Sneaker Impact News

Aligning Body & Earth: Climate Justice and Somatic Healing with Ludovica Martella (Sustainably Lu)!

• Bryan The Botanist, Bryan Huberty • Season 1 • Episode 37

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Healing the Earth and Ourselves: An Interview with Ludovica Martella, AKA Sustainably Lu

Welcome to Sneaker Impact News! In this episode, host Bryan welcomes special guest Ludovica Martella, better known as Sustainably Lu. Ludovica is an Integrative Somatic Fitness Coach and climate justice advocate committed to empowering individuals to achieve holistic wellness through the connection of mind, body, spirit, and Earth. The conversation dives into Ludovica's background, efforts in climate justice, indigenous community support, and her transition into somatic healing. Learn about the importance of mindfulness, intuitive eating, and sustainable living practices. The episode concludes with a calming somatic activation session led by Ludovica. Don't miss this inspiring conversation aimed at healing both ourselves and our planet.

Stay Connected & Learn More

1.    Somatic Serenity Online Group Coaching: A five-week online program designed to transform your relationship with your body and mind. Check out the details for the next round. 

2.    1:1 Intuitive Fitness and Somatic Healing Coaching: A personalized three-month program tailored to your unique body-love journey, offering deep mind-body transformation. Options include Intuitive Fitness-focused or non-fitness tracks. Apply here.

3.    Free Online Classes: You can access a complimentary 30-minute somatic healing session to experience the benefits firsthand here and stay up to date with upcoming free live classes.

4.    In-Person Classes in Miami: If you are local to Miami, come say hi! The next in-person class will be on April 27th at the Standard Spa in Miami Beach.

5.    Connect with Ludovica on Instagram and on TikTok and check out her website. 

6.    Sign up to her newsletter to stay up to date with any offerings and somatic healing tips.

Bryan The Botanist:

Welcome back to Sneaker Impact News. My special guest today is Ludovica Martella, AKA Sustainably Lu, welcome Lu. How you doing?

Ludovica Martella:

I'm doing great, Bryan. Thank you for having me.

Bryan The Botanist:

Awesome. I wanna read a quick bio about my friend Lu, who I met a couple weeks ago at a climate event called PSYCA Psychedelics for Climate Action, hosted by our friend Marissa Feinberg. Ludovica Marella is an integrative somatic fitness coach and climate justice advocate committed to empowering individuals to achieve holistic wellness through a harmonious mind body connection with a background in climate justice. Ludovica mission is to support individuals in calming their nervous system and achieving holistic wellness, emphasizing the connection between body, mind, spirit, and the earth. So I love that and wanna learn all about that today, Ludovica. But first. We talked about off air setting an intention for this podcast before we get started, so you can go ahead with your intention.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

And then I will give you mine.

Ludovica Martella:

I love this. By the way. I think every podcast should, should start with this intentions. Mm-hmm. My intention for today is to connect the dots between climate action and energy healing, also known as somatic healing. So between how we manage our own energetic system and how that impacts the earth and vice versa.

Bryan The Botanist:

Amazing. We have never talked about that on sneaker impact news. So I think that's what we've talked about climate justice, it's such an important topic and so is the body and healing it. And the mind, body, soul connection with the earth. It's so important. So, you led a meditation a somatic activation at the event where I met you, and it was very powerful. So thank you for your intention. Mine is a pretty classic one, to raise awareness and educate about important topics. Amazing. And share inspiring conversations from local leaders. So that's what you are and more so let's get to know you today. As I told everyone, I met you a couple weeks ago at a PSYCA climate awareness event at the Hub?

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. The hub for Future Cities Climate

Bryan The Botanist:

and Innovation Technology. It's like, it's got a long name, but yes. Tony Cho is the founder's. Right? That's right down the street from Sneaker Impact. Mm-hmm. You were a speaker there.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. I,

Bryan The Botanist:

as I was with Alan, my partner from Miami Mushroom Fest, I also represented Sneaker Impact.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

And today, even the Miami Herald was here from that event. So it just shows how, and you had met that reporter that was there that day. She came to follow up and learn more about Sneaker Impact today.

Ludovica Martella:

I love that. And

Bryan The Botanist:

so did you, so it just shows how, and that was like a month and a half ago, so.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

The community is local, but it's also, you know, the Miami Herald's pretty big. You know, they're curious, you know, what's going on, how, you know. Can they just, so we're telling the story in, in today's podcast, I wanna learn all about why you are known as Sustainably Lu and your background. So you have a really interesting background. We were talking about it off camera, and I want to get started with. Um, even before you know what you're currently offering the world in terms of your knowledge and talents, let's talk about where you were born.'cause I find that a very interesting part of who you are too. Sure. So where were you born and what were you like as a little girl?

Ludovica Martella:

So I was born in Rome, Italy. I was born in the suburbs of Rome. Okay. So, um, not in the historic city center that most people associate Rome with. I've been there one

Bryan The Botanist:

time. Yeah, exactly. And I went to the Parthenon, I believe, and the Coliseum and amazing the. Is that where the steps are too? The, uh, anyways, I'm gonna, I, this was many years ago. Yeah. The Spanish steps. The, the, yeah, the, um, pa what do they call it again anyways?

Ludovica Martella:

Soan? Yeah. Yes.

Bryan The Botanist:

Uh, where they throw the coins in.

Ludovica Martella:

Oh, okay. Well, that would be from font, Ravi, uh, tra fountain. That's where Ravi

Bryan The Botanist:

Fountain. Ravi

Ludovica Martella:

Travi Fountain. Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

This is where you're born in the suburbs. So what was that like growing up in Rome? Um, to be

Ludovica Martella:

honest, that, um, growing up in the area where I lived and my family still lives, was pretty much, uh, growing up in just like a small town because the suburbs of Rome really resembles like a small town kind of living

Bryan The Botanist:

rural. More rural than like urban, more rural.

Ludovica Martella:

Absolutely. Because you live in

Bryan The Botanist:

Miami now, so Miami would be very urbanized.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes, that's correct. But more, I've

Bryan The Botanist:

been to Greece recently. I've been to Albania for music festivals deep in the middle of Albania, you know? Awesome. And so I know kind of what the buildings look like in, you know, Greece. Is it kind of like that? Is it more like everything's made outta stone and it's like very historic,

Ludovica Martella:

so in really good pizza. Good pizza. Yes. Always. That's a must. I'm guessing. For me, I'm, it's, you know, you're the best. Yeah. I, I love pizza. So my mother's lineage is from Naples. Oh, wow. And that's where, you know, they invented pizza. Mm-hmm. So I feel it's like in my bloodline. Wow. Pretty much. Okay. Um, but yeah, honestly, in the area where I grew up, the buildings are not very historic. Okay. They're very simple. And so, but

Bryan The Botanist:

European versus American, would you say?

Ludovica Martella:

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. More

Bryan The Botanist:

historic.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah, for sure.

Bryan The Botanist:

Older.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. So cool. There's like no made out of stones, like the beautiful little towns in Greece. Oh, okay. In

Bryan The Botanist:

Italy. Like in like Vecchio or somewhere like Florence or, that's right. Yeah. But still a beautiful area. Good wine, I'm assuming.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. Obviously that's a stable. Mm-hmm. But, you know, growing up in a small, but tell us about your

Bryan The Botanist:

family.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Well, yeah, like brothers

Bryan The Botanist:

and sisters. What?

Ludovica Martella:

I have an older sister, Uhhuh. All of my family lives still in Italy right now. Um, I was actually brought to the US by my father when I was 13. Okay. So my family did, uh, live with me in the US for quite a long time and then they all eventually moved back to Italy and I decided to stay here to continue my education and sustainability. At the time I was also working as a journalist on this topic. That was the beginning of my career and uh, I just thought this was the best choice for me at the time. But, so New York City's

Bryan The Botanist:

where you first lived when you moved to the us

Ludovica Martella:

That's correct, yes. Wow. I'm definitely a New Yorker at heart. Okay. They say that you're a New Yorker after seven years and I lived there for 15, so. Wow.

Bryan The Botanist:

Okay. Yeah. Whoa. So the big apple's a big part of your heart.

Ludovica Martella:

It is, you know, the

Bryan The Botanist:

city well,

Ludovica Martella:

I really definitely do. Mm-hmm. Um, and you know, they always say with New York mm-hmm. You have a love hate relationship. And I can definitely testify to that. Hmm. But I'm super grateful for everything that the city has gave me. All of the opportunities. I think that the energy there is definitely like something that is, is special. Mm-hmm. Um, but I will say it definitely wrecked my nervous system. And that's also why I got into somatic healing. It's part of that. Wow. So it's part of Sure. With all the honking

Bryan The Botanist:

horns and stuff and the,

Ludovica Martella:

yeah. And living through the pandemic, I've heard that the hardest part of

Bryan The Botanist:

living in the city sometimes is a noise.'cause like even Miami's even a noisy city for sure. Like I was last week in the mountains of Guatemala and it was so different. There was no noises. And the honking people are honking to say hi when we were running on the roads. But like the honks were friendly. Yeah. But there was no, it wasn't a mega city. Like 5,000 people lived there in this mountain town I was staying in. But like Miami is. A million or whatever. New York's like eight. I'm gonna get it wrong, but like 5 million at least. And, but it's a beautiful city. I've run the marathon there. I've gone there two or three times. I, I think it's an, it's just a magical place. But yeah,

Ludovica Martella:

I

Bryan The Botanist:

am very interested in nervous system healing because I have nervous system dysfunction mm-hmm. As a runner and as just someone middle aged. And I've been recently getting a lot of therapies from stem cells to even like, injections for cortisone tomorrow into herniated disc. But like, part of it is from, um, you know, uh, nervous system dysfunction. Mm-hmm. Um, because of inflammation or just hypertension from living in a. Stressful type of environment, and I think we all living in cities need to manage that stress. Yeah. So you're healing and activation at the class? I took or went to, uh, the speech, the, what we're calling it, conference on psych, on psychedelics and climate action, which was so powerful. Shout out to Psycha. Um mm-hmm. You did a activation there that was so calming, so. Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

We're,

Bryan The Botanist:

I, I would hope we can do one today when you're ready. Absolutely. First, I wanna learn a little bit more about like, when did you realize in your life that you wanted to be into climate justice?

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Like, let's talk about climate justice first.'cause healing is also a big part of your life and energy, but climate justice, when did that, like, really did that start, did you want to be something else when you were younger? Or did you, as a teenager, did you have a turning point? Was there any major reasons? Family influence?

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Why did you take this career path?

Ludovica Martella:

So, I've always been a very sensitive kid, so I definitely, you know, um. I refer to myself, to myself as a highly sensitive person. Mm-hmm. And I'm also very visual. And I remember when I was really young, um, during dinner, my family always used to watch the news during dinner. They would always go on at 8:00 PM and that's usually when Italians normally eat dinner, a late dinner for.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah. But that's classic.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. And I remember seeing images from the North Pole and I remember seeing like this white, uh, bear, this polar bear struggling on a little tiny piece of ice and it was like sott. Yeah. And I also remember seeing, unfortunately, just like the hunting of, um, this bears for their furs as well as the, I guess the, the, the specific name for them is like. The, you know, the sea, the seahorses, but like they have like a fur when they're babies. Sea lions.

Bryan The Botanist:

No,

Ludovica Martella:

I think so.

Bryan The Botanist:

Otters or seals?

Ludovica Martella:

Seals.

Bryan The Botanist:

Seals. Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

But they're like arctic seals. Mm-hmm. And when they're babies they have this like white fur, then they end up like losing it. Sure. Um, and so they were showing like also not only the climatic impact of, you know, global warming, but also the fact that exploitation Yeah. That was additional Exactly. Like exploitation for first That's terrible and whatever. And so. It was like a very visual piece. I don't know why, like, I mean, I, I understand, I guess the reason why, but I've always noticed that Italian news are more visual mm-hmm. Than what I see here in the States. They okay here, they tend to like blurt things in Italy, they still do this. It's like very much like, no, this is

Bryan The Botanist:

almost like shocking journalism.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Yeah. Um, definitely. Like they're showing you straight up,

Bryan The Botanist:

like the ice caps are melting and the animals are suffering and like, they're not gonna like, versus like Yeah. Just they don't

Ludovica Martella:

sugarcoat it. They're not sugarcoating

Bryan The Botanist:

it. No.

