Journey to Well

Nine Keys to Living with Vitality | Deborah Zucker | The Vitality Map

• Hannah • Season 2 • Episode 27

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Your energy is an investment—so why does it so often feel like the returns are missing? We sit down with naturopathic physician, therapist, coach, and award-winning author Deborah Zucker to unpack a humane, practical approach to vitality that actually fits real life. Deborah’s nine keys emerged from her own journey through chronic fatigue and depression, and they reframed wellness from a maze of fixes into a grounded relationship with self.

  1. Honoring unique life 
  2. Facing and embracing shadows 
  3. Self awareness 
  4. Cultivating resilience 
  5. Aligning with your yes
  6. Playful curiosity 
  7. Discovering easeful discipline 
  8. Inviting support and connection 
  9. Living like you matter 

If you’re ready to invest your energy where it grows, this conversation offers clear practices, fresh language, and a kinder path forward. Grab the free guide to the Nine Keys and find links to The Vitality Map and The Vitality Journal at https://vitalmedicine.com

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be well, my friend
xx Hannah

SPEAKER_01:

Good afternoon. Welcome back to the podcast. If you're listening to this in the afternoon, I suppose uh we're recording in the afternoon. My name is Hannah, and I am the host of Journey to Well, the podcast. And today we have a fun conversation. We're talking about vitality and wellness and all of these really fun pillars with Deborah Zucker. She's a naturopathic physician, a therapist, coach, award-winning author. We're gonna get to your second book that is coming out soon, or has come out by the time this airs, probably. Um, and I'm very excited to get into this conversation with you. She's also a one-three sacral generator in human design. So we'll weave our little human design in uh info in there as well. But Deborah, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. And my first question really is who is Deborah? What lights you up? Maybe even what's recently been lighting you up the most, and then we will dive into the conversation.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks, Hannah, for that introduction. It's good to be here. Who am I? That's a big question. It's my favorite question. Yeah, well, I'll just give some of the stats. I live in Bellingham, Washington, with my husband and five-year-old daughter, Amy. And um, that's one thing that really lights me up being a mama. And yeah, I came into that later in life. And it's just been, yeah, such an anchor for me of what really matters. And yeah, bringing balance to um my other passions and my work as well, and putting it into perspective. And um yeah, some of my passions outside of work, which we're gonna talk a lot about, is um, I just love being outdoors, uh, hiking and getting into the wilderness, water, uh, gardening. Um, yeah, just those are some of what get woven into my days very regularly.

SPEAKER_01:

And so grounding and really helps create some extra balance, right? Yes. It can be a little, I'm sure launching a book, I've never launched a book, but I can imagine that it's quite stressful. So to have those tools to come back to, I'm sure is is a great practice, wellness practice.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, it's it's yeah, having now gone through this twice. I I just last week my second book came out, and uh the the vitality journal is the name of my companion book. And um, and yeah, I'm just finding I'm doing this launch so differently than last time. And it it has been just this humbling reminder of, okay, like live the principles that I'm bringing forth in this resource for the world, right? And and just find a way of doing this that's in congruence with my own well-being. And and to watch when sort of the expectations or pressures that I place on myself, you know, sort of take me out of that foundation of honoring the feedback that's there for me around what I really need and how I need to be doing this at this stage in my life.

SPEAKER_01:

It's so interesting. I know as a coach and as a guide as well, there's so many aspects that when I'm having a conversation with someone, that they remind me that I teach these clients of mine that I maybe fell away from or that I'm not putting as much mindfulness into and really living because there's I know you know, there's a completely different, there's a complete difference between knowing the information that we're gonna talk about today, and then actually what I would say embodying, embodying this information or living this information or these tools or these pillars. And it's really fun actually to have these moments of reminders and then reminding yourself to give yourself grace. You tell your clients that all the time, or you tell your readers that all the time, but to actually give yourself that grace and that compassion is completely, I don't think we ever get there. Like we, you know, that's why I call this podcast Journey to Well. We don't ever arrive where, you know, now I'm now I'm a coach, I'm an author, I'm I've written my second book, I'm a therapist, I have all of these accolades, now I'm perfect. We don't ever arrive there.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's a good reminder. No, and just to really, yeah, just completely dispel that myth or that idealized reality that even if we're not conscious of can sometimes just be there for us. And instead, yeah, really recognize the journey. And and that's you know, that's really what underlies the um nine keys that we'll be touching into today is is that you know, we may feel like we're on top of the world and we've figured it all out and we've got our act together, and then something happens in our lives and the rug gets pulled out from underneath us, and we find ourselves on our knees again. And so that's just the nature of life, and you know, that we keep evolving and changing, it's unpredictable, everything keeps changing, and we're living in a complex world, you know, with other human beings and and an unfolding reality that we can't control. And and so for us to instead focus on that deeper foundation of our relationship with ourself and how we care for ourselves and cultivating that resilience that allows us to find our feet again, to steer ourselves back when when we find that life has sort of pulled us away from what is really aligned with our own vitality.

