Ouray Magazine's County Lines Locals Series

Healthy Holiday Living and the Art of Self-Care

• Markus Van Meter • Season 1 • Episode 6

Share episode

Ever wondered how to maintain holistic well-being during the chaotic holiday season? Shelby Russell, owner of Body Mind Connection Massage, and Brianna Taylor, a passionate advocate for regenerative agriculture, join us to unravel this mystery. Shelby shares her expert insight on why prioritizing rest over holiday hustle is crucial, while Brianna reveals her secret to a balanced start each day with grounding habits like meditation. Their insights offer a roadmap to achieving harmony between the demands of work and self-care, even amidst holiday chaos.

We then navigate the realm of nutrition, examining how our environment and food choices impact our health. From the hidden dangers in processed foods to the concept of non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), discover how small daily actions can keep you active without a gym membership. Learn the art of mindful eating and the importance of quality ingredients, like opting for grass-fed butter to fuel your wellness journey. Together, Shelby and Brianna provide a toolkit for making informed lifestyle choices, ensuring you maintain health through the festive season and beyond.

As the new year approaches, we tackle the pressures of resolutions and the role of alcohol in holiday celebrations. With personal stories and professional insights, Shelby and Brianna challenge the societal norms around alcohol and resolutions, offering strategies to create realistic and personalized health commitments. They emphasize the importance of nurturing the relationship with oneself, staying consistent, and seeking support when needed. This episode not only empowers you to face the holidays with balance but also sets the stage for a healthier, more mindful year ahead.

Markus Van Meter:

Welcome to the County Lines Local Series podcast with your host, marcus Van Meter, where we explore the heart of our community, sharing stories, insights and the voices that make our county unique. Sit back, listen in and let's dive into what makes life here so extraordinary.

Markus Van Meter:

Welcome everyone to the URA County Lines Local Series podcast. I'm your host, marcus Van Meter, and today we are back with Shelby Russell and Brianna Taylor to talk about holistic holidays and how you can navigate these treacherous times in the silly season. Ladies, welcome to the show.

Shelbi Russell:

Thank you, thanks for having us.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, it's always so nice to have you guys on here. You're so full of information and you guys are so passionate about what you do, and I think you guys have got a lot of great things to share. So, shelby, why don't you introduce yourself to anybody that might have missed the last podcast? Tell us a little bit about what you do, and you and your husband will, and then Brie will do the same for you.

Shelbi Russell:

Yes, absolutely. Hello everyone, my name is Shelby Russell and I am the owner and founder of Body Mind Connection Massage. My husband and I we offer a premium mobile massage service. We offer in-resident sessions and we specialize in medical massage, clinical-based treatments, restorative and general wellness, and we service primarily the Montrose and Ridgeway area, but we're open to traveling pretty much all along the Western Slope all along the western slope, yeah, fantastic.

Markus Van Meter:

And Will and Shelby do such a great job with what they do and the message they get out, which goes into Bree's message, and what she does, which is equally as fascinating. Bree, why don't you tell us a little bit about you and what you do?

Bri Taylor:

Good morning. I live in Montrose and I have a passion for the soil and regenerative agriculture, and in the last two years, I came to love it so much that I sought out additional training for it and I now offer free consulting for gardeners, homesteaders and farmers on any scale that want to transfer to a regenerative model, which means farming in harmony with nature and not utilizing any chemical inputs, and I'm really big on offering that information and that help for free, because I believe that that information and education should be free. Right, anybody can go. If you really want to go and pay thousands of dollars for courses and specialists, you know of course you can, but there is a breadth of base level knowledge that is so helpful, and I do this because, at the root of it all pun intended that's our common ground. Right, that is where health starts is in the soil. So, in addition to teaching regenerative agriculture, I have my own online superfood business as well, and I just work to blend those two worlds and help people that are willing to listen.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, that's fantastic and for the listeners out there that would like to learn a little bit more about the regenerative farming and about holistic movement on the Western Slope, you can look at our past podcast it was a couple of them ago, I think it was number three, if I remember correctly where Bree talks about that quite a bit and Shelby goes into depth about that connection with the body and the mind and that's so important. So we're into the holidays and are you guys surviving it so far? How's everybody doing?

Bri Taylor:

We're almost there, great. Yes, I've learned to take it slow, not apply the corporate pressure. I used to be so into that when I was much younger, but now I really. I really practice at home, sharing with my kids the values that, of course, go back to practicality and sustainability.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, definitely. And Shelby, what are you seeing this time of year? You and Will in your business. What are you guys getting questions about and what are you seeing a common theme with the holidays?

Shelbi Russell:

You know, I think it's pretty common for all of us small business owners this time of year we are slammed, but it's like the best thing ever, and it's so important for us to take our own advice that we're giving other people with, you know, just taking a step back, taking time out of your involvements to rest. Don't overcommit, you know. Time out of your involvements to rest, don't overcommit. You know, pay attention to your physical needs at this time and try not to take life too seriously. Enjoy the joy and warmth that comes with this season. So yeah, it's going really good for us, though.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, that's great, and you know, this time of year everything seems so chaotic for a lot of Americans with everything that's going on and our like holistic traditions to stay grounded, like, what are some suggestions that you ladies could offer our listeners on how to stay grounded? Shelby, you just touched on it a little bit, and Brie, you did as well, but what would be your advice for that? Let's start with you, brie. What do you think?

