Well, hello. Hello. Welcome to the hallway podcast. I'm Beryl and Mandarin. I'm Alan White. And as always, we are very glad you are with us today. Today, we are going to start talking about the cared for components. We kind of lay this out in our last episode, and we're going to talk about. Kind of the foundational components of being cared for when you find yourself in the hallway. And how to navigate those. We talked a little bit in our last episode about why that's important. Yeah. So we wanted to start off with kind of, uh, again, we're, we're telling you all about kind of our terminology. As we, as we go along. Yeah. And so one of the things we want to describe is why we use the term practices. Yeah. Instead of habits. Yeah. Do tell. So I grew up in the eighties. Again said this last time. And so habits feels to me again, like, you know, Jane Fonda. Snackwell's and the seven habits of highly successful people. Absolutely. Which actually might've been the nineties, but you get the idea right? Yeah. Um, Habits feels to me like something that I like, the way that you talk about it, that it's been. Quantified to sell. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's like, oh, That's something that could actually be. Helpful, I think, you know, but then like sort of, that'll also sell. Because people you can innately tell when something is good for you. And then someone's like, Hey, I could make a dollar off of that. Yeah, right. And then it feeds into that culture we've talked about right. Capitalism. And when that gets. It just overwhelms the hurry, the capitalism, the, the hustle. Yeah. Be more, do more. Right. And then it becomes about. My value is now dictated on, uh, by, you know, me accomplishing. This habit. Um, versus no I'm inherently valuable. And worth the time that it takes to practice. These things that are nurturing to me and caring for me. So it's crazy how we just jumped in this society in day and age, we jumped so quickly to sort of the surface level of what will that buy me? What will that make me look like? And what will that prove in. You know, what will that put on my resume? Um, You know, so that I can. Be valuable. On paper to the world. Rather than I am valuable and I'm worth this time. Yeah. Absolutely. So. I think the other thing I want to note is one of the ways in which I have approached life in work over the last, at least decade. Hmm. Is the approach of slow and small. I love that. Yeah. And it's not going to work the way it's worked for me that. For everybody, right. There are people that have different kinds of jobs, different kinds of lives. Et cetera. And I get to, we, we probably should note, like we're talking about people typically in industrialized places. Yes. Who are not living in war zones. Right. So we understand that this podcast is. For a. Population of people. That have some level of privilege. Yes, absolutely. That's just the reality, right? And again, our goal is the more we care well for ourselves. And. Really live from the tr. The reality, the truth of our worth. Yeah. Then we're going to look at those places where people are not able to do that. And we're going to put our heart in our time and our money into hopefully changing those things that are still just agregious and horrific in the world. Yeah. So we just want to, we hadn't noted that yet. Yeah. It's very good to say. And so sometimes when we talk, you're going to hear us talk in terms of slow and small. If that doesn't work for you as well, I would just encourage you to think about it in a way that's like a component of your life. Maybe not the basis, like it is for them. Yeah. But that slow and small is valuable on its own. Yeah, can I comment on that? Can I say something? Love it. Um, Slow and small, you know, the concept of it. I think. For me has actually so connected to what it looks like to care for yourself in the hallway. Because for me, it's been a part of the fight against, you know, um, I was raised to my nervous system and my limbic system were formed to survive. Uh, we all were, but in my particular expression of that, it was, um, you know, you're not worth the time, um, to take care of yourself sort of thing. And also if you are worth it, it's just to produce something. You know, it's for production sake, it's for hustle. It's for these things, proving like we're mentioning. And it's interesting because when you go into the hallway, it's such a liminal space. There's. All of your moorings are stripped off. We've talked about kind of the concept of what this is. But, um, those, I find that there's not really the tether to sort of produce any more things aren't on track as they were. Right. And those things can, if your worth and value, isn't already connected to those things. It just throws you really can throw you in the hallway. And I find that for self care in particular for kind of the, some of these practices that you're talking about. I have to fight against. I have to really retrain myself. To say. No. We're just going to do, you know, we're going to get up and we're going to brush our teeth. Um, we're gonna end. It is like I am retraining a child, which I am. Yeah, that's me. Um, the child that was never taught how to do it. That's right. Which is that inner child work. Yeah. And that