SPEAKER_01:

You gave me a description of the book, and and it says tools that cultivate resilience and advocate meaningful change. And resilience is such a potent word, uh, and cultivate is such a potent word. I'm curious if you could please share the background in that description of the book and really what that means to you in this stage of your life.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, the book was born from my own healing journey that began in my early 20s when I spiraled down into chronic fatigue and depression and lots of other symptoms, and sort of found myself all disoriented of what is going on. I, you know, I'm newly in my young adulthood, sort of finding my way in the world, and then instead find myself in bed. And and so that journey really um awoke in me a calling. You know, I found that everything I began to learn for myself, excuse me, I was wanting to share with others, but it also sort of brought forward this question for me of what's missing from the conversation and what are we not being taught when we're younger around how to care for ourselves that could bring me or any of us into these kind of bewildering journeys with our own well-being. And and you know, that led me to to all the different trainings of naturopathic medicine and counseling and coaching and all sorts of things I've gathered over the years as tools and and capacities from that kind of expertise. But my own healing journey has been right there along with it, with that, with those questions really alive and discovering what have been the really impactful things that made a difference in my own vitality and well-being that I've not really seen emphasized as you know, the foundations of what we really need to be addressing. And so those got distilled into those nine keys. And um, those words that you threw out, you know, cultivate and resilience, those are those are part of some of the keys and and really, yeah, kind of part of the orientation of how do we come into a really intentional, conscious, and even reverent, you know, relationship with how we guide and honor our our own lives.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And um, let's start kind of walking through some of the keys. So there are nine, and I'm just gonna read them and then we'll pick a few of them. Um, honoring unique life, facing and embracing shadows, self-awareness, cultivating resilience, obviously my fave. Um aligning with your yes, that's super fun, playful curiosity, discovering easeful discipline, inviting support and connection, and living like you matter. You're aligning your yes is really bringing up human design for me because in human design we talk a lot about um, especially for you, you're a sacral generator. And we have all of these different shapes in our human design chart, and they're called energy centers. And our sacral center is very much what you would think of with the sacral chakra if you're familiar with the chakra system, because the um human design actually pulls from the chakra system. So our sacral center is one of our largest motor centers in human design. It's really this um when we talk about like trusting your gut and um following your gut as a sacral authority, we call it. That's really your how you best make decisions. And a lot of my coaching and guiding in human design with my sacral authorities, I'm also a sacral authority, uh, is really feeling into what a yes feels like in your body and what a no feels like in your body, and really leaning into discovering or even just exploring what a yes, what little yeses feel like, like what color shirt do I want to wear? Do I want to wear black? Do I want to wear white? And feeling what that yes feels like, what that no feels like, and then being able to use that knowledge, that communication with your body in larger decisions that you have to make. So that's a little human design aligning with your yes, but I'm I'm curious how that shows up in your book. And I'm you and I talked before, um, you don't particularly have a huge background of knowledge in in human design. You're familiar with it. You've you've done like the chart poll, but you've never even like not had like a full reading. So I'm curious how that lands with you and how that might align with how you wrote that chapter of the book.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Yes. I love it. I um yeah, this this key is one of my favorites of the nine. Um one, because it was absolutely pivotal in my own healing and emergence from the chronic fatigue. And and I found it, you know, for myself as well as others as being a big missing piece of the conversation when we are, you know, in times of depression, burnout, exhaustion, sort of that that deeper misalignment that can be there, but that in our sort of way our culture is now oriented, primarily in healthcare, you know, it gets diagnosed as depression, anxiety, you know, things like that, that that really miss the point that actually we're getting feedback that something is misaligned. And so I like to think of it as, you know, are we are we investing our life energy where we're getting returns? And if we're not, then we're investing our life energy where it's just like going down the hole in the life bucket, right? And and that happens for so many of us. And and like you were saying, like aligning with your yes is about the little choices every day, and it's also about the bigger life callings and the bigger things, the significant relationships in our lives, the work we're invested in, where we're living, you know, just the bigger context that that you know shape how we're spending our days and where our attention and energy is going. And what we want is to be aligned, where you know, we're investing our energy and it feeds back. So we're filling our well as we're engaging and showing up in the world. And that's actually possible. I think, you know, for some folks who might be maybe have a lot of misalignment in life, like that might feel like, is that even possible? Where, you know, it's not like I have to be exhausted when I go to work and I don't have to, you know, feel this sort of drag in life, but actually you can sort of discover how to live that way. And it takes courage and it takes vulnerability and it takes that discernment, like you're talking about, of really learning to listen to what that feedback is and to prune away. I like the analogy of pruning, prune away the things that that aren't aligned, little snips or bigger cuts that will free up the energy to then be available for what is aligned.