Bri Taylor:

Sure, I'm always going to go back to what we put in our bodies multiple times a day, and it took me a long time to learn how much every little meal, what's really important for us and not get caught up in what's marketed to you at all the stores. But it's still. It's a lot of weight, especially as a mom. You feel that Because I'm like the Christmas shopper for everybody in the whole family. So I, right now, I really am cognizant of what is my morning routine when I wake up, because that sets the tone for the rest of the day and that, for me, is alkalizing my body healthy food, meditation and just focusing on one task or event for the day.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, and Shelby along that line. I know you guys do a lot of touch work with your patients or your clients lines. I know you guys do a lot of touch work and with your patients or your clients and what are you seeing Like with? Can you physically feel that stress in a client like this time of year? I know you're probably pretty busy with that. What do you? What tips do you give people to manage that physical side of that?

Shelbi Russell:

Yeah, well, definitely in line with what Brie says. I was actually just speaking with a client last night and this is so in line with what we're talking about. She was saying how I've been doing all the things eating well, doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and I'm still struggling with digestion and I'm still feeling anxiety and I'm still stressed. And I don't think people realize, especially in today's society where it's socially acceptable to be in this hustle culture all the time, always producing instant gratification for everything that, like we can put so much good into our bodies. But if you are chronically stressed, the amount of cortisol that is just dumping into the system, it just seems to cancel out all the good that we're putting in. So I know that during the holidays stress levels do tend to stay elevated. People get really intense. You know just about. Maybe it's hanging with family, maybe it's you have a lot of commitments, maybe you're trying to give the perfect gift or whatever it might be, but this like elevated stress for too long of a time, it actually contributes to a plethora of issues, like I mentioned the digestion, insomnia, anxiety, weakened immunity and, of course, everybody's like it's flu season, it's cold season and we know that it's really just junk food season and stress season, right? So I always encourage mindfulness and I think this time of year can bring a lot of mixed emotions. You might be feeling happiness and excitement one moment, and then maybe you're feeling overwhelmed and anxious the next moment. And of course, you know we are Body Mind Connection for a reason and I think that this concept can be perceived as something that's outside of us that we have to go and attain. But it is a literal thing. You are the body-mind connection. It's not outside of you and so like.

Shelbi Russell:

One example of that, just on this topic, is how stress can cause anxiety and that triggers an autonomic nervous response in the body. It raises your heart rate, causes you to start sweating. Now you're noticing that you're sweating, which causes more stress, and it's like what started up here just immediately started to affect everything else. So this can be a really positive experience. I just encourage taking time, like I said, out of your involvements to rest. Don't overcommit, eat well and balance your diet, modify your stressors, get a massage, go to the sauna, go to the hot springs and just don't take life too seriously. Be slightly amused by it all. That's like my number one tip. It's not that serious. We can have a really good time, you know.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, that's so important in cortisol. I don't think people realize how detrimental that can be to the body to regulate that and a lot of things can trigger it. And then you throw an overconsumption of alcohol in there during the holidays and then you're just adding fuel to the fire. And you know, bree, I know you do a lot of work with that, the food aspect of it and what, and I know this is the time for Christmas cookies and you know, and eating bad and celebrating. But how do you recommend, like from a food standpoint, if someone did go out and have a Christmas party that they just went nuts at? I mean, how would you suggest handling, handling the repercussions out of the next day or the day after? Kind of get you back on track.

Bri Taylor:

Sure Well, you're not going to be able to get yourself back on track unless you have a plan in the first place. So for me, which is why I have my superfood business, this is what I do to a T. I've gone to a couple holiday parties already. My husband and I are going to his company holiday party tonight. They do not serve healthy food and everyone drinks their faces off, and my husband and I no longer drink alcohol. So before we go we will have our superfood power shake, which is loaded with vitamins and minerals and dense leafy greens, and what that does for my body is it satiates it with nutrients.

Bri Taylor:

I'm not going to have cravings when I'm walking. I mean you will. If you do this, you'll know what I'm talking about. But I will not have cravings as I walk past this table of inorganic beef and vegetables loaded in crappy butter and top processed sugar and nasty chocolate. I mean that's literally that's all that it is. It's so sad too, and it's actually at like what's considered a nice restaurant. But even the majority of nice restaurants do not purchase quality produce, fruits and vegetables because they're so expensive. And then usually restaurants cooking practices make the food even worse. I mean, you're already cooking out all the nutrients. So, and then let's load it up with some nasty oil and butter and I'm a big fan, by the way, of raw, organic, healthy dairy and butter. That's different than conventional dairy and butter. I want to make that clear. So, anyways, we'll have our power shake before we go to the party tonight and then when we get home because of course I'm going to eat like a tiny bit of the food there, but I'll be very selective I come home and I personally take a bacterial strain that feeds good bacteria into my gut to help remediate the toxins that I have ingested, and this practice, I have found, keeps me from experiencing any bloating whatsoever. I mentally and physically wake up the next day feeling fine, because I think some other listeners out there will be able to resonate with this. But when you become completely sober and when you clean up your gut, your body becomes more sensitive to the toxins that you ingest, whether that's through food or in the environment, like even if you walk into another building where they use heavy fragrances that can make you feel bad, and you start to experience in a food and environmental toxin hangover the next day. And I've I've experienced that, so I've just learned.

