EP. 07

[00:00:00] Kelsey: Welcome to Planet Spoonie, the podcast for lymies and Spoonies healing themselves and the world. In this compassionate and collective space, we will learn all about the foundations of truly holistic living, traditional nutrition, herbal medicine, nature connection, and everything in between. These are the same foundations that have helped me rediscover A sense of magic, belonging, and my own healing capacity, even while living with chronic illness.

[00:00:33] I'm your host, Kelsey, the herbalist. Let's dig in. So today's episode, I want to keep things short and sweet because our last episode was definitely on the longer side. And I know y'all appreciate something that is short and quick and value packed that you will get a lot out of. Let's talk about how to stay resourced during the busy seasons of life, and more specifically, how can you support yourself when you are spending a lot of time sitting at a desk?

[00:01:07] This is something that I am sure so many of you relate to, especially my spoonies, who are forced to spend more time sitting and resting than maybe they would prefer to be. We are all coming to this with different... bodies, different abilities, different mobility, different pain levels different lifestyles and careers and just different situations entirely.

[00:01:37] So take everything in this episode with a grain of salt. Take what feels nourishing and good to you and leave the rest. This is about supporting you and providing you with more resources and more tools so that you can feel more empowered in your everyday life and more supported and so that you feel good and your body feels better.

[00:02:04] That is always the goal. I'm curious. If you are someone who is sitting at a desk, All day. Or a lot. Every day. Do you end up feeling really run down and achy all over at the end of the day? Or maybe during the day? Do you get tight and stiff and brain foggy and fatigued? Does some of the pain that you maybe already live with get triggered and worsened from sitting at a desk?

[00:02:32] I know that this is definitely true for me. I have so much more on my plate than I would in a normal season of my life. I made some big commitments this trimester in graduate school. Simultaneously juggling two, two different degrees. Just, it's a very short term thing. While also seeing clients and doing this clinical mentorship focused online and...

[00:02:56] Just have so many other things going on in life and previously I, when I was younger and throughout my 20s, just had such a habit of over committing and overextending myself to please other people, or just cause I genuinely wanted to do it all. I think a lot of us want to do all the things because we're excited and it sounds really fun.

[00:03:19] But the truth is, we can't. And... When that happens, it never feels good, but sometimes we also just commit to a lot and it's completely within our wherewithal to make it happen, but it's still difficult to stay resourced. Or maybe we don't have the choice. Maybe we have a lot on our plate and that's just.

[00:03:44] The situation that we're in and we don't have the option to get out of it. So how can you support yourself when this is happening? And how have I been supporting myself through this? So these are tools that I have learned along the way through my many years of studying natural health and medicine and just holistic living.

[00:04:05] And these things have been helping me so much. I never. would have thought that I would have been able to juggle the workload that is currently on my plate. In the past, I couldn't have juggled it. But because I have been relying so much on these tools, it has enabled me to accomplish so, so much more.

[00:04:27] And at the end, I'm going to share a little bonus tool that isn't really one of the main four I want to talk about, but it's a little bonus because this is a huge Mindset shift and change. In my own life that has allowed me to be so much more productive. Okay, so my four favorite tools for supporting the body and easing the strain of too much sitting in particular and these also apply to just super busy seasons of life, even if that doesn't necessarily entail too much sitting, you might be doing something else that causes lots of strain.

[00:05:05] Maybe you're someone who does lots of physical work and who is up a lot. Or maybe you are forced to sit a ton because of physical or mobility issues. Whatever your situation is, these are essentials in my personal everyday and weekly routines because I feel they literally recharge my batteries and make me feel my absolute best.

[00:05:31] And, in a way, I do mean that kind of literally. The first one is to move your body. This looks different for absolutely everyone. Everyone. Do whatever is accessible for you. And there are no shoulds here. There's never shoulds anywhere. I want to almost do an entire episode on that. Just scrap the word should from your dictionary.

[00:05:56] That's something I learned from Louise Hay in my early twenties. And I have truly taken it to heart in my life. Scrap the shoulds. Don't think of this as exercise that you need to do to stay fit or to punish yourself or whatever weirdness there is around exercise and movement. This is truly about moving your body and having fun and finding something that feels good for you.

