[00:00:00] 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, including traditional nutrition, herbal medicine, nature connection, and everything in between.

[00:00:19] 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. I'm your host, Kelsey the Herbalist. Let's dig in! So in today's episode, we're going to talk about 10 ways to wake up feeling refreshed, recharged, and ready to take on the day.

[00:00:43] This is something that I hear so often from my clients. If this isn't the number one thing I hear, it's definitely in the top ten. And I think it's something that a lot of us relate to, especially my fellow spoonies and linies out there. I know you know this deep in your bones. And it's that feeling of just chronically being behind on sleep.

[00:01:06] Do you know what I mean? You wake up, you feel groggy, you feel fatigued, you don't feel energized, you don't feel like you got enough rest. You just aren't mentally and physically present. And maybe you need a cup of coffee to get there. Maybe nothing can really quite get you there. Maybe this lasts throughout the entire day.

[00:01:29] Maybe you get lots of sleep, but you just never feel rested. Or maybe you never get enough sleep and that's why you don't feel rested. There's a lot of reasons why this can happen. But as always, I'm a huge believer in focusing on the foundations that you can do yourself at home. The practical things that you can implement into your everyday life and that ideally already exist within your routine or within your home in some way or another.

[00:02:00] This matters because these core practices, these foundations, the things that we do every single day are truly what set us up for long term health and wellness, vitality, immunity, energy, fertility. These are the things that are really our way of investing in our health long term. Just like you would invest in a bank account, right?

[00:02:23] These little daily activities you take are like deposits into your bank account, right? Deposits into that bank of energy and vitality that will really help you to wake up feeling good, feeling refreshed and recharged. So if you can relate, if you are someone who struggles with this, who does feel this fatigue, if not all day, but for sure, when you wake up first thing in the morning, this episode is for you.

[00:02:50] So without further ado, here are the 10 ways Okay, granted, before I even go there, there are many other things you can do beyond this, but these 10 ways are, think of these as just like 10 little tricks and tips that you can add to your toolbox. You can come back to this episode, you can just search the transcript and you can work with these 10 things.

[00:03:14] There's obviously more to this. And of course, it's always a good idea to talk to your health care practitioner to explore any kind of underlying imbalances or issues that may be present because there, there's a lot to be said there, but just think of these as 10 new little tools to add to your toolkit that might seem simple, but are actually really powerful.

[00:03:38] So number one, sleep more. I know it's obvious, but sleeping more and resting more is a huge one. I think we are absolutely living in a culture that rewards us for not sleeping and for hustling and grinding and bustling and really putting ourselves last priority. prioritizing our health last. I think that is reflected in our culture in so many different ways.

[00:04:05] So I am here to permission you and tell you that sleeping more and resting more is a great move. For most everyone, we are not getting enough quality sleep and quality rest. And there are many different components that can play into this. But a good rule of thumb is to aim for around seven and a half to nine hours of sleep.

[00:04:29] You really want to make sure that you are getting enough sleep and I know there are lots of fancy ways to track this which you can absolutely try. I recommend just Aiming for seven and a half to nine hours of sleep and figuring out how it feels for you in your body. So you can learn the best kind of time for you which also can totally fluctuate by testing and figuring out what your full sleep cycle is.

[00:04:57] For all of us, we generally move through a full sleep cycle, meaning we go through all the phases of sleep around every 90 to 110 minutes. So if you test this by either taking a nap during the day for that length of time or timing the amount of sleep you sleep at night for that amount of time. Say your full sleep cycle is 90 minutes, you can try sleeping for seven and a half hours and see how you feel when you wake up. Or you can try eight hours or eight and a half hours and try different lengths and play with it and figure out what length of time really helps you to feel the most rested.

[00:05:35] and recharge. This can make a surprisingly big difference because if you wake up in different phases of sleep, this can be quite disruptive. So that's something that you can play with. But ultimately the gist is just to sleep more. Allow yourself to rest more. It's pretty basic but it's also pretty important.

[00:05:53] And many of us just are not giving ourselves the space to really allow that to happen. Number two, I know I talk about this all the time, but it's because I am such a big believer in it and that's earthing and grounding, physically getting connected to the earth. This is so important. It is, we evolved in constant physical connection to the earth throughout All of time until very recently, and there is so much more to be said about why this is powerful, but ultimately, a lot of it has to do with the fact that when we're physically connected to the earth, our body experiences a free electron exchange with the earth.

[00:06:35] And this is super important. Electrons. are just vital to so many different biochemical processes in the body. So by having this kind of bank of electrons we can tap into, it really improves so many different processes in the body. Electrons are super important to charge antioxidants. They're what literally give antioxidants the power to neutralize free radicals.

