151. Simple Health Hacks From A Doctor

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Hey, what's going on, everybody.

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Welcome to the elemental oven podcast.

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Thank you all so much

for joining me today.

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This is your host, Evan Roberts.

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And on this show, I break down complex

health topics from a holistic perspective.

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And on today's episode, I am

joined by the one and only Dr.

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Laura Hayes.

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She is a board certified emergency

physician, as well as a certified

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health coach, which I personally

think is so awesome to see a blend

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of the two, because there's a lot of

benefit in both of these roles and

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being able to bring them together.

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In my opinion is super valuable and

on today's topic, we are going to

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cover quite a few different things.

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But the main underlying thing is

definitely going to be stress and.

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Really our ability to recognize stress

as well as our ability to manage our

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stress, which I really cannot stress.

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Enough how important stress actually is

in our health And how important it is

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for us to get a hold on this problem.

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Now on top of that, I love to have Dr.

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Laura Hayes on here, because

since she is a legit doctor, it's

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really cool for me to run some.

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Topics and questions that are

probably not things you would

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normally hear a doctor talk about.

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Things like stress, which yes is

in the medical field and people

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are talking about it, but it's

not always a super common topic.

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And on top of that, there are tons

of other things that we get into that

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I highly doubt you would hear your

average doctor talking about, which

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I really love to get her opinion on.

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I feel that she brings a

really fresh perspective.

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That's definitely, obviously steeped

in a lot of years of studying and

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really cool to have her backup.

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A lot of these things that I've

been talking about for a really

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long time, but it's cool to

just really get a professional

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opinion here on the show to back.

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A lot of these things up.

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And before we jump in to the episode

today, I also wanted to mention to go

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ahead and check out the show notes for

all of the sponsors and people that are

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affiliated with the show that help keep

this show up and running, check out all

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of the different products they have.

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There's some incredible stuff in there.

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And of course, I get a

discount code for all of you.

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With these affiliated brands,

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I use most of these products weekly.

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Because I love them so much and they

actually work for me, which is huge.

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I really will not sponsor

something that I do not believe in.

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So therefore I'm only bringing you the

things that I feel actually work and are

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of benefit and worth your time and money.

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And plus it is a great way for you to

check out some of the things that I talk

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about a lot of the time on this show and

see for yourself what benefits they hold.

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So without further ado, let's go

ahead and jump into this really

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awesome conversation with Dr.

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Laura Hayes.

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I know y'all are going to love it

and be sure to stay tuned to the very

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end of this episode so that you can

get the actionable steps as well.

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So that you can go ahead and apply all

of the knowledge that's found in this

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episode, into your life today and start

making some changes to your life already.

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All.

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I hope you enjoy the episode

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Hi, Evan.

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I'm glad to be here.

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Thanks for having me.

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Um, what, Um, I grew up in New

England and my dad is a retired OBGYN.

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So kind of grew up with medicine in

my family and my mom was a teacher.

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So had that service element

all around me as a kid.

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I was always really fascinated

in humans and science.

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Science was sort of what I was good at,

and so I think I gravitated toward that

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as I went through schooling and such.

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And then, Probably, you know, later

when I went to college, I had a

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little bit of a different path.

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I decided initially that I wanted to

go into a science based field or I

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thought I wanted to be a doctor, but

then halfway through my college career,

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I actually pivoted and I ended up

transferring to art school, actually.

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And I embarked on an education and

then later a career in photography.

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So that took me...

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To some interesting places and eventually

I kind of came back around and thought

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yeah, this has been great, but I still

have this Need or this feeling this

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value of service to others in this way.

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So Long story short a you know

applied to medical school and I

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got in I went to medical school

in Boston and and then deciding

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on emergency medicine specifically

That came a little bit later on.

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There were a lot of things that

appealed to me with emergency medicine.

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Specifically, I really enjoyed

the notion of knowing a lot about

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Everything instead of knowing

everything about one main topic.

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Um, so, so yeah, that's kind of what

brought me into emergency medicine.

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And then over this last few years, as

I'm sure you can understand and have

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your own stories through the Covid

Pandemic, um, I was in a leadership

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role for my, uh, at my hospital and.

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You know, dealt with a whole series of

different stressors that came about during

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those last few years, and eventually my

husband and I kind of started talking

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about ways in which we could still

be of service to others, still be

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doctors, but what else could we offer?

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What else were we kind of?

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Finding was our purpose, and that

led us down this little bit more

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health coaching and consulting

realm that we're, we're doing now.