SPEAKER_01:

You said something interesting earlier of these of our body is communicating to us and even in the feeling a lack of energy, like dragging to work instead of maybe writing that off as I just didn't sleep well, or uh it's no big deal, or like this pain that I'm feeling like is no big deal. I'm curious if the book really explores, or even how you've explored this in your life of where does that journey really start? Of beginning to notice and pay attention. And that's really the first part, but then we have the next of like, well, now what do I do with it? Like, what what if I'm noticing that uh actually work is really not lighting me up, but that's what's paying my bills. That's what I've always done. That's you know, fill in the blank, whatever the reason is that you wouldn't leave maybe in this season. What do we do with that?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. So um keys number three and four kind of get at what you're primarily what you're just talking about. So key three is strengthening your self-awareness muscles. And this is an acknowledgement that most of us were not brought up being taught how to actually listen to the feedback that's there in our body and being 24-7. It's like a foreign language for many of us. And and I love, you know, how you just gave that example earlier around like, do I want to wear white? Do I want to wear red? You know, just like, you know, just like recognize, and that's why it's like strengthening the self-awareness muscles that if we really haven't been taught, if it is like a foreign language to us, we need to start just with that curiosity and openness of like a beginning learner, and just begin to hone that discernment through the little choices every day and the bigger ones and and start to listen for where do I feel that in my body, or or how do I know when something feels right or doesn't. Um, and then also along with that, so that gets more to like the alignment part, but there's also, you know, just that we're getting feedback on what is working for us and what's not, like with what we're putting into our bodies or the things we're doing. And and the feedback, you know, we might be interpreting it in a way that's not actually what our feedback's trying to say, you know, again, because of the messages we've received in our culture. You know, I mean, a very common example is, you know, like a headache. Like we might, you know, interpret a headache as something I'm getting sick or something like that, or or um, or you don't even even think about what's going on with it. You just take a pill to get rid of the pain, right? But actually, maybe that headache is letting you know that you have a sensitivity to coffee or another food, or you actually need more than six hours of sleep at night, you know, or you know, just like you know, but but we might not even be attuned that way. So this key opens up that curiosity of starting to track, you know, when we have symptoms, we we have particular feedback, like getting curious, what might that be telling me? And and opening and watching sort of what's happening earlier in the day before I experience that, what's happening after. And just it's like opening into, yeah, it's like we're sort of a science experiment. Like, how do we just begin to learn more about this body and being? Because I live in it 24-7 and I want to feel, you know, more empowered. Because this, when we become more empowered in this way, we're less able to be sort of thrown around by the latest health fads and by all the advice we get from others, and instead, like really own like I'm my best health guide. No one else is getting this feedback 24-7. And so it starts there, you know. That's why it's key number three. Like it's a really foundational part of how we orient towards our our lives in a more uh agentic empowered way.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I was actually gonna ask, I assume that these keys kind of build on each other and we start with the foundation and then you kind of work your way up. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, they're all interwoven, but but they were they were placed, you know, in the in that order on purpose to kind of create some of the foundations that then carry forward into the other keys later on.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Okay. So then so then moving on, let's let's just hit on four, which is cultivating resilience, because that's such an interesting resilience is such an interesting topic to me. Um, and I had it explained one time. And it's sometimes we think resilience is like not letting things bother us, or or like having this kind of like really maybe strong shell where our nervous system doesn't easily get dysregulated. A lot of times when I talk about resilience or in my world, it resilience and nervous system are are very paired together. And so, in this way that it was explained to me, a lot of times, you know, we think that being resilient means that you're not dysregulated ever. Or maybe in another way to explain it is like things just don't bother you. And that's not what resilience is. In this description, is actually resilience is the ability to come back to regulation when you are dysregulated, and that is such a powerful description, and I really want to like pick apart the cultivation ahead of that word resilience in this chapter or in this key. Um because cultivation to me is uh I very much think of like gardening and planting, and like you're you're tilling the soil and you're bringing it up. And the reason that you're bringing, bringing that like bottom soil up to the surface is because you're creating this better environment for your plants or your trees to live in. And that's really what I think of when I think of cultivation. So I'm very curious how this chapter unfolds and what cultivating resilience means to you. And also I'm always curious of the personal connection. So, like what pain points in your life really happened or occurred for you to feel like this is a really important key to talk about.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I I I mean, I love the way you spoke about cultivation and and resilience and sort of the misunderstandings that can be there around it and and misunderstanding misunderstandings about the nervous system too. And I um yeah, so you know, we touched into this a bit before, but just to reiterate some, you know, there's there's no such thing as a stress-free life, there's no such thing as a predictable life, and and resilience is what allows us to navigate in that um, yeah, in the constant change and in in that um, sorry, I just got a little distracted. There's some noise outside. So I just want to name that, that I just lost my thread. So um so so resilience. So um the the cultivation of it is is an acknowledgement that we are not um, we don't just come into this world like knowing all the skills and capacities to guide ourselves in a resilient way in life, to navigate all the unexpected things. And so it opens us up to again that orientation of like, okay, I'm a beginner, like what can I learn here to feel more adept at being able to regulate my state of being? And I think of that regulation as happening on all different levels, you know, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. How do I consciously choose to shift my state of being at any given time? And and I think this day and age, you know, a really big one is is around the nervous system, because so many of us, with just what's going on in the world and and just the way that our our, particularly in this culture, you know, we've gotten busier and busier and busier and more pressures financially and otherwise. And it's just like all these things build up to have us be living, you know, I think of it like a thermostat, with the thermostat kind of stepped way up here with our nervous system. So we're kind of living in more of a hyper-vigilant, hyper-aroused, you know, state, so many of us. Um, and and to learn how to shift that state. And so this, you know, comes with different practices, and there's a myriad of them, but you know, different breathing practices, uh, different grounding or mindfulness practices, yoga, like there's there's so many different things or simply getting outside and orienting towards the natural world. There's so many ways that we can find those threads to come back and kind of shift that thermostat level. But it's not about like what you just said, it's not about then like trying to stay there because actually, vitality is about having the flexibility and having the full range of capacity of response and arousal and ability to engage with different kinds of energies and states of being. So it's not about coming to some status quo stuck place, but it's about having the tools to be able to guide ourselves back to a different state of being when we choose to. And so that resilience is again about that empowerment. And it's connected to the key before, where when we increase our self-awareness, we can actually notice the feedback that tells us, oh, like actually I might need to do this right now to steer myself back into a more sort of grounded um uh place where I feel like I have more capacity to engage with whatever is going on for me. And um, and it's not just the nervous system, it's really, you know, all different aspects of our lives. Like, how do we guide ourselves? How do we feel like we have that capacity not to just be stuck or not to, you know, when the rug gets pulled out that we can't find our feet again, or when we get steered way over here and we can't find our way back? That's what resilience is about.

