Dive into a transformative exploration of the spaces we inhabit with this enlightening episode of Healthy AF. Amy guides listeners on a journey to examine the profound impact our physical environments have on our health and well-being. From the toxins lurking in our homes to the energy of the people we surround ourselves with, and the healing power of natural light and nature itself, this episode is an invitation to become curious about the world around us. Discover the elements within your control and those beyond it, and look to see how each aspect may influence your own physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. This introductory exploration kicks off the new topic of the month - physical environment. Put your thinking caps on! Join us all month as we uncover the subtle yet significant ways our environments shape our lives, proving that being Healthy AF is about more than just diet and exercise—it's about the totality of our surroundings.
Trying to get healthy and stay healthy is f-ing hard! Everybody struggles with some aspect of it, no matter what they look like or what they tell you. There is no magic formula - a healthy lifestyle is a choice we need to make daily. Join Amy as she supports, informs, and entertains you on your journey toward health.
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[00:00:02] What you want when you want it, where you want it. This is the MESH. Hey, how may we change? I'm a nationally-forward certified health and wellness coach and this is Healthy AF. In this podcast, I'll be bringing you all things health.
[00:00:19] From the newest health strategies to how to tackle those personal roadblocks that just will not let you move forward. So buckle in. We're going to be inspired and instructed and dad gum, we're going to have a little fun on Healthy AF.
[00:00:36] Hey, everybody and welcome to another episode of Healthy AF. It is August, Woodwood. So the theme for this month is physical environment. It's funny when I made out my calendar for themes of the month that I saw popping up in my client,
[00:00:55] client population of like challenges that they see in their health. One thing that comes up that sort of surprised me physical environment. Well, then when we really started working on it and getting our hands in it, everybody kept bringing different aspects of that.
[00:01:12] And I thought, you know, it's probably good to do a whole month on what is your physical environment? How does it affect your health? How does it affect your life?
[00:01:21] So I wanted to just record this first week in August to get your gears really turning about physical environment and the impact it has on your health. Now, I can tell you we're going to have a couple of guests this month,
[00:01:37] which I'm excited about to really take a deep dive into some of these different facets. But I just want to pull into your field of view all the different ways you're impacted by physical environment. So, you know, when you start thinking about physical environment,
[00:01:59] you might think about, like, well, the room that I'm in. Is it well lit? Is it dirty? You know, if you look at low hanging fruit, maslow's hierarchy and needs like, you need a place that's not dirty. And when I mean dirty, I don't mean like,
[00:02:17] I just came back from the beach and there's some sand on my floor for my feet. No, I'm talking about dirty, like, like, germ dirty, like there's dog poo on the floor. And you just stepped in it with an open wound. That's dirty. Okay.
[00:02:33] In that nursing background, there's a wide spectrum of what your physical environment has to look like and where safety lies. Safety lies down here with, like, dirty. Like lots of germs, not clean. Nobody washing hands. Disease is spreading, right? Untreated water.
[00:02:55] Okay. Those are those are your big things. But then you come up a little bit on the spectrum of dirty. What about clutter? How much clutter is too much clutter? I can tell you that some days when I start to sit down and do work,
[00:03:13] the very first thing that has to happen for my piece of mind is that desk has to be cleaned up. I cannot function unless that desk is cleaned up. Right? So it might be that visual clutter that we talk about our physical environment.
[00:03:29] Another aspect of your physical environment is light. Natural light is, are you under fluorescent salt? Are they blue lights? Are they blue fluorescent lights when the sun is down? And it's impacting your sleep. Do you do that thing where you've got on your blue lights in the morning
[00:03:49] and then as the sun goes down, you put on your yellow lights so that you can calm down. Right? So all of those things are physical environment. What's your access to the outside? Can you get outside?
[00:04:05] You know, being outside is coming up more and more and more in research than our connection to nature. Just is one of those facets of a healthy life. Period. Don't know why I can't explain it, but it sure does come up in all the research. Right?
[00:04:24] Can you get outside? And what's your outside look like? Are you living in New York with a little balcony that's the size of a post and stand but at least you can get out. But when you get out, all you can see is concrete.
[00:04:40] Can you actually get to the ground ground? Can you get your feet in grass or sand or dirt? Right? The dirt, not the light. You know, how we contaminated dirt. But the God made dirt don't hurt. God made dirt. Don't hurt.
[00:04:59] If any of her hurt that, if you're not from the south, I'm sure that you are rewinding the tape to get what does she just say? Yes, at that. God made dirt. Don't hurt. Right? Are you getting your feet in that, on that real ground?
[00:05:18] Do you see beauty in your natural environment? You know, some of us have houses in the mountains and we can look out over the mountains and that's so beautiful. Or maybe on the beach, we can watch the ocean and the sand.
[00:05:36] What's the difference in having an outdoor yard or space where you can be in and enjoy the beauty of that nature? Is your physical environment that's outside and beautiful, completely saturated with mosquitoes? Are they carrying the dinghy fever? Right?