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We're still both practicing emergency

medicine clinically, but we have a

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stronger focus now on this kind of

other passion of ours, and that's

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where we birthed our podcast,

and that's been really fantastic.

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Um, so yeah, that's kind of,

sorry it was a little bit longer,

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but that's, that's my story, and

that's what brought me here today.

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We would be working in the emergency

department and patients would say to us,

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you know, humbly, I guess I tell you the

story humbly, that patients would say,

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you know, Hey, can you be my doctor?

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Can, you know, you explain this in

a way that was never explained to me

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before, or now I understand X, Y, or Z.

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And lots of times it wasn't even

really pertinent to why they were, in

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acute need at the time, why they were

actually in the emergency department.

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But, um, and my husband would get the

same types of comments and questions.

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And, you know, again, we would come

home and talk about these things.

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And, um, and I have a

long background in yoga.

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I've been teaching yoga

for about 25 years now.

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And so again, we kind of, we started

thinking about this of how can we

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start helping people be healthier?

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And maybe avoid needing the

acute sick care, um, you know,

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or at least postponing that.

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So how can we add value to people's

lives before they meet us in the

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emergency department essentially?

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And of course, you know, things

happen, things come up, emergencies

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are emergencies and, uh, traumas and,

you know, illness and things like that.

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Of course they happen.

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But, um, That was sort of the

precipice for this whole next

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course or this next chapter and

in our careers and in our lives.

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And it's been, it's been great.

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I mean, even just having a podcast,

Evan, I'm sure you experienced this.

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You just get to talk to

interesting people and learn.

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We learn so much, you know, as you start

to embark on a new journey yourself, you,

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you learn so much in the process while

you're trying to teach others about things

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too, which is really fascinating and neat.

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Yeah, great question.

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And that's honestly, in my opinion, I'm

not sure what my husband Parker would say,

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but probably shares the same sentiment

that that's the most important one.

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I really feel that that is the

foundation for your wellbeing and

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it's, it's, it encompasses a lot.

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So the reason we call it this 360

awareness is because it's not just about.

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Knowing yourself or taking that

introspective view, learning your ins

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and outs, learning your intricacies,

what makes you who you are, understanding

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your body's signals, your mind's signals,

how the mind and body are connected.

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So that's part of it, and that's

the internal awareness part.

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But then, and a lot of researchers

and studies and lay people use the

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term external awareness, so they

differentiate between internal

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awareness, which is what I just

mentioned, but then external awareness.

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And we, Don't mind the term external

awareness, but I prefer that term

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expanded awareness or 360 degree

awareness because it's not just

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taking the view from the outside in.

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It's really about widening that aperture,

looking all around and seeing, you

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know, how are you perceived by others?

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I mean, your, your words, your

actions, those impact all the

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people around you every day, every

time you have an interaction,

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every time you open your mouth.

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So how are those impacting other people?

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And a lot of people have One or the

other, maybe they're very self aware

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internally, they understand what they

stand for, they know their values, their

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belief systems, and they understand

their physical cues, their emotional

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cues, all of those things, but that

same person could be very lacking in

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this more expanded or 360 awareness and,

um, and then the reverse is also true,

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maybe you do have a better understanding

of how others perceive you, but you

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don't necessarily Really understand

those connections within yourself.

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So again, that's, that's kind of a brief

description of it, and I'm happy to

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answer any questions you have about it.

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I can elaborate more, but that's really

the crux and the foundation of it all.

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And, and we really believe that,

especially from a medical background

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and being physicians, that's where you

can understand what your body needs and

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what your body is trying to tell you.

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Um, you know, we talk a lot in our

practice about red flags, you know, when

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your body is sending you a signal, your

body is putting up these little red flags

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saying, Hey, something's going on here.

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I think you should be

paying attention to this.

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And so having that deeper self awareness

is about pausing, acknowledging

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those red flags, seeing them for

what they are and then trying to

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interpret them and what they mean and

then making a plan to move forward.

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think that you, think a lot of it is

when you think about your internal

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awareness, you made me think of

the phrase connecting the dots.

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It's, it's really trying to assess and

analyze what your body's telling you.

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You mentioned, you know, you eat

something and then maybe you're

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in the bathroom 20 minutes later.

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Well, being more self aware is the

ability to pause and take a look

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and see if there is a connection.

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Maybe there's not a connection.

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It's not to say every time you

get the runs, it's because of

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that one thing you ate, but

looking for the connections there.

