Environmental Wellness ⋆ Women Connected in Wisdom

Shannon M. 0:08
Hi ladies, I am Shannon Mitchell, a black millennial business owner, the founder of shallow glow LLC, an all natural skincare company that helps you glow from head to toe. I am a champion for your daily self care, business care and intentional wellness.

Christine Gautreaux 0:21
Hey, y’all. I’m Christine Gautreaux, a white social justice advocate, and international speaker, coach, published author and dancing social worker who helps you upgrade yourself and community care.

Shannon M. 0:35
Together we are women connected in wisdom, a podcast grounded in the eight dimensions of wellness.

Christine Gautreaux 0:39
And we like to get together every week for intentional conversations between us and special guests about how to be wise in business relationships and wellness. How do we do this?

Shannon M. 0:54
Yes, and today we are talking about environmental wellness and environmental wellness is supporting your good health by occupying pleasant, stimulating environments that enhance well being. It promotes interaction with nature, and also creating enjoyable personal environments, both in and out of your workspace. This includes knowing that types of environments you thrive in and having an intentional relationship with these places, including the Earth.

Christine Gautreaux 1:23
It’s one of my favorite topics is environmental wellness. And you know, with the book that’s coming out in two weeks, oh, I should point this way, it’s often that we have some really good chapters on environmental wellness, we have Melanie LeBaron, who talks about how to have a relationship with your home, and your land, and so much to learn. And she just gave a whole host of resources in that chapter. And she was on last week as we were celebrating with our authors and and then Dr. Melissa bird talking about the mermaids garden, and talking about accessing your dreams and sustainability like and what I love is once East Coast and West Coast, like there’s, you know, different perspectives, but so valuable.

Shannon M. 2:17
Yeah, and for me, both of those ladies remind me of my voice, right my voice to to thank and connect, thank you for the space that I have to, to occupy, you know, I have somewhere to sleep every night, I have a job and a building who helps me fund everything that I’m doing in the work that I’m doing in the world, you know, so I think my workspace, I think the space at home, I you know, and that helps me stay present in the moment and whatever my goals are at that moment helps me stay focused on those things. And then with Melissa, you know, her tenaciousness reminds me to hey, don’t forget to keep saying what you what you need, if you do not have it yet. And that’s the reality of the situation. Sometimes Sometimes the season is not 24 hours, like you’re binging on law and order or, or lock and key or something like that, you know, so if you don’t still have it, make sure that we’re using our voice to continue to ask for what you need.

Christine Gautreaux 3:11
What are you currently binging on?

Shannon M. 3:13
Who are we making? Wisdom? All of our snow that we have going on? That’s what the binge is.

Christine Gautreaux 3:21
You have anything that you zoned out with? Oh,

Shannon M. 3:25
Ozark. Oh. And last night, it was Lord of the Rings I was fighting with. Who was it Frodo and Gandalf last night? Because the new one came out. Yeah. And so the power of the rings I know is coming out. So TV for me. We didn’t always have TV, you know. So I was that kid that was at work. I’ve been working for the past 20 years more than that now. And so that’s what it has been over COVID As I’ve been working on my intellectual wellness and financial wellness, all this information, I need to just go watch something and be entertained. So Chef’s Table, they have a new pizza version. We love pizza and like cooking from scratch. So we’ve been watching that, and lock and key. We watched them finished it. What else? Oh, sorry, we took a break on too much mob like movements is getting stressful. I’m stressed, you know, trying to figure out what’s going on with the carto. So

Christine Gautreaux 4:18
well, that’s a good thing to notice, right with emotional mental wellness and also physical wellness, like checking in with yourself. And if the thing that you’re accessing to relax and is causing you stress then pick up is so important.

Shannon M. 4:33
So and even with intellectual wellness, you know, today, my other business partner shout out to Seino and che lo Glo was messaging me we were working on our stuff, right? He’s messaging me about this, this amazing opportunity workshop or whatever masterclass it was. And I said, I’m at the capacity of input information. I know that I need to pause because again, like we talked about last week, we have to have the application phase you know just continually to end Put an input. Now it’s a self sabotaging habit. Because we’re beating ourselves up that, oh, I can never act on anything, I can never get anything done. We’re doing great things, learning great things, putting energy towards things that are good for us. But if it’s not realistic workflow, or we’re not applying it, it’s just more information that we don’t have the space or capacity to do anything with. And we believe in wisdom and action. So yeah,

Christine Gautreaux 5:23
well, can I just commend you for that for that boundary? And that no, because you know, and still point the fifth skill of self care? Is that saying no, in order to say yes to things? So you say no, or maybe wasn’t even hard? No, it was a not yet or not right now. Exactly. I was talking to Shannon Ivey last night, one of our authors, what, okay, she did the chapter, I should know it off the top of my head. But she did an awesome chapter in the book. And we were having a discussion about schedules, because we’re both in launch phases. She has actually tonight, she has a story slam in Colombia, which we can’t be like, we can’t be in two places at once. But I want us to consider going next month, and doing her story slam and a book signing in Colombia. Next month. Wouldn’t be fun, right? Let’s just take a little trip. I think that would be super fun to be in, in Colombia together. But we were having a conversation and what she shared. And I think she’d be okay with me sharing it on there, I hope is that one of the things she notices when she gets too much on her plate or is overwhelmed is she loses her sense of humor, which for anybody that’s ever met Shannon, like, she’s hysterical. She is funny. And she is. And she’s like, I know, that’s one of my indicators, that I have to say no to something or take something off my plate when I start to lose my senses. And I thought that was just beautiful and brilliant. Because I can resonate with that. Like when I get you know, I always say I’m a recovering serious person. And when I get into that serious mode, and I’m not letting the play in the joy. Yeah, that’s one of my indicators, too.