inner child work from, for me, it has looked like I can only go slow and small. Because it's felt like when you have an injury and you're trying to walk again. You know, and you don't go into a full speed. You have to. It's another part of that nurturing. That's like it's okay. Take your time. Focus here, you know, um, and just, you know, get up and go to the bathroom or like drink your water. And it becomes this meditative thing. Um, it's a, it's a fight I have found, um, in like doing my own work and things. I have to fight. To say, we're going to slow down. You know, we're going to be here. We're going to do this right in front of us. And I find that now my survival goes more toward I'm. As I retrained myself, it goes more toward the slow and small caring for yourself. That's right. And it's just kind of this, um, making my world small zooming in. And saying, this is where we're going to be. We're going to stay right here. You. So, yeah, just found that. I love that. Yeah. Then I, I resonate with that. Yeah. Bye. Bye. Yeah. So in our terminology, we're going to talk about slow and small, and we're going to talk about practices. Because habits feel again, snake oil society quantifiable. Yeah. And that may really work for some people I'm not at all saying it, it shouldn't work for you. Sure. Everyone is their own person. Yes. And for me, I love the word practices because it's a relationship that I have throughout my life. Yeah. And we've, we've talked about this, like how it ebb and flows. How ebbs and flows. How. It can be different at 80 than it was at 40. Yeah. Yeah. But if it's a, if it's a practice, it's something that I allow to breathe and grow. Yeah. As I breathe and grow. Yeah, that's right. So within the cared for components. There are going to be practices that we talk about. And there are probably millions of practices yes. In these components and everyone is going to be different. Right. So we're going to talk to each other. We're going to talk to other people that we interview. About. What their practices are. And it will grow and continue to be this beautiful living thing. As we talk about it. Yeah. So we just wanted to note that. Yeah, I love that. So when we get into mental, mental, Maybe that's what I should And now we're going to talk a little bit about mental and physical care, especially in the hallway, what that could look like for you all and what that's looked like for us. Mental and physical care in the hallway is your kind of first stop. You've found yourself. In a space that you didn't expect, it's typically difficult. You've left something that maybe you weren't prepared to leave or you were, but it's still scary. And you're usually a little depleted. So you find yourself in the hallway and you look at one of us and you say, what do I do? And we're going to look back at you and we're going to say, sorry. up your protein, drink water, get some sleep. And that's where we're going to start. So just a reminder of mental and physical care. It's about your physical body and brain, all of the components of your physical body and brain, brain nervous system, organs, ligaments, tendons, fascia. All of it. And. Um, that's what we're going to talk about today. Emotional care we're going to talk about next time. Emotional care is probably historically what people have said when they've met mental health, but we want to talk about the physical body and brain first. And I think maybe important to mention the reason why that, why the physical body and brain is such a foundation is because you do find that, that it has a great impact on the emotional health. You know, once you're, you've got to get that foundation right. And we tend to just jump into all the hacks ahead of time to fix ourselves where you're And, and this is me, this is why I say we tend to, because I'm talking about myself. Can we just fix it? You know, and I haven't, uh, drank water, you know, for the last two days, you know, and so I'm like, why am I just not being able to cope emotionally? Well, honey, get some rest. Yeah. You know, I mean, that's kind of, so, and it's, you know, again, going back to the inner child work. It's, Um, almost looking at yourself when you get into the hallway and go, if your kid had had a really long, hard day, and even if you don't have children, a kid, you know, in love had had a really long, hard day. You're going to look at them and you're going to give them something to drink. You're going to give them a snack and you're either going to put them to bed or you're going to have them take a nap and you're going to cuddle them a little bit and speak kindly to them. And so knowing like that's where you start when you find yourself in the hallway. That's right. So good. So when we talk about protein, there's just a lot of research on this that's way above my pay grade. But if you want to look at like how your body is doing, yes, you need healthy carbs and healthy fats and just food that's fun. All of those wonderful things and your body needs protein. And so figuring out for you, what are the combinations of protein that you enjoy? My favorite currently chia seeds. Uh, granola and whatever summer fruit we have as my favorite right now, and I'm currently looking at how to make our own, like little protein