Welcome to The Own Your Health Podcast.
I'm Cyndi Lynne, and I can't wait to
help you step into your health power.
Now, this is the final episode in
the series of healing your environment.
So far, we've talked about owning your health
at home, owning your health on the road,
and owning your health in the moment.
If you missed any of those, I'll link the episodes in
the show notes below and you can take a listen.
So this week we're diving into one
of the most intimate environments - our body.
So what does it mean to own your health in your body?
Actually, that's the basis of this entire podcast.
Now, I've grouped this topic under healing environments and
described it this way to try and give a
different approach to the topic, a new perspective.
I strongly believe that our bodies should be treated as
sacred space and that we should diligently guard our bodily
autonomy and carefully consider not only what goes in it,
but also who has access to it.
And that last statement is a big one.
I get that it's because it's so big that
I want to give you some practical ways to
think about owning your body, owning that environment.
Now, I'm not going to tell you what I think
you should put in or on your body, but rather
encourage you to consider this new perspective and actively make
choices that you are proud to own.
As always, I'll give you some examples of
my own life and from my clients that
will hopefully stir up some ideas.
So here are three that you may identify with.
First of all, when I talk with clients about being deliberate
about what they put in their bodies, I often hear, oh,
I know, I should stop eating all the bad junk.
To which I respond, well, it sounds like you're
not really eating the way that you want to.
I encourage people to think
about upgrades rather than restrictions.
When we own our body, it means owning our choices.
And then when we start to dig in, it
may not necessarily be what people are eating, but
rather how they're thinking about it, or the fact
that they're thinking that they shouldn't be eating it.
People, women especially, have come to
expect restrictions and deprivation equaling health.
So how do we honor our body?
Well, we do so by making good choices,
and we own all of those choices.
What does that look like?
If you want chocolate, have some chocolate, but eat
really good chocolate and enjoy every bite of it.
And you may actually find that it doesn't
call to you quite as often as when
you try and hold out against the urge.
And I generally advise, unless people are
having very serious health issues that the
80:20 rule serves us pretty well.
It's what you do most of the time that
shapes your health and all of your life practices.
And there's usually not only no need to
be perfect, often striving for that perfection is
what leads to really negative outcomes.
So when we think about owning our health,
when we think about creating this environment within
our bodies, we need to own our choices.
And when you think about owning your choice, you can say,
you know what, I really, really enjoyed that piece of chocolate,
that glass of wine, that whatever it is that you wanted,
and I'm not going to make excuses for it and I'm
not going to feel badly about it.
I'm going to own it, I'm going to enjoy
it, I'm going to be deliberate about it.
And this is just a real common example when
we talk about what we put into our body.
So another example would be consider
supplements and medications that you take.
Do you know why you're
taking everything you've been taking?
Or have some of it been around for so
long that you've even forgotten why you started?
And this can happen.
You hear about a supplement or you have something going
on in your body and you start taking medication, even
from your doctor, and years go by and you haven't
really thought, do I still need this?
Am I still having the symptoms from this?
Am I still trying to correct something
with these supplements or this medication?
And it's a really good idea to go
through and just refresh yourself about the list.
Refresh yourself about the individual items.
You may in fact need them or want them.
You may want to add to it.
You may want to make adjustments
and have a different medication.
Maybe you've been taking one for many, many years and it's
not working as well as it did when you started.
Maybe there's something new on the market.
Maybe there's other options.
Regardless, whatever you take, you want to be
very deliberate about what goes in your body.
Now here's a big one, and I started with the
real simple, basic ones, and you're probably thinking, yes, I've
heard all that already, and I know that and I
should do that, but that's the framework that I want
you to move forward in when you think about this,
because this is a big one.
When we consider our bodily environment, consider what you allow
into your eyes and your ears, because it is just
as important as what goes into your mouth.
What we watch and what we listen to impacts our
feelings and our moods, often without us realizing it.