Ludovica Martella:

Um, and I understand the impact of that of course, and the reasoning behind it, but as a little kid, I got, um, very much shocked. I still remember visually the impact of that. And I remember thinking, with no doubt, this is what I'm going to do. I want to bring awareness to these issues. Okay. And I got very curious about why are the icebergs like melting? Why is the climate getting warmer and. Wow, what is the root cause of this? And that's really why I decided by watching that news piece, that I wanted to be a journalist on this specific topics. And journalism was really like the end entry way through. Um, climate justice for me mm-hmm. Because I used to focus a lot on those topics. I, um, also the arts as activism for climate justice. Okay. Used to be like a big part of the pieces that I would cover. Okay. Um, I studied at Fordham University, New York City journalism, and I was part of their editorial team. And so I would go around interviewing all of these artists. Mm-hmm. Bringing awareness to climate justice. Wow. Um, you know, from global, uh, so there's

Bryan The Botanist:

a genre of art that's all about climate justice. Yeah.'cause like, I'm, I'm a little bit aware of it. I took art history in college, but for like one year, I, I was passionate about art when I was younger. Yeah. Still love art. I interviewed, we got Pedro Ammos, our local artist who did this. Um, but I am curious, so climate action art, is it like political art or is it more like, what type of art is it? Is it art that's like sometimes like cartoon or is it more like paintings? It can honestly multimedia. It can be anything.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. It can be anything. It could

Bryan The Botanist:

be a sculpture.

Ludovica Martella:

Absolutely. Yes. Okay. The essentially it has

Bryan The Botanist:

a message behind it. Of course. Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

The message for the artist is essentially like bringing awareness to what is happening. Mm-hmm. Uh, at a global scale or local scale. And, you know, I've interviewed like photographers, painters, like multimedia artists mm-hmm. Really from, from different background. Cool. And uh, yeah, that was because I was also, and I am still very passionate about art. I was very fascinated about. How are these artists bringing awareness about these very important issues happening in their community? Yeah. Um, and so that was like my entry way. Okay. Um, I ended up working for, uh, a documentary for PBS called Great Decisions. And at the time I was doing video, um, video journalism, and I was interviewing these experts. Okay. And I noticed that there was thankfully a climate change episode within this documentary series. Um, this was like in 2015. And I noticed that all of the people that, um, we were interviewing where people. In positions of power and there were typically, for the majority men, we maybe interviewed like one woman who happened to be, uh, white and there were no people from the front lines in this documentary series.

Bryan The Botanist:

More executives or,

Ludovica Martella:

yes, we were talking to really exactly like executive, executive industry. Um, yes. Policy

Bryan The Botanist:

makers.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. What was

Bryan The Botanist:

the name of the documentary? Great or gray.

Ludovica Martella:

Great Decisions.

Bryan The Botanist:

Great decisions. Mm-hmm. Okay. On ccb. SQBS. Okay.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. So you helped produce

Bryan The Botanist:

this,

Ludovica Martella:

that, yeah, that's correct. I helped produce this and I, in that moment I remember feeling we were in Washington, DC even though we were based in New York City. I remember feeling like this big sense of like injustice that resemble kind of like the same feeling that I felt when I, as a kid. I saw those terrible images from, from the North Pole and, and Antarctica, and I. It really didn't sit well with me that we were talking about how indigenous peoples are being, you know mm-hmm. Taken away from their land, how the majority of bipoc folks suffer mostly from climate change. Mm-hmm. Yeah. We don't have anyone representing those populations. Mm-hmm. And so I decided, okay, I want to get into actually policy making. Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Um,

Ludovica Martella:

and turning my career from journalists to more of a researcher supporting these mm-hmm. Groups. Okay. And that's how I eventually worked for a couple of agencies of the United Nations, because I was in New York City where the headquarters is. Okay. Um, and so like what

Bryan The Botanist:

agencies in particular did you work for?

Ludovica Martella:

I worked for, uh, the UN Development Program, also known as UNDP and UN Women. So. The focus there was really like working specifically with UN women on how climate change mm-hmm. Affects specifically women and, you know, their economic opportunities mm-hmm. As well as their mental health and phy physical health. Okay. And when U-N-D-P-I focus mostly on how indigenous peoples were affect are and are still affected by climate change.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah. Sure. Um, it seems like resources are more available in cities, so some of these populations aren't living. And is it also, how are they not getting the same type of services? Like in general, can you like tell us like how women are affected in a different way?

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. So women specifically are culturally normally seen as the providers, the, not the providers, sorry, the nurturers, caretakers of the caretakers. So usually are the ones domestic Yeah. That go and fetch the water mm-hmm. The drinking water. And even just like water for the household. Sure. When the men who usually are seen as providers go and work in cities. Sure. So I was focusing mostly on like rural women in South America, in Africa. Okay. Wow. And we were seeing how specifically women were, um, impacted by, by climate change because. Often they would need to go and fetch water in really, in really, um, dangerous climate, uh, conditions. Mm-hmm. So even where there were like floods, so they were mostly impacted, like physically and mentally and also their families because then they couldn't go get water. Just

Bryan The Botanist:

getting water is such a basic human need, but it's, I was just in Guatemala where they carry corn on their head every morning to the market where they crush it and they mash it and they make the tortillas with it. And that was in Guatemala. But you know, I definitely saw a dynamic where the women have different roles there than the men. Mm-hmm. A hundred percent. And it was very different than even Miami, which is very different than the rest of the us.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

But so the work you're doing, it sounds like was education and also offering programs to like uplift and inspire them. Mm-hmm. So they basically learn more. Are you educating them? Are you empowering them? It sounds like resources. So at the time we

Ludovica Martella:

were bringing awareness. Mm-hmm. And I was really, um. You know, working to get data so that we could inform policy about how to protect these women. Okay. To make sure that, you know, they weren't left behind, um, because access to

Bryan The Botanist:

clean water. So trying to get them more also like public water sources or just so they don't have to walk miles, I mean.

Ludovica Martella:

Correct. Because, because like having access

Bryan The Botanist:

to waters helps with, um, health, right? Yes, absolutely. And longevity. Absolutely. And yeah, absolutely. Having a roof over your head, having even electricity or concrete floor, I mean, there's probably many things that developing communities get left behind in if they don't have

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. And also disease, they, you know, they would have to walk miles and miles mm-hmm. In order to get this water for their family. And often not only they would find themself and they still do find themselves in, you know, really pre precarious, um, climatic conditions. Okay. So, but they would also. Often get involved into like sex trafficking. Oh, wow. So they're vulnerable

Bryan The Botanist:

to anything from assaults to

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. Sex

Bryan The Botanist:

crimes, to trafficking, to, so

Ludovica Martella:

it's really everything because

Bryan The Botanist:

of poverty too. They need, I mean, they're, they're trying to survive, I'm sure. Yeah. Sad. In most cases, economic opportunities are scarce.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. In most cases. You know, it was just, uh, um, all of this data that was coming out and we were actively working with NGOs, like local NGOs in this countries that would like report to us the stories, these case studies. And in most cases, it was really just like a connection. That's when I started noticing all of the connections between climate change, economic empowerment, and even like yeah, mental and physical health. Mm-hmm. For most people, how everything is just like connected and how certain groups mm-hmm. Are more affected. For example, women in this case, but then, um, you know, in my work with UNDP and eventually pregnant women

Bryan The Botanist:

might be even more affected. Right. Or

Ludovica Martella:

mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Someone that's developmentally disabled or an elderly person. Exactly. Children are also affected harshly because they, they need certain needs that they might get in a developed country, but, so it sounds like this is powerful work that, um, I can see why you took it on as a woman, you know, and seeing the injustice in the world. Mm-hmm. Uh, knowing your background. You saw the evening news and were, you know, upset to see that happening to our earth. And then, you know, it's very, you're right, there's a big disparity between the developed world, like, let's even say Europe and the western world, and developed eastern world and undeveloped countries where they're still, you know, using wood, you know, and for cooking, they're still. You know, they don't have the same sanitation or the same waste management for instance, is a big thing in the US We have like a first, I hate to use the word first world, but first world versus second or third world sanitation, where in some countries they just dump the trash like in a gorge and it eventually gets washed into the ocean. I've seen it firsthand in Guatemala and it's'cause they don't have as organized of a landfill system as we have in the, but the US has a worse waste problem, I think, than the rest of the world.'cause we consume more, we consume about 20 to 25% of global resources and we make up 4.5% of the world's population. So that's a resource. Most countries also send, we up five times trash

Ludovica Martella:

to this. Like some s send

Bryan The Botanist:

trash to other countries. Yeah. Even the US has done that. Yeah. Mm-hmm. We, at sneaker impact, we are very against trash ever leaving. We do not, we divert trash from the land, from landfill. We divert footwear to reuse. Mm-hmm. But basically. We do not let anything get shipped overseas that it's not reusable. So that's how we don't let trash get shipped overseas, only usable footwear. Everything else gets grinded here. But it's so important that you have ethics because otherwise if you don't have ethics, you know you're gonna, A company will just do whatever they want. You know what I mean? You have to have global ethics to that we're one world, there's no, planet B is what sneaker impact, we say a lot. There's no planet B. Mm-hmm. And I'm sure you can be, get behind that. Um, is there more you wanna speak about climate justice?'cause I also wanna learn about somatic healing and about how you, how did you in New York City, what triggered you to get into somatic healing and that connection?

Ludovica Martella:

So, um, during my experience at the UN I realized that, um, I really wanted to work directly with local communities. Mm-hmm. And so I, um, at the time I had, I had finished up a master's, um, in, uh, climate governance. And there was like a postmaster certificate of just one year in sustainable local practices. And there was, um, a program that was led by an indigenous, uh, professor. Okay. So I decided to like take that and I started learning about, you know, indigenous psychologies really. Um. You know, local based action on how you can make an impact from the local level, which then can have a dominant effect on a larger scale. And I started working with the, um, Mohawk tribe in upstate New York. Their tribe also, um, expands in, um, in Canada. Okay. And what is known as Canada. And I started working in supporting a, uh, woman led project, bringing attention to how these major companies were actually polluting the, um, Mohawk reservation on the US side. Mm-hmm. And so there people where, and unfortunately are still suffering from. All of these types of like, cancer and mental illnesses because their water and their land has been, um, you know, polluted for so long. And so these women, um, it was called the Three Sisters Project.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

These women were bringing awareness to that. And myself, since I had a background in journalism and, and research essentially mm-hmm. I was there to help them bring attention. About these issues specifically to the local leaders. Okay. And that's really where I started connecting all of the dots also with somatic healing work, because a lot of these people, um, were relying on mm-hmm. You know, things to like numb their pain mm-hmm. Whether it was physical or mental. And I started realizing, okay, what are simple ways that actually can support them on their day-to-day life? And I started learning about meditation, about brat work. Mm-hmm. Somatic means of the body. So, okay. You know, um, whether it's Bret work or, so go back to

Bryan The Botanist:

Latin. I think Soma, is that, does that mean body or, we'll, to look that one up. I should love it. I should know it too, because I studied Latin

Ludovica Martella:

from EW but I,

Bryan The Botanist:

I think Soma means should be because there's a Latin connection.'cause I studied Latin and I remember that somatic, I've heard the word, but somatic means the body.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

Okay.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. So

Bryan The Botanist:

somatic. Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

Of the body. Of the body.