balls with like protein powder and Oats and all that stuff. So figuring out for you, like what are your favorite protein combinations? I like to wrap, um, some sort of meat around cheese, put a little mustard on it and make little teeny tiny wraps. Mustard is the best. It is so different in the UK than it is in the US. Sorry y'all. It is so different, but, um, you know, you can find things, you can hunt and find things. What's one of your favorite protein snacks or protein meals? Yeah. I mean, I'll do the meat and cheese thing if I need to quick grab something as well. Um, you know what I've been loving is, um, chickpeas because they're so inexpensive and they're just like, they've got protein and fiber and you pop them in the oven on a flat plate. Uh, what is it called? A sheet pan. Yeah. You put like some oil and you actually bake them and you can put a seasoning on them and they come out like popcorn a little bit. They're like a bit crunchy on the outside and soft inside. Oh, those are so good. So I am going to try that because that would be fun for me during sessions when I just need a little some salty. Yeah. You can be salty or you can flavor them like cinnamon. I mean, whatever. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. So protein start there. Um, one of the doctors, medical doctors that I follow on Instagram, her name is Dr. Mary Claire Haver talks about for women who are of my age, maybe our age, our age. You're a little bit younger than I am. Oh, please. It's we're still there. Okay. Where you're looking at the possibility of perimenopause. You look at your ideal body weight. Um, in pounds, you convert it to kilograms and then you 2 to 1. 5 grams of protein for every gram of ideal body weight in kilograms. If I have a client that is like, uh, I cannot do that. We just start with one. So start where you are again, slow and small. So start where you are and ask around. Probably your friends will have protein hacks the way that they're getting protein, um, protein bars for me upset my tummy. I learned. So, um, Um, I try to do things that are a little more whole if I can. My cousin Anne found a really great protein bar. I forget what it's called. I'll ask her and say it next time in the States, but to get it over here on Amazon is like an arm and a leg expensive, so I haven't gotten it, but there are protein bars you can find that are not hard on your tummy. I just haven't found any. There's a, you know what I put on my yogurt? Um, is, uh, pumpkin seeds. Yeah, I do put, I have a like blend of nuts and seeds that I put on there too. And they're just so lovely. And, um, I still haven't been able to produce the kind of pumpkin seeds, like straight out the pumpkin that you can get at the store. I don't know. I'll figure it out, but they're very high in protein for the volume of kind of what they are. Yeah. You know, they've got fiber and then they also have good things for particularly for women's health. Um, so I, I love them and I just sprinkle it on top of kind of whatever I can. And one of the things I want to note, this would be probably something we would talk about once you've had a little bit of time in the hallway. But the other thing we would be talking about would be fiber, especially if you're a woman in our age range, because it's so important for your microbiome. So that's kind of something you're noting that you're adding that fiber component with your protein. Yeah. Which is so good. So we're going to look at protein, water, again, we talked about last time, like just notice how much you're peeing. Is that happening for you? I add water, um, lemon to my water these days. We have a soda stream. I realized, yes, I'm out of like, you know, I don't know. Uh, commercial, but we have a SodaStream and we sponsor you. Yeah, maybe we, you know, if we ever get big, we're going to talk to SodaStream. Here's hoping, but we make our own sparkling water at home and then I add lemon to it. And for me, that is just like a treat. It makes me happy. So that's part of how I make my water fun. So that tells you something about my life that I know how to make my water fun. That's good. Um, trademark that make your water fun. Anyway, um, I was just going to add that the lemon, um, you know, adding something like lemon, I think does make that kind of hydration more bioavailable. Your body absorbs it better. Um, and then obviously benefits of lemon for your liver and things like that. So, um, Something that's simple. I think when you get into supplements, sometimes you can get over into that kind of like big time hack thing. Um, it's a little overwhelming, but the whole food. Um, option is really good, a good way to start and just care and know that these foods are actually really taking care of your body. Yeah. Uh, if you give them the chance, so yeah, absolutely. So water, yes, movement. No, sorry, water, protein, sleep. Once you have gotten to that point where you're like, okay, I feel like I've got those practices more comfortable for myself, like they don't feel hard. They feel like they are regular for me now. Then we're going to look at you and we're going to say, all right, let's talk about movement, nervous system, grounding techniques. And the possibility of supplementation. So let's go backwards a little