SPEAKER_01:

What has been one of your most powerful or your favorite tools that you personally use to bring yourself back or ground yourself or um you know, regulate yourself, whatever wording you want to use.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, one thing that I I really try to emphasize with myself, and I think is is so important for most of us these days is is to have you know the tools that we can do anytime, anywhere, and that don't require us to feel like we have to like set aside an hour or block out time or pay money to someone, you know, but just so I I really love you know just the simple things that I can do throughout my days. And you know, big one for me, like I mentioned before, is is uh nature and the outdoors. So even if I can get outside, if if it's a full day, if I can get outside for a minute, a few minutes, and walk around a little bit, or even just like stare up at I'm looking out my window right now, so stare up, stare up at at the trees and the wind blowing the leaves around, you know, or the clouds. Um, just to kind of find those anchor points in nature is a really helpful thing. But if I can't, if I can't get outside, um, breath is another one that I go to all the time, like really feeling the way my in-breath pushes my lower ribs apart. And for those of you who that might not feel as easy to access, like putting your your hands around your lower ribs with your fingers forward and your thumbs kind of looped around your back gives you that sort of um tactile anchor that then you can breathe into and imagine pushing your hands apart as you breathe in, um, slowing the breath rate down, you know, simply counting can be easy, like counting to five or six as you breathe in, and five or six as you breathe out. It's just again a very simple thing you can do anytime. And then another, I'll just give this last one, just another favorite is um just finding my feet in contact with the ground. And if I'm inside and shoes and socks or whatever, you know, imagining my feet barefoot on the earth outside, and and opening to like all the sensations that I can feel through the soles of my feet. And any of these practices can be a minute or less, you know, if you don't have much time, but it can be enough to like it's almost like pressing pause on the fullness of life, redirecting to the body, redirecting to nature. And and that's enough to have an it's almost like an outbreath. Like the nervous system can go, ah, right, here I am in this moment. And it gives some space and spaciousness to whatever it is that I'm navigating or we're navigating, and and allows kind of I find it just like a recalibration of what really matters right now. Like, you know, if I'm, you know, and and sometimes when when when folks are starting to engage with these kinds of, you know, little mini practices, even setting an alarm just as a reminder, you know, to remember to do them can be helpful at first. And then over time, I I found it like over time it just starts to become a little more automatic where it's like, oh, time to pause.