Bryan The Botanist:

And

Ludovica Martella:

so essentially everything, every technique from breath work to EFT tapping, EFT stands for emotional freedom technique. Mm-hmm. Which is rooted also in Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine and specific somatic movements can alleviate this mental and physical issues that people have. Okay. And they're usually like really quick techniques that people can do on their own. So they're also affordable. And I studied, I became so fascinated by this. Mm-hmm. And so I started studying this, um, with Buddhist monk. I started my journey. Mm-hmm. Um, with, with that, with meditation and learning about mindfulness. And that brought me to like learning these tangible ways where I could. Yes, of course. Uh, support as a reporter and do my best, and also use, honestly like my white privilege to support these communities. Mm-hmm. And, and also support those who were open to sit in meditation, do breath work exercises, find ways to calm their nervous system, because once you, your nervous system is calm, you can support yourself and also support your community. Mm-hmm. So it's really, um, a ripple effect. And so what, what's

Bryan The Botanist:

like a symptom of a, of a uncommon nervous system? Would it be someone who is, it can

Ludovica Martella:

be anything from, you know, panic attacks, uh, anxiety attacks.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

Um, even fainting, uh. You know, um, it really changes from person to person.

Bryan The Botanist:

Fatigue, but just also probably yes. Not feeling good.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. And usually, um, nervous

Bryan The Botanist:

system,

Ludovica Martella:

you know,

Bryan The Botanist:

stress affects it a lot. Sometimes it's displayed through your care, through your behavior, but I'm sure sometimes it's hidden. Yeah. Because I think a lot of people have nervous system. Um. Issues because we live in a very like fast society in general. Unless you don't. But I think most people live, you drive your car and cars are going very fast. The news, everything online, social media, it's all meant to be very fast. Your attention span in the eighties, it was very different in nineties than mm-hmm. It was 20 or 30 years ago. It was very different before the, yeah. Everyone has a phone in their hand now and they're, you know, you see it when you go out. Everyone's always looking at their phone.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. And they almost like bump into you. Like, I was just in

Bryan The Botanist:

Guatemala even, and I was at like a gas station. Mm-hmm. And it was all Guatemalans, but they were young men, you know, 20 to 40 and 20 to 50, and they were all sitting around eating. But while they're eating, you know, they were all just looking at the phone because we're also even Yeah, yeah. You're looking for stimulation.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. Ways to distract yourself. Also from entertainment. Yeah, exactly. And I think, you know, somatic. Healing and mindfulness is really about like sitting with what is present. Mm-hmm. Without trying to like numb your feelings, but actually sitting with them. Yeah. Accepting them. Not gaslighting yourself of course, but just like acknowledging

Bryan The Botanist:

them.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. Acknowledging them. Surrendering awareness and then being able to like clear them after you have set sat with them. Being able to like clear them literally like from your body because your body keeps the score. That's also the, the name of a famous book from a former US um, veteran,

Bryan The Botanist:

but in a nutshell, tell us what that means. The body keeps the score. That means

Ludovica Martella:

that everything is made out of energy. Mm-hmm. Right. And if emotions are not processed well when we have like a traumatic experience mm-hmm. They tend to get stored into tissue.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm. So like a memory. Exactly. I've heard of that. And even buildings can hold memories. Some people think. Yes.

Ludovica Martella:

I'm interested in that actually

Bryan The Botanist:

space. I've heard some podcasters, it's a totally random thing off the side tap. But if some, I mean it could just be love from a family or a person full of love in that house. They treated it with so much love. It could be pain from a crime.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

Uh, spaces and people can hold trauma. Absolutely. And they can also hold love. Yes. Or vessels.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. Exactly. That's what you

Bryan The Botanist:

mean by so soma, I mean it's the Greeks and the Latins. I'm sure they knew like the body is a container in a sense. We're not gonna get all mm-hmm. You know, religious and political on the podcast.'cause everyone has a different belief. And I studied Buddhism when I was younger in Thailand. I read that teachings of Buddha. So I found it to be very different than my raised being raised in a Christian upbringing in, in, in, in Wisconsin.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. So,

Bryan The Botanist:

you know, going to, you know, church every Sunday. Yeah. Um, instead Buddhism was more about connecting with the world. You know what I mean? Connecting with nature.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. And, you know, that's And peacefulness. That's a very interesting point that you're bringing up. Yeah. Because, um, often people I've, I've gotten this, um, question, actually I have, uh, I have an online community where I essentially like break down and teach all of this somatic healing practices. Mm-hmm. And I have, um, a young lady who just finished Ramadan and her first Ramadan because she just converted. And she was asking me before joining, you know, is, is this like a religious practice? And my simple answer is no, because working with your own body is something universal. And you know, even though, um, the origins of mindfulness are, can be tracked down to, like Buddhism, Buddhism is not even a religion actually. Okay. It's about, it's a way of life. A way of

Bryan The Botanist:

life. Yeah. And so that's I was gonna say too, yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. And so these are things that, you know, these indigenous elders and mm-hmm. And people in the community, uh, practiced, but also, you know, they can be practiced in every religion. Sure. And it was very interesting to see that, you know, each culture has kind of like their own version.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

And so it, it's really a universal language. Well, like

Bryan The Botanist:

the teachings of Buddha a lot are probably about also forgiveness. Similar to, and just letting go of like hate and of, you know.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Being at peace

Bryan The Botanist:

instead of like holding all this, like, sometimes we hold a lot of emotions in our body, like you said. So I think exactly your classes. I think I need to go to take a class.'cause I've been, I've been through a lot and I, but I also feel like I've, I'm grateful. Like my cats ground me, my garden grounds me peace. You know, the earth grounds me. That's right. But also my family grounds me when I talk to my mom and dad. And when I talk to someone who cares about me. Or if you just also think about gratitude, I heard it's the number one way to, um, to. To, to take care of anxiety. Mm-hmm. Is if you think of gratitude,

Ludovica Martella:

it raises your vibration.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

So we all have a, because we're all made out of, we're all made out of energy. Mm-hmm. We all have essentially like a magnetic field around us. Sure. And which in the spiritual lingo is considered your aura. Right. Okay. But really, like, you can see this also, it, it comes down to science.

Bryan The Botanist:

Sure. Atoms bouncing around electrons. Exactly.

Ludovica Martella:

And that's really the principal emotion too of energetic healing. Mm-hmm. Okay. And so, um, that is very interesting what you brought up because, uh, we are part of nature ourselves. Mm-hmm. And so it is shown that if you connect with nature, your nervous system comes down. Sure. When go back, you go for a walk in the forest

Bryan The Botanist:

studies show just walking in a garden or a forest.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. Or

Bryan The Botanist:

an animal like my cats, when they lay on me, it. Helps so much with inflammation and with also anxiety and with stress and a hundred percent heartache. Anything even and, yeah,

Ludovica Martella:

exactly. And if you go ground back to gratitude, like listing three things mm-hmm. A minimum of three things that you're like grateful for every morning, it is scientifically shown that it raises your vibration. Wow. Meaning that your energetic field essentially

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah. Uh,

Ludovica Martella:

gets like a higher vibration so the electrons are moving faster.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

And it brings in this piece of like joy of relaxation. Your brain starts to release like dopamine and serotonin, which are chemicals that are responsible for just from

Bryan The Botanist:

being grateful, just from thinking about it, being mindful about ground because it grounds you. Okay. Taking

Ludovica Martella:

to the present moment, which is also really the core of mindfulness.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm. Okay. Um, so what are three things you lately have been grateful for?

Ludovica Martella:

Mm, I love that question. I will say I am grateful for my family, um, even though they are on the other side of the ocean. Mm-hmm. Which can be hard sometimes. Uh, they have really been showing up for me. Mm. I'm grateful for my dog. I rescued him here, uh, from the Miami Dad shelter. That's amazing. And he is special needs, he has only one eye. Oh, that's so to be despite, you know, all of the trauma that he's been going through, he's so loving. Mm-hmm. I'm so happy to have him in with me

Bryan The Botanist:

like a companion. Yes. He's more than he's family. I mean, he's Pats they are so special. They're, they're our soul companions. It's like they, they call it the cat distribution system. They're the same thing for dogs. I think. Like you, he chose you in the sense that, you know, absolutely. You chose him as well too. But it was a karmic alignment.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Um, and

Bryan The Botanist:

then your third thing, sorry I interrupted you.

Ludovica Martella:

Lastly. I would say and Okay. Um, I am grateful, uh, for the ability to do this work, to connect the dots, to even be on this podcast, to connect the dots between. You know, how can we take care of ourselves, of our community

Bryan The Botanist:

mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

And, and of the earth because it comes back to this, um, topic of energetic field. Yeah. Once we are aligned and, you know, are able to not attached to our emotions and clear our body of what is keeping us stuck from taking like action.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

Which is like collective action and, and supporting really like the regeneration of the earth that sends out a frequency to the earth of healing.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm. So we need to also be healthy in our bodies to create a healthy earth. We can't just create a healthy earth and be living a toxic be over. I mean, I'm sorry, but there are some, you know, there's out there, you know, like that have world leaders that, you know, they talk, they talk about this stuff, but they don't actually, you know, it's important. I think the key is. There's a sickness in our planet that's also within us.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

It's affecting us physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Yeah. And it's some, and we're stuck sometimes. A lot of people are stuck. It's not just like, I think every family has mental health illness. Mm-hmm. Every single family in the world. My family certainly does. Mm-hmm. But my dad's a mental health counselor and he told me it affects every single family in the world. Every single person in the world is affected by mental health because they know someone or know someone who's affected. Absolutely. You can all say that. I know many people that have struggled and I've struggled. Mm-hmm. So, and I've also struggled with physically, like I'm grateful just to be able to walk.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Lately, but I've been running too. But I couldn't run for like a whole year and I was a former professional runner. Mm-hmm. So now I'm just grateful to walk'cause I have had severe nerve pain in my leg. So just being able to walk, but like also being able to breathe. Feeling like I do have a body that I can help, you know? In the sense that, you know, someday I'll be 90, I'm not 90 yet, but even when I'm 90, I wanna still be able to help. You know what I mean?

Ludovica Martella:

Absolutely. I love the

Bryan The Botanist:

garden, but I would also say I'm just grateful to just be healthy because I'm fairly healthy, even though I have this back or neck, not neck, sorry. Uh, lumbar pain spine, uh, issue that I'm getting injections tomorrow for. And I've had many injections in the last year. I've been going through a lot of pain, nerve pain, all types of pain. And, um, but I'm grateful that I am overall a very healthy person. Like I choose healthy foods when I travel, I eat, like when I was in Guatemala, was eating with all the local Guatemalan, Mayan, my friend introduced me to his girlfriend and girlfriend's mom, and like we ate at their home and they had a very traditional setting, but also just, I don't eat fast food. And like, it's not just about, you know, but it's about choices you make. Mm-hmm. Supporting the earth or not supporting the earth. And you can make that choice in every single meal and almost every single purchase of whether you're supporting. Uh, a healthy earth or just, and you don't wanna say good or bad'cause that's a value judgment, I think, you know,'cause everyone has a different opinion on what's good or bad. But I think the earth is a living organism. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. There's no way You can't say the earth. The reason why is'cause it's like thousands of mic, thousands of organisms and plants, billions. Actually there's like millions and billions of fungi species alone. The earth wouldn't exist as it is without fungi. That's right. The forest wouldn't be able to recycle the wood.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Many processes wouldn't take place. Let's talk about the trees. Let's talk about the plants, the herbs, the bees, everything that's connected. Dragonflies that eat X amount of mosquitoes an hour. I was reading. And they only live for four to six weeks. Did you know dragonflies? They only live for four to six weeks. But they're beautiful. Yeah. My cats jump in the air and try to catch'em. Oh, Celeste, she jumps and tries to get the dragon. She gets'em once in a while. She's a dragon flag ninja. She jumps up and she gets'em, and they're swooping through the yard. But in my back garden. But dragonflies are incredible. And so are many things from bats to bees, to spiders, to snakes, everything. Even snakes.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes, absolutely.