bit because you just mentioned supplementation. One thing that people will talk about a lot is like that, um, if you're taking a lot of supplements, it can just be really expensive urine because you don't necessarily know what your body needs. So if we were having this conversation and you're like, how do I figure out what supplements to take? If you have it available to you financially to meet with a doc that looks at functional medicine, holistic. whatever that is in your area that they can look at your blood and they can say, let me look at your B levels, your D levels, how your microbiome is doing. All of those things, again, things that are way above my pay grade. If you can meet with someone like that, then they look at you and go, this is what your body needs in terms of supplementation because our food has changed so much. And so being able to meet with someone like that, is such a gift if you can do it. Yes. I started meeting with somebody about a decade ago, Dr. Julie Buckley, who changed my life and I am forever grateful for her. Hi, Dr. Julie. And if we can ever get her on here, we're going to do that. I don't know that she does podcasts, but we're going to try. But I think that for me, having someone look at my blood work and go, this is why you feel like so much rubbish all the time was super helpful. And so I would just encourage you if you're going to get into the supplementation. Um, meet with someone who this is their field of expertise and say, how do I support what I'm doing for my body? Uh, we just need, our bodies need to be supported. Our baseline often needs to be higher than it is. Yeah. Yeah. So supplementation. Yes. And then we're going to talk about movement. Which would be, for me, my movement that I have felt the most attracted to in this season is walking with a weighted vest on, another Dr. Mary Claire Haverhack, which people in the States call me is, tell me it's called rucking, maybe. Oh, really? What? Rucking. Okay. I think that's what it's called. Interesting. I don't, I don't, we don't have that term over here, so I don't know, but. I don't know. I wonder what that's from. I enjoy walking with it. She's like, you know, you can do other things. I clean the house or run errands. I tried that. That is not for me. Yeah. I feel like I would just hurt my back. Yeah. Yeah. It was, I was like getting in and out of the car with that thing on is not my friend. So I walk with it on and then lifting. I started working out with a trainer two years ago and I really enjoy lifting heavy weights now. Um, it makes me feel strong. It makes me feel kind of like. I'm cool. Yeah, you definitely are cool. But that's what it feels like. It's like you lifted. I'm like, um, it does kind of make you feel a little bit like a badass. You're like, I can do anything and powerful. Yeah. That is the great word for it. Yeah. It's a really good way to, to put it and this, you know, research behind kind of contracting your muscles and what that does for your brain. And therefore. But probably just your mental health, how that is connected is enormous, you know, so absolutely. And what it does in this, again, in this age to prevent osteoporosis. So you're looking at both, you know, benefits for your physical muscles, body bones, as well as for your physical brain. Yeah. Yeah. So what for you, do you feel like in this season mentally and physically? Has been so helpful for you. Yeah. Um, going for walks outside is kind of number one. I think because it's such a it's kind of a mental and physical thing at the same time. Um, Um, the, now I, I don't have like references for this research, but I know it's true. So if you would like that information, give us a shout, I'll find it for you and I'll send it. Um, she really will, but the, um, the movement of the, your eyes being connected to, if it's to a small space, like if you're just looking at your phone or if you're looking, looking at your computer or even just inside the house, um, gives a bit more of a heightened awareness sense to the brain and to the nervous system. Like we're kind of, we're not totally at rest. Sure. Um, when your scope of vision is really wide and going back and forth, um, Sort of panning. Mm hmm. It's more there is a nervous system Message that we're a little bit more at rest now when your scope is like a 360 I can look up at the sky I can look all around me. It's even more it's it's this sort of um, what's the word? evolutionary theory of psychology of where it, you know, you're, you're meant to be outside. You get so many benefits from that, but your body is really because your nervous system is benefiting. Your body, your whole, your cells are benefiting. And so walking outside for me, I can't tell you how much I resonate with that. When I like sort of discover this information, I'm like, yes, that is why I love being outside because my nervous system knows. This is where we're supposed to be, you know, and, um, so walking outside because of that. So it's kind of a grounding practice practice in combination with just a movement, you know, um, I can, I can add to that. So two, two things, maybe three things about that. The first one is it's so interesting that you say that because I was actually saying to my clients when they were here for that