Shannon M. 6:59
Yeah, no, absolutely. And I, it’s, I don’t know if I’ve would have ever said it like that. Because usually when I noticed it is at work, right. And the most that I’ve been at work in very high tense situations has been in the restaurant. So yes, I play and we have a good time. But a lot of times because it is so serious, and I am responsible for so much, it’s easy to kind of keep that separate anyways. So when I feel like I’m getting a little bit tighter, or my responses to get a little shorter, it is the same thing, when I’m losing my sense of humor. That’s when, for me though, it ties into what we’re talking about today. The environmental wellness is my team where they need to be so that I’m not over extended. And I can stay in the flow of the capacity that I’m supposed to be over and still be able to joke and take care of people light hearted and still keep the operations going. Things start stretching, it gets a little bit tighter. And now we have all these other conversations to have. Right?

Christine Gautreaux 7:55
Yeah, I love that. When I think about environmental wellness, what was bubbling up was the global healers conference that we spoke at last weekend. And what a beautiful environment they created for their speakers and their audience. And I think people can still access those recordings if they need to. But I just was thinking about that about the environment of love and really being intentional with our body. I mean, it’s so many other dimensions woven in together right. But I was thinking about that I was thinking about you know, we have we have many facets of work that we do right and and how we apply it to our work and our life. Like you know, I know in my home life, like I like my kitchen to look a certain way. And I like to wake up in the morning it looks a certain way. And I live with three other adults. You know my husband and two grown children so sometimes I wake up and it does not look the way that I am and and so I tried to communicate my needs there because it really is part of my wellness to how my day starts. Right and the systems that I have in place to keep that Yeah, I know the student really a left turn but I just have to say it this week in Georgia, y’all I don’t know where our listeners are listening from if you want to put it in the comments put it up and we will we will put you up there. But Georgia has been gorgeous this week. Like it has been a hint of fall. I walked out I think it was yesterday and it was 54 degrees and like you got the smell of fall in the air like the dogs zipping around. I’m zipping around What’s your favorite season chin?

Shannon M. 10:04
It’s really hard for me to pick actually. And when I realized that it made me realize how much I love being inside or outside. If I had to pick though. Oh okay, so first I’m gonna say spring because it’s my birthday. And I love all the songs about my girl and spring and the sunshine coming out, you know, that always makes me feel better. So I love Spring. But I also love fall. I’m a band nerd, you know, so that’s why I love that the book. I’m not gonna give too much away, but it starts off on a nerdy note. Like the nerd in me like it’s when I talk about maximize and exponentiated okay, I love it. And so I think about football, right? Every we were at every game, except for one when the buses didn’t run, okay, but out of four years of the band didn’t make it to one game. Forgive us, because they used to play us anyways. Okay. But I love fall, we were, you know, we had come through the summer, my dad was doing the lawns over the summer. And then I was finally able to go back to school start Bandcamp. And it was like the beginning of the semester. So yeah.

Christine Gautreaux 11:11
When fall is coming, fall is my favorite. And when spring is coming spring as my favorite. I’m hard pressed to pick one of those two, but they definitely rise up above winter in summer, just because of the extreme summer.

Shannon M. 11:24
When they’re here, I have like the onset of like the onset of fall, but the onset of spring is so cold, and you don’t know if you’re supposed to be cold or like have skin out. And then it’s like, yeah, no, that’s fine.

Christine Gautreaux 11:36
I don’t know how you feel about it. But for me, like we’ve come through a hot, humid summer. And then you just start getting that it gives me energy. Like it literally what I noticed in my body is it gives me energy. Now that could be the excitement around the book. It could be it could be all the things we have going on. But I don’t think so. I think it is like it’s in the air. Like yeah, we’re gonna have to have some campfires. We’re about to have sweaters we’re about to

Shannon M. 12:04
have roasted marshmallows.

Christine Gautreaux 12:06
Yeah. And fall, I wrote a I wrote a spoken word point about it about falling my favorite season years ago, because of me and my sweetheart, and just everything it brings to me.

Shannon M. 12:18
You know what? Well, we I guess we met in the summer we met in August three years ago. But I hear you on that. Yeah, I love all the seasons, but spring in spring and fall. I mean, yeah, like the holidays, too. I just, I really try to respect the season for the season that it is and see what I can look forward to. But this year, especially I’ve been looking forward to the fall, we knew we had the book coming out. We have our first conference like all of these things that I’ve been participating in other people’s stuff for decades, you know, and now it’s like, I’m not going to the women’s conference at church this year, I have my own Women’s Conference, you know, it’s crazy, is,

Christine Gautreaux 12:56
yeah, we need to invite all your folks to come Yeah, and we will put in our show notes, y’all. We will put how to register for the conference that is live now. There are free tickets available. And there are VIP tickets available. For the free tickets, you get access to all of the all of the sessions for all four days, we have over 18 speakers. And then for the VIP, you get access to all the recordings in case you can’t make ones and you want ones and we want not just one, but you want all the recording, you know what I mean? And, and a gift box that is coming to you that will list you know, that’s gonna have some fun stuff for environmental wellness, I was prepping for today’s show, because I knew we weren’t gonna have a guest just because of travel of the guests we originally had scheduled and I came upon this environmental wellness toolkit. Oh, it’s really cool. Do you want to know where I found it?

Shannon M. 14:01
Where did you find it?