Bryan The Botanist:

And cats and every single dogs. Everything is important in the world. And we're all one giant organism. And if the organism is sick, it is sick. And the government currently isn't acknowledging it. We're not gonna get into politics. Mm. Because we love both sides. And I'm actually a centralist. I bring people together.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. I'm

Bryan The Botanist:

not one party or the other. Mm-hmm. And I can tell you you're the same way. We just want to be able to educate. Mm-hmm. Like that's certainly a right. You know, our, it's, it's our freedom of speech, so you can educate all you want and. You know, it's currently a tough climate, you know, in the sense that the earth is, it's at a critical point right now. It's at a critical point with all these fires going on. We just had fires in Miami the other day. We had fires in la, Hawaii, you know, and other parts of the world, like the Amazon is always, parts of it are always on fire. And we're losing, I think per minute. It's like five acres of Amazon or something per minute. It's like huge amount of deforestation. And like this, Brazil is protecting, Columbia is protecting. I read the other day, Columbia is protecting a big portion of this river system where these native tribe lives that have never been contacted and they protected the land to protect their habit. To protect their home. Mm-hmm. And it's this river system that's, I, it's called Putto Maya, I believe. Okay. And it's in Columbia and it's like a snaking river. Mm-hmm. Super beautiful. And it's all jungle, deep jungle, like lowland rainforest. And this is what I used to study and I, I've been to Columbia a couple times in the last year, so I'm passion, I read a lot about, you know, about environmental topics and. You know, they're protecting certain areas, which is good. Certain governments are, but like the problem is, is like they need to keep certain areas like off, like this area, they keep off limits to like logging.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

You know, no loggers can go in there. Mm-hmm. No one can develop it into cattle ranches, which is what they're doing with a lot of the Amazon, you know, converting it to cattle ranches for soy and cattle. That's right. You know? Yeah. And Brazil specifically

Ludovica Martella:

is the biggest, um, exporter of, uh, have you been to South America?

Bryan The Botanist:

Have, have you been to, have you done I have not been in

Ludovica Martella:

Amazon. It's on my to-do list actually. Um, I am currently like looking to go support some tribes there. Yeah. But you did a lot of work

Bryan The Botanist:

supporting the same type of stuff up in New York and in I'm sure with the un Yeah. Yeah. You said you were supporting Latin women

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. In

Bryan The Botanist:

Central with the, with the programming you guys are doing. Um,

Ludovica Martella:

yes, exactly. And you know, I think it's important since you've mentioned like consumerism and also what is happening in the, in the Amazon and these fires. In order to really like connect the dots with everything that we've been talking about. You know, sometimes, um, people are aware of this like greenwashing term and for those who are not, like essentially this mm-hmm. As you may know, it's. Like companies that promote that they're sustainable, but actually they're not. Some of the

Bryan The Botanist:

biggest polluters. Yeah, exactly. A fancy commercial. A really well done.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. Saying, oh my gosh. Get me started saying, we're helping Exxon. I'm not

Bryan The Botanist:

gonna throw anyone under that. I think I just said one name accidentally. No, but,

Ludovica Martella:

but you know, it's, uh, greenwashing is

Bryan The Botanist:

marketing that isn't really truly with integrity.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. And people, um, often tell me like, sure, you know, we have a responsibility as consumers, but it's this big corporation's fault that our world is polluted. The answer is yes, but also this company's are, are sustained. Yeah. By our demand power as consumers

Bryan The Botanist:

Sure. Comes down to the consumer. Yeah. So

Ludovica Martella:

it really like comes down to what are you putting your money into? Like what are you buying? Who are you buying from? And I do understand that sometimes people, you know, have restrictions, especially during this time with finances and. Something, it can be more

Bryan The Botanist:

expensive to buy organic sometimes, or

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. Or green material. In those cases, I would say if you can, to support like local farmers, for example. Mm-hmm. And try to do your best with supporting, um, small businesses, for example. Mm-hmm. Um. Women owned indigenous mm-hmm. Businesses that actually care about their products and the earth. Yeah. Because that actually makes a, a big difference. Buying things that are biodegradable, making sure that they're biodegradable Sure. And not just like using like single use plastic and things like that. Yeah. Um, small changes do make a difference and Sure. It's not about necessarily the consumers, it is the companies that are driving this, you know, the global mm-hmm. Global heating, global warming. But it really is up to us to make the right choices. So then, you know, the demands for these, uh, polluting factors goes down and then they're forced to find like more regenerative options. Yeah. The public demands

Bryan The Botanist:

that. Pepsi use a container instead of plastic. They really demand it. You know, they have to go pitchfork style, you know, like we demand that you stop using plastic.'cause if you don't demand it, they're just gonna keep doing it. Probably until the government forces'em maybe. But the government, it may or may not force'em, right. Because it's up to, again, private industry and the public to really make a change. But it starts with education.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

And, uh, I think people are, I think the tides are slowly changing, but it's, it's a slow change

Ludovica Martella:

like

Bryan The Botanist:

over the last 20 or 30 years.'cause like, there's more talk now than ever about environmentalism and about green energy and solar and EVs. I mean, I have my first EV in the last year, the EVs aren't the solution at all, but I haven't had to have an oil change or gas in a year. But I use fossil fuels to power my battery.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm.

Bryan The Botanist:

You know, so I still use fossil fuels. Mm-hmm. And I fly, so I'm using fossil fuels. Mm-hmm. And I. Buy things online. Um, so, but we've had a really deep conversation about soc, about, um, climate justice and about environmentalism. I wanna. Talk a little bit more about the classes you teach locally.'cause we have a limited amount of time today. Mm-hmm. I still have some more, um, hard hitting personal questions, but before we get there, I wanna talk about your move to Miami and about, you know, how long you've been here. Tell us why you came to Miami, what you've love about Miami, and what you offer here in Miami for your classes. Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

Because

Bryan The Botanist:

we're gonna put all that in the description, but I want you to tell the folks Yeah. What you offer and why, also your work that you've done here.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. I actually moved to Miami because of my climate justice work. So, um, I know that there is a lot of, um, heated conversations around people moving from New York to Miami, and I completely get that. Oh, I, I welcomed

Bryan The Botanist:

everyone

Ludovica Martella:

I know. I know you do. But it

Bryan The Botanist:

did change the city. We got an influx during absolutely the 2020 period of the

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. And things of C 19. The rain have gone high for everything, so, but it wasn't

Bryan The Botanist:

just New York, it was other states too that Yes, absolutely. And other cities were affected. It wasn't just Miami. We're not, you know, we have to change is. Part of life.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. And either

Bryan The Botanist:

change or you adapt or you don't,

Ludovica Martella:

you know, and I wanna mention that because, you know, as a former New Yorker, I've definitely gotten those comments and I totally like understand from Miami

Bryan The Botanist:

people that you're not like a local.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes.

Bryan The Botanist:

I, even

Ludovica Martella:

though I have been, I would say a a a working to support the local communities. Right. You're working. So I moved down here because I helped create the first heat resiliency program for Miami-Dade County, which is actually the first in the United States

Bryan The Botanist:

Heat Resiliency.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. It's called like Heat Action plan.

Bryan The Botanist:

Okay.

Ludovica Martella:

And it's, um, a plan by Miami-Dade County under the office of, uh, mayor Daniel Lava. To, um, prepare the citizens to really adapt to the rising temperatures. Mm-hmm. So it has a component of education. Each year there is a, um, heat season, a designated heat season that goes from May 1st to October three first. Um, you know, we created a very extensive communications campaign to make sure that citizens, whether they speak Spanish, Haitian Creole, or English, are informed about the signs of, um, heat related illnesses.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm. Heat exhaustion.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. I I about high

Bryan The Botanist:

school cross country coach and we get certified and, and heat exhaustion. Mm-hmm. Concussions and sudden cardiac arrest.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. Um, because

Bryan The Botanist:

those are things, but heat exhaustion is a big deal in Miami.

Ludovica Martella:

It really is. And then

Bryan The Botanist:

there's not as many trees as some cities. Some parts of the city have trees and some, we were talking about that off the podcast as when you told me you worked in resiliency and Yeah. You know, heat. Issues. I was like, wow. Bet the trees help a lot. If you have trees in your neighborhood, it provides a huge amount of shade. And then when they cut down trees sometimes mm-hmm. All of a sudden the area will get super hot more than it was before. Right. Or Exactly. But is it more than the tree cover? Is it more than the gardens? Is it also what is affecting heat? Especially in Miami. Mm-hmm. Is it just our, we're, we're closer to the equator than any other city.

Ludovica Martella:

That is definitely a factor, but also really, it really goes down to, to the heat island effect. Mm-hmm. Which essentially goes, it, it comes down to practices of what is called red lining, which are like urban design practices, where in the past communities that were like low income and mm-hmm. Um, communities were placed in areas of the cities where there was, and there is still more construction and concrete and less trees.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

And so those. Neighborhoods have a higher, uh, heat index than the neighbor, than the neighborhoods who have, than like Miami Shores a tree canopy. Exactly. Keep Theca

Bryan The Botanist:

or Coral Gables. We think of these beautiful

Ludovica Martella:

grove beautiful

Bryan The Botanist:

communities that have tons of trees.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. They don't have as

Bryan The Botanist:

much of an issue. They're not in the middle of these and, you know, like Brownsville or like Little Haiti and Model City and Miami Gardens. And there's some areas that are over town where they place black populations because it was right under 95. Exactly. Want to give them the prime. Now it's actually prime real estate because it's one of the highest areas of the city. So they're trying to force people out, you know, through gentrification. That's right. Um, but the areas still don't have many trees. They're just building and building. And the city of Miami is growing very fast.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

We're one of the largest cities in the us, you know, top 10, I'd say. And we're for Florida. We're a major part of Florida, which is a major tourist destination. We have the cruise lines coming in, we have the international airports.

Ludovica Martella:

Right.

Bryan The Botanist:

We're a hub to Latin America.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

But it's so much concrete, I'm assuming that's why it gets so hot, is the amount of concrete. Mm-hmm. Is that pretty much it? Exactly. And it's also, we're very close to the, essentially

Ludovica Martella:

what happens is that, like all of this, the heat sink concrete. Exactly. This con this, this material during the day absorbs the heat and at night it releases it, it releases it.

Bryan The Botanist:

So the, the city's hotter than like. The surrounding areas.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. And also you see that in

Bryan The Botanist:

Chicago too, by the way, and you see it in other Yeah. When I lived up by Chicago.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Those areas, I mean, this happens really. Elderly people were more affected major cities. Yeah. The

Bryan The Botanist:

heat was worse. And they were, people without AC were dying.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. So really like the heat action plan that mm-hmm. Um, we created and, and really was a team of just myself and my boss at the time. I'm no longer affiliated with Miami-Dade County. Mm-hmm. Um, as of recently. But the plan that we created included, yes. Education, but also action items, which went from making sure that people in affordable housing have access to, um, working ac, um, that the bus stops are shaded.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm. Because a lot of

Ludovica Martella:

people use the buses. Sure. And they're

Bryan The Botanist:

standing out there for a long time. Sometimes

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. In order to go do work, they're exposed to the sun. They have to walk to, you know, the bus sidewalks. Exactly. Parks, I'm,

Bryan The Botanist:

I'm assuming having access, there's food deserts we talked about on a couple podcasts where they're, these areas probably experience food deserts because they don't have access to great grocery stores. Exactly.

Ludovica Martella:

And so the, the main target and the statistically the people who suffer most from he exhaustion in Miami Dade right now are outdoor workers from construction workers to agricultural workers, landscapers, um, as well as that makes sense. Pregnant women, children who play in the heat, athletes who train in the heat, people who also like work in restaurants because they often go back and forth between areas that are, that don't have a seat, two areas that have a seat. And it gets

Bryan The Botanist:

really hot in those restaurants. I've worked in restaurants. Yeah,

Ludovica Martella:

exactly. Wow. Wow. You guys elderly? Of course.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah.'cause they can't breathe as well sometimes either. Yes. Or they have their own health. They're all

Ludovica Martella:

just like individuals that don't have access to AC and cooling, um, facilities, the homeless. So, um, I used to work essentially with all of these communities to provide workshops. I often also included somatic activations in my workshops because, you know, when we're talking about this kind of, um, teams, these are not always like easy things to, to talk about. Sometimes individuals, especially if they're more sensitive, they can kind of feel hopeless when faced with like this big issue of global warming. And so I think that's also where it come, like the somatic healing and mindfulness comes in because. Once your nervous system mm-hmm. Is in a place that it's calm, then you can take action. Then you can take care for yourself or your neighbors. You can check on maybe like your disabled neighbors. Mm-hmm. Like even during like hurricane season, you know, it, it, it really is all connected. Like it's a

Bryan The Botanist:

properly functioning system. Once you take care of one person, that person can spread, you know, spread that knowledge and spread that power that they have from being whole again. You know? Exactly. Instead of, so take us through an example of, can you take us through an example now of, uh, of like a quick somatic activation? It doesn't have to,

Ludovica Martella:

we can definitely do that. Okay.