retreat that one of the things I've noticed is when I'm driving, how much more peaceful I feel because I was saying my perspective gets to be so much wider because there's so much fields and stone walls and then the sea. You get to see for so. Yeah. Yeah. And the pollution is less. So the clarity is crazy. Yeah. Yeah. So I was just talking to them about that. And I didn't know that, that I can feel that even when I'm driving, that it just kind of calms me. Yes. I'll like take a deep breath. Yes. It is so calming to kind of gaze out into the vastness, you know, when you're looking at the ocean and you're just like, why is this so amazing? I don't know, but it feels right. You know? Yeah. And that's one of the things that's happening physiologically for us as we do that, which is really cool. And what I will talk to often with clients, what I will say is if you can get into a place that has trees, birds, water is a bonus because there's a lot of research about the benefits of being near water. But if you can get away from industrial noise as much as possible, that is not possible for everyone. But if you can, even if it's a park where it's decreased to the most. Having the sounds of nature, the experience of nature, they've had research on what trees emit and how that decreases anxiety. Yes. So the sounds of nature, the way your gaze is, the experience of being in nature, also walking is bilateral stimulation. Yes. Yes. Which helps your brain to process what is going on. So walking without, you want to really do it without listening to anything. Yeah. I mean, yeah, exactly. There's a, the, the meditative aspect of listening to the bird song and just pulling that in and really thinking about it deeply. And actually the bird song is more likely to happen to the birds outside in nature. aren't going to be out singing where there's kind of construction happening. Right. They're afraid of that. Right. And You know, our deep in our nervous system, we also know that. And so we hear this bird song and we know it's a safe place. Yeah. There's no predators. Right. This is a happy, safe place. Exactly. And it sends this lovely message to our bodies saying we're okay. So even let's say this is not something that's available to you readily, even if you find a park or a place that's like a 30 minute drive and you decide like on Saturday, I'm going to take myself or me and a friend or me and my family, whatever, and we're going to just do a walk for me over here because we have these spaces so readily available. I like to listen to books right now. I don't have a lot of space. When I'm on my own to read, it's usually at night and I'm too tired then. So I do like to listen to books when I'm walking. So usually I do half and half, like I'll, I'll just walk and listen and be, I usually stop and like, listen to the birds, watch the stream move, things like that. Watch the leaves move. And then I'll keep walking and sometimes halfway through I'll put my book in and listen as well. So I'll do a little bit of both. But that experience of movement, In a place that you've intentionally chosen has massive benefits for your mental and physical care. Yeah. Every time I'm like, I am not okay. I need to go for a walk. I come back from the walk and it's not, sometimes I'm a new woman entirely. And sometimes it's not necessarily that anything has changed, but I just know that I can cope all that much better. And, uh, yeah. So what's interesting is we're kind of mixing two things together, which is. The movement of that is also grounding your nervous system, which is the next thing we want to talk about. So if you want to look up like, all right, let's, let's look at nervous system, how that works with your brain, et cetera. I would encourage you to look up polyvagal theory. Yes. A guy named Steven Porges developed it. The woman that I love so much that's done so much to develop it and make it applicable is Deb Dana. And she has a kind of like a teaching book, I don't know what category to put it in, on Audible called Befriending Your Nervous System. Let me look it up. Yeah. Well, my phone's off. I'll, I think it's befriending your nervous system. And then she has a physical book called anchored and she does such a really beautiful job of laying out how you understand your nervous system, how you understand regulation for yourself and co regulation. So the little bit that we're going to talk about sounds interesting to you and you really resonate with wanting to be able to ground your nervous system better. I would really encourage you to go and seek out the work of dead Dana. She kind of feels to me like. Like if you had a really lovely aunt who bakes you cookies, but is also extremely brilliant. And like, you just want to like sit next to her on the couch, eat a cookie and like have her teach you. She has the most calming voice ever. So I don't know her personally, I'm, I just think she's fantastic. But you do now because you've heard her talk to you. If she ever did, I would like fangirl out. It would be one of those moments. It's like, if you meet somebody famous, I'd be like. Hi, hi, hi, Deb. Hello. Exactly. Shuddering. Can we take a selfie? I don't like weird out over like Hollywood and music, but you know, give me Deb Dana. There you go. So