Christine Gautreaux 14:02
It is actually let me pull it up. And I’m gonna put it on. It’s at the National Institute of Health. So you know, I know you and I take environmental wellness very seriously, bro, like, Oh, I got some research money behind this one. So I’m gonna put this in the link to our show notes. But they did research around it. And basically what it was talking about and we talk about this every time we talk about environmental wellness is what surround you each day in your home, your worker, your neighborhood, and the resources available to you can affect your health. Like we know that right? We know that with what’s going on in Jackson, Mississippi. We know the disparities that often happen in black and brown neighborhoods versus white neighborhoods. Like we know this, you know from living our lives. But it was also talking about the taking small steps which I love that my incremental steps right yeah, to make your environment safer and limiting your exposure to potential harmful stuff. absences can keep you healthier. So they have seven strategies. And they also have a printer friendly version of this page. So we’re going to put all that in the show notes, because it’s pretty cool. The first thing that they say is to make your home healthier. So take a look around your home, do you know what’s in your household goods and products? Some chemicals can harm your health, if too much gets into your body, becoming aware of potential harmful substances and clearing them out can help keep you and your family healthy. What’s a product that you used to use? Or maybe still use that? You know not? It’s not healthy for you?

Shannon M. 15:38
Oh, good. I used to use or you know what, I’m gonna go on the healthy side, I’m gonna go on the healthy side and say something that might not be a normal answer. I’ll say food grade hydrogen peroxide, okay. And if you were to not dilute this, it’ll start burning your skin. But I had to put some newer stuff from my old network marketing company and the shea butter on it to stop the burning. So it could literally be like a water ball or like a water balloon weapon. Okay. But I used it because it’s amazing for cleaning surfaces. For so many different health benefits. I gave it to my mom when she had cancer, her nails started growing out her jaundice in her eyes and stuff like that was going away. And it was because it was purifying her body. Right. But again, if you don’t dilute it correctly, it could be different things. So I instead have now changed to the seventh generation spray that we spray everything with milder and you don’t have to worry about the possibility of it getting on you. Huh? Yeah,

Christine Gautreaux 16:44
so what they say, right, the tips that they say to reduce potential toxins in your home is clean with Safer Choice or non toxic products. So there you go. So mine would have been bleach like I you know, we grew up using bleach to clean and it has really good properties. But if you’ve ever gotten a little bleach on your fingers, and you’re in tune with your bot, like I know immediately if I’ve touched bleach, I can feel it as it moves through my body. And I was like, Yeah, I mean, we still have some because there’s certain things we need to use it around the animals and stuff. But I’m really cautious with how much or if I use it and the dilution rate. So they also say dust using a damp rag, which is interesting because you know, you often think about doing it with a feather duster, but they say use a damp rag because then that helps the dust not go into the air. Use a wet mop to clean the floors, same concept. vacuum with a High Efficiency Particulate Air or HIPAA HIPAA filter. You know what I learned recently for environmental wellness, and I learned it through trial and error and I apologize to my kids ex boyfriend, because he had asthma. When people come over my house, I often vacuum right before they come. I mean I vacuum on the regular but before somebody’s come in, one of the things I do to spruce up is vacuum. Well I read a study around asthma, that it when you vacuum it throws all the particles in the air. So then that actually makes it worse for somebody coming in that has allergies or asthma. And so you want to vacuum like a day before they come. I thought that was just fascinating. Like right, I’m like, oh, okay, that makes sense. And I thought I was being helpful in

Shannon M. 18:32
its preparedness month isn’t it so prepare by vacuuming the day before another day of write

Christine Gautreaux 18:38
open a window or use a fan to improve air circulation when you’re cleaning. I mean that’s a this time of year it’s a no brainer. And you know melody talks about that in her classes about the flow of energy throughout your houses too. It’s not just about cleanliness but it’s also just the energetics of being able to open your windows and let stale energy out. Having maintain a good ventilation system in your home and wash your hands and your children’s hands often which I think if we haven’t gotten that after the last two years

Shannon M. 19:13
but and there’s a lot there’s a lot that’s missing you know we talked about the vaccine we’ve talked about the handwashing we talk about a lot this that’s definitely beneficial and should be looked at but we have a lot of other stuff too. That we can do to be preventative and take care of ourselves right what is Eleanor say? Vinegar and baking soda clean everything? Yes. All natural, hypoallergenic, non toxic, no strong smells. So okay. I have a question though. Elena because

Christine Gautreaux 19:40
I worked for grandma.

Shannon M. 19:42
So the vinegar right I started using the vinegar before I went to seventh generation. I was trying to put some lemons in and make it smell like lemon pine. So you know I knew I really liked the lemon scents and it still smelled like vinegar are you using I want to know Eleanor using white like cleaning vinegar what type of it good use. But yeah, I love going towards the more natural side. And I learned that in college working at lupus kitchen and naturopathic doctor that started me on the kombucha and the the natural remedies and really food as your medicine, more delving into that education. That’s when I started looking at the cleaners in the inhalation that we do when we’re cleaning stuff, you know, so I’ve even started using gloves so that it doesn’t soak into my hands.

Christine Gautreaux 20:27
I think that’s smart. You know, one of the tricks I do for the smell part, Shannon is I you know, when you get a big old bag of tangerines or oranges, I take the peels, and I stuffed them in quart jar, and then I just keep them in the fridge. And once the jar gets full, I fill it up with vinegar, and I let it sit for a couple of days. And so it makes this like orange vinegar cleaning solution that smells great. And it works. You know how, you know the door to door people that used to come around with the orange spray? I think so. It’s like a natural remedy for that. And it gives me something to do with my orange pills.

Shannon M. 21:04
Yeah, and we just had a bag of oranges last week. So we definitely could have done that. Eleanor says white vinegar smell goes away. fest smell goes away fast.

Christine Gautreaux 21:14
Okay, you smell it? Yeah, exactly.