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And similarly, you know, I guess

I could extrapolate that to the

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external awareness piece too.

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It's kind of understanding why you may be

I'm getting the consistent reaction that

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you get from people when you think you're

saying something one way or coming across

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a certain way, but maybe You know, maybe

you're not getting the promotion that

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you really feel you deserve, or you're

pissing off a lot of people at work, or

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you're your family or something, and, you

know, being able to make that connection

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of, well, hey, wait a minute, why does

this seem to keep happening to me?

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And just being able to pause and it's

more about even taking a more of an

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objective view, if you will, taking your

own kind of emotion and attachment out of

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it and saying, okay, let me just, again,

widen that aperture and see things a

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little bit more objectively as a whole.

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It's, it's mostly that.

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It's how our financial stability

or our impression of our own

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financial stability really impacts

the other parts of our health.

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As you mentioned, if you.

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So if you are feeling like you

don't have financial stability, for

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example, then maybe you are going

to be putting in the extra hours at

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work and that's going to lead to more

stress and reduce sleep and burnout.

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There's also the consideration of the

socio economics of it too, of, you know,

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how, how can you really eat healthy or

make more conscious food choices when

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you are having to be more aware and

cognizant of your financial situation.

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Practices and maybe you can't afford

to eat organic or you can't afford

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certain things, and your default is

to hit up the fast food restaurant.

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That is really affordable

for a lot of people.

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So it's really, and again, you, I'm

glad you, I'm glad you preface this

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with saying that yes, we do not

claim to offer financial advice, but

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it's, we wanted to acknowledge that.

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It's a part of well being.

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It just is.

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And um, and I think with, if we hadn't

acknowledged it, then it would almost

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sort of be the elephant in the room.

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So it allows us with our clients

and people we work with to say, Hey,

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let's just think about this piece.

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We don't have to dive into it.

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We're not going to be your financial

planners or figure out what's

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lacking or what's in excess.

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It's just a matter of saying,

Hey, we acknowledge that this

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may or may not be playing a role

in your particular well being.

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And then how can we.

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How can we work with you to optimize

that part of your well being as well?

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Sure.

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It's, wow, what a huge topic.

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Right.

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Um, and you know, I, I come at

stress from many different levels.

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I'm human, of course, like we all are, and

we all experience stress to some degree.

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I also, I think, have a somewhat unique.

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Um, perspective in that I am on the

front lines of emergency medicine,

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which is this whole another, you know,

stressful situation and kind of how I've

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learned to navigate that over the years.

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But stress, like you said,

it's, it's a part of life.

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It's a part of everybody

and not all stress is bad.

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When we think about stress, acute

stress is different than chronic stress.

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And this is something that I'm sure

your listeners have contemplated before

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or heard, heard you talk about even.

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But acute stress.

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is not bad.

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It's, that's what helps us move.

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You know, stress response

is what gets you in motion.

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It gets you doing something.

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It produces an action.

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So acute stress isn't bad.

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That's what helps us get

out of bed in the morning.

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It's what helps you put one foot in front

of the other when you're afraid to go

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out on stage and give your presentation.

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It's what helps you get dressed and

walk out the door for a first date.

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You know, those little surges

of acute stress are, are good

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and they're helpful to us even.

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And it's the chronic stress situations

that are detrimental to our health, that

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have have long-term health effects, um, on

our bodies, on our minds, on everything.

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And I guess I can kind of rewind and

talk a little bit about kind of how

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that stress response happens if, if

you allow me the floor to go through

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a little bit of the physiology.

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So, Essentially, your body senses a threat

and that can come in many different forms.

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You can see something, hear

something, feel something.

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It's just one of your

senses picks up on a threat.

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And then that threat is interpreted

by the amygdala, which is a part of

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your brain that processes emotion.

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And once it's processed that as a threat,

it this cascade of neurotransmitters and

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chemical release throughout your body that

tells your body you need to do something.

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There's an action that needs to be done

right now to protect you from this threat.

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And your hypothalamus kicks into gear.

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It sends signals to the pituitary gland,

which sends signals to the adrenal gland.

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And then your adrenal gland starts pumping

out adrenaline or epinephrine, and then

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that's sort of the acute, really fast

acting stress hormone that comes out.

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And then.

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After that happens and produces all of

its effects to rev you up, then cortisol

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starts to be produced when your body

says, okay, this thread is not going away.

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I need a little more.

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I need a little more oomph.