[00:06:18] So it is going to look different for everyone. Maybe it is literally a five minute walk with your dog, or a ten minute walk with your dog. Maybe it's gentle stretching and joint circles. Maybe you want to dance in the kitchen without inhibition to the latest album drop that you've been listening to. Maybe you want to hit the trails for a really long run, or go for a half a day hike, or do some vigorous weightlifting.

[00:06:51] The goal is just to pick something that you enjoy and that makes you feel good. There truly are no shoulds here. The point is just to get you moving and moving your body to get the blood flowing and to kick on so many different physiological functions. that are ultimately going to end up improving your mood, your cognition, your energy levels, your immune response that's going to help you sleep better at night and just going to impact you in so many different ways.

[00:07:23] You just can't underestimate the power of movement. So this is super important and it leads in to the second tool. So Number two, sit on an exercise ball at your desk. And there's more to this. And what I mean by that is that everyone, again, is going to be in a different situation. Let's just start with this first basic one, sit on an exercise ball at your desk.

[00:07:50] It's not going to work for everyone, but it feels awesome on the spine and pelvic floor. It's so much more functional for your body. It helps spread and position the pelvic floor a little bit differently while also releasing that compression on our spine we get from just sitting in a solid chair all day long.

[00:08:11] It's really nice when you can sit on it in that way. I know it might not feel as cozy and comfortable at first, but if you just ease into it, start with five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever feels good to you. And try it out. You can also try, if you can't use an exercise ball, there's little inflatable mini exercise ball kind of pads that you can put in your desk chair, that's also a great option.

[00:08:40] I think the exercise ball or the little exercise mini one are great options also for neurodivergent folks who find stems like bouncing helpful. So someone with ADHD or maybe on the spectrum might also find this really nice and helpful for keeping their brain occupied in that additional way while they work.

[00:09:01] And it might help laser in that focus a little bit. And a couple of other ways that you can do this you might also want to try using a under desk pedal machine or like bike. I think. They might literally just be called peddlers, but it's something that you put under your desk, you put your feet in and you can just peddle your feet while you work.

[00:09:24] Again, the idea here is to keep your body moving instead of being so still all day. And another option is to do a standing desk and you can get a pad or you can get a little balancing platform to stand on while you work. There are also many treadmills that you can put under your standing desk. So you are just gently walking while you're working.

[00:09:49] There are a lot of different options here. I recommend just starting which up with whatever one feels the easiest and the most affordable. But you could also get really creative here. Like you can you know, try pillows or doing some kind of weird makeshift item, especially if you're working from home.

[00:10:10] The idea is to just really one, keep your body moving and two, to create a little bit of variation when you're sitting in this repetitive position or working in a repetitive position. So again, maybe you're not sitting at a desk. Maybe you have some kind of other occupation where you're in a different.

[00:10:27] repetitive position, bending over or squat, squatting down, whatever it is. If the sitting on an exercise ball doesn't really apply to you, just think of how can you create more variety and more movement in what you're doing. Maybe it's taking five minute stretch breaks or walking breaks. Whatever it is, create a little bit of variety and a little bit of movement in your routine.

[00:10:54] Which, for a lot of us, just sitting on an exercise ball at your desk can be the easiest one. Okay, so that is number two. Number three. And number three, cheating here, packing two into one, but number three is ground and get outside. There are some different elements to this, but this is one of those low hanging fruits that I like talking about a lot because It's really, it's a foundational.

[00:11:23] If we truly actually incorporate evolution like the theory of evolution and how we've evolved in very particular environments and ecosystems over such incredible amounts of time we can't separate ourselves from that past. We can't separate ourselves from that past. So these really basic things that yeah.

[00:11:49] Our previous iterations, our ancestors would have been doing every single day, are really important. So we might call them low hanging fruit, but they're really foundational practices to setting up our cells and our organs, our systems, and our bodies to be functioning appropriately. And this affects us on so many levels.

[00:12:10] So here are a couple of the things that I mean when I say grounding and getting outside. So number one, I think it is such a good practice to try bathing your face and skin and sunlight first thing in the morning. I don't mean literally being out there for hours and hours, it could be five minutes.