Bri Taylor:

I have my little routine ready and set for when we're going to go out, and I call it interact with the normies. I often truly feel so outside of the normal food culture these days, like Shelby and I. Shelby and I are we are outsiders for sure at present, but right when we're talking about what's to come with the health movement, I think that we're setting the stage where the trendsetters and we're definitely not the first people to do this right we're. We're on the stage where the trendsetters and we're definitely not the first people to do this Right we're. We're on the train now, thank goodness. But yeah, when I got to go out to a party with the normies, where everybody looks at me, we're like why aren't you eating all this amazing free food? And my brain's like that's not food.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, yeah, you're so right on that and you know you touched on a couple of things that I think you know the word normies is something that I'm very familiar with in a lot of ways and it's used in a lot of different references, and the common definition of that that I've ran into is people that are not aware or awake and to what's going on around them and how that's impacting them, and that is, you know, back into the old reggae days of the Rastas and stuff of consciousness, and that's so important.

Markus Van Meter:

And, Shelby, you know there's such a physical aspect to that, and Bree just touched on how it impacts your body that you're so sensitive to that. What do you recommend to people or patients or anyone that comes to talk to you about this? Like, what can they physically do? I know you're probably into meditation a little bit, a little bit about quiet your environment, how your body feels the impacts of some of the things that Brie was talking about, that like walking into a room that's heavy in fragrance. I mean, I can't even go to the mall anymore.

Bri Taylor:

Yes, oh my gosh, it's so bad.

Markus Van Meter:

I mean it's so obnoxious. We were just in the Grand Mesa Mall up in Junction the other day and I mean I had to get out of there. I couldn't handle it. So, brie or Shelby, excuse me, what do you recommend? What do you tell people to do?

Shelbi Russell:

Yeah, well, you know Brie, of course you know as business partners her and I and you, we all get it. Nutrition is really the foundation and it's so interesting. Right is really the foundation and it's so interesting right in today's society there's like the normies, and then there's the health Greeks and it's like we've been put in this really interesting category, like if we're that, what is everybody else, and it's like nobody ever thinks. You know to dig in a little deeper to what it actually means it's not natural to eat unnatural foods. It's not, you know, normal, and this is a whole other topic for maybe our next podcast.

Shelbi Russell:

But literally the food system has become so. It's like Franken food. It's become so corrupted they are working so hard to make it as addictive as possible, and so you know the junk food addiction that people have, even the highly processed foods, or even like what seems I'm just eating at a restaurant it's just a salad, it's just dressing, it's just vegetables that have been like sprayed heavily with glyphosate and cooked in seed oils that are absolutely destroying my endocrine system and everything else in my body. It's so important, I think today. I think we are built for the pressure that's going to come with bringing this consciousness to people. Again, it's all still there. We just have to remind people and everything we do, how we move, how we feel. If your nutrition is not dialed in, you will never see the results that you want, and so I'm really passionate about getting the right information out to people, and I work with some of the brightest minds out there, including you too, and I really love that you know for a lot of these businesses here, which is why we love working here. But at Body Mind Connection, we are more than just a massage company. We are also a tour guide for your nutrition, dialing in your eating habits and resetting your, your gut microbiome, because touch and food are essential in surviving.

Shelbi Russell:

So, to answer your question, um, don't derail your progress just because it's the holidays. Stay hydrated. A lot of times thirst or I mean, I'm sorry, a lot of times hunger can be mistaken, um, when you're actually just thirsty. So just stay hydrated and make good choices and actually for easy things that you can do to just maybe make it more of an autonomic response for staying in motion. The body always wants to be in motion, right? So there's this really cool law of the body called thermodynamics, and it is how the body generates heat, it's how it has energy balance, it's your metabolism.

Shelbi Russell:

And there's this really cool one that I have recently started integrating more consciously for myself, and it's called NEAT, and it stands for non-exercise activity, thermogenesis, and this is a form of physical activity that does not include exercising, eating or sleeping, but rather fidgeting, like all of us right now are sitting here. We could be wiggling our toes, wiggling our knees, bumping our leg, standing while you're on the phone, folding your laundry. Like 15 to 30% of your calories are actually burned through NEAT. It is the body's favored way of making sure that it's constantly burning fuel, because we're always taking in fuel. So I would just say little movements go a long way, so just try to make it more of a somatic response. Consciously start moving. It feels really good on the brain too. And then, if you're somebody who doesn't need too much encouragement and you're open to just actually doing the thing, go for a walk. You don't have to make it overly complicated. Bend over and touch your toes for just 90 seconds. You know, a little bit goes so far.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, it does, you know, and the body is so resilient and adaptive that even if you don't have a chance, it's going to really do wonders. And you know, bree, you touched on something that I think is really important out there, and maybe we talked about this in the last one a little bit, but we'll get now with the holiday eating, seed oils and butter. I have a chart that I've held on to that I will post for the listeners out there on the splash page for this podcast. That ranks the oils in toxicity, and I don't think that people really realize how detrimental seed oil is.