[00:06:02] I like actually that's something to consider when you look at your physical environment. So now we've talked about dirt. We've talked about visual clutter. We've talked about lighting. We've talked about access to outside. We've talked about what your outside looks like.
[00:06:18] We haven't even begun to talk about toxicities, right? What are you eating off of? What's in your water supply? Is your house heated and cooled? You know, we came back one day this summer, and after a speaking engagement in Raleigh, we came back that night.
[00:06:45] It was 80 degrees in humid inside my house. It was not a pleasant night. Thank goodness for our condition. We haven't got it fixed the next day. Right? We've seen how the temperatures are becoming more extreme on either end.
[00:07:02] And we've seen more tallities because of that, and areas where I was just talking to a friend of the other day who's out in Oregon. She mentioned, yes, not too smokey today. Well, that's something that in North Carolina, I don't have to deal with.
[00:07:18] And she said, you never know when it's going to be a bad day to be outside. It depends on which way the wind is blowing. Wow.
[00:07:28] And then she went on to say, she had air conditioning so she could go inside and turn on the AC and be somewhat protected from that smoke. But a lot of people in that area didn't have air conditioning. So where was there to go?
[00:07:42] So we're looking at all those things when you start thinking about your physical environment. You start thinking about all those things. And then there's another one that we tend to tip to around because, you know, I don't want her to be my family or anything.
[00:08:03] But toxic relationships and attitudes and energies that are hard to take. You know, I think we've all had that person that her lives either at work or in our families or maybe a mom and the mom's great and at the gym who is just a negative nanny.
[00:08:27] Maybe they're really struggling with something I can tell you what, I've been that person. When my marriage, I don't know what I was like that like it ended. It was an implosion. It ended in a crash and burn kind of since the way.
[00:08:45] I was not pleasant to be around. We actually had a trainer at the gym to tell the other owner that he didn't want to be around me. And I don't blame him. I was only struggle bus for a long time.
[00:09:01] So what do we do when we have that kind of energy and that kind of toxicity in our environment? Sometimes we can change our environment. I can clean up my desk.
[00:09:12] I probably can't change somebody else's attitude, especially when they're going through some kind of grief or life change. So how do we handle all those aspects of our health? That's what we're going to be diving into in August.
[00:09:27] So I wanted to just do this very first podcast here in August just to get your wheels turned in a little bit. My physical environment and how my health and my life is impacted by the things that are around me that I can control,
[00:09:43] by the things that are around me that I cannot control. I've got this quick and easy example that I love. And if you love bathroom humor like me, my daddy did, then you're going to think this is hilarious.
[00:09:57] And if you don't like bathroom humor like my mama, then you might be rolling your eyes and saying like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe she's talking about that.
[00:10:06] So I was having a conversation with my daughter one day and we were talking about what to do when there's a person who might be talking about what to do.
[00:10:14] And then there's a person who might have some kind of toxic patterning or just that negative nellie kind of bob and it's harshing your own ability to be healthy. And I said, Maggie, it's like, you know, say, if you're farting, I'm in your fart bubble.
[00:10:37] I have a choice. I can get out of your fart bubble, but the fart bubble is there, man.
[00:10:43] So you know, I can either move a few seats down and get out of it or I can stay there in it and just breathe it in and deal with it. So you have some choices in the fart bubble of negative and toxic behaviors and attitudes.
[00:11:03] I just love saying that on the podcast, it's a fart bubble man. You can choose to get out of there or stay there and sometimes we stay. Sometimes it's really uncomfortable and smelly to be in some nice fart bubble.
[00:11:17] But we know that their guts are just torn up and they really need us to be there. And so we just stay in the stink for a minute. And then when we need to get our own healthy air again, we leave the bubble and rejuvenate.
[00:11:34] So start thinking about those toxic bubbles that we get in. What is it? Is it literally someone's fart bubble? My daddy could tear you up. Is it really that? Is it the lighting that's really harsh or the lighting that's not there?
[00:11:53] Or the press, especially in the water? Is it not being able to get outside? Is it too many cloudy days in a row? Can't do anything about that really unless you want to travel. You're stuck in that bubble.
[00:12:09] So start those gears turning. What in your physical environment are you noticing that makes an impact on your health positive and negative? I'm going to leave you with that right there. We're going to come back and next time we drop podcast, we will be talking about organization.
[00:12:27] And the impact that really having all your stuff, everything has a place and everything is in its place. The impact that that has on your health. So like, subscribe and share this podcast please.
[00:12:43] Give yourself some grace when you're in someone's fart bubble. Give yourself some grace when you are the fart bubble. And I will see you next time on Health BAA. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Healthier of Podcasts.
[00:13:00] I hope that it has helped you create a new possibility for your health and sets you into action to go get it. If you want more information or if you want to connect with me, visit my website at my Healthier Life.co.
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