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Um, so it's really when we talk

about the stress response and there

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are more players involved, but the

two main ones are going to be your

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adrenaline and your cortisol and the

effects that that has on your body.

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We can all imagine, right?

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If we all pause for right now and

just think of a stressful situation.

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So you bring some to mind, you can almost

even start to feel that feeling come on.

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And again, it's a protective mechanism.

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It's, we're designed as very complex

creatures, and we're designed

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for these things to protect us.

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So, you know, these, this sympathetic

response or this, drive and the

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stress response is really designed

to shunt blood to the necessary

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organs that get you to move.

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So it's going to take blood

away from your digestive tract.

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It's going to shunt it out to your

muscles, to your heart, to make your heart

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pump faster, and it's going to constrict

some blood vessels and vasodilate others.

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It's going to make your respiratory

rate increase, so you're breathing

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faster, your pupils dilate.

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Um, it can show up as People can get

goosebumps or, you know, all, all kinds

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of sort of that adrenaline surge that

we can all relate to and identify.

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But the thing about stress is if

you don't allow it time to, for that

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system to come down or neutralize or

regulate in some way, and it stays in

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this sort of on state all the time,

that's when it becomes problematic.

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That's when our, our physical bodies

start to say, look this isn't good for me.

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I, you know, I can't, you

can't do that forever.

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And we see that come up in our

stressful lives these days.

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You know, we are walking around with

a to do list that's a mile long and we

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have tons of roles and responsibilities

that are with us all the time.

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: 00:24:28

and I mean, gosh, just even being

connected better to one another,

298

: 00:24:32

having the internet, having

social media, all of that stuff.

299

: 00:24:35

It's wonderful in so many ways when it

comes to connection, but it's added a lot

300

: 00:24:39

more chronic stress to a lot of people.

301

: 00:24:42

So I guess I'll kind of stop there

and let you comment or chime in or

302

: 00:24:47

ask a question, but really when we're

talking about stress being harmful to

303

: 00:24:52

us or harmful to our health and our

well being, it's that chronic state

304

: 00:24:56

of stress that we're referring to.

305

: 00:24:57

Not those acute stress

states that are helpful and

306

: 00:25:00

purposeful and need to be there.

307

: 00:25:02

It's that chronic, you know, shoulders

up a little bit, closer to your ears

308

: 00:25:07

all the time, um, you know, the things

that we can, we can all imagine.

309

: 00:25:22

And So many.

310

: 00:25:24

Um, yeah, everything.

311

: 00:25:27

I mean, if you think about the

short term effects, um, you know,

312

: 00:25:32

poor sleep, poor interpersonal

relationships, poor food choices.

313

: 00:25:39

Um, you know, those are kind of the

more immediate things, but then long

314

: 00:25:42

term, you know, stress has an effect

on our cardiovascular system, on our

315

: 00:25:46

arteries, our heart, our, you know,

our insulin and glucose regulation.

316

: 00:25:52

It has an effect.

317

: 00:25:53

impact on our immune system and

our ability to heal and heal our

318

: 00:25:57

wounds and avoid getting sick.

319

: 00:26:00

So, I mean, it really affects

every single system in our body.

320

: 00:26:04

I mean, stress has been linked

to certain types of cancers.

321

: 00:26:06

It's been linked to

anxiety and depression.

322

: 00:26:10

A lot of chronic stress can also

play a role now, we're discovering

323

: 00:26:14

in Alzheimer's and diseases that

people develop later in life.

324

: 00:26:17

So it's, it's really something that

has become kind of a buzz worthy

325

: 00:26:22

topic nowadays, but it really does

have lasting impact on your health

326

: 00:26:28

and on your life if, if it's left

unmanaged, really, for too long.

327

: 00:27:56

Wow.

328

: 00:27:57

Well, that's a, it's a hard one.

329

: 00:27:58

I mean, as you mentioned, a lot

of us and I myself included, I

330

: 00:28:03

don't get this right all the time.

331

: 00:28:04

And I have certainly struggled

with times in my life where I

332

: 00:28:09

have been chronically stressed.

333

: 00:28:11

I mean, I mentioned COVID earlier.

334

: 00:28:13

I mean, Um, being an emergency physician

and a director and chief, chief of

335

: 00:28:19

my department for those three years.

336

: 00:28:21

Um, that was a whole new level

of stress and it was chronic.

337

: 00:28:26

It was three years straight pretty

much and almost resistant to my

338

: 00:28:31

usual, uh, mitigation and regulatory

mechanisms despite my efforts at them.