Bri Taylor:

And how I didn't. I didn't know anything about it a year ago.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, and how, how it's in almost everything. And you know, just to give you an example, my wife and I use Blue Apron and that food service, which is probably one of the cleanest out there. And last night I was noticing on one of the sauce seasonings that it had sunflower seed oil in it and I didn't eat it. And you mentioned grass-fed butter. I think that's where you're headed with that, correct, with the organic, with the butter.

Bri Taylor:

Yeah, I just always come back to quality and that's I call myself a qualitarian, not a vegan. Not, I'm not. You know everybody when you are in the nutrition business I hope most people who are in the nutrition business realize this that everyone is so unique biologically and has a very unique gut microbiome and, per your lineage, some people are going to need more red meat, some people are going to need more vegetables, right, it depends on who your ancestors are and how they ate. So I have gone through a lot of different changes and perspectives and opinions in my journey and then helping all these different people, all the different clients that we have, I, for what works for the masses, strongly believe in the concept of being a qualitarian. Get quality fruits, veggies and meat and dairy and everybody. Some people are going to tolerate organic, raw dairy really well and some people aren't. But the bottom line is that if it is raw and organic and tested to make sure it doesn't have any bad bacteria, it nutritionally has a fabulous profile, loaded with vitamins and minerals.

Bri Taylor:

So I really encourage listeners to this. Might be like a separate little subject, right, but don't really try to open your mind, right, but don't really try to open your mind, expand beyond the labels of veganism or the carnivore diet, like, let that go. Everybody is so unique and everybody needs to try harder to tune into their body and what they need. And that becomes easier when you release all of the toxicity that is owning your thoughts through what is in your gut bacteria. So on that note too, like I hope anybody listening doesn't, you know, take offense to when we talk about normies, because I was a normie three, four years ago and it took a friend pushing me pretty hard to get me to realize that, like you can elevate yourself, there is so much more that you don't know, even if you think you're eating healthy, and then when you get on the other side of that, you realize how in control toxins were of your brain and your cravings.

Markus Van Meter:

So yeah, yeah, nothing wrong with being a normie, just hopefully someone that'll push you.

Markus Van Meter:

That's what we're here for. Right Is to help shine some light on these things, and I don't know if we talked about this in the last podcast, but there's an app out there on the iPhone called the Yucca app. Are you guys familiar with that at all? No, yucca yeah, it's called Yucca Y-U-C-C-A, I believe, and I'll put a link on the splash page for the app store for this. But my wife uses it and you can go up in the grocery store with the Yucca app and scan a barcode and it'll tell you if it's good or bad, what's in it, what's a healthy alternative, and things that you wouldn't think of are showing up in the flag, and we've made some serious choices because of that Yucca app, and I would highly recommend it to the listeners out there to take a look at that and try it. When you go shopping, you'll be amazed at what ends up in your grocery cart at the end of the shopping spree without having it.

Bri Taylor:

Oh, that'd be fun. Shelby, we should go do a video shopping together.

Shelbi Russell:

I was just about to say yeah because you know it's like sorry I'm late. I was reading the ingredient label on everything and putting everything back. You know, but I love that it offers an alternative too, so I'll definitely be downloading the app.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, and it'll specifically tell you what's in it. That is not good.

Bri Taylor:

Very cool.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, it's made a big game changer for us. City market looks a little more friendlier now because you can weed through some of these choices and stuff, and that's just so important. And staying active is we're talking about cortisol and Shelby, you touched about just a little bit of movement, and so what's your guys has been experienced as far as exercise and you know they say sitting now is the new smoking, and so what is what's your recommendation for how much time is needed a day to get out and and really get everything your cortisol levels in check after you've been stressed out? Or a bad night at a company Christmas party or something?

Shelbi Russell:

Yeah, you know, I really feel okay. So this is something we've been saying since the beginning of time. But we have such an interesting mindset in today's society where we we feel like we have to schedule time to be alive, you know, to be in the body, to be of the mind, and, um, I, I really believe that three things move, breathe, smile. And if you can consciously just say that to yourself, move, any chance you can get. Um, there's like it really depends on, I think, where people are at in life psychologically. Oh my gosh, the mind plays such a huge role over the body. It really does.

Shelbi Russell:

And what is it? What do they say? Mind over matter. I always say mind with matter, and so it really is different for everybody. But if you can just start with, like a basic, just 10 minutes a day and then try to increase to 20 to 30. Um, and that can be as a conglomerate, maybe it's 10 minutes of stretching or maybe it's dispersed throughout the day, but, um, I would start asking myself, like, how much time am I willing to sit still? How much time am I willing to not be active? And then do the opposite fill in the extra time with movement.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, yeah. And Bree, I know with your connection with food and growing and regenerative gardening do you ever recommend or done anything knowledge about eating for a blood type? Oh, yeah, yeah, what's your thoughts on that? Ever recommend or done anything knowledge about eating for a blood type like type A? Yeah, what's your thoughts on that?

Bri Taylor:

I mean, I'm gonna start out by saying that is not a subject where I feel qualified to give like a proper answer, but I know of it and I haven't even done that examination on myself and this.