Shannon M. 21:18
Yeah, it’s not the move, not the move. But no, I hear you on the Yes, I hear you want a clean environment. What you see, you know, helps me when I think about environmental wellness, I think about the social aspect of it, right? Because it’s not just visually what we see, but also audibly, right, what we hear can affect our sphere in our bodies a certain way where you’re going to say,

Christine Gautreaux 21:43
Well, I was gonna ask a question. Do you like a quiet? Do you listen to music? Is there background noise? What is your optimum environmental wellness?

Shannon M. 21:53
So it depends on the situation, what I was specifically referring to what I think about is in the morning, right in the morning, if I have too much of outside input, it kind of throws me off because my cup might not be all the way full. Yeah. Right. So if I log on my computer to go check my email, and then I see that this person like this rapper got shot at Waffle House. Well, wow. Yes, crazy. You know, somebody shared a location in real time. And we talked about working on social media. And now this gentleman is young rapper is gone, you know, that’s gonna move that’s going to automatically alter my emotions. Right now I’m thinking about black men thinking about working on social media being safe. Thinking about the state of the world, everything we talk about. First, I need to journal, I need to center myself in gratitude. Think about what I want to do for the day, make sure I have some water, make sure I’m eat I’ve eaten, and then I can afford to, you know, I have the capacity to put up the boundaries a little bit more. If they’re not there, then it feels a little bit closer. And it moves me a little bit easier. So I usually like it quiet. If I do play music, it might be instrumentals or Lo Fi that don’t have words, because I’m specifically trying not to be swayed by the words, but the people whether it’s the artist, or whoever wants them to put this message out, you know, so if I’m listening to music, I love it. I want to hear the beat the undertones. I want to hear the words and what the message is. And if I’m not there yet, I need to not input like I said earlier, and set up as a thermostat set the environment first. And that’s what helps me am I. Yeah,

Christine Gautreaux 23:31
yeah, I usually start off really quiet. You know, I think about because we were talking about making your home healthier and cleaning products. And now when I’m cleaning, I’m Jasmine. Like I like to turn the music up. I like to open all the windows if possible. The prettier the day, the faster and the quicker I clean. Which is always interesting to me, right? Because if it’s a rainy yucky day, I want to crawl in bed and read a book. But so like a day like today where the sun is shining, I’m like, oh, let’s let’s open these windows and get it right. Yeah, but I like to turn on some big tunes and jam. And if I’m cleaning, I like music that I can sing along to. But I totally hear you with your like the Lo Fi in the beat in the house music when it’s when you’re getting to get stuff done. But nowhere. Right, right. Yeah. I love that.

Shannon M. 24:19
Yeah, and I’m with you on the singing along too. And then any other time definitely music, I think I need to listen to more music actually, I had been listening to a lot of audiobooks so that I can use my downtime even more effectively. And again, I’ve realized I got to do a limit on the intake of information because I’m just gonna overwhelm myself and not hear what this person is saying, you know, but yeah, outside of that, I definitely have a tuning playlist and that’s something I listened to tune my spear a certain way it makes your certain words certain notes, you know, put us in a certain mood so I’m doing my scales, and I’m ready to face the day with great energy.

Christine Gautreaux 24:59
Yeah, love that. I love that. Well, you know, that’s one of my wellness practices is singing out loud is and I forget sometimes to listen to music. I like to you know what has helped me with that. And, and I know there’s mixed reviews on this right? I can’t remember where our first one came from our little dot our little Alexa that is connected, right? Which we can be too connected, but we are women connected and wisdom. So the electronic connection where I could just say, hey, Alexa play such and such spot, you know, on Spotify, and it just booms and it’s like, okay, I love that. And then if I don’t like it, I can out loud say hey, change it to

Shannon M. 25:46
yet. Yep. Hey played when we connected and

Christine Gautreaux 25:51
do you ever listen? Do you ever I’m,

Shannon M. 25:54
I’ve listened. So I listened to one of the episodes that I’ve missed that I was not present for. And when I was looking for the new commercial, I listen the other day, but it’s interesting. I don’t go back. And listen, I’ve started now. That was my inner voice like nervous that I would instead of enjoy it, pick it apart. But when I listened back to myself today, I said, I did a good job. I guess I’m a good speaker. I’m on top of the world. And I’m still questioning myself, you know, but not as much as you might think that I go back to listen to them. Yeah, we have a

Christine Gautreaux 26:27
toddler with everything else right? To the next episode. I was thinking about that this week, because you know, we’re on episode 85. And I was at the chiropractor, and our receptionist is just a delightful person who is an artist, and we’ve been chatting and really having a good time talking. And I was telling her cuz she asked how my weekend was because I was there on a Monday. And I was like, Oh, it was great. You know, we spoke at the Global healer Summit. And she’s like, Oh, were you nervous? I was like, no interest, like, you don’t get nervous. And I’m like, well, like we do this all the time. So I said, occasionally I will get nerves. But you know, it reminded me, it reminded me of the last time I had huge nerves when she asked me that. And that was when I was asked to speak at the United Nations at the status on the Commission of Women. And on the commission of the status of women. I always flip that around. And this was pre pandemic, right. And they called asked me to speak about a project I was doing with Turkish refugees from Turkey, and interplay in building community and, and they called they asked me to be a part of a project to speak on that. And I was like, of course, yes. Right? Because that’s what i do i. And then I got off the phone. And I completely freaked out. Like I just was like, Oh my gosh, what did I just say yes, to write. Yeah. And I called Shannon, it actually who’s one of our authors in the book. And she gave me some of the best advice that anybody has ever given me. And this was before she was officially coaching. And I was like, you gotta be a coach, because this was fabulous. She said to me, I need you to welcome yourself. They have welcomed you. And I need you to welcome yourself to this opportunity. And I was like, it just settled my spirit so much that anytime I start to have a hidden nerves anymore, I just remind myself, I take a deep breath. And I just write hmm. And I welcome myself because I really I mean, I know after the years I’ve done work with clients and things like that most of the time, it’s ourselves that put up barriers, right? It’s our selves that say we’re not good enough, or our house doesn’t look a certain way. So we can’t have people over or we we have to have this before we can do this right. And we put up these barriers in front of ourselves, and we don’t welcome ourselves. And even when other people welcome us, we tend to be like, I can’t do, right.