[00:07:01] And for those antioxidants to become active again, they need to pick up more electrons. There's so much to be said there, but I don't want to get sidetracked. So ultimately, earthing is another really good way to support all of these different anti inflammatory processes, to support regulation of certain hormones that regulate sleep and wake cycles.

[00:07:22] There is a massive body of research now on this you can read a little bit more about it on PubMed and people have looked at earthing for really interesting things things relating to like cardiovascular health, heart rate variability, blood viscosity it's super fascinating and interesting, but ultimately, Being connected to the earth just makes sense in the context of evolution, right?

[00:07:49] We've changed a lot about our environment, and our bodies are showing the evidence of that, I think, through the really high rates of chronic illness we face nowadays. But, one of the best ways that you can use earthing to improve your sleep, specifically, is to get an earthing blanket or an earthing sheet that you can plug into a grounding port, and or with a grounding rod outside, and sleep on this sheet.

[00:08:14] Because ultimately, where are you going to be spending the most solid chunk of time during your day? It's probably asleep in your bed or maybe at a desk if you work at a desk for a really long time. But you're in your bed, ideally, for around 8 hours a night, so that's 8 hours of earthing you can be getting.

[00:08:33] And that's one of the biggest areas that people report feeling an improvement when they start earthing. Some people don't notice anything, but a lot of people report feeling an improvement in their sleep. Earthing is another really easy one for you to try. You do not have to buy an earthing sheet to try this.

[00:08:50] You can literally just ground by setting your skin on the ground outside somewhere. But I do love having an earthing sheet or an earthing blanket or an earthing pad that you can sleep on or bring with you to your desk or use in some other way. Just the idea is to get the most amount of time on it.

[00:09:08] And I think the best way to do this to support sleep is by sleeping on an earthing sheet. Number three. This is a really hard one for people to get their heads around. But number three is to stop using lights at night. That sounds really extreme, and I think there can be a happy medium here that all of us can figure out, especially right now.

[00:09:29] We just had the fall equinoxes pass. We're moving towards the winter solstice, and that means it's getting darker and darker every single day. So this is a hard one during this time of year because a lot of us are still working until it's dark out. However, if you stop using lights at night, Or, try using orange or red hued lights at night that are dimmer, or use candles, alternatively.

[00:09:57] This can have a huge impact on the hormones that regulate our sleep wake cycles, and some of the different cues that our body understands and picks up on to regulate itself into going to sleep. And this takes hours, this is an hours long process. So if this gets disrupted, which for some people, this isn't a huge deal, but for a lot of highly sensitive folks, these light disruptions can actually be really damaging and harmful and impact our sleep and impact our nervous system regulation.

[00:10:32] And it's quite interesting and surprising in some ways, but in other ways, I think, again, it just harks, harks back to the environment we evolved in for a very long time. So this is another big one. It sounds like, how could I possibly do that? I remember when I first came across this and was thinking like, you expect me to light a candle every night, but now I have a red light I'll use, I have a candle I'll use or a flashlight I'll use.

[00:11:04] I'll have, or I'll use a dim, turn a dim light on. But overall, if you can stop using lights at night, less and less, you will be really surprised how this impacts your sleep, how this impacts your cognition, how this impacts your energy. I know it sounds. Like a difficult one to wrap your head around, but if you can stop using lights at night and in the morning, this is just a big one.

[00:11:28] And really, if you want to optimize this and work towards, and just work towards optimizing your sleep wake cycles, then actually don't just turn bright light, bright lights off at night, but expose yourself to natural light cycles. So expose yourself to boon light. I...

[00:11:48] And this can be a powerful regulator of those hormones that kind of cue so many different biological processes and functions in the body like when to release a little bit of cortisol in the morning, when not to release cortisol in the evening. And you do this by just waking up and getting yourself exposed to a little bit of sunlight, however long you can manage.

[00:12:13] It doesn't have to be like 30 minutes or an hour. But if you can ideally get yourself out in some sunlight for a little bit, maybe like a 10 minute walk in the morning or even just a five minute meditation, sit spot, whatever you can do, getting yourself out in that sunlight first thing is hugely impactful for setting your biological time clock for the day.

[00:12:36] And same thing at night. I think this is Obviously, an area that has been less researched, but anecdotally and historically, this has been just a deeply interwoven part of human culture. This has also been something women have done for a long time. Just exposing yourself to the moon and the stars at night.