Bri Taylor:

This really just opens up the conversation more to say that there is actually so there is more that we do not know about blood types, your gut microbiome, the soil microbiome. There is so much more that we don't know than we do. And so again, there's there's so many different layers and levels to health and it is so unique to each person that that's that's just. Another great starting point is to get your blood work done do a stool sample, do a urine test, do a hair follicle test, do a full examination of your body to find out what's going on in there. And then you know, try, just never quit trying different things to figure out what's going to work for you best. But yeah, that's, I think that would actually be a really unique podcast topic where you have an expert that can talk about how specific blood types react with different types of proteins and amino acids and nutrients and whatnot. But that that's so complex and I do not feel qualified to like answer that. Yeah.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, I was just. And Shelby, what about you? I know you do a lot of research in this area and you and Will both do, and we need to have Will on one of these times as well.

Shelbi Russell:

I was just about to say, yeah, will and I, we actually took a deep dive down the eating per your blood type for a good amount of time, and I would say the information around it, like Will, really absorbed it in a different way than I was able to, but what I can tell you is from our personal experience. So all three of us are O negative, and so we started looking at what does that mean? Where, where, where's our bloodline come from? And it really stemmed back to like Vikings, right, and so what we found for ourselves, as Vikings are, we're very nomadic, and really all people are truly nomadic, but foods that came from oceanic foods, so we started going into eating a lot of cod, liver oil, eating a lot of fish, eating a lot of anything that was seaweed, algae, all the things, and at the same time, though, what you find, if you look back at even just for our specific bloodline, the Vikings is that they really spread out regionally, and so their blood, even though their blood type O negative, stays it's blood type. Their eating habits change because of what's available to them, and so I think that plays a big role in like there's not even if you're eating per your blood type.

Shelbi Russell:

It's probably more dynamic than you'd think, because here we are today, trying to live as close to our ancestors as possible, and unfortunately there's a lot of things that inhibit our ability to do it perfectly. We can't mimic it quite like we used to be able to, because of all the stuff that's sprayed on our foods. We're not growing it, we don't know where it comes from, we don't get to actually trace it back to its roots, and you may find that because of where you live or, speaking personally where we live, what's available to us here. The body is very intelligent and so it's going to crave what's available here now in real time, and so the blood. I like to think of it like a river channel. It's alive, it's intelligent and it is always adapting, so we can eat per our blood type as closely as we'd like, but also still be open to listening to the body and what it might want. That may be very slightly off of what you've read online, you know.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, yeah, that's so important. I, um, I've done eating for my blood type for quite a while and, um, I I've found that it's made a big difference. There are definitely foods that I vehemently do not touch and foods that I just instinctively crave, like steak. And you know, I think a lot has changed with our society with the onset of industrialized agriculture and the bringing on of processed foods, and I think what's going on in our country right now, we're going to see a new light shined on that and I think we're probably going to learn that a lot of things that we have been told and learned about the food chain and about the pyramid were wrong. And you know, we know that because we've educated ourselves to be the. I mean, are we the normies or are they the normies? You know. So that's that's the typical question, and you know, I think that's so important.

Markus Van Meter:

You know, the holidays, especially now, everybody kind of reflects back, they get New Year's resolutions and they think about the year begun. How do you guys recommend for people out there that might be dealing with a little bit of loneliness during the holidays? What do you recommend? Food, wise, exercise, wise, holistically that they do to approach that Bree. What's your thoughts on that?

Bri Taylor:

To try to feel less lonely.

Bri Taylor:

I think that's tough because you also have to be willing to put yourself out there, and you know, for me personally, while I don't feel lonely, but I do always feel the desire to find more like-minded people or people that are interested in elevating themselves or deepening their connection in the form of sharing little bits and pieces about me and my business on different social media platforms. I did this recently with a local Telluride group and found 40 people that were interested in connecting, and even this week I had two awesome phone calls with people that are part of the soil health program up in San Miguel County, just because I shared that online. So I don't know, that's one little way. Another thing like, for example, that's going on tomorrow in the Montress community is a full moon yoga session. So I'm going to go to that. I mean, I think there's endless ways. You just have to be willing to look for you know, things that align with your interests and your values and then just go do it. That might be easier said than done said than done.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, definitely easier said than done, shelby. What's your thoughts on that? I mean loneliness, you know, and it can come in a lot of ways. There's people in big families that can feel lonely for a lot of different reasons.

Shelbi Russell:

What's your thoughts? Yeah, that's what I was thinking too is, you know, loneliness. You can be all by yourself and feel lonely. You can be in a room full of people and feel lonely, and I do feel like that stems from a conglomerate of things that can cause that, and sometimes, you know what it stems down to is emotional well-being. So for the topic that we're on today of emotional well-being during the holidays, I would say plan ahead.

Shelbi Russell:

If you're a highly sensitive individual, identify triggers ahead of time. Maybe avoid sensitive topics. If you're amongst family members or friends that are highly opinionated and maybe you're not the most confrontational type, focus on positive interactions, practice active listening, set boundaries. And if you're actually alone during the holidays I'm a really big fan of you know, the longest relationship we will ever have is the one we have with ourselves. So nurture it.