SPEAKER_01:

I love all of those examples. Thank you. And thank you for reminding that it doesn't have to be this long practice either. Um, I would only add like this is this can be anywhere too. And you already said that, but like the example of you know, you're sitting at work at your desk, you can take a minute and feel your feet. Nobody even knows what you're doing. You can just even pretend to be reading an email and and do this practice, or if you uh happen to be blessed to have a window in your office, you know, take a minute and just look outside at the sky or the clouds or the trees or whatever you can see. And so it doesn't, I I agree with you. Sometimes these practices we maybe it's the way they're explained to us, or maybe it's just that we assume that they have to be these long in-depth journeys, and they can be, we can certainly take an hour and go for a wonderful walk and and do that kind of walking meditation of noticing the leaves and noticing the bark on the trees, but it can also be just just a minute, and I love that reminder because it it kind of dispels that oh, I don't have time excuse. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, thank you. Which is real, you know, it's a real thing, particularly when when we're just getting started kind of integrating more of these things in our life. That it does feel like there's no time often or we don't have the resources or yeah. And so yeah, just start with the low low threshold, try a minute and see what happens. And then you could, you know, expand over time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Love that. So I have to ask about playful curiosity. Again, two very, very fun words. So um, what is this? How did it come uh come about in your journey?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. So yeah, so this is key six, experimenting with playful curiosity. And yeah, this is another one that I love that also, you know, I find for myself, it's like, oh, the weights off my shoulders. And I see that with clients all the time. It's like this this key takes the rule book away. It takes that pressure of trying to get things right or feeling like you might fail, which so many of us have in our self-care journeys. And instead really opens up the orientation that, you know, you're always changing, life is always changing. Let's orient towards our self-care in that same way, in a flexible, adaptable way. And we can bring play into it, and we can bring, you know, our openness and curiosity that we're learning as we go. So rather than like trying to, you know, make a habit change where it's like it's, you know, there's this rigidness and it feels like we have to will ourselves into submission and and it feels so hard. Instead, we design an experiment and we do it with you know that playful, curious energy. We try something new that maybe we've been wanting to do, but we do it in a creep, we bring our creativity in and we design an experiment. And, you know, I like to say two weeks because it's long enough that it's like it doesn't create that overwhelming sort of, you know, it's too much, and so we never get started. But it's sorry, it's short enough that doesn't create that overwhelm, but it's long enough that we begin to get feedback and it sets us in motion. And so the idea with this is that, you know, if you do a two-week experiment, that at the end of two weeks you assess. You're like, what did I learn here? What's working, what's not working? If everything's working great, you just continue. And if it's not working so great, you tweak it or you scrap it and you start a new experiment. But it just staying in motion really helps us to like, yeah, actually engage with life as life is and not get stuck and not sort of create a hurdle that's way too high. And we get to learn and adapt as we go. And and this one just feels huge. It like, you know, it takes away, I think, what can be so unhealthy in our journeys with health, you know, all the pressures and all the shame voices and self-judgments and all that, and just puts us in this like, I'm gonna try this out and I'm gonna see what happens and I'm gonna learn as I go and have fun with it. And yeah, it's it's a kind of a rewiring of not only our our relationship with self-care, but but you know, with life, that we can actually live that way too.