[00:12:30] But when you wake up before you have any kind of other lights on, if it's possible for you to get your face, to get your skin in the sunlight, first thing, this can be powerfully regulating to our hormones, to so many different aspects of our being and can really set us up for just optimum function throughout the day.

[00:12:55] It can really impact our mood and our energy, the way that we are processing food and responding to food, and so many other things. So that is one little piece. Try getting a little sunset sunlight first thing in the morning and then take little sunshine breaks throughout the day. If this is something that's possible for you, if you are working inside at a desk or inside doing anything, This could be, again, like two minutes or five minutes.

[00:13:24] It could be really short. You don't need to have like massive eons of sun exposure, but lots of little brief breaks throughout the day can be so helpful. And you can stack functions here, right? You can move your body and get outside for that sunlight at the same time by doing five minute walks or ten minute walks or ten minute sits outside.

[00:13:45] Whatever feels good and appropriate to you. So getting a little sunshine on your skin is a big one. This is like I said, really important for so many things for immune function, for vitamin D synthesis mood, sunshine is huge. So that's one aspect of getting outside. Another aspect is just breathing in fresh air.

[00:14:09] This is super important. Air quality inside is not as good as air quality outside, with the exception of course, if you're living in a really polluted area and you have air filtration indoors. Otherwise, breathing in fresh air is really important. Like we've talked about in other episodes, plants outside, carry anti inflammatory and beneficial chemicals like terpenes in, in their leaves and branches.

[00:14:39] So getting out and breathing fresh air is just another really important aspect of kind of reinvigorating and energizing and Cleaning ourselves out a little bit and the last aspect of grounding and getting outside. So we're getting sunshine We're getting fresh air Also think of depending on where we live maybe a little bit of peace and quiet some birdsong the sound of wind rustling through the leaves these things all have A much more profound impact on mood and mental outlook and positive affect than we might realize.

[00:15:21] Like I was saying, the last aspect of this is grounding, also known as earthing. So the practice of grounding and earthing really means connecting your body to the body of the earth in some way. Literally. Walking barefoot, hugging a tree, digging your toes in the sand or the mud, or swimming in a big body of water outside.

[00:15:48] And the idea here is to be physically, electrically connected to the earth. This might sound a little woo or radical to you, which, if you actually think about the etymology of the term woo or radical, it actually makes sense because this is a very rooted concept and A wise tradition that has been around for a long time on a very literal level when we're physically making contact with the earth we And I'm trying to put this in simple terms Basically, we experience this free exchange of electrons between our cells and their and electrons are really Important because we need electrons to make antioxidants so that they can neutralize free radicals Electrons are also really important for the electron transport chain to produce ATP is basically the energy that is created by within our mitochondria, and it's what powers our cells, it's what powers our body, right?

[00:16:56] ATP is literally energy. So electrons are really important to some just very fundamental processes that happen in the body on a very small microscopic cellular level, right? Even smaller than that. And so connecting with the Earth very literally has profound physiological impacts. But again, if we really think about history and the context of how we've evolved over such an extraordinary amount of time, it really only would have been in very recent history.

[00:17:31] that we stopped having this physical contact with the earth 24 7. So our cells and our bodies and our systems really evolved with this I don't know if pressure is the right word, but evolved with this specific pressure, this specific environment. And so You know, we've changed a lot. We've changed a lot about the environments were in on pretty much every field and scope and level.

[00:17:58] And this is obviously having huge impacts on our health and the health of the planet and the health of our ecosystems, which are completely connected. But this is one really easy again, free, low hanging fruit way for you to reestablish this foundation. So Hug a tree. Literally, go hug a tree. Go for a walk barefoot.

[00:18:22] Or just go sit in some grass or by a creek. Somewhere you can dig your toes into the earth. I know it's getting to be cooler in the winter season now for many of us in the northern hemisphere.

[00:18:38] But, had a moment, in the Northern Hemisphere, and so this can be trickier to figure out how to make happen, but there are ways you can make it happen. If you are completely cold intolerant and you're in like a super cold area where this is not physically possible. Another way that you can practice earthing and grounding is with earthing sheets and earthing mats.

[00:19:05] There are a bunch of different brands out there. I can't attest to all of them. But earthing sheets, earthing mats, earthing blankets, like there are so many different products out there now. I recommend, personally, I like just having an earthing throw blanket because I can take it with me to my desk. I am currently sitting on it right now.