Shelbi Russell:

Take yourself out on a date, maybe volunteer your time somewhere, if you want to do something that feels in alignment with your energy and you don't want to be, maybe, around energy vampires. It's like, do I want to be alone or do I want to be around people who don't resonate with my personality type? You know, like Bree, you can put yourself out there, go out into the community, try new things, and you know, from a personal standpoint, I've always had a very interesting relationship with just kind of my life path, because I am a hermit by heart. I could literally be cut off from society, live in a cave and be completely content, but at the same time I continually put myself in positions where I am deeply involved in other people's journeys, because I love to be in service, I love people, I love human nature and I love being a part of people's journeys in all aspects. And so I would encourage everybody to just stay authentic and take it one moment at a time and again, don't take it too seriously.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, that's that's so important. And you know, brie, I know you recently did some traveling for out to the Puriam headquarters.

Bri Taylor:

Yeah, shelby and I both got to go. That was so fun, you guys both got to go Fantastic.

Markus Van Meter:

So this question is to both of you. And traveling can be pretty stressful, and a lot of Americans travel during the holidays. How do you recommend maintaining some sort of sleep hygiene when you're traveling?

Bri Taylor:

Yeah, I was thinking the last five minutes that you two were talking. My brain was just sitting here going. Local environment is so that's a part of right, like how, what's you know your blood type and what you eat, your local economy, your local environment. And yeah, when we traveled, oh man, we both talked about it. We she felt it on the way out there on a plane and I even went out, uh, like 10 days, nine days before she did with my kids, we road tripped all the way out to LA and we stayed in all these different places and I immediately felt it within a couple of days, because we're in different hotels. With the climate has changed. What are what is that hotel using to clean their sheets? With what are they filtering, you know, through the air, through the HVAC system, so it smells good in the hotel. With what are they filtering, you know, through the air, through the HVAC system, so it smells good in the hotel. All the above.

Bri Taylor:

And we both came home from that trip and we felt off, um, so I think things that you I I'm going to say that I think that it is really out of your control while you're traveling but things that you can do to help um your body battle the new environment, the lack of sleep, the toxins, the eating out is, take your healthy foods with you. So for Shelby and I, that's our superfoods. We don't go anywhere without them. And if you are a listener out there who knows what Shelby and I are talking about and you are part of the Puriam family, then you get it. You do not leave without those superfoods because they make you feel so amazing and do help to remediate what's going on in your gut microbiome when bad bacteria or toxins enter. And another big thing that my family and I now we do not travel without our water bottles that have a Berkey filter inside of it, like a little charcoal filter, and there's so many different companies. Shelby has a really good one for healthier water. But tap water when you're traveling oh, we were in Arizona and I could have thrown up drinking that water. It was horrible, it was so bad. So I was, so I mean we tried it and even my kids were like ew and it made you feel bad. So taking um a water bottle with you that has a healthy filter, I think is really important when you're traveling Um and then when you get home. This is something I did that I encourage all of my clients to do. I did a very concentrated three-day reset where I mean I flooded my body with dense nutrients, I went to bed early three nights in a row, even though I was so thrown off from time changes. Yeah, I just did everything I could to get all the toxins out. Try to reset.

Bri Taylor:

I think that one concept that is not the norm for Americans is continuous cleansing. So through this holiday season which is why it's such a perfect time come New Year's to get ready for a reset, because you just you know most people are out there drinking and eating unhealthy, so you really need a nice reset. But then hopefully, you get that message from your body that this needs to be constant. You need to change your oil continuously, right? You don't just change the oil once on your car and call it good. We are intaking toxins every single day from things that touch our skin, like grocery store receipts I don't know if people know that have a lot of toxins on them. Lotions, you're using, food you're eating. So while you are intaking, you also need to be, you know, excreting. So it's constant cleansing that needs to be part of your life if you want to find improved health, so yeah, that's.

Markus Van Meter:

You touched on so many great subjects there with great information. And and Shelby, I know you've five-year-old at home and you and Will are a young family what do you guys like to do when you travel as a family? I mean, you got any tips out there for the moms that are out there that are dealing with a little a young'un and I know Bree does as well but what's your suggestions for traveling in the holidays and keeping that sleep hygiene and just that rhythm?

Shelbi Russell:

Yeah, everything Bree said. And also, on the other side of that coin, I really enjoy the duality of everything keeping everything in balance. It can be really easy, especially when you're hyper aware of all the toxins we come into contact with, to go down this rabbit hole. And if you don't have options with where you're at, try to take a big emotional step back and stay objective with what you do have accessible to you. So it might be highly contaminated water, but it's water. Stay hydrated still.

Shelbi Russell:

It might be maybe not the cleanest food sources you have available at the hotel, but please make sure you're eating and choose the best options you have available to you. And if you're like us, we travel with our nutrition support and we were really fortunate. Our nutrition company takes such good care of us. They showered us with all the nutrition we needed while we were there to make sure we were well fed. I mean, they even got the hotel to make a specific organic meal for all of us, and so you know they really go above and beyond to make sure that our standards of eating are met if we're traveling within the Puriam community.

Shelbi Russell:

But if you are not traveling with your company and you're just traveling as a small family. For the mamas out there, please, you know, adjust your bedtime, adjust your baby's bedtime if you have to. If you are in a different time zone and you're worried you're not going to get enough sleep that night, you can try waking up at the same time every morning and for the little ones, even though it can be really difficult, but maybe skip their nap so they sleep really hard and maybe sleep in the next morning. But also, I am not it's. I can be an overly regimented person, but if I've just been traveling and like doing all the things, I'm also a big fan of just taking the day off, sleeping all day, recover, rest, recoup, however you feel you need. So maybe you do take a nap, Maybe you take five showers that day and as a family, I would say pack your food, Don't stop at restaurants.