protein, water. Um, sleep kind of get those first and then look at movement, supplementation and grounding in your nervous system. What for you right now do you feel like has been like, these are the things nervous system wise that are keeping me grounded right now? Yeah. Right now for me, I mean, so. We all know this is one of the most hallway of the hallway times for me. Not only am I in the hallway, I'm floating in a liminal space within the hallway. I don't know. You're in a hallway, in a hallway, in a hallway. Yes. Yes. Because to be clear, you are leaving in a week and a half to fly to the States. Yes. And you didn't know you were leaving that soon. No, we did not. And y'all don't yet know where you're going. That's correct. Or what job you're going to have. That's right. And my children, like, don't know what home they're going to live in, you know. Uh, so. And this is probably for another podcast, but it's, you know, this day and age, we're sort of parenting. And then I'm like, Ooh, I'm very triggered by this. Hold on. Right. Hold that thought, honey, while you're tantruming, I'm going to go reparent myself real quick. Be right back. So we're kind of this generation that is doing a lot. of work, you know, on ourselves while trying to kind of write the, move the dial a bit on some of the generational stuff that we've picked up for our kids. Um, and you're being asked to do that in a season where you have to use your term from last time, like you don't have any moorings. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. It's wild. Yeah. Um, I'm keeping my composure at the minute, but don't be fooled anyone thinking that I'm keeping any sort of composure like outside of this space. It's, uh, yeah, it's really hard, but I think what seems to be grounding for me and the reason I give that context is grounding right now will look, it looks a lot different than what it looks like. In other times. Um, I mentioned this before, but it is a fight for me. I have to pull myself out of the hurricane and say, stop. You know, sit, you know, and often I have to put myself into a space where I know there will be no interruptions. Um, most of the time that is, we've got an office. So even though the office isn't like there's some stuff around, I can shut the door and I can know spatially, environmentally that there won't be anything, any more stimuli that's coming in. I need to have the quietness with nothingness. That is really grounding for me. And then I can sort of pay attention to myself. What is going on with me? What are my feelings? What are my needs? I can start to sort out some of those things. And if I can't sort them, just pay attention to them, you know, um, as, yeah, I'll let you speak to kind of all of that stuff. more, but the, huh, I feel really, okay, so I've got the shock, I've got the grief, I've got the anger, I've got the fear, I've got the bargaining, the, you know, the sadness. Um, yeah. I've got the gratitude. There's some gratitude in there. Oh yeah, there's some beauty. I see, I am finding that I'm savoring some of this beauty too. And so some of that is shutting myself into these moments where I can ground and observe. But what that moment does for me, even if it is a short moment, Is it gives me more availability to myself when I'm out there in the world doing all the stuff and I'm back into the hurricane Now I can kind of carry that with me and say and be kind to myself I guess is a good way to put it when I'm out there Doing all the things that you're required to do right now. Yeah, like packing up Yes, and doing all the I mean international moves are no joke. Yeah, they're just wow You're going from one planet to the next to be honest so it's a lot and So things like that shutting myself in I would say the other thing is obviously when I'm outside for me There's something about being barefoot And looking at my own toes And I don't know what that is. I think it goes back to this feeling of freedom that I had as a kid I loved being barefoot And I love running around and uh, my mom would always be like get your shoes on, you know I'd be like as long as I could I would just try and keep them off And I know there are now, research is like, it's really good for you to be barefoot. That's, that's true. And so obviously that makes sense. But for me, it's actually a nervous system regulation thing as well. Um, where I just like putting my toes in the sand, putting my toes in the grass. There, even when I am home, there's a signal to me. If I come home. Um, and I am still wearing my shoes around the house. I am not at rest. I'm not safe until my shoes are off. It's a very strange thing. Sometimes even when people come over or I go to another person's house or things like that, that's this association for me of safety. It's really interesting. So I would say those are two examples of. Very simple things for me at this time. Yeah, one of the things that I loved when you talk about the first one is You go into a room and you decrease stimuli as much as you can Because we live in a day and age where stimuli is like just all around us all of the time And I think it's so important to be able to have spaces or to create spaces and practices where you are getting quiet, noticing what your body is feeling, noticing