[00:19:26] I can take it with me to bed. If I go camping I can take it and literally stick a grounding rod in the ground. I really like having the earthing sheet because I can or the blanket, because I can carry it around with me. But I also really earthing sheets to sleep on at night.

[00:19:41] This is something I recommend to a lot of my clients. It is, especially if you're someone living with like chronic pain or you have chronic Lyme or another autoimmune condition, we're really mitigating inflammation and just providing your nervous system with all the extra support you can, which I think really everyone needs, but especially for this population of people, having this earthing sheet is one of the easiest ways to incorporate this.

[00:20:09] This practice of grounding and earthing because that's somewhere you're ideally spending a minimum of eight hours every single day. So that's a great way to get a huge dose of earthing in every day is just by sleeping on an earthing sheet. That's the third practice, is grounding and getting outside.

[00:20:29] And I always say I'm going to do an episode on this. Because there's just so many good things to talk about. But we'll definitely do a whole episode on IRFing and grounding because there is a lot more to that practice. There are so many more benefits that we know about. And we could talk about that a lot more.

[00:20:48] I won't do it here. So far we have the first tool. was moving your body. The second tool was sitting on an exercise ball at your desk. The third tool was grounding and getting outside. And now the fourth tool is taking naps. I bet you weren't expecting that. I... I have never been someone who has taken naps.

[00:21:11] I think we, here in the States, this is normal in other places, but here in the States, this is something that I think we are so uncomfortable with because we live in such a hustle bustle culture. I know taking naps is not something I have ever done. For a variety of reasons, but a big one was just this hustle culture, this kind of stigma, like we always need to be producing and going and moving and doing at all times, right?

[00:21:40] Especially during the day, especially during set up. This really is something that I think a lot of people don't ever try and a lot of people also, of course, don't have the capacity or the ability or are in a situation where they can take that time for themselves. But I hope that if you're listening to this, you can take this time because it doesn't need to be long.

[00:22:03] It could be 15 minutes, truly. It could be 10 minutes, 20 minutes it really can be whatever you need and whatever your body needs in that moment and on that day. I think it's a good idea to set a timer for the max amount of time that you can nap and just let your body do its thing. So I always, I never set 90 minutes because obviously you don't want to like.

[00:22:32] Go crazy and be sleeping excessively in the middle of the day and then disrupt your sleep at night. In general, we all move through a full sleep cycle about every 90 minutes. This is something you can play with yourself by timing yourself at night and getting nightly sleep that falls within that realm.

[00:22:51] Say your sleep cycle, if you start with a 90 minute experiment, you can try sleeping for 7 and a half hours and see how you feel waking up at that point. You can try sleeping for 9 hours, see how you feel waking up at that point. That's within a 1 and a half hour cycle. But if you feel like your sleep was interrupted, you woke up out of the middle of a dream, then you were interrupted during your sleep cycle.

[00:23:16] So you can start with 90 minutes and toggle from there. This is something you can easily Google and read more about, but it's good to have an idea of how long you move through a full sleep cycle, meaning how long you move through each stage of sleep. So for me, I know it's about 90 minutes.

[00:23:31] That's the average that most people have. So that's why I set my nap timer always for 90 minutes, cause I want to either move through one full sleep cycle or just sleep, sometimes my body just needs 20 minutes and I'm good to go. So that's what I do. I set it for the max amount of time you can nap.

[00:23:48] Also I don't always have that much time, but that's I think, a good max number to set for yourself. And just let your body do its thing. I have really been leaning into this lately. Especially on the days where I do a really hard workout, I noticed that if I give myself the time to take a nap in the afternoon, physically, I feel so much better.

[00:24:12] I think my recovery happens much more quickly. And my ability to then work out again the next day is improved. I also feel a huge difference in my mental stamina and my mood and my overall energy. So it's something that I really noticed right away. I don't wake up feeling super duper groggy or if I do it like it is very short lived and then I'm feeling really good.

[00:24:36] So that's why I say let your body do its thing. Just set this kind of max timer for however much time you have that and then let your body rest. Your body will rest for the right amount of time. Because our bodies are extremely wise and intelligent. So that's number four is let yourself take naps.