339

: 00:28:38

So, um, you know, it is, it's

hard to, it's hard to recognize.

340

: 00:28:42

And A lot of us kind of go through,

we're on this autopilot mode, we

341

: 00:28:47

have those mile long tasks and to

do lists, like I mentioned, but

342

: 00:28:51

we feel like we're managing them.

343

: 00:28:54

And, On a superficial

level, we are managing them.

344

: 00:28:58

We're getting the things

done that need to be done.

345

: 00:29:00

We're showing up at work.

346

: 00:29:01

We're remembering the birthday.

347

: 00:29:03

We're bringing the kids to school.

348

: 00:29:05

We're making it to the

after school events.

349

: 00:29:08

We're getting the groceries.

350

: 00:29:09

We're keeping our household tidy.

351

: 00:29:11

We're doing all the things that

are on that list, and then some.

352

: 00:29:15

So it feels like we're managing them.

353

: 00:29:17

We think we are, but that's

also potentially the person

354

: 00:29:22

who is more irritable.

355

: 00:29:24

They're not showing up when the

friends are having a get together.

356

: 00:29:27

They're not sleeping great at night,

or maybe they're sleeping okay, but

357

: 00:29:32

it's because they're now having a

glass of wine, or a beer, or a cocktail

358

: 00:29:36

every night before they go to bed.

359

: 00:29:38

And I guess I would say at some

point Living in that chronic state

360

: 00:29:45

of chronic stress is not sustainable.

361

: 00:29:47

Something is going to pop up that red

flag somewhere is going to show up and

362

: 00:29:53

it's just a matter of being willing

to see it and being open to taking a

363

: 00:29:58

pause in your life and saying, okay,

let me step back and think about these

364

: 00:30:04

parts of myself and what's happening.

365

: 00:30:06

I think Evan, honestly, one of the

drivers for My interest in this well

366

: 00:30:13

being space, if you will, and my

husband's too, is, you know, healthcare

367

: 00:30:17

in general lacks resources in this

area, you know, most primary care

368

: 00:30:24

doctors that people see, you're going

to maybe see your primary care doctor

369

: 00:30:28

once a year for your regular checkup.

370

: 00:30:31

They're going to order

the basic labs on you.

371

: 00:30:33

They're going to ask you how

much alcohol do you drink?

372

: 00:30:35

Do you smoke?

373

: 00:30:35

How much exercise are you getting?

374

: 00:30:37

But in reality, unfortunately, the

way the system is today, they have

375

: 00:30:41

about 15 minutes to spend with you.

376

: 00:30:43

And if you're seeing your doctor more

regularly than that, then that might

377

: 00:30:46

mean that's because you have Um, and

378

: 00:30:53

I think it's important to remember that

there's a lot of focus on preventative

379

: 00:30:57

medicine and preventative care.

380

: 00:30:58

And for me, and a lot of others, that's

where the space of well being comes in.

381

: 00:31:03

It's, it's not about necessarily what

disease process do you have or what

382

: 00:31:09

disease process are you at risk for?

383

: 00:31:11

Yes, those are important, but it's, How

can all of these other parts that make you

384

: 00:31:15

who you are, all these other aspects or

arenas of your life, how are they either

385

: 00:31:20

working for you or working against you

right now at this moment in your life?

386

: 00:31:23

And then how can we adopt some sustainable

practices so that you can live healthy?

387

: 00:31:30

It's not just about increasing

our longevity and living longer.

388

: 00:31:33

It's about increasing our health span

and extending the number of healthy

389

: 00:31:38

years that we have on this earth.

390

: 00:31:40

Um, so sorry, I think I got off topic

there, but, um, but again, I think

391

: 00:31:45

it's more about just stepping back,

taking a pause and Um, I think even

392

: 00:31:51

the sort of core concepts of well

being, you can use those as a little

393

: 00:31:54

inventory or a checklist to just say,

how am I doing on my self awareness?

394

: 00:32:00

How am I doing on my fitness?

395

: 00:32:02

How am I doing my nutrition?

396

: 00:32:03

What's, what are my emotional and

relationship circles like these days?

397

: 00:32:07

Am I feeling socially connected?

398

: 00:32:09

Am I feeling emotionally satisfied

with where I am with my relationships?

399

: 00:32:12

Um, you can even ask yourself about.

400

: 00:32:15

Your financial stability, and then,

you know, the, the other one that

401

: 00:32:18

I don't think we've touched on at

all, but, you know, how is my sleep?