what your breath is doing, noticing where the tension is in your body and noticing what you're feeling. We know that that helps your brain to do that. And it also continues to allow us to be more and more embodied. Yeah. And so I would even say, so Saturday morning, you and I went on a walk cause we don't know how much time we're going to have just the two of us before you go and being, you know, granted again, we get it. We live in like this place that's ridiculous, but we got to walk on the coastal path and it was a, Insanely gorgeous day. Yeah. So you have the water and the, you know, wheat in the fields with the poppies and the wild flowers and the rocks and the stones. And then we walked to this rock formation called Capely Caves that you can walk to the top of or next to. And it's been there for, I don't know, millions of years. I picked up some of the sand that the caves have kind of crumbled into. There's like, the coloring of the caves, the minerals make it like really like red purple kind of, and I was just obsessed with the color. I was like, look at that beautiful color. And then I noticed the sand that was kind of gathered at the bottom of the caves, it's like pieces of this cave and it's also this color. And I just picked it up and let it be in my fingers. And it was, And so you're talking about like, we're talking about the senses of it. Like even down to like, I feel like you talk about your fingers and your toes a lot. The, the like sensation of being present with that for you. Yeah. You have such a, I think, detail way of seeing things. It's my experience of you. Yeah. And so we're talking about the vastness of things and the minute detail of things being present in nature. The bilateral stimulation of walking, the movement of our muscles, the conversation and the processing and sometimes quiet. And so I feel like that co regulation alongside nature, water. It was such a beautiful gift and a way to regulate on Saturday. I felt like the rest of the day was just kind of a bit euphoric. Hmm. It was so lovely. Yeah. It was a beautiful time. Um, so I love that you talk about like getting, so where our senses are connected with nature instead of all the noise that comes at us. That you're talking about regulating your breath, being present with your body, identifying your feelings, which is so good for your brain, which we'll talk more about next time. And then also grounding, you know, a lot of people talk about even when you get off of a plane, if you want to orient to the time zone, one of the best things you can do is get barefoot in the grass. And so these are just very, none of that costs you anything. And it may be like, if you're married and have children, it may be like to your partner, I need 15 minutes. Yeah. That's a very good point. The 15 minute thing. If I can just, one thing I forgot to say about my experience has been, I've, I've had this myth in my mind that like to ground, I need a few hours of nobody needing anything from me. That's just a mom's fantasy. You know, they want to know what mom's fantasized about. That's it. That and warm coffee. Exactly. Um, But the reality is that it's really, it really is just a 15 minute thing. And it's shocking if you can shut everything out for 15 minutes. Yeah. And especially if you're practicing that in little moments throughout the day, I even do it in the car. We don't drive as much over here, but I'll put nothing on in the car. And for me, I'll pray some people meditate or just to notice what's around you and to just breathe while you're driving. Any, I talk a lot about the in between times, like when you're in the shower, when you're using the restroom, when you're in your car, when you're walking from place to place, like how can you use the in between times and seasons when you don't have a lot else? How do you use the in between times to care for yourself? Yeah, absolutely. Uh, one trick with that and driving in the car, I try to use that as an in between time Transcribed I'm driving the kids to school and back. Um, and we do the, I call it the game, uh, where, but it's a grounding practice and it brings you kind of back down. I do this for the kids too, because I notice anxieties in them and I say, okay, we're going to play this game where we find, um, five things we can see for things we can hear. Three things, or sorry, sorry, sorry. Four things we can feel. Is that right? I think it goes five you can see, four things you can feel, three things that you can hear. You go through the five senses. You count down and like one, two you can smell, one you can taste. Yeah. And it's a, you know, I say, okay, we're going to play the game. Go ahead. You guys tell me. And it's a, it's a sensory practice that brings you back into your body. And the kids, I can tell it's like, I want to teach them this practice from a young age. I want them to learn it and know it. And, uh, I can also tell it brings them back into the present at least for a minute, you know, so. So the thing that I would add for me and I'm not going to talk about it because all the things you're talking about are Things that I so resonate with The thing that for me, that silence, nature, movement, all grounding for me, um, for me, prayer is a big one. Yeah. And then the last one that