SPEAKER_01:

It really brings me back to the third key of self-awareness. And instead of, again, if we're using the example of a diet or or a or a or a food change, um instead of being very rigid of like, I can't have sugar, let's say, or I'm doing the Mediterranean diet or keto, and being so rigid in that when we can allow some playful curiosity and then bring in that self-awareness of like how how is my body actually feeling doing keto? I went vegan for a while. This is a silly example, but I went vegan for a while for for multiple reasons, and I am a very curious person, I think by nature. And so part of the reason was just to explore how I felt eating vegan, not eating meat, and not having um animal products. And um a lot of vegan products, like the pre-made ones are soy. So I just I blew up. Like I think I gained, I don't know how much weight I gained, but I like did not lose weight going vegan. And I didn't feel any better either. And you know, that's just one silly example. Maybe it's not, maybe it's not that silly, but it's one example of when we do things that society says are better, not mindfully. Um we might not actually take that time to check in with ourselves and be like, wait, am I feeling better? Does this work for me? Because it's not gonna work. There's a reason that we have so many different diets, there's a reason that we have so many different workout plans, and this person is saying, you know, this is the way to lose 100 pounds, and then this person is saying that's absolutely BS because not everything works for everyone. And I love that like playful curiosity. And and as someone that is pretty serious, I think I've been called very serious in my life. I view myself as pretty serious, and I can definitely be very rigid. That's such a beautiful uh reminder to me personally. So thank you for that reminder to be curious and make it creative and be playful with it and bring a little levity to whatever goal you have. And I like the two-week thing, that's also very cool because then it's not like I have to do keto for two months, and that's a big time commitment. That's a big commitment in general. Uh, just two weeks, you know, see what happens. Notice what you notice. I like that. That's a really fun one. Cool. So let's do one more. I really am drawn to nine, living like you matter. What dive in, dive into that one. What does this mean? What does this mean to you?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. This one um to me is, you know, it's nine, but it also brings it full circle. You know, we didn't we didn't talk about key one, and I'll just mention that briefly. So key one is honoring your unique life, and you know, that's just you know, rooting our relationship with um self-care and with our lives in that not taking life for granted and and recognizing, you know, that we're in contact with our own mortality. We don't know how long we're gonna be here, and we're each unique. And um, and and so self-care then becomes really about kind of taking on that responsibility for stewarding this life with from a place of reverence, from a place of of really honoring. No one else is here to care for this life but us. And so key number nine, that's just a brief description, but key number nine, living like you matter, takes that into the broader context. So it's recognizing no no one's here by accident. Like we each matter, we're each a part of that web of life. And to live that way, where many of us, I think particularly women, and and I know I think your audience is primarily women and mine is as well, you know, to really recognize so many of us are wired to put care for others and care for the world before care for self. That it's just, you know, it's like it's it's really um amplified all over the place, you know, like the accolades of like, oh my goodness, you're so selfless. And and and and what happens with that over time is that we run ourselves into the ground. It's not sustainable. We need to care for ourselves, to fill our own wells, so that we can continue to show up, care for others and care for the world, and to be the fullest presence and light, you know, and version of ourselves that we can be. And that that's living like you matter, that each of us really honors our own lives in that way, that we include in the service in the world that we're offering, you know, whether it's as a parent, whether it's, you know, as you know, someone who's out there on a global scale working or or you know, focused on the community around them, you know, wherever your your energy and light is drawn, you know, as as your unique calling in this life, that yeah, you are the most vital, fullest form of yourself that you can be. And that's really about attending to your own well-being and all these ways that we've been touching into today, and um, and not putting yourself, you know, on the backseat that after you do these other things, then you'll care for yourself. But actually, this is the number one priority, otherwise you won't really be able to show up as as you're able to, as is your birthright.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, that's a beautiful reminder. Um it's your birthright. That was beautiful. Um, how do you interweave this reverence, living like you matter in your everyday life, taking care of yourself so that you can better show up for one of your passions of your family and your kid? What does that look like in your in your personal day-to-day?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you know, it's it's finding those things. So for for me, as I said before, one one really big anchor for me is time in nature. So for me, you know, a non-negotiable is regular time out on hikes and just, you know, I live in a place where there's trails all over the place. So it's it's just like that, that for me is is one of one of the threads for me that is non-negotiable. Um, and and another thing that is really vital for me that I've learned over the years is I I need to do some kind of movement every single day and doing it, you know, as early in the morning as I can. Well, not you know, getting good sleep, but just more more of like the first thing in the morning exercise works the best for me. So it's like those are just two examples of some of the things that really help to shape my capacity to show up for my my daughter, my family, for and for my clients and all the work that I do. And um, that gives me that that vitality and grounding. There, there are a number of other things, you know, the community and friends and you know, other other passions that I engage with too, but it's it's making sure that, you know, and we we skipped over key eight, which is about support, but it's it's recognizing part of it too is that, you know, yes, I'm the one responsible for my well-being, but I also don't need to be in it alone, and that's not sustainable either. That I have my team of support, both professional and personal, that I lean into so that I'm not alone in it and I'm getting the support to um allow myself to thrive and to prioritize the things that that I need to do for myself. And and I know, you know, it's it's definitely having engaged in these teachings, written my first book before I became a mom, you know, it's definitely, you know, been very illuminating for me of like the different kinds of dance and ways of engaging, you know, particularly with a young child and and just how how to keep doing that because it's this, it's the same thing. Like it's not it's not sustainable to not be giving myself the the time and and attention, um, even though you know it's very easy to do again, because there's so many expectations and and needs of others that um yeah, can shape that. And so finding that balance because it's not about not attending to the needs of others or caring for our loved ones. And it's it's very much about that, but it's like just recognizing how do we keep doing that in a sustainable way.