Shannon M. 29:01
Yeah, yeah. And we talked about that on Shayla glow. They’re just supposed to says take the compliment says, take the compliment. You know, I had a guest told me that one day at puppet Oh, he was like, I like your glasses. And I said, Yeah, but there’s a crack in them. Right? And he said, Why do women do that we compliment and then you immediately say something out to say, I was about to say something else. But he wasn’t wrong. So I took the feedback. I say, You know what, I’ll work on that. Because I hear what you’re saying. And I thought about all the ladies I was connected to. And yeah, we got to welcome ourselves. But I will also say we don’t operate in guilt, right? We don’t operate in shame those things do not help us. So there’s a reason why the inner voice sounds a certain way, right? There’s the reasons in ways that we’re conditioned to talk to ourselves and you know, we again, reasons why we end up in the situations that we’re in so as women right now, how can we be connected to the people who can help us in the areas maybe we genuinely need help somewhere and Okay, This is an opportunity that I have, what are the tools and the resources that I have in my hand, right? But then outside of that, are you in an environment that supports the well being? Right? Everybody’s like, how did you lose all this weight? I came back to this popular location and all the mommies in the back and everybody who knew me when I was 50 pounds heavier is like, my flat guy. They told me my booty BM vagary, like it’s gonna eat skinny here, your booty is big, how did you lose the weight? Right? And we always have to start with water and mindset, right, making sure that you know that you’re worth it that you’re deciding to actually have the discipline.

Christine Gautreaux 30:36
Hey, y’all, this is a great place to take a break. Take a deep breath, and hear from our awesome sponsors that make women connected and wisdom podcast possible. Shannon, we are so grateful that Shayla glow is the sponsor of the women connected in wisdom podcast. And I wanted to take this moment to ask you when you think about the people who use Shayla glow, where are we talking about?

Shannon M. 31:01
That’s a good question. I think about three groups really one group that’s removing hair, right, so whether you’re using laser hair removal, waxing, shaving, you got to make sure that you’re putting back what you’re taking out the second group, I think about those with dry skin, and the problems that that might cause right, the scars, itching, burning, whatever the situation is, you definitely need all three steps, right? The exfoliation making sure you’re taking the dead skin cells off the oil, putting in the moisture, and then the shea butter with the aloe, sealing it helping you heal those things helped both groups, right. And third, for the third group is those with chronic illness. You know, the story is personally from cancer and different diseases that our population is dealing with on a daily basis throughout families as individuals. So I’m thinking about my mom and my grandmother, and those around me with the same generational ties, right, and what positive healthy habits, we can start to make sure that we’re maintaining our wellness, especially because the skin is like the cape, the exterior the shield for your immune system. So with COVID We have to be intentional about covering ourselves. And those are the groups I think about.

Christine Gautreaux 32:13
I love it. And you know what else I love about your product? It’s all natural, handmade, and it smells great, y’all, so yay.

Shannon M. 32:23
Yes, Esthetician tested and approved. Yes. Yes. What about you? When you think about your company? What groups of people do you think about?

Christine Gautreaux 32:33
Well, you know, I work with individual coaching clients, I work in community classes and with corporate teams, and with all of them, I use a strength based embodied approach to help folks connect with themselves and access joy, reduce burnout, and build resilience. You know, especially during these times, I think we need it. I think we need all the hashtag partnership power we can get.

Shannon M. 32:55
But yeah, even like the global healer Summit, you know, are you in an environment that supports your well being? And again, I started losing weight by taking off meat, dairy, grains, all this stuff? How can we do that if at home, we have pizza, and sausages and chips and sodas, I need the environment to match with my what my goal is to help me get there. Well,

Christine Gautreaux 33:17
I think that’s awesome. Like, I mean, that’s exactly what they’re talking about. Like when we’re looking at this survey, and it says improving your health. You know, one of the first things they say is to, like, get rid of the toxic stuff. So I mean, just what you’re saying is create the environment for success, right? Yeah. Do you want to know more about those seven strategies? Yeah, yeah, let’s do all right. I think I’m gonna I’m gonna list them and then we’ll pick which one we want to play with more because I know we may not have time to talk about all seven. So the first one we talked about was the make your home healthier. The second one is reduce your allergies. The third was safe, smooth. My time work today. Stay safe during hot weather. The next one was guard against cold weather. I love that they have them all at the same time because you never know what you know what part of the world you’re in air quality in your health. Stay safe in the water and clear out the toxins in your home. I kind of want to talk about the stay safe in the water since water is life. Okay. You want to talk about that one? Yeah. So what they say is Summer is a great time to go out and have fun in the water. We know here in the southeast. Our summer is wrapping up and we’re approaching fall. But it says recreational waters including swimming pools, lakes and oceans can sometimes get contaminated with bacteria and virus viruses and even drinking water like what’s happening in Jackson Mississippi, right? Swimming and contaminated water can make you and your family sick but you can take steps to stay healthier while playing in the water. So this is also fascinating, right? And I know you have talked about this because of Shiloh glow, but one of the first things they say is shower before And after swimming, like putting that barrier on, before you go into the water?