[00:12:59] There's many different benefits this can have that range from physical to more emotional or mental. But just getting yourself to regulate back in natural light cycles is ultimately the goal to use indoor fluorescent lights as little as possible to use orange and red hue lights as much as possible when you're using them and to orient yourself to the cycles of the sun and the moon and to not disrupt that too much.

[00:13:29] So that's number three, stop using lights at night and start shifting towards more natural light cycles. Your body will appreciate this so much. Okay, number four. And this is its own, because it's different from the last one. Number four is really easy. Just switch the blue light off on all of your screens.

[00:13:50] You can do this... In the late afternoon to evening, set it to between maybe 2 and 4pm, that your lights on your screens, your computer, your phone, your TV, set them all to shift into a night shift or to dark mode or do both, whatever it's called on your phone. Set the hue to be as warm or as orange as possible.

[00:14:13] You can also use blue light. blocking glasses, but I think it's a great idea to just set all of your screens to have blue light off. And again, I personally have this set for full time. That would be more of my recommendation. But I think that, everyone is different and some people have jobs where they need to literally see the color hues.

[00:14:34] So at the latest, have them shift to around 2 to 4 p. m. to give your brain kind of time to shift towards that night cycle. And again, this is something you can read more about online if you're interested in it. But essentially, blue light prevents, prevents our brain from doing What it means to do to shift towards a sleep cycle and that shift never happens because this blue light is constantly interfering with that process and telling our body that it's daytime, it's afternoon, so to stay awake.

[00:15:07] This can be really disruptive, especially for higher sensitivity folks, and the TV is a pesky one. I know a lot of people will set this on their phone and their computer, but they won't set it on their TV, and they get home at the end of the day from a long day of work, and they turn on the TV, and boom, blue light.

[00:15:25] Switch it off on all of your screens either full time or between 2 and 4 p. m. Have them set to switch off and like with number three You also might want to have your blue light not turn on till later in the morning till after the sun's come up and after You've had exposure to the sun, because again, we don't want to be disrupting these natural cycles.

[00:15:46] These natural cycles are really important to honor our body's intelligence and the intelligence of the system that we evolved and came, came into this world with is a very intelligent one. So just honoring that and trying to stick to these more natural light cycles. So that's that. For number four, just switch the blue light off on all of your screens for full time or set them before 2 to 4 p.

[00:16:13] m. Okay, number five. This is another one that I know I talk about a lot, and if any clients are listening to this right now, they're probably going to roll their eyes when I say it. But, drink water first and drink plenty of it. This is a huge one. I am always amazed by how many people are not drinking enough water.

[00:16:39] This is a pervasive issue. It is it's just truly shocking and astounding. How many folks are not properly hydrated? Because our bodies cannot function optimally. None of our organs, our liver, our brain, nothing can function optimally or at a hundred percent if we are not fully hydrated. We can't digest foods well if we're not fully hydrated.

[00:17:02] Nothing in the body works.

[00:17:18] This is worsened by the fact that when you're chronically dehydrated, you lose your taste for thirst. You lose your sense of thirst, excuse me. So You end up, that kind of ends up snowballing the issue to where now you're not thirsty, you don't want water, but you're desperately dehydrated all of the time.

[00:17:38] And this can compound, this can happen for years and years that people live like this in a state of chronic, constant dehydration. So this is a huge one to just really begin incorporating on your own because this is so easy, this is something you can do. It's not... that difficult. I think we make it more difficult in our mind because we make it another one of these things that we should do.

[00:18:04] But ultimately it's, I think part of the reason is a lot of us don't actually have access to clean water. So it doesn't taste good or it doesn't taste appealing. And then we especially don't want to drink any water. I think a lot of us are Either chronically dehydrated and we've lost our sense of thirst and or we don't have access to clean water, so it doesn't really taste great, which only further worsens the issue.

[00:18:30] So first we wanna make sure we have access to clean water. There are. A lot of areas that do not have safe tap water you can find a link. I will link it in the show notes, but a link on my bio to check the tap water quality in your area. According to the environmental working groups water quality testing, you can also find a link to.

[00:18:55] Spring water sources in your area. There are lots of clean springs all over the states where you can find and access clean drinking water, clean spring water. And so I highly recommend checking those out if you can't find any that is good for you. And of course there are also some wonderful, filters that are available either countertop or for your shower or whatever.

[00:19:22] You want to make sure you're drinking clean water, and I do realize not everyone has access to that, but if you do have access to it, those are a couple of the ways that you can find out and get access to clean water. So if you don't have access to that is step one here before you even try to start drinking more water first, get yourself access to clean drinking water.