SPEAKER_01:

And sustainable, I mean, that goes back all the way to the beginning of the conversation with really the stemming of this book was was chronic fatigue for you, and and that's a huge that's a huge lesson that we learn in life. I think we all hit this point at some point because we're not robots and eventually you're gonna burn out, and learning how to create more sustainability in wherever you are at life, whether that's parenting or your job or your relationship or all of them, or even the sustainable relationship with yourself. And it's not it's finding that balance, it's not giving yourself everything, you know, taking like again five hours every day for yourself. That's maybe not a sustainable balance. Um, but finding that balance for you and what works for you, and then the tools that work for you, it's a really fun game that we have the opportunity to kind of play.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I yeah, I love that you just phrased it like this. It is, yeah. I really do feel like it's like a game and to open in in that way with that curiosity and and playfulness again, to find like what works for you. You know, I gave some examples for myself, but those might not work well for for others, you know. So just to find and and explore like what are your things, like and and to listen for that feedback and honor it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Some things, some other ideas, just because I am such a tactile person. So if you're listening and and you're like, I've already tried hiking and that doesn't work for me or whatever, um, some other ideas, some things that work really well for me that I really love is my nighttime routine is pretty sacred to me. And I have it pretty much every night, no matter what time I'm getting home. And for me right now, it's looking like red light. I always do uh like literal red light bulbs, so not red light therapy, but just having the red light on. Um, there's so much science behind that that I'm not gonna take time to list. But um red light, I'm doing like a Shakti mat, like the acupressure mat for my back, and that's really helping me sleep very well. I do red light therapy as well. Um, reading is really nice. Really anything that gets me off my phone, and I really try to stick to uh, and you know, like even that word, I don't even try anymore. Like I just get off my phone. It's not, I think at some point in that self-awareness journey, at some point we go from I try to do this to this is a non-negotiable. And you said that about getting outside for you. That's your non-negotiable because you have found that it makes such a difference. And if you're in that state of, I'm still trying, you're figuring it out. And you have to find what is your non-negotiable. And I think you have to do those things for a little bit to figure out that it's your non-negotiable. But that's definitely one of mine is my nighttime routine and doing the red light and and reading and taking time really just to sit with myself. I've been really enjoying meditating at night again lately, because I'm normally a morning meditator. Um, so those are those are some other ideas of just fun, of fun things to play around with and really notice. Again, going back to all of these keys, like noticing how that's showing up, how you're showing up the next day when you take that 30 minutes before you go to sleep for yourself, versus when you come to the end of the day and and you like tuck in your kid and run to bed, put on your PJs and just pass out, notice how you feel the next day with those two different evening routines. Um so anyway, just a few more ideas that that have worked really well for me and and and spoke to me. Um as we wrap up, I want to just open it up. I know that we didn't go through all of them. Is there any key that you feel like we missed or any piece of a key that you really would love to share before we we end with our final question?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, let's go a little bit um more into key number eight. So that's inviting support and connection. And yeah, I just I just want to emphasize this at the end of our conversation because of how incredibly vital it is that we cultivate that team of support, that we find the people who feel really resonant, who can hold us, you know, with compassion and where it feels safe, where we feel seen to unfold, you know, in our own healing and evolution. And and I think so often, you know, our health journeys, we can have practitioners who, yeah, we've sort of, you know, either put up on high on a pedestal or, you know, we don't really feel like they hear us, or or there's not that, yeah, that sense of safety. And I just want to emphasize like to really own like your own um, yeah, your own truth in that and and that you can find the people who do resonate. It can take some advocacy and sort of some energy initially, but what a difference it makes, you know, to find the right people for your team of support, both professionally and personally. And um, and to yeah, come out of that isolation and not feel like you need to be in it alone. It makes such a huge difference because we're relational creatures and we need each other. We're not meant to be in it alone. And along those lines, too, I'm a I'm a huge advocate, and this is part of my business model because it's made such a big difference for me of coming together in community. So having having circles of, you know, I primarily work with women, so having circles of women that are on a healing journey together. And whether it's virtual or in person, like again, I just I I've seen how much it amplifies our capacity to actualize the changes we seek and to heal deeply and to really address those core, you know, like we were talking about before, those core misalignments, or to navigate through big life transitions gracefully and with more ease and sense of clarity around what is aligned for me now. Um, so I just wanted to put that out there too, that again, I think modern day culture has gotten away from some of these things that are more primal and essential for us as humans and and in our healing journeys and um or even just life journeys. You know, I kind of think of our life journeys are healing journeys, right? Absolutely. Yeah. Um yeah, so I just wanted to just name that because it's such a such a passion of mine. And it and it's yeah, I just feel um like it's also part of what can be missing, you know, from the conversation as well as from people's um, yeah, just journeys of wellness. So yeah, yeah, just yeah, journeys of wellness.