple years, but I had forgotten about oil of oregano. So I’ve added it back into my arsenal. It tastes awful and it’s potent. You don’t want to be around anybody if you burp this stuff up. But it really is amazing at staving off colds and flus. There’s been a number of studies about how it just gets in there and kills off all the germs. I’m a firm believer in it. So now, whenever I travel, I take it before I get on a plane and after I get off a plane. I like the gel capsules because you can just swallow them. But I also have the tincture and I put that under my tongue. It burns and feels like it’s getting right into those mucus membranes.

I’m a bit of a data geek and I love tracking things and understanding my body better. I exercise quite a bit, so I love to know how many hours I was out and what my heart-rate variability was. This is a great tool for that. I used to have an Apple Watch, and I don’t want to diss Apple, but I go out skate-skiing for three hours at a time and the Apple Watch battery dies after two, so you lose all that information. With the Garmin, you can go for eight hours. It also gives you a sleep score and tells you whether you’re having a good night’s sleep and whether you’re hydrated enough.

I just started playing pickleball. I played three days in a row and, wow, it’s humbling. I played against a couple yesterday who were in their late seventies, and they kicked our ass. I was dying trying to get the ball. Being 57 and exercising as much as I do, I’m achy a lot. So I basically lie in bed every night and spend about ten minutes with this thing all over me. I am obsessed with it. It fits perfectly in your hand and it’s small enough to travel with. The only downside is it only has one attachment. It doesn’t have a flat attachment. It’s kind of round, but it’s pretty universal and it gets everywhere it needs to go.

I love kombucha. Other people think it’s disgusting, but I can’t get enough. My favorite is theLychee and Jasmine from Rise, a Canadian brand that you can’t get in the U.S. It’s sort of my go-to instead of having alcohol — have a glass of kombucha. And I often dilute it with soda water, which means I can drink more of it. I usually make my own in the SodaStream because I find that a lot of canned or bottled seltzers are too carbonated. I like to drink it mildly carbonated, and with the SodaStream, I can control that.

I am always searching for very dark chocolate that is not bitter or chalky. Thomas Haas is a local chocolatier here in Vancouver. I’m not sure if you can get his chocolate in the States. My favorite bar is97 percent dark, but it’s so creamy and the perfect chocolate for me. It melts in your mouth. I don’t even know how to describe it. And nobody else likes chocolate this dark. So I always have it all to myself — I don’t have to share it. He also does beautiful salted caramels and things like that, and then sort of fancy chocolates.

[Editor’s note: Thomas Haas doesn’t ship his (much more affordable) chocolate bars to the United States, but you can take his online course to learn to make your own. Otherwise, you’ll have to check out his shop next time you’re in Vancouver.]