[00:24:55] Give yourself that permission because it is completely okay if you want to take an afternoon siesta. I encourage it. I give you permission. These rituals have Just been such a lifeline for me during this very busy kind of autumn trimester And these have been the four that I have been leaning into the most and they have made Such a big difference for me.

[00:25:22] If you follow me on Instagram, I frequent the beach with my dogs This or dog. I should say I only have one dog but it's just You know, it is so rejuvenative for me, and I really, I feel into what my body wants. But for me, that's a perfect example of stacking functions, right? Because one, I'm getting a walk in.

[00:25:46] Two, I'm grounding, I'm outside, breathing fresh air. I'm getting sunshine on my skin. I'm walking barefooted on the earth, which happens to be the beach because of the salt in the water. It's extra conductive, right? So I'm getting like an extra electron flow or an extra boost. Wet areas do that, but the salt also helps.

[00:26:07] So it's like really powerful earthing ritual. And all of these things combine and just help me feel so much better. You may not have beach access, but you have something, there's some way that you can figure out with these four tools. to incorporate into your everyday life. Moving your body, sitting on an exercise ball at your desk, or one of the other variations we talked about, or something that works for you, grounding and getting outside, and letting yourself take naps, if that feels good.

[00:26:41] These are the four things that I want you to try and experiment with. Just pick one, take it, and roll with it. And I said at the very beginning of the episode, That I was going to share a little mini bonus one. And I don't want to go too into it because I promised this would be a short episode.

[00:26:59] But the bonus one is just give yourself permission to do less. Give yourself permission to do less. I know that this may not feel possible. If you are in a very busy season of your life, or if you are working a whole lot, it may truly feel inaccessible to you. But in the things that you are doing, where is there somewhere that you could give yourself a little more grace, a little more space, a little more ease?

[00:27:31] Where can you let go of the pressure you're putting on yourself a little bit? Can you spend less time? Trying to make your emails completely perfect before sending them. Can you spend a little bit less time on an upcoming project? Can you just do less. That might sound like a huge antithesis to the way that we are conditioned in our culture to be really high performing, high achieving, especially if you feel any kind of perfectionism at all.

[00:28:10] This can be a really hard one to engage with or incorporate into your life, but I promise you the act of allowing yourself to do less will actually help you do more. And that sounds really counter that, that sounds like very oppositional and it doesn't make sense, but I promise you it does. If you start incorporating this, if you start giving yourself permission to do less, to let go of the shoulds, I promise you, you are going to feel Just so much more spaciousness in your life, you're going to end up feeling more energized and more productive than when you're trying to put all this pressure on yourself.

[00:28:54] Let yourself just do less. Seriously. It sounds so simple, but try one of those examples I talked about. That's... The little mini bonus is, in the next few weeks, until the next episode comes out, how can you allow yourself to do less? Just think about it. Is it taking naps? Is it going for a walk instead of spending 15 minutes working on some other thing for work at your desk that you really don't need to be working on?

[00:29:23] Or That thing will be okay. Things are not going to fall apart just because you don't spend that 15 minutes at your desk, right? How can you... Let yourself do less. And which of these four things are you going to start incorporating in the next two weeks? Let me know. Reach out to me on Instagram. I am super curious.

[00:29:46] I love hearing from all of you and I know how powerful these practices have been for me this autumn. So I really want to hear how They might help you and I want to hear from you. What are your tricks? What are the things that you do? that make your life a little bit easier when you're super duper busy.

[00:30:09] I'm really curious and I want to know so reach out to me. I know adding these things in might feel overwhelming but I promise you they are worth it. Even if you have to get up a little bit earlier or work a little bit later, making time to love on yourself and nourish your body is never time wasted. I hope that you all enjoyed today's podcast episode as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.

[00:30:38] I know that These four tools will truly help you feel more resourced and more supported in your everyday life. The goal, as always, of the Planet Spoonie podcast is to help you feel empowered, embodied, and connected to yourself, to your community, your heritage, and your local ecosystems. I truly believe these four things will help you get there.

[00:31:03] Remember that when we reconnect to our bodies and to nature, Healing truly is inevitable, and it's never a linear process. Our bodies are a direct reflection of the ecosystems we inhabit. And just like this earth, our bodies know how to heal.