Shelbi Russell:

Yeah, pack your food. We travel with like two heavy coolers and of course, we have all of our superfoods with us, so it's really easy and convenient to saturate ourselves while we're on the road without having to pull over and, you know, make some elaborate meal. But even if that is what you do, pull over and make sure it's not at a restaurant. Eat your own food.

Bri Taylor:

Yeah, that's what we do. We make plans for grocery store stops versus yeah, the grocery store is always going to be better than any fast food, so yeah, yeah, and brie, I know you flew out to la and shelby.

Markus Van Meter:

You did as well, but you flew with the kids, correct I?

Bri Taylor:

I drove shelby flew okay, okay, okay.

Markus Van Meter:

So definitely, you know the, the driving aspect of wherever you're going to go with that is definitely makes it a lot easier and you know, unfortunately there are natural grocers and whole foods and places that make good choices along the way, and navigating airports can just be a complete crapshoot, you know, to wrap this up, we've been talking and we could probably talk for hours and hours, but we'd like to keep these podcasts around 45 minutes. Parting thoughts I'd like to hear each of you share navigating, making New Year's Eve resolutions, sticking to them, starting small, starting big, being aggressive, being whatever. You think, brie, why don't you start with that? What's your tips out there for the listeners for a New Year's resolution? How do they approach it?

Bri Taylor:

Yep, and I love that. You said you know, gentle, aggressive. My personality type is if you're ready, let's do it, and you need to be consistent. If you're not ready, don't waste your time yet. That's, that's my take on it and that's I talked to a lot of clients that way. I'm like look, if you want to go on this journey with me, this is a lifestyle change and the most important thing is consistency. That goes back to how we eat or how we work out. Like, if you are ready to commit just 10 minutes to working out, if you do that once a week, I'm going to be honest, you did very little for yourself. It's the compounding interest that adds up big time. So my personal opinion is you know, come, seek help from those around you when you are ready to make the change.

Bri Taylor:

Because one thing that really irritates me that I hear from even medical professionals is it's all about balance. I highly disagree with that. Balance is what almost killed me. I had some serious health issues when I thought I was living in balance because I was eating all organic but still drinking wine and not being consistent with my workouts or my mindfulness as soon as I went to the other end of the spectrum with health and I put I just did everything that I could with working out mindfulness, healthy eating. Then what happens is chemistry doesn't need to be perfect, but bacteria balance will reside when you have more good gut bacteria, less stress, you know just the things that your body needs. You need a lot of it for overall health to start to kind of like skyrocket. So that's that's just my opinion on it. I feel like Shelby has a much more like soft balance take. But that's what's cool about this is you've got to find the person that jives with your personality type when you're ready to make a change.

Markus Van Meter:

So Shelby, what do you think, yeah? I'll give you that Shelby? What's your thoughts?

Shelbi Russell:

Yeah, you know and just touching on what you said, brie, because I do talk about balance a lot, but I know to is the toxic everything in moderation mindset. You can't do everything in moderation and expect to have good results. You can't go to the gym and pound a nice 30 to 60 minutes out and then go and get a pizza Like. That's not. That is not true balance. True balance is meeting yourself where you're at, and that's what we do for a living. We meet people where they're at.

Shelbi Russell:

Actually, just last night I was having a conversation this was the same person I had was having a conversation with that I shared at the beginning of this call, and she was talking about how difficult it was to actually do the thing, make the change, do the thing, make the change. Psychologically, people are more apt to say no to something just because it's new, that's all, just because it's new, which is so interesting because there's also people on the other side of that who are like I love giving every opportunity an opportunity, right, and those people are really cool to connect with too. But I find that this specific conversation, even pertaining to alcohol, was, you know, I don't know if I'm ready to do a cleanse, because I'm not ready to stop drinking. And so what I saw in that moment was this person maybe needs to have their hand held a little more. And, you know, we can take a gentle step in that journey. It doesn't. We don't have to jump with both feet all at once. We can take baby steps, because my goal at the end of working with people whether I'm touching their lives physically or through internal purification methods of nutrition at the end of it I want to make sure that you have a stronger relationship with yourself. I want you to be able to tap into your body's natural self-intelligence and intuition, to just listen, and if my body says, yes, I need this today, then do it. And if it says I'm not ready to make that leap today, just acknowledge it. I really feel like acknowledgement, just the act of acknowledging anything goes so far. It's what sparks the initial awareness and that's where it begins with people.