Bryan The Botanist:

Are you ready? Do you want me to turn on the lights a little bit? Are they're a little brightener? I can turn'em down if you want. I think

Ludovica Martella:

it's, it's up to you. Yeah. Uh, do

Bryan The Botanist:

we close our eyes? How do we do this? I think, do I sit this, I

Ludovica Martella:

just first want to make sure, like with this mm-hmm. I wanted to conclude with the activation, if that's fine. Okay. So if you have, like, actually I have a couple more

Bryan The Botanist:

questions. Okay.

Ludovica Martella:

I think that would be a nice way. Yeah. We have about five.

Bryan The Botanist:

We said we're gonna stop at two. It's 2 0 8, so we're, that's

Ludovica Martella:

okay. No,

Bryan The Botanist:

but there's, okay. So how do you, give us a couple examples of how. Sustainable sustainably, Lu lives sustainably. Yeah. In Miami.

Ludovica Martella:

I love that question on a daily

Bryan The Botanist:

basis, like what's part of your daily routine that you

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

That you've done that has helped you to be more healthy and also somatically whole.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. So some of the things that I do, I, I do a lot, but I will say, um, first of all, I buy as much as I can from like, local businesses. Mm-hmm. So I make sure that I get my groceries from local farm markets. Okay. Um, supporting, you know, local farmers. I'm still exploring all the different Yeah. Uh, farm markets that we have here in Miami. Yeah. And like determining, you know, which one I like best.'cause you know, like in everything, we always need to be cautious, right? Yeah. Where we are like getting, you're gonna keep

Bryan The Botanist:

finding better spots. Like I know there's a fruit distribution center over by u um, or not by, by the hospital. Okay. And it's like one day a week and you can go like where they bring all the fruit from, like the key, not from like Homestead area where they grow it, but it's like before it gets on the trucks, it goes there I guess. So there's like little tricks you can learn. You can buy it directly from the farms that way. Or you can go out to Homestead or you can just pick a smaller grocery store that supports local farmers. Exactly.'cause there are some of those in Miami, but that's awesome. Um,

Ludovica Martella:

so that would be one thing. So you shop green? Yeah, I shop green if I can. I don't use Amazon. Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

I know. Um,

Ludovica Martella:

and

Bryan The Botanist:

that's the hardest thing I think for people to avoid once you get hooked on it.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Because of the convenience, right? Certain things. Yeah. But often, um, you know, I research what I see on Amazon and I go into companies. Like website. Okay. And order they're from the company. I heard that's a

Bryan The Botanist:

trick. Yeah. You can get, so get it directly from the company and still ask them for

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. And on Amazon to match. You can also see if you don't have like the option, maybe like you need something quick for an emergency. Right.'cause we're not all perfect. Like, I don't believe in like, you know, you need to be like perfect in order to make a, a good impact. Mm-hmm. Um, that's important. I think, yeah, because people, perfection, not realistic, people stressed out and they're, I'm not gonna do anything. No one's perfect. No one is perfect,

Bryan The Botanist:

everyone.

Ludovica Martella:

But like on Amazon there is a filter, um, I think it's, it says like climate flag sustainability. Yeah. And small business. There's like two, yeah. Add on like

Bryan The Botanist:

$2 or something. Yeah. It's like not much. I

Ludovica Martella:

don't know about that. It's not a lot. I

Bryan The Botanist:

remember seeing it recently. It depends on like the cost. Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

But it filters out like the companies that are like, uh, you know, small, but there's a pledge button where they'll like,

Bryan The Botanist:

add on a little bit. You're pledging, it's like also more green packaging, I think. In green shipping.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah, exactly. They're doing a better job.

Bryan The Botanist:

The other day I got something that came in paper, so I was like, okay, this is recyclable.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. They're, they're trying, they're trying to use less packaging. There's still of room for improvement. There's still a lot of room, but, you know, but it takes away from local

Bryan The Botanist:

business, which I understand. We need to all support local, otherwise we're not, we're gonna lose it.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. And on honor, so more examples, energetics like standpoint. You know, every morning I make sure to do some of my somatic healing practices so that I can be grounded and. Uh, move into my day, like being like calm and aligned so that I'm not just like acting out of my instinct. Mm-hmm. And, you know, so this is something that can change every day, but usually my go-tos are like somatic shakes, which essentially you just like shake parts of your body. Okay. So even if you have a disability, you can do this. Mm-hmm. Because you don't have to necessarily shake the whole body. But this is a very like, primal way to calm down your nervous system. Pets do it. Dogs do it often. Um, stretching as well. Um, after about like 45 seconds of like shaking a body part, our brain starts to releasing, starts releasing, uh, dopamine, serotonin, which are chemicals as we were saying, that are responsible for wellbeing, for happiness, for wellness. Mm-hmm. So that is a fun quick one. I also say to like the people that come to my classes, or like my one-on-one clients who work in corporate offices, if you need a break from work, you can go into your corporate office bathroom. Mm-hmm. And you can do that too from there Shaking. Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

I've done it before In yoga classes where they have a shake and running too. We have everyone shake out and do a lot of body loosers, Uhhuh, body loosers are just little simple movements of like little circles with different parts of your body. To loosen it up if you've been sitting in a, that's in a car. But yeah, body awareness to move

Ludovica Martella:

the, the energy. And I love to do, you know, some like diaphragmatic breeding, so it's a very simple mm-hmm. Technique that I can walk you, um, through in a little bit. Sure. And really, these techniques don't take a lot of time. Mm-hmm. So that's like the key component because what I get the most is like, I don't have time, I don't have this, I teach mothers, like single mothers and, and people who like run several businesses how to do this. Mm-hmm. So like every single person can do it, even if you just have three minutes. Wow. It can make the bus, the busiest person can do this difference. And so I love that. Those are some of the things that I, that I do. Okay. I try to avoid like harsh chemicals as much as I can.'cause they're also like hormone disruptors, which especially women, people who have, like women bodies, like are more affected by those. So it's a whole thing.

Bryan The Botanist:

Cosmetics too. Like I used to work for a beauty company and there's um, some that are earth friendly and some that are, yeah. Like it goes way beyond even animal testing. It goes into, you know, is it right? Is it the e The environmental working group is like the standard, they're outta Washington dc the EWG, but they have like the dirty dozen for food and the Clean 15. Mm-hmm. But they also have a rating for every single skincare product in the world. That's, and cosmetic and fragrance. And if you don't have a clear and transparent label, you should be able to see what every single ingredient.'cause what you put on your skin is very important. So it's important just as much as what you need.

Ludovica Martella:

And it goes out back into the earth too. Yeah. It's like, it's all, everything is connected. Oh yeah. It's

Bryan The Botanist:

crazy too. And sometimes like. The thing that drives me crazy, my little pet peeve is the spray sunscreens.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Because it's like a lot of it doesn't make contact with your body. So it's called like, I forget the exact term drift.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm. Like

Bryan The Botanist:

you lose, like it's drifting and it's sometimes hitting other people in the face, but it's also very bad for your, it's like that type of spray is very wasteful. Yeah. And it releases, like, I don't know if it releases CFCs anymore, but it used to, in the eighties and nineties there were chloro chlorofluorocarbons that would get released from hairspray. Mm-hmm. That was a big thing back in the eighties and nineties. But still, when you're doing those spray sunscreens, like my friends that are using'em, just use zinc oxide. That's how I use, and it's a physical mineral block. We're dorking out on skincare now, but it's so much better for the earth because in Hawaii and Key West they banned. That's right. Most sunscreens that have, um, it's called, uh. Hydroxy benzone or something. Mm-hmm. Oxybenzone. Oxybenzone, which is a chemical UV absorber, is what's in like Coppertone and all these banana boat. And you know, they're come after me. But you know, I have a skincare scientist for 10 years and zinc oxide is the healthy alternative to using a chemical UV absorber, which is what's in all the sprays and all the other slathering. The ones you get at the tourist places tend to be the chemical UV absorbers. Mm-hmm. They go into your skin after you apply it and within 15 minutes a chemical reaction takes place. And that's what blocks the sun. A chemical reaction in your blood. Yeah. Versus a physical mineral barrier that doesn't get absorbed, which is what zinc is. Exactly. Zinc is a rock. They can blend it now you can put it into, you know, moisturizers and put it into makeup.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

And they've come a long way. But when it comes to skincare, I mean, I think every single thing we consume, we need to look at. The effect it's having on the earth, and like even seven generations from now. I know it sounds kind of cheesy for me to be saying that as a white guy, but that's how I was raised. Mm-hmm. And the, and, and growing up was like, I remember one of my favorite phrases is Live simply so that others may simply live, you know, by Maha Ma Gandhi. Mm-hmm. Because that just means like we have privilege. Like I could way over consume if I wanted to, but I don't need two or three cars. I don't need a motorcycle and a car. I don't need little scooter. I don't need all these extra things and all these different toys. And like, you know, some people like the toys, some people need 30 pairs of shoes. They need all the different products. They need the fashion, they need the this.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. I'm

Bryan The Botanist:

very simple, you know, but that's just me. I still make my choices. Mm-hmm. And some of my choices, I'm a dj, so I'm buying speakers, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. And I'm buying stuff with my dj, but when it comes to clothing, I don't buy a lot of clothing. And when it comes to, you know, product to make yourself look beautiful, I mean, I get it. Everyone has their own thing. I'm a runner, so I fly to do marathons, but I think. Living simply is a, is a motto that I live by. Yeah. So what would you say is a motto you live by? If I had to ask you that question,

Ludovica Martella:

I don't buy things that I don't need. And when I do need to make a purchase sustain, I make sure that 99% of the time it's sustainably sourced. Uh, it's not tested on animals. Um, that is the rule that I live by. Like really, I, I really check my consumerism like habits. Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Look into the company. They give like a little bit of profits back to like, you see it Whole Foods. A lot of brands do that. Yeah. You know, they give X amount of profit back to social groups or the environment or mm-hmm. Towards donating towards a good cause.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. And like you will never like, catch me anymore, like, you know, using makeup or even like nail polish or anything that has been like tested on animals. Um, I don't buy from like, you know, fast fashion. Um, if I do have something that is like fast fashion something that I, I bought like. 10 plus years ago. And you're still using it when? I didn't know better. Yeah. Um, because also, that's the thing, this is a very

Bryan The Botanist:

nice dress you have on today. Did you buy this over? Is, is it from a certain, um, fashion? This is

Ludovica Martella:

from my mom's closet actually. Wow. Yes. But she's got

Bryan The Botanist:

good style because that wouldn't Thank you. Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

Um, so that's also something that I do a lot and not that, not, you know, not everyone can do this, but mm-hmm. Um, you know, repurposing things like even if in your own community, in your own family, um, or going to, um, you know, like secondhand, um, markets first. Yeah. And, and stores. Exactly. Have you heard of Mids

Bryan The Botanist:

Market? They're right down the street from us here.

Ludovica Martella:

No, they do a bunch

Bryan The Botanist:

of events. Yeah. Check them out. I haven't gone yet. M-I-D-S-I learned about them from uh, a woman who was just on the podcast. Taryn Hipwell. She was actually at the event we were at.

Ludovica Martella:

Okay. She

Bryan The Botanist:

was in the audience. Um, when, when you gave your somatic Oh my

Ludovica Martella:

gosh, yes.