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, yeah. I was actually just having this conversation last night that there's really only so far you can go on your healing journey alone because we are wounded and like our trauma, if you want to go in kind of that shadow side, we're wounded in relationships, we're hurt in relationships of all kinds, not just your intimate ones of like a partnership. Um, we're we're wounded in relationships, but we're also healed in relationships. And we're not created to do this life alone. And I and I truly believe that we're not created to heal alone. We can't, we actually cannot heal alone. Uh, there's only a certain level that we can get to when we're alone, and that's a whole lesson of learning how to reach out and and vulnerability and learning, uh experiencing trusting someone on that level when it's something, you know, when you have maybe been hurt, but you I would argue that you cannot possibly heal without other people, and and that's a a really brave step that you take. And you will find those people. You will. Maybe you find the wrong people, and they teach you that they're not the people. That's not the wrong person. That's the wrong practitioner for me, that's the wrong guide for me, and that's okay. And then that will just be one more no that's gonna lead you to your next person that really sees you. And I tell one of my best friends this all the time. We always send each other little the little memes back and forth, but it's true that um there's been so much healing in that relationship specifically that like she doesn't even know that she's you know, she's helping me heal and that I know that I'm helping her heal. And and that, oh God, if I could give that to everyone, like that's that's the dream. That's really truly the dream is to find your tribe of people that you can heal with and that are willing. And oh my gosh, so many things. But thank you for bringing that up, especially what a beautiful way to close and what a beautiful reminder. Um yeah, thank you. I appreciate you. So we have so many fun ways to connect with you. Obviously, we can get your book, uh, either of the books or both, but where do you primarily hang out? If someone listening would really like to connect with you or even just learn more from you, where can they do that?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh my website is vitamedicine.com. And uh I actually have a special page for podcast listeners that's vitalmedicine.com slash podcast, where um I have a free guide to the nine keys that we've talked about, um, uh links to both my books, The Vitality Map and the Vitality Journal. And I offer a 15% discount on any of my programs if if you let me know that you found me that way. And you can sign up for my newsletter or um I do 20-minute complimentary discovery sessions too if you're curious about ways that we might work together. Um and yeah, my books are on Amazon. You can order them through any um bookstore as well, and uh Instagram, Facebook. You can find me.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yay! And I will put some of those links down below. So once you're done driving or doing whatever you're doing while you're listening to this podcast, uh you can safely click on the links below. Um, last question going back to this idea of alignment, and I know that we talked a little bit about this, but one of my fun ending questions is what does living in alignment feel like in your body specifically?

SPEAKER_00:

I love that. I feel my yes so much in my heart space. And it's just sort of this feeling of like, yeah, my heart cracking open. And it's like when that happens, it's sort of like my posture gets taller and and and yeah, I just feel sort of this energy, like that it's like it connects, you know, the energy flow in my body more fully when when I'm really in the yes. So it's just like um, yeah, I think that's as much as I can describe it at the moment. I'm just using my hands really opening, opening my heart.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and the heart chakra right is our like central chakra chakra, like that's like the the center. So I love that you feel it there. And it really I love that imagery of it just kind of connects all the other chakras. I guess we can use that languaging, but everything, it just kind of connects everything for you. I love that explanation and thank you for sharing. Thank you so much for coming on this podcast. This is such a beautiful reminder for me personally, and just such a beautiful conversation of really taking our accountability back in ourselves and work all these tools that we can work on to live a vital life and have more vitality in our years. And that's really one of the goals of life is to how many how many how many years can you, how much life can you live in your years, not how many years can you live? So thank you so much for this conversation.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, Hannah.