Shannon M. 35:05
Yes, yes. And especially when you’re thinking about just your skin being protected in general, right? Like we’re talking about the outside the dangerous things that might be in the water or the air, absolutely having that barrier is going to help, but also making sure not but also, but it’s also because of the balance that it keeps, right? What I’m looking at right now is the pH balance. And whether it’s water that we’re talking about your body or your skin, that pH balance, being neutral, and where it should be is what helps you stay where you want to be in that sweet spot where we believe as people that are intentional about our wellness, that disease can’t live, right. If you’re making sure that you’re proactive. If you’re making sure that you’re covered and your balance, then have a pH scale, you should be taken care of no matter what’s in the environment, or what happens because you’re able to come back center.

Christine Gautreaux 36:04
Right, just supporting our immune systems. Exactly. This is what I’m hearing you say there. Yeah, right. Yeah, and some of the other things that go into in this article are pretty, I mean, common, like their common sense. But there’s some times good to be reminded, like try not to swallow the water. Like you don’t know what the water is in there. If and stay out of the water if you have open wounds or cover them with waterproof bandages. I love this one. Don’t swim in water that looks murky, or has an odor. Yeah, I’m good with that one.

Shannon M. 36:45
Definitely,

Christine Gautreaux 36:46
right. So they go into all of these, it’s, we’re gonna put this list the environmental wellness toolkit up on our show notes, and definitely have a resource frill for this and it’s it’s fun. They also have they can download it right. Jody’s laughing at us about the don’t go into murky water. Yeah, what’s good choice, right. And you can also you can print it out, they have a printout for you. And they have ways and strategies to improve your environmental health. So I think even just bringing intentionality around it, right? I think if your environment isn’t where you want it to be currently, like, don’t beat up on yourself or get stressed, just pick one area. And what I work with my clients on sometimes when they’re overwhelmed, is setting a timer for 15 minutes, and just doing 15 minutes of something to improve your area. And melody did a video the other day that she posted that I’m gonna find and put in our show notes, because she talked about a whole thing about refreshing your bright bedroom, and it being one of the most important private spaces in our homes for environmental wellness. So I’m gonna find that link and put it in our show notes because it was fabulous. So I want to, I want to list that for our listeners

Shannon M. 38:07
who I was on LinkedIn. And there was this article that they were talking about workplace conflict and what you should do to keep boundaries and stay in your power, things like that. Right? So environmental wellness. So think about that. What happens when you’re working on different parts of your wellness. And now you see all these conversations you have to have that was a post I put on social media this week, like having the difficult conversations can lead to the health that you’re looking for. But that’s why we have to work on our communication, right? So what does that look like in a healthy way, so that your partners or the people that you live with or whoever is affected by your now shift to be healthier? How do you communicate where you are, what you need, and how they can best support you. And do that in a way that teaches them how to treat you. So we don’t get our feelings hurt or have unrealistic expectations because things are not communicated.

Christine Gautreaux 38:59
Right. Right. Well, I mean, you when I think about that I think about have you ever been I mean, I know you have this question. But you know, when you’ve had a fight with somebody, and the energy in the air or your environment is charged or it needs to be cleaned, right, you need to open up that window and let the bad energy out and let some good fluid. I think about that about how that does affect us. It affects our emotional mental wellness, it affects everything. So you know when that happens in my house like I will I will light some incense and clean it out. I will light a candle and put some intentions under the candle. I will get out some feathers and walk around and say put some prayers and blessings in my house. And I mean there’s all kinds of ways to clear space. I do it with I do it with sound sometimes too with chimes or my singing bells and I will walk around but I think so much is the intentionality right To be aware that Oh, something heavy sitting here. Have you ever walked into a space? And you’re like, ooh, some went down in this space,

Shannon M. 40:08
right? Yeah, yeah. And I usually fill it in a room, let’s say you walk in and you feel like there was a conversation that stops. Or part of even sometimes there might be a part of a conversation where you might not know somebody too well, and you mentioned something you could tell it hits a nerve, and then it’s a redirection to another part, you know, so I think that’s when I’m usually more attuned to it. It’s not usually if I walk into empty space with no bodies, that I’m like, Hmm, something happened here. You know, it’s usually the physical signs and things like that, that I pay attention to.

Christine Gautreaux 40:42
Yeah, I’ve had it happen both ways. Yeah. Just having that. Having that connection with the land and the space and things like that. And that’s

Shannon M. 40:53
why I love Melody’s chapter, you know, because it’s not just about the pitchers that you have and how you decorate it, when you’re in the house, it still affects the next people who were there. And if you’re the next people who were there, how do you address that and set it up for you know what you need it to be? And so that’s what I love about it. I had somebody called me after our episode with Dr. Kemp, like, Hey, you talk to trees, you know, we were talking about openness as a Christian and thinking about things a certain way, you know, when people might hear chimes and feathers and say, No, you’re supposed to give it to God, and all these things, or anything, but you know, but in my mind, that created everything. So if we’re talking about the energy, it’s just like, the water is just like everything that’s here for us can work for my good. If I have dominion over it, I can use the tools, the way I need to use the tools to get what God says is mine. And what’s mine is mine. So I’m just trying to get there at a certain spirit in a certain heart posture. And in order to keep that healthy. I need to clear out the energy because if not, I’m gonna have an attitude going on, you know, so yeah, yes, it really important environmental wellness. All right.

Christine Gautreaux 42:06
Well, that that tickles me that somebody called you for that champion. And I hope the conversation was good, but I’m like, Who created the trees?