Bryan The Botanist:

Taryn, she's the healthy fashion expert. She was on two or three episodes ago. She's amazing. Oh, amazing. She taught us all about healthy fashion. Which is, you know, opposite of fast fashion. So, but she was talking a lot about, in like mid-market and the things lab, you know, there's, these are some of the local places that are, mid-market is literally two blocks from here's, and they're secondhand thrift store, similar to a Goodwill, but in a different style. Like they have Yeah. They have parties there too and stuff. Like, they did something for Miami Music Week where they had a bunch of DJs come through. And,

Ludovica Martella:

and it's great to bring awareness to the fashion industry because after the animal agriculture industry, that is like the biggest polluting industry in the world because of the water that they use, because of all of the, um, garbage, all of the trash packaging.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah,

Ludovica Martella:

exactly. The waste. And so that is also like, something that I would like to leave the audience with is like sure. Like trying to, you know, limit your impact in what you consume. Mm-hmm. Like things that you buy, but also, like we spoke about what we eat, we spoke about thes on the, the deforestation, and. You know, take it from a a hundred percent Italian. I love food. I, I support veganism. I'm a hundred percent vegan, and I don't think everyone should be vegan, because you can still limit the impact.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm. Mm-hmm. Be mindful about it.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. Even if you just eat, I think the statistic said like one vegan meal, like per day. Mm-hmm. You can significantly reduce the impact of your global

Bryan The Botanist:

footprint. Your ecological footprint is much higher if you're a meat eater. Yes. Certain meats in certain farms, like if you're getting it from a regenerative farm, it's probably better than if you're getting it just from a factory farm.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. And I, I think it's important and know to talk about that because there is this term like mm-hmm. Angry vegan. There's a lot of angry vegans who are just very extremists, right? Mm-hmm. And so I. You know, I, I don't support that. I think that like nothing comes from like extremism. It's, and I think it's important to go down to the fact and see that actually there's many reports that show that even if you still eat meat mm-hmm. If you just like replace one meal a day with a vegan wine, reducing your, you can reduce greatly. Yeah. The amount of like, too, it's realistic. Your food, your food, you're not, you can't expect the whole

Bryan The Botanist:

world to change. Right. Um, just very small changes. That's what sneaker impact's about is many people making that choice to recycle their shoes. Mm-hmm. Many, like thousands and hundreds of thousands of actions equal a great impact.

Ludovica Martella:

That's right.

Bryan The Botanist:

But they all start with one tiny little action of one person that goes to our website maybe and orders that recycling bag or takes their shoes to the local running store, you know? Mm-hmm. Or reads the information you're, you're creating for these, for women in underprivileged communities.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. So.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah, we've gone, you know, we're getting close to that part of the podcast where we need to start wrapping up, but I really want people to know about what you do in Miami.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

You know, now, like, so tell us, don't be shy. Tell us about all the places you offer coaching and classes. I'm looking here at how people can connect with you.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

And the first way it's says somatic serenity online group coaching.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. So that, that's what I was mentioning briefly. Um, before I do have like a collective course community mm-hmm. Where essentially we break down. All of the somatic healing tools that are like the foundations of somatic healing.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

In the span of five weeks. But I am now, we are in session right now. I am thinking about extending the program. Okay. So that is, um, a way to, to connect with me the, like, it doesn't matter where you are in the world because the course also stays with you. And each module we break down very simple techniques. Mm-hmm. From meditation to breath work to somatic healing, to somatic movement. And in the course I do talk also a lot about intuitive movement, intuitive fitness. Mm-hmm. Which is something I'm really passionate about. Um, I'm very open on my platform about, um, the struggle that I had, like with food growing up. I suffer from an eating disorder for about 10 years growing up. And it wasn't until I learned about intuitive eating, intuitive exercise, and really somatic healing that I realized that actually. All of these, um, you know, inputs from, I call it the shadow side of the fitness industry. And even like the diet culture, it's really based on consumerism. They're not really based on supporting you to get healthier. And so that is another way that people like, um, you know, if they feel culture to this work that we can connect on. Mm-hmm. Because I, um, I really focus on that, that I'm a very active person and I eat intuitively. I don't restrict food anymore Good. I don't do any, um, harsh workouts that disrupt my hormones as a woman. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't believe in one fit fits all, and movement is medicine. So my approach with, with fitness and, and somatic healing is really that it needs to work for you. So that's why I provide people with all of these different tools that then they can make your, that they, they can make theirs. So whether you're traveling, whether now you're pregnant maybe, or a new, you're a new mom, you have limited time, your body has changed, you can still come down your nervous system and you can still use movement as a healing tool, rather trying to control your body. Like, no, you need to go. So everyone

Bryan The Botanist:

has like a slightly different need. Like a college student is gonna have a different need than a mom.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. Yeah. Or than a, it's about making it accessible to, to you an elder person. Yeah. So, um, that is like the group. Like course that I host. Okay. Um, but also you also have a one-on-one. Yeah, for one-on-one. I, I've, I do, I help, uh, people both online and in person. Mm-hmm. With, um, somatic healing, but I'm also a traditional reiki practitioner. Reiki is a Japanese, uh, healing tool. Okay. To support. I didn't know it was

Bryan The Botanist:

Japanese.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. It was brought into the US from a, uh, Japanese Wayan, um, woman during World War ii. Can you give us us a

Bryan The Botanist:

powerful example of a one-on-one client that you help transform their life? I know you don't want to take responsibility, it's up to the patient and the client to do a lot of the work, but can you, or that maybe, can you tell us, uh, an example of someone who really changed their life, whether it was physical or mentally or something that Yeah. From, from the practice.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Um, a couple of examples come up. I mean, I'm, I'm, you know, with respect in the privacy of, of the, of course, of the client, you don't need to give any names. Um. I have one, um, one person who stopped having panic attacks. Mm-hmm. After only, um, two weeks of working together.

Bryan The Botanist:

Wow.

Ludovica Martella:

And this person was suffering from panic attacks for years since their parents passed.

Bryan The Botanist:

Wow.

Ludovica Martella:

Um, so that would be one. I've had panic

Bryan The Botanist:

attacks in my life. They've been very intermittent, but I had some as a youth where they didn't make any sense. I felt like I was dying. Yeah. But I have'em under control now, but I can, I can identify with panic attacks.

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. That is, uh, and I'm sorry you suffer from that. Yeah, I know. It's a very scary episode. Yeah. When they happen and you do feel like you're going to die. Yeah. Um, but it's, it's really all about like, essentially talking to your brain and bringing yourself back into like safety. So that is a big example. And also what I was going to. To, to talk about like the, the one-on-one mentorship and group mentorship too, because there's, there is a part of that, it's somatic serenity is that, um, I support this, I supported this client, this, this success story to actually like, make peace with her body as a new mom. Okay. Um, so this person was like really having all of these unexplainable physical reactions, like things that the doctors wouldn't know, like they didn't know, they wouldn't explain. She was having, she had so much stress about how her body looked and so much stress about, um, the perception of other people. Mm-hmm. That like the perception that other people had of her, of her body changing. That she was having like, like skin rashes all over her body. Um, she was like losing hair. It Wow. A lot of things and. After, um, our program together, like her skin came back to normal. Like she's in peace with her body now. Wow. And that's by implementing like somatic healing intuitive fitness, um, intuitive eating into which really are, are tools that bring you back to your con your, your natural connection to yourself. Mm-hmm. And to the earth without all of this like, cultural pressure to look a certain way, do a certain way, avoid certain things. Um, obviously I always say to people like, listen to your doctors if you have like, you know, health issues and you know, for example, you're diabetic or something. Like, I'm not going to suggest that you go against your prescribed diet. Right. It's about finding balance. Mm-hmm. And it's more about like mindset and the messages that your brain sends to your body and vice versa. So bringing balance. Without being, being in nervous

Bryan The Botanist:

system too. Yeah. I think that's something a lot of people can use help with

Ludovica Martella:

because a lot of people are at work with themselves. Yeah. Really due, or just could be traffic, it could be

Bryan The Botanist:

lifestyle, it could be pressure from family or just anything and you just,

Ludovica Martella:

yeah. They

Bryan The Botanist:

don't handle stress well, sometimes I don't handle stress well sometimes when I'm not in a good place mentally.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. Well, most people don't, we are usually not taught about these tools when we are kids. Mm-hmm. Now we see some western schools, including mindfulness in their, you know, and even yoga practices. Yeah. Um, you know, from like kids in elementary school, which is great. It's beautiful. Well,

Bryan The Botanist:

I have a quick story. I mean, I had a terrible stomach disorder in my twenties. I'm in my mid forties now. But it was so bad that I was hospitalized and it was like pre ulcers conditions. I was very healthy. I was a soccer player, forester. I was very fit. Right. Didn't look, didn't look sick.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. But I

Bryan The Botanist:

had basically a hole in my stomach.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm. And I had to

Bryan The Botanist:

go to the hospital a bunch, like er visits, like with lidocaine, where they have you drink like a liquid thing that, like it numbs your whole digestive tract.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm.

Bryan The Botanist:

It's called like, I forget, but it's got like lidocaine in it and it's, um, Pepto Bismol like, anyways, so I, after a couple of those, like, I couldn't even feel my body. I was in so much pain. Like my arms were completely numb. Like everything was all from this. I couldn't even stand. And this was affecting me off and on for a couple years. Um, and eventually I, yes, I was prescribed like Pepin at the time, you know, it was when I was like, I had, I stopped drinking soda. This was when I was a teenager. Then I stopped drinking soda at like 15. But like, soda was not good for my stomach. But hot peppers and things. Also, I basically had a very thin stomach lining. But I went to a healer after I, that my older brother introduced me to. I met through my older brother. I was exposed to some interesting people through him and. In Wisconsin and the healer taught me how to practice mindfulness over my food among many other things. I was also meditating on the color red. So that's a quick personal story. But you know what happened? My ST and I was taking these homeostatic soil organisms that occur naturally in organic food. Mm-hmm. They're in the soil, so they're called H SSOs, homeostatic soil organisms. They're like probiotics, but they occur in the soil and they're living.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. And they're

Bryan The Botanist:

on our organic food. But anything that's been over washed or peeled or not grown in an organic soil wouldn't have it.'cause they're living organisms that go, right, like on apple skin, carrot skin.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

You get what I'm saying? So you can take that as a supplement and it helps your gut health to improve. So I was take, they, they recommended, I take that from a company called Garden of Life, actually, that's in West Palm Beach, but it was called Primal Defense. Mm. They did take it for months and it rebuilt my stomach. On top of that, I was meditating on my food before I eat it to slow down. So it'd be like a 32nd meditation. I'm grateful for. May this food be for my greatest and highest purpose only. And I'm grateful for all the love that went into it. All the farmers, all the animals, all the love and work, and just slow down and be grateful for the food period. And what happened was, over the course and I stopped drinking alcohol. Mm. And you know, anything else that was contributing towards toxic system. And I turned my entire stomach health around and now I've got a bulletproof stomach, so I'm back. That's

Ludovica Martella:

amazing. And that

Bryan The Botanist:

it, it took some time, it took a year or so, but it was really, the mindfulness of the food was what really did it. I think along with the supplementation of these things that some people don't get, if they're eating, you know, processed food, like microwaveable food, you're not getting homeostatic soil organisms.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You're getting that

Bryan The Botanist:

when you work in the garden, you get it naturally. You breathe it in. So that's a quick example of a lifestyle change that Yeah. When it connects you to the earth, you know, you're getting, when people play in the dirt. Kids, they get homeostatic solar organisms.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. It's so funny you're seeing that because I, I saw someone yesterday asking on the internet, when is the last time that you played with dirt? And I was, I have to think about it. No, it's great. And actually it was gardening. Yes, it was at, um, historic Virginia Key, um, a couple of years ago. Oh, I love Virginia. Yeah. Yes. I was like helping plant some new trees, talking about trees. Mm-hmm. Uh, with tremendous Miami. Oh, nice. And yeah. So that, that is my last, um, cool. You know? Yeah. I've hike I'd place on blah. I was, it's been like two years knowing you to do more. Sure. So then you get really

Bryan The Botanist:

down. Yeah. I mean, I love it when I get the soil in my fingertips. It's in the,

Ludovica Martella:

yeah, exactly. And one last thing that I wanna mention Yeah. Because you asked, you know, like, what do I offer? And also Yeah. Well, I wanna talk about

Bryan The Botanist:

your online stuff too. Is that,

Ludovica Martella:

yeah. So the, we're still not done. I got more questions. So would be, would be, um, online. Okay. I do see like, my clients both online and in person.