402

: 00:32:21

Am I giving myself some time to recover,

to rejuvenate, to let all of these

403

: 00:32:25

processes and things that are happening

in my body throughout the day settle

404

: 00:32:29

in at night when I'm sleeping and

really do their work behind the scenes?

405

: 00:32:33

So I think well being and these

concepts of well being act and serve

406

: 00:32:38

as a, as a good checklist for people.

407

: 00:32:40

And that's.

408

: 00:32:41

Probably, I mean, gosh, I think if you

just checked in with yourself once every

409

: 00:32:45

few months and ran that list of those six

things, you'd probably be, be pretty good.

410

: 00:34:56

a level of stress.

411

: 00:34:58

You bring up a good point because, you

know, you said you were meditating a

412

: 00:35:02

lot and I mean, it becomes a practice.

413

: 00:35:03

It's called a practice for a reason and

you have to allow yourself some grace

414

: 00:35:07

and some self compassion to say, you

know, I'm going to start this practice

415

: 00:35:11

and I'm not going to get it perfect

every time, but let's see if this helps.

416

: 00:35:15

And one thing that I recommend to my

patients, to my clients, to my friends,

417

: 00:35:19

whoever will listen, um, is to just start

with a really small digestible nugget.

418

: 00:35:25

Like.

419

: 00:35:26

Take 30 seconds of your day and just

sit, just be by yourself, take a pause.

420

: 00:35:32

I tell my kids, I use the term take

a beat, I just, I don't know where I

421

: 00:35:35

got that from, but I just tell them

like, girls, just like, let's just

422

: 00:35:38

take a beat, you know, and we just

kind of sit and it's like 30 seconds

423

: 00:35:41

or a minute, you know, where you

can just like be quiet, have some

424

: 00:35:46

semblance of just being with yourself.

425

: 00:35:48

And honestly, if you just did

that for 30 seconds, I mean, you

426

: 00:35:52

can set the little timer on your

watch or your phone or something.

427

: 00:35:56

And if you get to the end of that

30 seconds and you feel like Oh

428

: 00:36:00

my gosh, that was impossible.

429

: 00:36:01

I mean, it's only 30 seconds, you know, so

I would, I would encourage that person who

430

: 00:36:06

gets to the end of 30 seconds and feels

like, oh my gosh, that was just brutal.

431

: 00:36:10

Well, you know, that probably is

a practice that you should try to

432

: 00:36:13

incorporate a little bit more and maybe

that's your sign or your signal that,

433

: 00:36:17

um, you're running, uh, on, you know,

434

: 00:36:24

And I think, you know, I talked,

um, in one of the podcast episodes

435

: 00:36:27

about just finding, finding that

practice that works for you.

436

: 00:36:32

But again, it starts simple.

437

: 00:36:33

I mean, we all go to the bathroom.

438

: 00:36:36

Every day, multiple times, and

we are, myself included, I'll

439

: 00:36:40

include myself in the we here.

440

: 00:36:42

We are so used to just grabbing our

phone, we go to the bathroom, we check

441

: 00:36:47

our email, we're looking on social media,

we're doing whatever, and like, I have

442

: 00:36:52

to really remind myself to not do that.

443

: 00:36:55

Like, like, why can't I just

go to the bathroom for five

444

: 00:36:59

minutes and not have my phone?

445

: 00:37:01

Um, so I've really tried

to incorporate that.

446

: 00:37:04

And again, it sounds silly, but I've

tried to incorporate that into my

447

: 00:37:08

regular practice of, engineering little

moments of mindfulness throughout my

448

: 00:37:13

day where I can just be present and

then see what's coming up for me.

449

: 00:37:17

Um, and the other practice that I think

is helpful when I, uh, teach my yoga

450

: 00:37:22

class, I oftentimes will give them

a little challenge at the end or a

451

: 00:37:25

little assignment and say, okay, when

you, you know, when you do this, when

452

: 00:37:29

you go home, I want you to try this.

453

: 00:37:30

And one of the things that I've

recommended, and a lot of people

454

: 00:37:33

have actually given me feedback

like, Wow, that was amazing.

455

: 00:37:35

I don't ever think to do that.

456

: 00:37:37

I encourage them to drive home with

no music and put the windows down.

457

: 00:37:42

And, It's, it's amazing.

458

: 00:37:45

It feels so invigorating and refreshing

and you feel so connected to the world.

459

: 00:37:50

And I mean, again, it sounds

ridiculous sometimes when I

460

: 00:37:53

hear myself say it, but try it.