Shannon M. 42:17
Exactly. And that was the thing we’re not just supposed to have connection with the things that we build this man is where would we have been, you know, without the grocery stores, somebody’s farming, hunting and gathering for us now and all these things. These things were here before Walmart was in every city. So yeah, fast connection, reconnection back to everything that I told you. Environmental wellness, for me was the biggest category that I was like, Okay, I know that it says is more than just nature. But what else is there and now I’m realizing how much it permeates everything, how the environment is set up. And especially going back to psychology, we talk about nature versus nurture, right nature is biology, your parents, everything that you were born with that is genetic, that you can be genetically predisposed to things. But then that’s only 1/3 of it, we know that nurture is the other two thirds. So what is the environment? Like? What is What are the teachings like the foundation of everything that is really what molds the shape of the possibilities that come from people in the situations that they’re in? So environmental is huge?

Christine Gautreaux 43:23
Well, it’s so tied to our physical and emotional mental to I mean, it’s tied to all the other ones. But like when you were saying now and I was thinking about, like, just how powerful it is for me to be outside with my feet on the ground and soaking in sunshine. But you know, that’s tied to the physical wellness because getting your vitamin D right, and it’s like, it’s all so interconnected. And but I think it’s good, how we break them down, and we, we look at like, incrementally Okay, so what can I do for my environmental wellness this week? Yeah, like, what can I I’m getting ready to go on a trip. And I will be tuning in next week from Boulder Colorado, when we do the show. I’m gonna go out and see my siblings. And you know, as I always I don’t know if if you do this, but when I get ready for a trip, I like my house to be completely clean. Like I like my environment. i There’s two reasons. As I’m straightening and cleaning and doing laundry and all that I’m packing. So like, I’m, I’m kind of looking at every room, every system, have I forgotten things, things like that. And then I love that when I come home. Everything is is how I just like that I come home, you know, just and my mom taught me that and sometimes it drives the people I live with crazy. I get even, you know, I want it to be a certain way Jodi’s with me, she says yes, she’s yay, right? I’m not and so you’re not by yourself. I’m not by myself with this. Good So, so I’m thinking about that in the environment today. You know, how do I want to leave it in my day? All children are going to be here while I’m gone. So you know they are going to be here but my piece of it and also setting them up for success or not. You know how sometimes when we’re in a hurry, we leave things a mess and then, but I’m like, Okay, I’m going to be gone for a couple of days. So I need things to be in a certain way, for their wellness for my wellness. And yeah, it’s I don’t know why I went off on that story. I guess I was just thinking about what’s next that I’m going to get to be in a hole travel for me as part of my environmental wellness, like I get to go out to the Rockies, I get to go actually Jodi’s from Longmont originally, she’s not there anymore, but her sister’s there. And that part of the world, I don’t know that I would ever live there full time. But I love to visit it, I love to go out, we’re going to do about three days of camping near the Rockies. And I’m just I’m delighted to be able to, to disconnect just for a few days before we launch this book and have some time to reset my myself.

Shannon M. 46:05
And I think that is so important, right? The environment that supports healthy habits, right, that supports you getting stuff done. This is what happens when the workflow is at a certain space. This is what we need to be able to leave and come back. But also that part the rest, right? How does it look? What does it look like to unplug? What do you need to do? Whether it’s a hey, I’ll be out of the office email or setting up schedules with the team so they know where you’re at in the communication, right? Or if it’s for you like making sure your bags are at the door. I know when I’m traveling, I can’t pack too early to the last night. I’m not sleeping. I’m excited. Like the next day is the first day of Bandcamp. And I cannot wait to get out the door. So those things so

Christine Gautreaux 46:45
right. I’ve been having that conversation with myself for the last two days because I didn’t sleep that great last night. And I think it’s because I’m excited. And you know, my siblings are now three years old, and we talk on the regular and so for this whole week, we’ve been talking every morning when they get up which is early for them and it keeps getting earlier because they’re getting excited. I’m coming with my sisters like this morning noxee You know, was in the FaceTime, and he said Tia, Tia, one more sleep. One more sleep. And he actually kind of thought it was today we had to realize no you have one more sleep. It’s not completely done. Because you know he’s three trying to figure it out was so stinking cute. So I was like Yes, sir. And I hope that you’re T asleep. So one more sleep. Like, right, it’s like, but I have to tell you, I put up the ticker on the bottom for folks that are watching. For the folks that are listening, are women connected in wisdom.com website is now live. I haven’t been talking about it, because I got a little into my perfectionism. And but I realized this week, all right, we’re launching this bad boy. And there are you know, there’s a few things that I would like to be a little different. And they may become a little different. But for right now it’s up there. And it’s awesome. And we’d love for you all to go check it out. There will be episodes of the podcast, if you want to look around. They’re not all up there yet, but they’re coming. Our upcoming conference is listed on there are right, the way to register for the free conference. And all of that is now live. And then a really gorgeous picture of the book and that it’s coming on the 27th. And when it is available, we will put the link to buy the book on there too. So it is all coming together my friends like it’s Yeah,

Shannon M. 48:37
it is it is and I’m so excited. You know when I started. Thank you so much Eleanor, when I started. che lo glow with my unemployment at the beginning of COVID. And then it’s cut off the unemployment cut off. I said, Lord, what are we going to do? And we set out all this stuff. And part of it could be like is it really going to happen, you know, but we have the support system, we’ve been doing the work to get it done. And I’m so proud of how far we’ve come we have the product and the podcasts and the book and everything else we’ve been talking about to get women really connected because we know what it looks like when you’re at the edge and about to pass out from overextension. And we don’t want to keep getting there. So I’m excited for you ladies to be part of the conference. And we already have seats filling up. So if you’re interested, make sure that you grab your seat, make sure that if you want the recordings and you know you need them, you know you need to go through the eight dimensions a couple of times with our experts, go ahead and get the VIP tickets so that you can be the person that gets that amazing goodie bag. That’s going to increase your self wellness, which Christina is amazing at doing and your community wellness and plugging in to so that you can have what you need to be really well dimensionally.