Bryan The Botanist:

So your one-on-one is online and in person.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Okay. That's right. And also, um, about like success stories. I do host like group classes in Miami. Mm-hmm. And so I've been working at the Standard for over a year now. And there I host somatic ke uh, workout classes. Oh,

Bryan The Botanist:

wow.

Ludovica Martella:

And reiki, uh, sessions

Bryan The Botanist:

at the standard in Miami Beach at the

Ludovica Martella:

Standard. And I had, I, I do this like monthly. Mm-hmm. And I also, like, I'm starting to work more with like, more local studios weekly. Cool. Um, so, you know, definitely two people who feel called to this work connect with me so that Yeah. I'm gonna come to one of the standard classes need, I know Sneaker

Bryan The Botanist:

Impact's gonna get involved. I've been trying to come, I was, I think out of town for your last one.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

Um, but I'm, I know, is it on the 27th of this month at the standard? The

Ludovica Martella:

27th of April. That's right. April 27th at the standard.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah. And this, at this, it's the most beautiful place too. The standard. Mm-hmm. We gotta tell people real quickly that I haven't been to it. I mean, it's legendary, but, um, it's like a very peaceful. Place.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. And

Bryan The Botanist:

it's on the Venetian causeway, which is in between the city of Miami and Miami Beach. Mm-hmm. But it's like kind of isolated in the sense like it's not where all the activity is in Miami Beach. It's more hidden. It's a hidden gem.

Ludovica Martella:

Absolutely. And it's

Bryan The Botanist:

all about like, healing there. And, but it's also a kind of a hangout spot, like a social spot too. Like they have like mm-hmm. The docks and they have the pool and they have a membership. Um, and they have a, what do they have? They have a spa there, A big time spot. It's like one of the best spots in Miami. Yeah. So with the

Ludovica Martella:

process, the spa is included. Oh, wow. So what is great is that after you do this like sessions to like clear energy stuck in your body. You can do hydrotherapy at this spot. The Roman waterfall,

Bryan The Botanist:

the cold plunge, the heated hamam. They call it the Hamams. Mm-hmm. Is that right? Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

That's right. The

Bryan The Botanist:

heated rocks you can lay on inside.

Ludovica Martella:

Okay. You can, yes. And, uh, they have, uh, steam room, asana, um, an ice room for those who don't want to do like the cold plunges. Mm-hmm. And, um, a Roman waterfall love,

Bryan The Botanist:

right? Yes.

Ludovica Martella:

And you can, uh, you know, really get the, it's like this waterfall that like

Bryan The Botanist:

hits you really strongly on your shoulders. Anyone who's been there knows what I'm talking about.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Yeah. And then you

Bryan The Botanist:

can go swimming with the dolphins in the bay off the I've done that.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. You can jump off the pier. Uh, a possibility. There's a little,

Bryan The Botanist:

uh, di or not, what am I trying to say? There's a, a rest restaurant that's on the bay. Yeah. That they have too. They have a really clean restaurant. I've gotten like really good vegetable juices there. And like ginger shots and stuff. Like they do. That's good to know. They have really healthy drinks here if you don't wanna drink alcohol.'cause they definitely have alcohol too.'cause it's like a

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah, it's a polar spot. It's, it's a popular

Bryan The Botanist:

spot. Like boats pull up to it. They have fancy members, but everyone there tends to shop and look very sustainable because they're like dressed like in more, like, it looks like more environmentally friendly fabrics. And also just like, they seem to be from a, a mindset of more, like less waste of like, they care about the bay, you know, it's located on the, I just, I noticed there that the, they care, the standard cares about, you know, the environment. Yeah. And they care social about social good too.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. That's, that's why, you know, I, they only carry clean products. I really care about also the energetics of the place where I work at. Yes. So, um, I definitely have been feeling aligned with the standard and, and you know, what they stand for and I know that. You know, they have asked me to, um, support them also with sustainability. So that's something like we've been working on. Yeah. And they're really open to having like, sustainability workshops. And now you should do that because you have a big

Bryan The Botanist:

background in that. And they have multiple locations. They're right. They're all around. They have a couple

Ludovica Martella:

around the world. Absolutely. And so, so you offer a class

Bryan The Botanist:

there once a month about

Ludovica Martella:

Yes. Because those are like longer classes. They're called like workshops. Mm-hmm. They're 90 minutes. And then, um, people can stay until closure. Okay. They close at 10:00 PM so the classes start at 7:00 PM and usually, um, so they last 90 minutes. And then you have access to, to this afterwards. How

Bryan The Botanist:

nice. So you can just like melt into the. Therapy after your class. Yeah. It

Ludovica Martella:

really helps also with the release of everything that mm-hmm. We work on during class because like you sweat and then you can do the cold. It's really good for, like, I've taken

Bryan The Botanist:

yoga classes there and other classes, like I used to teach a running course there once upon a time. Yeah. And um, it's, the standard is honestly probably the most relaxing place in all of Miami

Ludovica Martella:

short of

Bryan The Botanist:

a state park. Like it's so natural and yet it's peaceful. They have like this salt water pool. Right. I'm, I should be like on there. Yeah. I'm promoting it. But anyways, we love the standard, uh, who doesn't, I'm not a member, but. Someday I would love to be in the

Ludovica Martella:

last class. If you're not a member, you go to lose

Bryan The Botanist:

class and you can go and enjoy the facilities.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah, exactly. Members. It's normally quite expensive to

Bryan The Botanist:

go. It's a members only place. It's a hotel too, right?

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah, that's right. It's a

Bryan The Botanist:

hotel and spa. And a members only like kind of like a club or, yeah,

Ludovica Martella:

that's right. That's right. And that's why, you know, um, that's why I also host the classes like once a month. Mm-hmm. Because, you know, I want to make them like, as affordable for my community as possible. Awesome. So I've seen that like once a month. It's something that my students feel, feel more comfortable with. And also they can take the advantage of like what members? Mm-hmm. You know, who pay like Yeah. If they want, want more,

Bryan The Botanist:

more support, then they're gonna come to you for your group, online group. And you have, you also have free online classes. Um, it looks like a complimentary 30 minute. Somatic healing session. Is that on YouTube or how, where do you provide that? Yeah,

Ludovica Martella:

so that's on YouTube. Mm-hmm. Um, in the description of the podcast. Mm-hmm. Um, perhaps we can put a little link. Absolutely. Yeah. So people can have an experience from whatever they are. It's a short, um, class about like 30 minutes. It's called Get Out of the Funk. Okay. So I'll watch it. And it's something that you can do really if you have like even limited space or time. Mm-hmm. And it's an introduction to what a somatic healing class would be. Um, obviously if we end up like working one-on-one, I create approaches based on what the person is experiencing. Um, but yes, usually when it's like group classes, I like to work with like what the collective is experiencing. Okay. And the, the beautiful thing about somatic healing is that there are, in the, in, in the, in my training, I, I got trained by Ada Simonon. He's. A Brazilian spiritual guide. He put together all of these ancient practices into what is called the somatic activity, the healing method, which is one of the things that I practice. And there are specific movements that are connected to specific emotions. So I support, essentially by the community when it's a group class, by reading these classes that are based on like, okay, what are we experiencing as a collective? Is it grief? You know, is it anger? Is it rage? And like, actually like clearing those emotions so that we can, um, amplify the, you know, the, the vibration Cool. Of ourselves and also the earth.

Bryan The Botanist:

Yeah, that's true in certain, like what you're saying, certain actions can, like if someone holds their arms like this, you know, like body language, like it can like hold emotion, you know, versus like, I'm sure how you hold your body is very important. Mm. And, um, you know, if you clench your jaw, that's not good. You know, relax the jaw

Ludovica Martella:

Right.

Bryan The Botanist:

Relax the shoulders, you know, it's a lot of things that relaxing tension I'm sure is important. Mm-hmm. But, okay. So I have just a couple more questions. I mean, we're pretty, pretty much wrapping up. I don't want people to think we're leaving yet'cause we got the, the best part at the end. We're gonna do an activation, but, um, so people can find you on Instagram at sustainably lu Yes. LU, yes.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. That's correct. Okay.

Bryan The Botanist:

We'll put that And, and you're on TikTok it looks like.

Ludovica Martella:

So, so Instagram is my main social media. Okay. I will say TikTok. I don't, it's, it's, it's not like, um, something that I'm like very versed in. Okay. But I do have a TikTok handle. Yeah. It's the same one as Instagram. I'm on TikTok

Bryan The Botanist:

unfortunately, but I am on Instagram. So we're friends on Instagram. Yes. Yes. So definitely Send Lu a friendship. She's teaching. I watch her live. She's going live, she's sharing a lot, um, to help heal people and the planet. And you have a website too?

Ludovica Martella:

Yes, I have a website where people can just browse all of the information of all of the offerings that I, that I teach. What is the website and the, so the website is Self Sustainable industries. Okay. s.com.

Bryan The Botanist:

Self sustainable industries. Mm-hmm. Dot com. Mm-hmm.

Ludovica Martella:

Okay. Yeah, we'll put that in the chat. Yeah. Or in

Bryan The Botanist:

the, uh, and do you have a newsletter?

Ludovica Martella:

I do have a newsletter, yeah. Cool. People. I really don't like spamming, so I make sure that in, in these newsletters, I offer people like simple tips on how to regulate their nervous system. And I just like let people know like the classes through email that, yeah. The classes that they sign

Bryan The Botanist:

up for it. So they wanna receive more information. That's awesome.

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly. So

Bryan The Botanist:

you stay in touch with them and give them tips. That's so nice.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. Because, you know, and then we have people who travel. Yeah. And maybe like they stop their wellness. You're providing value

Bryan The Botanist:

too. I mean, some people, people who see it as spam are the people that are not interested in really the. The benefits or the help that they, you know, they might be stuck.

Ludovica Martella:

My goal is really to make these healing practices as accessible as possible. I love

Bryan The Botanist:

that. Yeah. That's why you travel a lot. This is something you can do if you are a mom. This is something you can do if you're

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly, I do a lot of that on my Instagram too. Mm-hmm. I have like, small practices or even like, segments of my classes there. So yeah. I'm, I'm really big on making it accessible.

Bryan The Botanist:

Well, we've really enjoyed getting to know you today. Um, what's your favorite food is an Italian. I think we talked about it. Favorite food though. Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

I know it's pretty stereotypical, but Italian pizza.

Bryan The Botanist:

Italian pizza. Yeah. So Nap, Nepalese, or how do they say Nipple?

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah, Nepal Pizza. Is there anywhere in

Bryan The Botanist:

Miami that can do that? I know that I've been to a couple places. Like, uh, I

Ludovica Martella:

honestly, I'm not sponsored by them. Yeah. But I love them. Um, the, it's a chain.'cause they have different ones. It's called Puma. Okay. And there's one in Miami Beach, one in Midtown. Um, so

Bryan The Botanist:

you, you, you, you say theirs is authentic?

Ludovica Martella:

It definitely is authentic. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It, I'm pretty big. Have you ever been to

Bryan The Botanist:

Cielo? They're an Italian, uh, only

Ludovica Martella:

pizza place. No, I don't think so. It's on

Bryan The Botanist:

Biscay. They pride themselves. They use like even charcoal on the crest, but it's very interesting. Yeah. Check it out O okay. It's like O apostrophe Cielo. I give them a shout out'cause I went there a couple times.

Ludovica Martella:

Okay. And they

Bryan The Botanist:

do not. And like one time I went there and I asked for a Greek salad and I go, we're Italian. Everything's Italian. They got the aifs, they got the,

Ludovica Martella:

you

Bryan The Botanist:

know, after you eat you get the lemon shot or something. It's like a lemon. Yes. The lemon cello and Got it. Yeah. Everything there, the pizzas are so authentic. Like everything is from Italy. So it's on skin. Yeah. It's not far from here. It's on 70th.