461

: 00:37:55

If you've never done that,

it's, and it's so tempting.

462

: 00:37:58

You maybe get like two minutes into

your drive and then you want to put

463

: 00:38:01

the radio on or you want to turn

on the podcast or something, but,

464

: 00:38:04

um, if you can kind of really force

yourself to just resist that urge.

465

: 00:38:10

And especially when it's the

weather's great and I mean, it's

466

: 00:38:12

just, there's something about that,

that will bring you into a state

467

: 00:38:16

of mindfulness and being present.

468

: 00:38:18

And, and it's, once you start

practicing those moments, you'll

469

: 00:38:22

find that they're a little bit

easier to incorporate into your life.

470

: 00:39:31

Yeah, it's that notion of kind of

just bringing it back to basics.

471

: 00:39:34

And I think even with nutrition

and fitness, sometimes you just

472

: 00:39:39

bring it back to the basics, and

that's a great place to start.

473

: 00:39:43

Um, you know, what kinds of things

were we eating back then, and we

474

: 00:39:46

didn't have all this processed

stuff, and even from a fitness

475

: 00:39:49

standpoint, I mean, just go for a walk.

476

: 00:39:51

Outside.

477

: 00:39:52

That's, that's great.

478

: 00:39:53

It's so good for you.

479

: 00:39:54

You know, don't, sometimes I think

as humans, uh, we, we tend to

480

: 00:39:58

overcomplicate things and sometimes

simple, uh, can be really nice and

481

: 00:40:03

really healthy and, uh, keep us well.

482

: 00:40:52

Yeah, it's a good point and

I think it underscores the

483

: 00:40:54

point that it's all connected.

484

: 00:40:56

You can't separate the mind and the body.

485

: 00:40:59

It's all connected in there.

486

: 00:41:02

All of the choices that you make

throughout your life are going

487

: 00:41:06

to affect some other part of you.

488

: 00:41:09

Um, and, you know, that's a, so I think,

I'm glad you brought that up because

489

: 00:41:13

it does, again, it underscores that

point that it's all, it's all connected.

490

: 00:42:06

Gosh, well, pregnancy is such a whirlwind

of emotion and physical changes, just

491

: 00:42:14

gigantic transformation in so many ways.

492

: 00:42:17

And I think that, Um, the key point I

would make is that the healthier you

493

: 00:42:25

are, the better equipped you are to

care for your child and your family.

494

: 00:42:30

And that means during pregnancy as well.

495

: 00:42:32

I mean, I meet patients all the

time as an ER physician who are

496

: 00:42:37

pregnant and they're going through

something and you know, they're,

497

: 00:42:41

they're very worried about the baby.

498

: 00:42:43

And of course we have

to consider the baby.

499

: 00:42:45

But.

500

: 00:42:46

One thing we often talk about is,

look, we need to make sure that you are

501

: 00:42:50

the healthiest you can be right now.

502

: 00:42:51

We, right now, we need to take care of

you so that you can continue with this

503

: 00:42:56

pregnancy, so that you can continue

to be successful in this process.

504

: 00:43:01

And, um, so again, I think I would say

that that's kind of the main point is.

505

: 00:43:06

I mean, you got to take care of mom.

506

: 00:43:07

And if mom is taken care of and

mom is healthy and mom's well

507

: 00:43:11

being is accounted for, then

that's what's best for the child.

508

: 00:43:16

And, you know, in the postpartum period

in particular, gosh, I don't think

509

: 00:43:20

this would be a much bigger topic

than you want to get into right now,

510

: 00:43:23

but just to keep it, uh, generalized,

uh, as you introduced it in that way.

511

: 00:43:27

But, you know, Um, mom's well

being is not just about self care

512

: 00:43:34

or, you know, allowing mom to go

have a 15 minute nap or something.

513

: 00:43:39

Yes, those things are important,

but it's really about mom feeling

514

: 00:43:43

supported and feeling acknowledged

and accepting of her choices, what she

515

: 00:43:49

feels is best for herself or her baby.