[00:19:44] Once you have access to clean drinking water. Ideally you want to store it in a bottle or a glass, ideally not in plastic. And you want to be making sure you're drinking enough. Drinking plenty all day throughout the day. There are different there are different recommendations out there.

[00:20:03] The standard is that you drink as many. Ounces of water as you weigh in pounds divided by half per day. That's the goal. Higher estimates say you want to be drinking as many ounces of water as you weigh in pounds. That's like the upper limit, but there are definitely varying sources on this. So you'll have to figure out what's right for you on your own and Ultimately, the point is that you just really want to be drinking plenty of clean water, and you also want to be drinking it first thing in the morning.

[00:20:37] Before you reach for coffee, before you reach for tea, before you reach for anything, drink a whole glass of water when you wake up. This is so important. We've been asleep all night, we haven't been hydrating, and again, your body just simply cannot function optimally or efficiently if we're not fully hydrated.

[00:20:57] Get yourself some clean water, drink it first thing in the morning, and drink plenty of it throughout the day. And if you really want to up level it, you can add minerals or electrolytes to it. You don't need to buy a fancy electrolyte powder, but unrefined salt that contains a vast variety of minerals in it, will do the exact same thing.

[00:21:20] It's not table salt, completely different thing. And there are a few sources out there if you are interested. I talk about this more on my Instagram, so I recommend checking it out there, but that's number five. Drink water, drink it first, and drink a whole lot of it. Number six, ease up on coffee and maybe, just maybe, consider switching to tea.

[00:21:44] This is not, I am not coming for coffee with this one. Some people truly will thrive and do better with coffee. However, with both coffee and tea, because they are such widely distributed products, quality can be an issue. That's one thing. Two is that we can be in such a routine with it. We could be drinking coffee for so long, could have been drinking coffee for so long, for so many years that we truly don't even know the effect it has on our body anymore.

[00:22:17] I know this happened for me. I had no idea that coffee drinking triggered joint pain for me, but only because I was willing to experiment going off it and drinking tea? Did I realize that when I went back to it? And there can be different reasons why stuff like this happens, right? Mycotoxins are a huge issue in the coffee supply chain, as they are with many other things like cashews and peanuts.

[00:22:40] But so again, this isn't necessarily for everyone. The idea here is to play with it more. But if you are someone who has to have coffee with a lot of stuff in it, it also might be a good idea to try switching to tea. Mainly I'm meaning lots of sugary stuff here, or processed. I'm not talking about like a wholesome, a wholesome coffee drink that you're making at home with all your good ingredients, but like a really sugary, syrupy, sweet coffee or latte drink.

[00:23:12] This is like starting the day with a total blood sugar roller coaster spike, right? We're going to get this huge hit of coffee, of caffeine, and of sugar, and it's going to cause this big upswing in our energy, but inevitably it's going to come crashing down, and then you're going to reach for more caffeine and more sugar.

[00:23:36] So if you're someone who's having that kind of coffee, that's more what I'm talking about here. It's really important that we don't start our day like that. And you may actually even find that you're someone who needs to eat breakfast before you consume your caffeine or with caffeine. This can be especially common for women just because our hormone cycles are really different.

[00:23:59] So consider easing up on coffee. Or, if you're drinking coffee and you know you're drinking like a really heavy, sugary version of it, how can you make your morning coffee beverage a little more holistic, a little more grounded? Could you do black coffee? Could you do coffee with your breakfast? How can you switch it up?

[00:24:19] And consider just going off it for a little while, trying something else like green tea. Especially for people with chronic illness, people with chronic Lyme in particular. Green tea has so many benefits, so much cellular protection and inflammation reduction and just so many different benefits. So I highly recommend trying out green tea.

[00:24:42] So maybe try just going off coffee for a couple of weeks and doing green tea with lemon and honey instead, or vice versa. If you're someone who always does tea, try switching it up and doing coffee. It's a good idea to just always play with things because you never know how something might actually really be impacting your energy levels and other symptoms that you might experience as a spoonie until you do this.

[00:25:11] Until you are willing to play with things, take them out, put them back in. So that's number six. Try switching up your caffeine routine. Okay, number seven, eat enough and eat at regular times. This sounds so easy and basic, but once again, I'm all about laying the foundations. A lot of us are not eating enough and not eating regularly.

[00:25:34] There's a few reasons for this. One, the nutrition world has been so focused on food restriction for decades. Like this is old world. Old world model. Restriction is not the answer. Restriction was never the answer, right? We need to be eating enough every day. We need to be starting our day with a full meal or some kind of, nutritious nourishing Breakfast.