Ludovica Martella:

That's good to know. Very close to. I definitely check it out. There's a bunch of,'cause I love pizza. Yeah. Like what else about

Bryan The Botanist:

the Italian culture is like, brings you back to the home. Uh,

Ludovica Martella:

here in Miami

Bryan The Botanist:

or just in general? Like are you

Ludovica Martella:

what I will say, yes. We wanna learn more about

Bryan The Botanist:

the Italian culture.

Ludovica Martella:

What I will say, so first of all to goes the thing on the pizza for my vegans out there, Puala is a hundred percent Italian, but they also have vegan mozzarella, which is good. Okay. Um,'cause not all vegan cheese is like tasty. Um, but yeah, I wanna give them a shout out'cause they really like make it a, a point to like, make it accessible and tasty for everyone. So I really appreciate them for that. Um, and going back to like Italian culture mm-hmm. I will say that. Mm-hmm. Um, recently I've been, uh, truly diving in into my, um, mother's lineage, which I was saying is like from the naval region. Um, so Campa just out of Rome and that's also where pizza's from. Um, and it's on the coast, so usually people go to the Amal coast. It's a very like power spot. Mm-hmm. And I have been reconnecting to my ancestors there. I still have family there and I am so fascinated by the fact that I've been learning that, you know, there used to be like, um. Tribes led by women actually who were work, work ashamed, like the waters working with, you know, like sustainable regenerative practices. Mm-hmm. To make sure that, because it's a big, those towns are like big fishing towns. Okay. And they used to really have, and they still do some of them, but, um, they used to stress a lot like sustainability, so to not, like over fish for example. Um, they used to be, and some of them still do a great, um, uh, a great job and not polluting the water excessively. Um,'cause unfortunately there's always a little bit of pollution, especially with tourism, et cetera. All this to say that I am planning to, mm-hmm. This is pro probably the first time that I make this announcement live, I think. Um, but I'm planning to, um, host sustainable retreats in Italy.

Bryan The Botanist:

Oh wow.

Ludovica Martella:

In order to, um, support the local communities. Mm-hmm. But also I know that there are a lot of people who feel the connections with their ancestors in Italy or even with the land because it's a very, um, you know, healing land actually. Mm-hmm. And so, yeah, that's something in the west.

Bryan The Botanist:

Amazing. Wow. That sounds very immersive. To like, take a group to Italy and show them behind the scenes. And from a local's perspective, like this history, it's so rich and the culture and the connection to the land. That's really cool. Mm-hmm. I think you should do it.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah. I, I have, uh, plans to go this summer to scout places because there's a lot of, um, very ancient and, uh, healing sites mm-hmm. On that land specifically. And I want to first experience it myself and make sure mm-hmm. That, you know, I make the right connections with the Right. Like local business owners and all of that. And then you can

Bryan The Botanist:

bring a group

Ludovica Martella:

Exactly.

Bryan The Botanist:

Amazing. Well, we'll wanna learn more about that and, uh, you know, um, guys, we're gonna share all the information in the bio. Mm-hmm. So, and in the description. But, um, it's been fun getting to know you today, Lu, same you lu Vico. Yeah. And, um, thank you for having me. Yeah. Do you wanna end it all with any type of activation or how do you feel? Absolutely. Okay. We're gonna do

Ludovica Martella:

a very short one. Okay. So that people, should we lower the

Bryan The Botanist:

lights or the light lights are really bright in here. I keep feeling we should lower the lights.

Ludovica Martella:

Um, it's up to you, however you like it. Little bit. So we can relax a little bit. And then, and just so people know, this is something that you can do whether you are standing or sitting.

Bryan The Botanist:

Here we go. Sorry. Okay. So whether you're standing or sitting,

Ludovica Martella:

yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

Okay. So I'm gonna sit, but just'cause I don't wanna practice it sitting down.

Ludovica Martella:

We're gonna be here just for about like five minutes or so. Okay? Okay. And this is really, um, something that people can do, whether they have meditated before, whether they're beginners, experts. Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay, so we're going to start simply whether you're sitting or standing by, first of all, relaxing our shoulders, relaxing the belly, and we're going to start focusing on all of the touching points between our body and the surface underneath us. So making a mindful connection with your body and the support from underneath the earth. So if you're standing, you may want to bring awareness on whether or not you are putting more of your weight on the right side or on the left side. You can bring a gentle bend in the knees and adjust yourself, bringing yourself back into balance. You can do this also, if you're like sitting, making sure you're comfortable, really getting curious about how the body feels supported by the earth underneath you, focusing on that sensation of gravity, that sensation of support. And if by any chance you're struggling to make the connection, you may want to like wiggle the toes as if you were grabbing your toes, the earth underneath you. Maybe you address the earth you can send some gratitude for, for supporting you at any point, no matter what she's going through. See if you can relax a little more into that sensation of support. You can close your eyes or you can keep them open. Especially if you're standing or on the go, please be aware of your surroundings. You can do this also with your eyes open. Just keep a gentle gaze here. This is a simple exercise to ground yourself in the present and moment. Feel the body and the support from underneath you, maybe relaxing the jaw very gently. We're going to scan from the bottom of the feet all the way up. We're gonna scan our body and we're going to reach just about two inches above the head. And here we're not scanning for problems, but we're simply becoming aware of how the body feels today. So making sure to scan all of the body, not only the points that may have some tension, but providing love and and tension to all of your body. Remember to breathe breathing normally, and once you reach the top of the head at your time, we're going to bring one hand to the chest and one to the belly. And if you only have one hand hand available, you can decide to places to place it, whether it's you feel more called to the belly or the chest, it's up to you. We're going to be focusing on how the hands feel. On our body. So perhaps you can feel your heartbeat underneath the palm on your chest, or maybe you can feel your breath moving your belly in and out. Connecting with your life forces here. Staying with that physical sensation, that sensation of touch, of connecting with your vessel, with your body, very gently. We're going to, with our hands here, move the fo focus on the breath without controlling it. Just noticing how it is. Maybe it's shallow, maybe it's deep, and very gently. We're going to invite more oxygen into our body, and we're gonna start by first excelling all year out. Working out from the mouths. If you are blowing into a straw, pushing the belly in. Excelling, excelling, excelling all the out at the bottom of the breath. We're going to inhale from the nose, extending the belly for a count of four of three, two. And one holding at the top, just for one and for two. And excelling all the air out from the mouth for 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Hold at the bottom here just for one and for two. And inhale from the nose. Big belly breath. Extending the belly. Inhaling from the nose. 4, 3, 2, 1. Hold at the top for one and two. Exhale from the mouth. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Hold at the bottom just for one and for two. Big in How the biggest you've taken today. Expand, expand, expand. 4, 3, 2, 1. Hold at the top for one, two. Exhale all the year out. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Hold just for one, two, and letting the breath come back to its natural rhythm. Keeping your hands there, noticing how the breath feels. Now noticing if maybe there is a little change, and if not, there's no problem at all. We're just noticing without any expectation I to bringing the attention back to how the hands feel on the body on that physical sensation. And very gently, we're going to scan down from where, how our hands are all the way down through our feet. We're going to see in our eyes, mind some beautiful roots that connect us all the way down to the core of the earth. So just as if it's an extension of your body standing all the way down. This roots can be any color, any shape, feeling into that sensational support of steadiness, connecting you to the very core of the earth. Perhaps you fix your posture a little bit, feel into that strength of the earth. Continuing to breathe here, feeling your interconnection with the earth. Feeling rooted and grounded, supported. Once you reach the core of the earth, just scanning back up all the way down, all the way up, up, up, up through your roots, through your feet. Once you reach the feet, you may wiggle the toes. Just bring in some movement and presence into the room very gently at your own time. You can open up the eyes. If they've been closed, you might have a little stretch. Grab some water.

Bryan The Botanist:

Mm-hmm. Yeah. That was amazing.

Ludovica Martella:

And yeah, so it felt

Bryan The Botanist:

so peaceful. Really quiets down on everything, doesn't it?

Ludovica Martella:

Just honestly like connecting your, like bringing awareness to your soma, to your body. Mm-hmm. And to how the physical feels on the earth. That is one of the, the most simple somatic healing tools to ground yourself in the present moment.

Bryan The Botanist:

Just thinking about the sensation of your body connecting with earth. That's right. So important. We hold ourselves in sometimes stressful positions throughout the day.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah, so it'ss, all s sLuching or

Bryan The Botanist:

whether we're in a car, even me at the chair, I'm kind of like leaning a little bit to the side. Mm-hmm. Trying to stay outta the camera view. And I noticed that, yeah. It's hard on the neck. It's hard on the shoulders. It's hard on, it's hard to sit for long periods of time too. For me, I like to mm-hmm. Move around. I'm a very active person like you. And, um, yeah. So I think it's important that we just honor our bodies and that we think about these things we're bringing awareness to and being mindful, and that's like a very important word, I think for like, the world is mindfulness, you know? Mm-hmm. I think that's exactly what you're teaching. Yeah. I teach it in running, but it's so important in everything we do. Mindful eating, intuitive eating.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm. You

Bryan The Botanist:

know, mindfulness in everything that we do. We interact with the world and shopping in fashion and all that stuff. Absolutely. Being a consumer, being a mindful consumer. Well, this was amazing. Thank you so much, Lu. Uh, it's been a pleasure. What a healing podcast. Thank you for sharing your energy and your. Love for the planet and for people with us today on Sneaker Impact News. And, uh, hope to see you again in the future and we'll definitely keep guys, check out sustainably underscore Lu on Instagram.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

And I'll be sharing the link to all of her resources and classes and we're gonna be teaming up with her sneaker impact in the next couple months to do something with her classes to raise awareness about recycling efforts in Miami. Yes. And yeah, we'll, we'll be looking forward to seeing what you're up to and hopefully more and more programming for, like you were doing with the UN and with, uh, all these other agencies to help continue to heal the earth and heal people's bodies. Thank you. So thanks Luke, so much for having me. Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

And thank you to everyone who tuned in.

Bryan The Botanist:

Any last inspiring message you wanna leave us with? I always ask,

Ludovica Martella:

honestly, I would just say kindness goes a long way. So be kind to yourself and to others, because I know this sounds like cliche, but you don't know what others are going through. So, yeah. Trying to practice like kindness with yourself first, which will also feel, will make you feel more inclined to also offer kindness to others. Mm-hmm. Um,

Bryan The Botanist:

it doesn't cost anything either. That's,

Ludovica Martella:

that's right. A cliche

Bryan The Botanist:

thing that they say about it's free 99 free. That's right. 99.

Ludovica Martella:

Yeah.

Bryan The Botanist:

Awesome. Well, kindness I agree, is something the world needs more of and it's very healing. Yeah.'cause we don't expect anything necessarily. It's just a, it's a selfless thing to be kind. You're not doing it just for something you're receiving, you're doing it because it's the right thing to do and it helps heal people instead of approaching with anger or with stress, you know? Mm-hmm. Or with, you know, regrets. Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

And I would say if you feel like triggered at all by anything that someone is saying or by something, just first ask yourself, I, how calm do I feel triggered by this? Like, what does that action mm-hmm. Or that person. Like reflects in me because we're all mirrors of each other. So just try to be more, more mindful about, about that before reacting to something. Just truly like sitting with yourself and think, okay,

Bryan The Botanist:

why is it bothering me? Yeah.

Ludovica Martella:

Mm-hmm.

Bryan The Botanist:

What does it say about, yeah, I feel that way too sometimes. Mm-hmm. I have to look deeper at why something might, comparison is a thief of joy. We cannot compare ourselves to anyone. That's right. Just be healthy and happy and, and kind. I love it. Thank you so much, Lu, for being on today. That was a great healing way to close the podcast out. All right guys. Check out sustainably Lu and we'll see you on the next sneaker Impact news. Thank you.

Ludovica Martella:

Bye. Thank you so much.

People on this episode

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Bryan “The Botanist” Huberty

Host