Christine Gautreaux 49:48
Right. I’m so excited about it. I just can’t. I was thinking today we were doing our pre production for the show. And I had a question that I was struggling to find the answer to and the amount of time we had And I was like, Alright, who do I know that knows the answer to this, and I jumped on LinkedIn. And I just want to give a shout out to Marcia Chadli. She’s an expert. She does YouTube videos, we’re gonna have her on the show. We just haven’t gotten it coordinated yet when she’s coming, but she’s an expert on mighty networks. And my question was around money networks. And so I just reached out to say, Hey, do you have a video about this? Or do you have can you can I book a coaching session with you? And cuz I’m like, we’re all about women connecting with them, right? I’m there was somebody in my network that knows the answer to this. And she was like, Oh, this is simple and responded right there to me. And just such gratitude, and just really the power of connection and relationship, and just women supporting women. I’m so grateful for this community and for what we’re building.

Shannon M. 50:50
Yes, yes. And before I give you, my women, my wisdom and action because because I do have an idea for at least one. I also want to give you a shout out Christine because at the beginning of the podcast, you said you can’t be in two places at once. And this week, I was literally places that was because of you. And I know we’ve we’ve already been talking about it but the global healer Summit, being able to record it after my podcast slid off the top of my car on the highway

Christine Gautreaux 51:19
or not your podcast your computer, Lord, my computer.

Shannon M. 51:23
bicoastal here, computer is gone. Okay, after my computer slid off. You and your amazing connectedness, your tech savvy, everything that you’ve been doing for the past, what, four years now I know it hasn’t always been on our platform. But yeah, shout out to you. Being a super connector. And I get in us on the global healer Summit. It was amazing to present. I’ve been loving to hear what’s been coming back. And I’m a I’m excited for more.

Christine Gautreaux 51:49
And gratitude for Jodi and for inviting us. And she said the presentation was wonderful. We had such a good time talking about the eight dimensions of wellness and meeting all the every presentation was just delightful. I learned so much Jody and yours. Jodi did, y’all will put Jodi’s links in our show notes from powerhouse. But she did this whole session on breathing and these breathing sequences for health and vitality. And, Jodi, if you’ll put it in, in the comments, I’ll put it up here about the system or your website. It was so you know, you’re on this summit for three days, which being in front of a computer can just be like, for me, it’s draining. I don’t know if it is for everybody. But for me, it can be like, ah, and Jodi did her session. And I had all this energy. And I had, I was just like, it was it was incredible. So I want to study that a little bit more. I was really grateful. So alright, let’s talk wisdom and action, my friend. Oh,

Shannon M. 52:55
so and you know, always break the rules. So I have singing out loud. I love that you said that. And I did that today found out that John Powell one of my favorite singers from the 90s passed away. So I was belting his song. Okay, singing out loud. And I love what you just said too, about breathing. And Jodi’s presentation. So I’m also going to say keep breathing. Breathe through. I love that

Christine Gautreaux 53:20
a lot. Yeah, what about you a lot. I was trying to look up and I’m not going to do it in a timely manner. Because you and I talked about it pre show. And we’re like, Oh, we didn’t watch we can’t talk about it. I was trying to pull up the name of the actress who sang at the award show this week in at the Emmys and I’m probably going to probably mess it up so I probably shouldn’t. But you know, she got up there and accept your award by singing and it was gorgeous. And I will put a link to that into that clip in our show notes. And I apologize ces for not being able to call your name right at this moment. But yeah, so my wisdom and action actions this week for environmental wellness are I’m going to say hashtag creative space because I am going to be traveling. And so there are a few things I like to travel with that create the space for me that you know no matter where I’m at that make it my space, whether it’s a scent, or whether it’s a travel candle, or it’s my Shayla glow coming with me. Like I’m gonna remember to pack like those few things that when I get to where I’m going, I can create my space.

Shannon M. 54:40
So yeah, that’s funny. Create my space,

Unknown Speaker 54:43
right? Wait

Shannon M. 54:49
on MySpace,

Christine Gautreaux 54:51
God says hashtag refresh your bedroom. I love that. Yeah,

Shannon M. 54:56
I love that. Okay, so who the Getting off season 10. We’re going with the book, get connected with us on the website, if you’re interested in the conference and the replays is going to be amazing. Our authors have been amazing. And I’m so grateful for you ladies for being on this journey. And thank you for the invitation. Christine has been loosely out of this world.

Christine Gautreaux 55:18
And yeah, next week, we’re going to be talking about occupational wellness with Kate Arms. And she’s going to be talking about psychological safety. Like she is incredible. She’s coming to us from Canada. And Eleanor says hashtag vinegar talking about

Shannon M. 55:36
that’s a good one.

Christine Gautreaux 55:38
So, thank you so much, Jodi. Yes. We’re excited and we are delighted and we’re so so grateful to be connected.

Shannon M. 55:46
Yes, yes. Okay. Ladies, thank you so much for joining us live at five. We’ll be here again live next week at 5pm. Eastern time. See you soon. And in the meantime, don’t forget, be well, be wise.

Christine Gautreaux 56:00
And behold

Satimara 56:10
thanks for listening. This has been the women connected and wisdom podcast on air live on Wednesdays at 5 pm. Eastern via Facebook and YouTube. Be sure to like share and subscribe be part of the conversation and get connected at women connected in wisdom.com.

BE WELL ♥ BE WISE ♥ BE WHOLE

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