[00:26:01] That makes us feel really good. The time of day, the way in which you do that will be different for everyone, but oftentimes most of us benefit from having a savory, healthy breakfast with plenty of protein to start off our day so that we have energy to get us through. However, a lot of us aren't doing this.

[00:26:20] Fasting especially has become really trendy, and while fasting definitely has a place and can be very beneficial, especially for people with chronic infections like Lyme, it can often get out of hand. The other reason why a lot of us are not eating enough, and I hear this one a ton from my clients, is just because they're working so much working at all hours of the day, working for so many hours at their desk that they're just not finding enough time to eat.

[00:26:53] Or maybe it's not at a desk job. Maybe they're on their feet at every hour of the day, right? Either way. I hear this all the time. I'm so busy working. I just don't have enough time to get in a meal. And then what ends up happening? is we either end up reaching for packaged snacks during the day that are not super nourishing but usually are loaded with sugar so they really do help us get through because they give us that energy burst but like we talked about, it's gonna come crashing down.

[00:27:23] And two, The other thing that happens is then after work, at the end of the day, we end up binge eating like tons and tons of food because we're starving. We haven't eaten all day long. This is really problematic. So it's really important that we eat enough and we eat at regular times. And this is where meal prepping can be hugely helpful.

[00:27:47] I've already talked a little bit about meal prepping here on the podcast. I am always sharing meal prepping tips over on Instagram, but there's lots of different ways meal prepping can look, may at its most simple, maybe just making a big batch of soup every week. And that's like the one prep you can nibble on all week long knowing it's good and nourishing.

[00:28:07] Maybe you just do a sheet tray bake every week with vegetables and a protein of some kind. It looks different for everyone, but meal prepping can be really helpful, specifically with making sure that we're eating enough and eating regularly throughout the day, every day. I really love keeping Particular snacks and preps just on hand so that I know I always have something healthy to reach for.

[00:28:32] And if a big thing here also is to let go of trying to make it happen perfectly. It's okay if you reach for packaged things sometimes. How can you choose things that are going to be wholesome and actually giving you energy? So something packaged like maybe a bag of trail mix, right? that's a, that's a good option, right?

[00:28:55] There's lots of different kinds of protein and fat and fiber and a good trail mix with lots of different nuts and seeds. You could also grab, pre sliced veggies and a tub of hummus or something like that, right? There are definitely pre packaged options that you can grab for that are going to be easy during the day if you're super busy with work.

[00:29:17] But however, this might end up looking for you. It is really important to understand and prioritize eating enough and at regular times because what ends up happening is we can get into a really irregular eating schedule and this can also disrupt those really important sleep wake cycles that I keep talking about.

[00:29:37] So we don't want to be eating too late because that disrupts our ability to follow sleep. That kind of makes our glucose levels go a little bit haywire. And same thing in the morning, again, fasting has become really popular and there really is a place for it, but it's important to experiment with everything else because it is very unique to the individual.

[00:29:59] For women, it's, and anyone who is menstruating, it's very unique to the phases with, within which you are in. In your cycle. I said that weird. It's important Depending on which phase of your cycle you're in and there are many other considerations into fasting, but ultimately you just want to make sure that You figure out what's right for you.

[00:30:22] What's right for you throughout the month throughout the course of the year How much is enough? How much is enough with the amount that you're exercising and moving your body, with how much you're working, right? Because our brain consumes a lot of energy, so even if you're not someone who has a job that has you on your feet all day, If you're at a desk all day, your brain still uses a lot of energy.

[00:30:44] You need to eat enough to power through and get through the day. You need to give your brain lots of nourishing fats to power through and to do so in a way that's sustainable and gonna be long lasting. That's number seven. Eat enough and make sure you're eating regularly, however that looks for you.

[00:31:01] Number eight, this one's a little bit more niche, but try juicing. Juicing is something that I have fallen in love with over the years because it is just such a profoundly unique way to consume vegetables and fruits to consume this phytonutrient rich beverage that kind of just fills your body with all of these amazing compounds found in plants.

[00:31:34] much more quickly and at more concentrated levels than if you were to eat the whole vegetable and or the whole fruit and juices there's a lot to be said with juice There's a lot to learn and play with here and it's definitely important to not go crazy with fruit Not that fruit is a bad thing.

[00:31:58] However, if we have a really sugar rich juice, this can throw our blood sugar levels off depending on our own insulin sensitivity, our own kind of glucose metabolism. Fruit juices can throw our blood sugar way off and cause that kind of blood sugar rollercoaster Because again, this is much more concentrated than we would be consuming of the whole fruit or the whole vegetable.