I'm not going to talk about today, we'll probably do some other episodes about it. But for me as cold water immersion, I did a video on my Instagram. If you want to go and look at it, it's 12 minutes long. So sorry, but I really love it. But for me. Um, and I've been in seasons where, in this season where there's so much that came at me that I didn't have any choice around. Cold water immersion has taught my nervous system to regulate in ways that are so, so consistent and gentle. I just think it's increased my vagal tone and in ways that are transformational for my life. Yeah, absolutely. There's the dopamine effect and all of that as well. But for my nervous system, cold water immersion has been transformational. And I would just say to you all, if you're like, yeah, Berlin, we don't have the North sea five minutes down our road. Um, I also do my face in cold water in the mornings, my face and hands, you can do your feet in cold water. Um, I am not a person that can do a cold water shower. It's too much for my nervous system. Um, but some people can slip into a cold water bath. So any ways that you can incorporate cold water to aid your nervous system in learning how to regulate, I think that is time that is well spent. It is. Absolutely. I can attest to that. And I haven't had the time and space to do cold water, um, immersion. Um, with you guys, but just to say like, this is one of the things that Marilyn and I bonded over. Yeah, absolutely. Um, and we were all, we were like this group of women sort of stressed out and desperate. Yeah. What do we do? And we found this, um, Yeah. So we're in this space together of co regulating in the cold water and putting ourselves into like a challenge situation and breathing through and it's, that's the, you know, the big benefit is, um, for the nervous system, you're in a challenging space where your body's telling you don't do this, right? But then you're going deeper and you're stopping and you're telling your nervous system, you're actually okay. I see. See, you're okay. And then you breathe through and the benefits after that are just immense. And uh, yeah, another podcast, but yeah, we will, we will absolutely do more about that. So here's what we have to say to you as two hallway dwellers. One me who is in a season of still the hallway, but it's a little more settled, Uh, things are not as difficult currently. So I'm still in the hallway, but I would say probably a more maintainable hallway. And you in a really like, More bit of a crisis season of the hallway or yeah, what would you say just super duper uncertain? Yeah, trying not to be in crisis mode, but absolutely feels it feels like a crisis But there's also but it also doesn't in a strange way, you know without like Going in untethered. You use that term. That's probably better. Yeah. And so us in that season saying to you, if you find yourself here, whether you've been in the hallway for a while or you've just gotten here and you're like, I don't really know how to care for myself, Alina saying to you, fight for it. Yes. Even if you weren't taught to do it as a kiddo, fight for it. Yes. You're worth the time. And for me on this end saying like those practices over time link together and become a way of being that is beautiful and grounded. And you are worthy of that. And start with water. If you want to make it fun, make it fizzy and put lemon in it, protein, sleep. And if you're in a season of crisis, I will say. It is perfectly well and good for you to talk to your doctor about, uh, A short term solution for helping you sleep if you are not getting sleep, um, medication used well and wisely is a good and beautiful thing. So if you were in a season where your whole world got blown up and your precious system is like, I can't sleep, go to your doc and talk to them about that. So, water, protein, sleep, and then you're going to move into once those practices have become linked and become consistent for you, hopefully move to movement, supplementation and grounding your precious nervous system. So the other thing that we didn't talk about a lot because it can be, it's a lot for people, so we'll do another one on it is fueling your body well requires a relationship with food And with your body. And with your body that is kind and connected and tender and no longer willing to make any pledges of allegiance to the snake oil society. So but that when you're in the hallway looking at like intuitive eating, beautiful relationship with your body, it's not something you typically have enough margin for. So we just want to look at like, how can you fuel her well in this season and how can you supplement well. Yeah. And then when you have more margin, we'll start talking about, okay, let's look at what you were taught. Let's look at how you feel about food, how you feel about your body and how you speak to her or him. That'll be a good one. Yeah. Good episode. You know, it only has taken me two decades to get some movement there. So same. Oh my goodness. It takes time. It does. So we are so glad that we spent this time with you today and we're going to move on in our next episode talking about emotional, relational, and a little bit about spiritual care. So we will talk to you then. Yeah. Bye. Thank you so much for joining us.