516

: 00:43:52

You know, there's so much guilt and

pressure and expectation and comparisons

517

: 00:43:57

that come with, um, Um, and what we um,

that it's, it's a space that I'm glad

518

: 00:44:03

is gaining a little more attention, I

think, from just the world and society

519

: 00:44:07

and the, even the healthcare system,

but, um, but yeah, I think we probably

520

: 00:44:13

all, as a society, need to give a little

more attention to the well being of

521

: 00:44:17

mothers, and I actually, Evan, if you'll

let me, uh, land you with a shameless

522

: 00:44:22

plug here, part of what we do at Lasting

Impact, I have developed this Kind of

523

: 00:44:28

side program than my baby pun intended

and it's called changing grace and it's

524

: 00:44:32

actually a well being program designed

specifically for moms And it focuses on

525

: 00:44:37

maternal well being and takes into account

some of these pillars of well being,

526

: 00:44:41

but it really More so helps them move

through a place where they may feel stuck

527

: 00:44:48

in their identity or role as a mother.

528

: 00:44:51

And while it's an important role, um,

it helps them to recognize that they

529

: 00:44:55

are more than, uh, more than that.

530

: 00:44:57

And, um, have a lot to offer themselves,

their family and the world around them.

531

: 00:45:01

So, um, so yeah, pretty passionate

about that topic if you can't tell.

532

: 00:45:06

So I'm glad you brought it up, but yeah.

533

: 00:46:37

No, I mean, I, you know, it's, it's

motherhood and postpartum and all that is

534

: 00:46:41

a different experience for every woman.

535

: 00:46:43

Of course, it's very unique and each woman

has her own challenges and struggles,

536

: 00:46:48

um, you know, certainly when it comes

to your physical health or your caloric

537

: 00:46:53

needs as you stated, you know, some

of that does depend on breastfeeding

538

: 00:46:58

or not breastfeeding, for example.

539

: 00:46:59

Um, you know, there's, there is

more, you need more calories if

540

: 00:47:04

you're burning them at that rate that

you are when you're breastfeeding.

541

: 00:47:08

Um, but it's just such a, I mean,

Um, that transition from never being

542

: 00:47:15

pregnant to being pregnant and then

that transition afterward or afterward,

543

: 00:47:20

um, you know, it's, it's a complete

transformation in, in your body.

544

: 00:47:25

I mean, your hormones are all over

the place and your body has just done

545

: 00:47:31

something that still blows my mind, even

the fact that I've done it multiple times.

546

: 00:47:35

It's like,

547

: 00:47:39

Um, so, you know, there's definitely room

for a lot more, um, you know, Uh, self

548

: 00:47:46

compassion and kindness to ourselves when

we are women going through that state.

549

: 00:47:51

And again, I think a lot of it, um, what

I would like to see and I think a lot of

550

: 00:47:56

other women would like to see is there

being more, uh, opportunity to have

551

: 00:48:00

discussions like this, to talk about,

you know, what is actually going on.

552

: 00:48:03

What are those, you know, what

are the expectations that We place

553

: 00:48:07

on ourselves, but also society

places upon us and, you know, how

554

: 00:48:11

do we, how do we counteract that?

555

: 00:48:13

How do we say, look, that's not

realistic or I'm, you know, that's

556

: 00:48:17

your opinion, it's not mine.

557

: 00:48:19

And, um, it's, it's an interesting,

it's an interesting space.

558

: 00:48:23

Um, I'm not, are you familiar

with the word matrescence?

559

: 00:48:25

Have you heard of that word, Evan?

560

: 00:48:28

So I'm, and I'm not a, you know, I'm not

a, you know, specialist in this area, but

561

: 00:48:34

there is this new accepted term called

matrescence and essentially it's this

562

: 00:48:39

term that describes the period of time

after a woman gives birth and becomes a

563

: 00:48:44

mother and it sounds sort of phonetically

similar to adolescence and in adolescence

564

: 00:48:49

that, as you know, describes your

transition from being a A kid to an adult,

565

: 00:48:55

essentially, and how our bodies go through

so much physical change at that time.

566

: 00:49:00

We go through so much hormonal change

at that time, emotional change, right?

567

: 00:49:04

It's such a huge time in our lives

where so much is happening at once.

568

: 00:49:10

And Um, if you think about it, so what

matrescence, or it's called matrescence,

569

: 00:49:15

what that describes is really this

period of time in a woman's life

570

: 00:49:19

after she's, you know, been pregnant

and then given birth where she's

571

: 00:49:22

also going through a lot of physical

changes, a lot of hormonal changes,

572

: 00:49:26

emotional changes, where again, things

are kind of all over the place again.

573

: 00:49:31

And I bring that up to say.

574

: 00:49:34

Sometimes when we label something or we

can give it a word or we can give it an

575

: 00:49:37

identity, um, it, it can open the door for

discussion and research and, um, bringing

576

: 00:49:45

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