[00:32:24] So I will disclaim Have that little disclaimer on there that if you are going to try juicing don't go crazy with the fruits You might use more fruits if you're just getting started with it, but ultimately you want to be leaning towards more and more towards veggies and lower amount of sugar in a juice, just to avoid that because you don't have the fiber that's going to help slow down that blood sugar impact that the juiced fruit will.

[00:32:50] So when you're making these amazing fruit and vegetable juices, the idea is that again, if you're eating the whole vegetable or the whole fruit, there's a lot more fiber. And this really alters the way in which this plant food impacts our body and impacts our metabolism and the way these nutrients are absorbed.

[00:33:11] And juicing doesn't take the place of eating those vegetables. Therapeutically and nutritionally, they're, they're offering different things. Juicing is more something we do. to add in this kind of power packed punch of phytonutrients in a juice and really concentrated levels, like I was saying.

[00:33:31] So it has a different application, but this can be really amazing for helping with detoxification and cleansing and nourishing our tissues, adding to our hydration levels overall. And impacting our energy levels. And it's a unique way of going about it. Again, this one is maybe a little bit Less of a foundation, but it is something that you can do at home with really basic produce You really just need a blender, but there are some amazing juicers out there now they have gotten so much better over the last decade and Yeah, juicing is just a really fun one that I think you know you can begin implementing a few times a week, and you might be really surprised on how much vitality and energy you get from this practice.

[00:34:24] It does not replace eating vegetables, like I said, but it is a great way to just bathe your body and bathe yourselves in a whole bunch of phytonutrients or plant nutrients. Okay. Number nine, herbs and targeted supplements for energy production and better sleep. This is one where you might want to get a little bit of help from your health care practitioner, your herbalist, nutritionist, naturopathic doctor, whoever it is that you see.

[00:34:52] These things can be very varied and very nuanced to each individual situation. But a couple of things that I might turn to if a client comes to me saying that they are not getting enough sleep or they're not waking up feeling rested are looking at adaptogenic herbs. So adaptogenic herbs, adaptogens have really become a buzzword.

[00:35:17] There are lots of classes of herbs that do different things. Adaptogens is one type of herb or one class of herbs. And They're very powerful, and because of this, they can also be abused. One of my teachers, Betsy Miller, talks a lot about this, and I really appreciate her take on this situation.

[00:35:37] Adaptogens can help us power through really overwhelming life circumstances where we're like burning the candle at both ends. However, at a certain point, we need to address what's happening in our life and not just give our body more stimulants, even if they're seemingly a natural, like a plant, right?

[00:36:00] We want to work with adaptogens to help our nervous system become more resilient, to cope with stress to strengthen our immunity, to strengthen our energy and vitality and overall, function. But we don't want to use them in a sense of continuing to do things that aren't in our best interest.

[00:36:24] Adaptogens have become the new buzz, almost, in a way, in our culture. And it's really unfortunate also because a lot of the adaptogens that have become popular are now also at risk or threatened or endangered species because many of them take a really long time to grow or grow in very specific ecological niches.

[00:36:45] So some of the ones that you might see and might want to avoid or at least, source sustainably include chaga mushrooms. American ginseng, rhodiola, there are many others. Those are just the ones that the at the top of my mind at present. But there are many other adaptogens that we can work with that we don't have to get quite so concerned about.

[00:37:09] Or we don't, sourcing ethically always matters, but those ones are just. We want to especially be sure of where we're sourcing them from. So I digress. Some of the adaptogens that you can try or take that I really love implementing with clients include ashwagandha, astragalus, tulsi, and reishi.

[00:37:30] There are many others. Ashwagandha is a really lovely one because it can help regulate your energy, whether you take it during the day or at night. So it can be energizing if taken during the day. And it can encourage feelings of sleepiness if taken in the evening. It is in the nightshade family, so just be aware of that if you have a nightshade allergy.

[00:37:49] Astragalus is another lovely adaptogen. It really helps build up immune resilience and long term immunity. Tulsi is just so lovely. Tulsi is a type of basil, so it's very aromatic, the whole aerial parts of the plant are used. It is very regulating to the nervous system as well as the gut, so it really works on that gut brain access, which is really lovely.

[00:38:15] And reishi is a polypore mushroom. It's a type of mushroom that grows throughout a lot of the world. There's many different species. But reishi is just another lovely adaptogen that works with the nervous system, with the heart, with the immune system. These are all just lovely herbs that you can incorporate and try out.