And we can take in information, we can take in
all of this stimuli, and it shapes our behavior, it
shapes our choices, and it can have great influence.
So let's take a positive example.
Have you ever been out shopping somewhere and you realize
they're playing kind of really good music and you don't
even realize it, but as you're pushing your grocery cart
or as you're looking down racks of clothes, you start
singing in your head to the music, or your toe
was tapping, and it makes you feel lighter.
It makes you feel kind of happy.
I've even walked around the corner and realized somebody
else was sort of singing under their breath the
same time I was, because it makes you feel
good and it lifts your mood.
The inverse is also very, very
relevant and very, very common.
We can hear news stories.
We can hear life events of other people's.
We can hear all kinds of things that
give us a real negative feeling that bring
us down, brings our energy down.
It's very controversial for a lot of
people, but I don't watch the news.
We don't have tv most of the time.
We have wifi.
We do streaming.
But I don't listen to the news because based
on the bias, and I'm not talking about political
bias or news bias, but based on our human
brain wiring bias, negative news elicits a greater response.
And so news stories tend to be negative.
Now, they may highlight one feel good, one happy story, but
most of the things that you hear about are bad.
If they're on the news, it's because they've already
happened, and you really can't do anything about them.
So listening to bad news that you can't do anything
about will make you feel bad without an antidote.
So next time you're listening to the news, next
time you've got the radio turned on, next time
you've got input that is negative, really think about
if that's what you want to choose to pull
into this sacred space, into this environment.
And a lot of people are really attached to knowing.
I have to know what's going on in the world.
I have to know if there's earthquakes in California.
Well, if you have family out there and you're concerned,
you're going to hear from them, you're going to hear
about it, and you'll hear things that pertain to you.
But I also question and invite you to question if
you're so accustomed to listening to these negative news stories
and the excitement that's created around it because you're used
to the dopamine hit, because you're used to getting wrapped
up in those feelings of, oh my gosh, the climate
is getting worse and pollution is getting worse and the
economy is getting worse.
Okay, those things are going to go
on whether or not you listen.
And if you don't take in negative influences
information, you have much better chance of living
a positive, inspired life on your own.
So it's not sticking your head in the sand.
It's choosing what you take in based on
how you want to feel and how you
want your mind and your emotions to work.
Again, if your immediate instinct is to rail against
this and say, I have to watch the news
at least once a day so I know what's
going on in the world, think about why you're
watching it or watch it very intentionally, saying, okay,
how many bad news pieces are there versus good
news and how much of it is generating excitement
over things that have already happened and happened yesterday
and happened the month before and have been ongoing.
Just take notice and see if you can
sense some of that feeling in yourself.
Thirdly, or the final example that I want to
share with you is that you can decide who
has access to your personal space and your body.
You can decide if and how you want to be touched.
Now, notice if you like experiencing big events with
people all around you, or if you need more
personal space and you're not comfortable being places where
people are bumping up against you, or you might
get kind of pushed around in a crowd.
Do you like to give and get hugs?
Some people do, some people don't.
There's nothing right or wrong about either.
But in this spirit of owning your environment, of
owning your body, I encourage you to take notice
and honor what you are most comfortable with.
All of these things that I've talked about
is just some quick little examples here.
Make up the environment of our body, and I encourage
you to think about them as well in your life
and other spaces that you other influences that you may
have, other things that you allow in.
And if you're doing so, absolutely do it deliberately.
And if it's not something you like, if you realize
that you are letting stuff in that is not serving
you, then go ahead and make some changes.
Now, this wraps up our miniseries on
owning your health by owning your environments.
And if you're thinking, I really want to make
some changes, but like a lot of us, you
kind of worry about how family and friends or
people around you are going to respond.
I encourage you to grab a copy free pdf.
I'll link in the show notes on
how to communicate your desires, especially about
your health, while keeping your privacy.
Now, if you like these episodes,
please share and rate them.
I would really appreciate that
so more people can hear them.
And I look forward to seeing you next week.
Until then, let's own it.