Shelbi Russell:

And so if you want to make a big life change, we have to start with small daily practices. And then, when you look back at your life and you noticed that it's not about being perfect, it's just about being as consistent as possible, you'll be really surprised at all the progress you've made, and there's people out there who want to hold your hand every step of the way, who want to support you and who want to lift you up every time you fall. Because this is what I tell my baby it's okay to fall a hundred times as long as you pick yourself back up. And I think that's even as we grow up and start becoming intellectuals and start adulting and being in these adult bodies. It's good to remind ourselves too. We can fall as long as we pick ourselves back up. We just have to not give up and keep trying, and it's your intention that matters the most. So if you have the intention of doing better for yourself, reach out and ask for help, and somebody will help you along that path.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, that is such great advice. Both you ladies and I'm hearing. A common thread between both of you is consistency and start small and then have the ability to seek help if you need it. And you know and that's what you ladies are there for is to offer that help to your, your clients and anybody out there that's listening, that's interested in this, and I think that's just fascinating. I really enjoy these conversations with you, ladies, and I would love to to have a continuing discussions throughout 2025. If you guys are up for it and further conversation, and because I think you know, living out here in the West, and especially in the Western slope, is not easy and I think a lot of people that visit here think, oh, what a great lifestyle and this must be so great to live here, and it is, but it takes a lot of work and and I think part of that is is doing it successfully is what you guys have been talking about today.

Bri Taylor:

So yeah, you got it one, and more for yourself than someone else wanting it for you. Yes, well said.

Markus Van Meter:

Yeah, yeah and and we'll, we'll do a parting thought here. Common theme too that we've talked about that just wrecks gut biome as well as oral biome is alcohol and what. What are your tips for managing that during the holidays? I know it's really hard for some people to have.

Bri Taylor:

I have some deep personal experience with alcoholism from almost every single one of my family members, including a couple, deaths from alcoholics. And my husband is a recovered alcoholic. He's incredible, so I watched his journey firsthand, was by his side the whole time. It was really challenging for him especially, but for both of us. I am now just over a year sober. So I just had I was that you know we'd start dinner and I would open up a bottle of wine, so I bet I was drinking one to three glasses of red wine with dinner every night and it really started to take a toll on my health and I mean I would get hung over from like half a glass of wine and then it would make me sick. So I have a lot of personal experience with that and for me, oh man, I don't think I ever could have made the change that I made during the holidays, when you're socializing with everybody and you're surrounded by people that make it look like it's so normal and it's okay. And that really goes back to now that I'm on the other side of it and I found that I just had a serious nutrient deficiency and I had a really bad sugar craving and alcohol too. Just you know, it kills your brain cells, it's a carcinogen. It destroys your gut microbiome, so it makes it really difficult to encourage yourself to want to eat healthy or to be able to. I could not have done what I did, nor anyone in my family alone.

Bri Taylor:

So having a support system was really good because, as everybody knows who's listening to this?

Bri Taylor:

Alcohol is oddly so normalized in our society that I think for anybody who's listening who has found sobriety regardless of why you realize how insane it is that alcohol is this is going to be a bold statement, people that it is legal and so normalized that it is in every single restaurant, that when we go bowling you can just order a bunch of alcohol, that when you go to get your hair done you're you're offered a glass of alcohol. I mean it is, oh, it's so crazy how toxic it is to society and to mental health and how normalized it is. I just think you really have to have a good support system in place before you begin that journey, and then again, you have to want it really bad for yourself, because even for me it wasn't an easy transition Before I drastically switched to regenerative nutrition, which I will say saved my life and was what got me to the point where I didn't need to drink anymore. Before that, I tried so many times to quit drinking and I was never successful.

Markus Van Meter:

Interesting. Yeah, how about you, shelby? What's your, what's your thoughts on that and tips.

Shelbi Russell:

I, from a strict nutritional standpoint, it doesn't matter if it's the highest quality wine out there or if you're getting beer or whatever. I've actually personally never been a drinker, but I do observe people and what I know is one. It is like dumping glyphosate right into your bloodstream Every glass. It is just pure toxicity. It literally makes your brain swell and it causes a lot of disruption in all the functions of the body. But I like to take a really deep look at what's really going on.

Shelbi Russell:

Why are we drinking? And there's a number of reasons, but one it lowers our inhibitions and it helps people connect to other people, which gets to a deeper reason. We live in a chronically detached society. People don't know how to make eye contact, people do not get touched, they're starved of it and people don't get enough emotional connection these days, and so we look for it through substances that lower our boundaries, lower our walls and help us be more open. And so I would encourage people to look at the deeper reason. What does the alcohol make you feel? Address that and then try to duplicate it in real life without the substance. There's a need that's not being met, and I would encourage you to find ways to meet that need that actually elevate your wellness, versus the opposite the opposite.

Markus Van Meter:

So, yeah, yeah, excellent advice, and I think that could probably be a great topic for our next podcast with you two ladies, maybe at the end of January, after everybody's had a chance to digest the holidays in the new year and then circle back to this topic and expand on it some more, so that people can maybe, if they've made that New Year's resolution to eat healthy and clean up their diet and alcohol and all that that, we can give them some tips on how to do that successfully in 2025. What do you guys think?

Bri Taylor:

Yeah.

Markus Van Meter:

I think, that'd be great. I love it. Well, ladies, thank you for joining. This has been the Euray County Lions Locals podcast series with Shelby and Bree, two of my favorite guests, and we could just be on and on forever and we might next year. So we'll see what guests and we could just be on and on forever and we might next year. So we'll see what happens. So, thank you for joining us and we'll see you next time on. Thank you, you are welcome.

Markus Van Meter:

Thanks for tuning in to the County Lines Locals podcast series, With your host, Marcus Van Meter, reminding you to stay connected, support your community and keep celebrating the stories that make our county special. Until next time, take care.