[00:38:36] They're not necessarily going to be a magic fix. but they can really help support your nervous system so that these sleep wake cycles we've been talking about become a little bit more regulated and a little bit more fine tuned and maybe a little bit less chaotic. That's where adaptogens really thrive is in regulating these kind of systemic physiological processes.

[00:38:59] nerbenes and sedatives.

[00:39:05] Not pharma. I'm not talking pharmacological actions here Like with a prescription drug or something this these are terms in herbal medicine with plants so they mean different things So these are herbs that support the nervous system and encourage sleep They include a few of my favorites are passionflower, skullcap, California poppy, milky oats, and hops.

[00:39:29] They all work a little bit differently, but these are all really highly safe herbs that are pretty widespread and easily found. You can likely find tinctures of these at your local grocery store. A tincture is a great way to have these before bedtime because you probably don't want to have a cup of tea right before bed.

[00:39:47] So again Passion flower is a wonderful anxiety relieving and just super nervous system soothing herb. So is skullcap. All of these are, that's what they literally do. So skullcap, cow poppy are the same, but again, each of these has, a lot more going on as herbs always do. So that's why it can be helpful to work with an herbalist to fine tune.

[00:40:10] Are you having sleep issues due to pain? Is it due to nervous system dysregulation? Is it due to anxiety? Knowing exactly what's going on can help match you with the right herb. But those are a few that you can start with and try right at home. You may even have these plants growing in your area.

[00:40:27] And... Another area that I think about with supplements for clients and just for foods when they're having issues with their sleep and with energy production are minerals. Again, I talked about this with water, but so many of us are not consuming all of the essential minerals that are required for our body to do the many things that it does to conduct the many biochemical processes that occur so that our body can produce energy and just function on the daily.

[00:41:00] We need so many minerals to make these things happen, and a lot of us have become very mineral deficient, in part because our soils have become very mineral deficient because of the way we are farming in modern agriculture, which is quite important. Unfortunate. But it's also because a lot of us aren't drinking clean water.

[00:41:20] And originally, the water that we all would have been drinking back in the day, spring water, for the most part, would have naturally been mineral rich, right? Spring water is picking up different kind of minerals from the earth as it moves from, through, through a watershed, right? Picking up calcium from limestone and whatever other minerals along the way from the environment because water is the ultimate solvent.

[00:41:46] So spring water is naturally mineral rich or electrolyte rich. It's naturally alkaline. Because of this, that is just how spring water is. It's not anything fancy. This is just what everyone used to drink. It's not a new or trendy thing. It's just the natural water we've always consumed. So thinking about the fact that most of us are not consuming natural spring water anymore, don't have access to, and so much has changed in regards to that.

[00:42:15] But again, you can find local spring water sources by checking out that link on my website. But so minerals are a huge area to consider simply because they're required in the actual processes that our body undergoes to create energy. So a couple of the big ones to think about if someone is, getting enough minerals, right?

[00:42:36] Either by consuming like a really high quality electrolyte powder. and unrefined salts in their diet, not just pure sodium is also looking at magnesium and iron. Magnesium is a pretty widespread and common deficiency. This is something that a lot of folks are taking to try and support sleep. One of the Best forms of magnesium to try for sleep is magnesium glycinate.

[00:43:06] There are many other forms out there, but magnesium glycinate is particularly helpful for sleep. And another one to think about is iron. Iron is, if someone really has persistent fatigue like that really just tired, cannot get it together, things feel like they're falling apart, especially people and women who are menstruating and losing blood every month.

[00:43:30] This is just something to consider. Iron deficiency can also be pretty common. And so iron is another one to think about. As always, this is in no way a medical recommendation. This is just a nutritional and herbal education for you to explore and research and learn yourself so that you can do these things at home and feel empowered with 10.

[00:43:57] Really, this is way more than 10, but 10 amazing new tools to play with and see if it impacts your sleep and energy. And the last one with a targeted supplement is vitamin B12. That's another common deficiency that can lead people to not having a lot of energy. And so that's just another one to consider.

[00:44:16] Also, people have genetic polymorphisms, genetic mutations that maybe impact their ability to absorb different forms of vitamin all the different forms of vitamin B. Maybe they need to be methylated, maybe they need to be sublingual, so that can be a factor as well. But vitamin B12 is another common nutritional deficiency where people are feeling really So Low in energy.

[00:44:43] Number 10. The very last one that we're going to talk about is moving your body. This does not need to be, again, like I always say, this does not need to be like punishing exercise or exercise, even with a specific purpose. I know I can get caught up in that and Trying to focus on strength training and then cardiovascular training and then stretching and mobility But don't get carried away with all that.

[00:45:10] The idea here is just moving your body Including play and pleasure and having fun I think finding ways that you can exercise that really do feel playful and pleasurable and fun is Hugely important. I have been trail running and for me it absolutely feels that way The moment it doesn't feel that way and it feels like a chore or a job or something I have to do, I'm not going to do it.

[00:45:37] So I think the goal is you really just need to find things that feel fun and exciting to you, and then you will be doing it more. And the more you do it, the more you'll get into a daily routine with it, and the more you move your body, the easier it is to sleep. It's just the truth. It is such an easy way to regulate Again, our sleep wake cycles and just regulate all of these different important processes in the body that make it easier for us to sleep at night.

[00:46:05] That is number 10, move your body. Okay, so one more time, I'm going to go through them all. Number 1, with sleeping more. Number 2, earthing and grounding. Number 3, No more lights at night and start shifting towards exposing yourself to natural cycles of light with the sun and the moon. Number four, switching blue light off all your screens either full time or starting in the early afternoon.

[00:46:32] Number five, drinking water first thing in the morning and drinking plenty of it throughout the day. Number six, easing up on whatever caffeinated beverage you have every day and consider switching it. to a cleaner version, maybe without all of the added stuff, maybe something like green tea. Number seven, eat enough and eat regularly throughout the day, every day.

[00:46:57] You deserve to nourish your body and feel good. Number eight, try juicing. It can be very energizing and pretty delicious once you get used to it. Number nine, We talked about different herbs and targeted supplements that can impact energy production and sleep, like including adaptogenic, nervine, and sedative herbs, as well as including important minerals like magnesium and iron, as well as vitamin B12.

[00:47:25] And of course I didn't mention men, but ideally you will seek out these in the form of food. However, if you can't find them in foods, you can talk to your practitioner or person about getting a supplement. And number 10, moving your body. These are 10 ways that you can begin helping your body in both producing energy and falling asleep easier and getting better quality sleep so that you can wake up feeling refreshed, recharged and ready for the day.

[00:47:56] Because we all want to wake up feeling good and fresh and grateful and happy and excited to tackle the day. I always think of if you have a dog or any animals, they wake up with such joy and excite I guess in truth actually some of them love sleeping in, but you know what I'm talking about if you've ever had dogs.

[00:48:17] Many of them wake up so beyond thrilled and excited to just be alive every day. I really think that is our natural state and we have just gotten so far from Our own rhythm, our own intuition in doing what really feels good to us that we no longer wake up feeling that way. We do not wake up wagging our tails and excited to tackle the day.

[00:48:39] And I want everyone to feel that way. So here are 10 ways that you can make this happen. This has completely worked for me. I even threw flare ups through all of the intensity of going through treatment for chronic Lyme, this is something I consistently can say that I wake up feeling really good and with a lot of energy.

[00:49:03] And of course this fluctuates naturally, but I truly believe if you lay the foundations for this and you address any underlying issues, that we can all wake up feeling this good and just completely full of energy. And it doesn't always need to be complicated, but can really actually be just implementing these simple everyday tools and foundations to set your body up for success.

[00:49:27] That's the goal here. We're just setting our bodies up for success. So of course, If there are any ongoing issues, it is always a wonderful idea to talk to a trusted healthcare practitioner to explore any underlying imbalances or issues. Nothing in this episode was by any means medical advice or a personal recommendation.

[00:49:48] These are just general tools and bits of education so that You can start experimenting and playing with things to see what helps you feel your best, what helps you feel energized, and that excited, happy puppy dog in the morning. Because I think we would all love to wake up with that feeling. So I hope that you all enjoyed.

[00:50:08] Today's podcast episode, as much as I enjoyed recording it, as always, I am so grateful to be here with you and to just be in this collective space and know that this is hopefully bringing you some value and some ideas and some inspiration for how you can better your own life and better your health so that you can feel better and begin living the life you dream of.

[00:50:35] I know that these tools We'll help you to feel more resourced and energized and supported in your everyday life. My goal is always to help you feel empowered, embodied, and more connected to yourself, your heritage, your community, and your local ecosystems. I know that these 10 simple tools are gonna help you get there, and if you feel like you are ready to make big magic happen, you need some more.

[00:51:05] One-on-one. Support and guidance to make these changes real in your own life. You need that extra support and care. And one-on-one attention. Click the link in my bio to book a call with me. I would love to chat with you and hear what is going on. Remember that when we reconnect to our bodies and to nature, healing is inevitable.

[00:51:31] 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.