Ep 68: Equipping the Next Generation with Tools for Stress and Wellness with Ashley Hinton

In this episode, we sit down with Ashley Hinton, certified wellness coach, owner of 859 WELL, and Director of Health Promotion at Centre College, to explore the unique challenges facing today’s young adults.

Ashley works closely with college students, helping them navigate stress, build healthier coping strategies, and develop a more balanced relationship with food through intuitive eating.

We discuss how parents can begin encouraging healthy habits early, what’s changing on college campuses—including shifts in substance use—and how social media is impacting mental health. We also dive into practical ways to support your child, including one simple but powerful question: “Do you want help solving this, or do you just need me to listen?”

You’ll also hear how mindfulness can look different for everyone, why modeling healthy stress management matters, and how to help your child build a lifelong “toolkit” for resilience.

Find Ashley Hinton, MS, MPH at 859 W.E.L.L Coaching & Consulting

www.859wellky.com

859.433.6321 

Additional Resources:

T-Break Guide: Take a cannabis tolerance break for 21 days

Grok cards 

Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults

Intuitive Eating workbook

thestartinggatepodcast.com

Email us with questions and topics you want us to cover at
contact@thestartinggatepodcast.com

Follow us on social media @thestartinggatepodcast




The content in this podcast is for general reference and educational purposes only.  It is not meant to be complete or exhaustive, or to be applicable to any
specific individual’s medical condition.   No information provided in this podcast constitutes medical advice and is not an attempt to practice medicine or to provide specific medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  This podcast does not create a physician- patient relationship and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  Please do not rely on this podcast for emergency medical treatment.  Remember that everyone is different so make sure you consult your own healthcare professional before seeking any new treatment and before you alter, suspend, or initiate a new change in your routine.

Transcript

Ep 68: Equipping the Next Generation with Tools for Stress and Wellness with Ashley Hinton

[00:00:00] 

Before we start today's episode, I would like to quickly read you our podcast disclaimer. The content in this podcast is for general reference and educational purposes only. It is not meant to be complete or exhaustive or to be applicable to any specific individual's medical condition. No information provided in this podcast constitutes medical advice and is not an attempt to practice medicine or to provide specific medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This podcast does not create a physician patient relationship, and it's not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please do not rely on this podcast for emergency medical treatment. Remember that everyone is different, so make sure you consult your own healthcare professional before seeking any new treatment, and before you alter, suspend, or initiate a new change in your routine.

Welcome to the starting day. We're your host, Dr. Kitty Dotson and Dr. Sarah Schuetz. Two internal medicine doctors who spent years practicing traditional primary care. Over time, we realized something was missing from modern healthcare, a [00:01:00] real understanding of how everyday lifestyle choices impact overall health.

We'll help you cut through the noise of the countless health influencers and their conflicting opinions because no matter who you follow, the basics of lifestyle medicine are at the heart of it all.

Welcome to the starting gate. We're your host, Dr. Kitty Dotson 

and Dr. Sarah Schuetz. 

So if you've ever wondered why your habits around stress, food, or alcohol feel so hard to change, part of that answer really may be that those patterns started a lot earlier than you think.

. We talk about habits all the time because Sarah and I feel so strongly that. What you do on a daily basis really influences your health and your risk of chronic disease down the road. But we haven't really stopped to talk about much of when those habits started, and often it's in early adulthood.

So today we brought in an expert like we love to do, and we have Ashley Hinton, who is a certified wellness coach, owner of 8 5 9 Well, and director of [00:02:00] health promotion at Center College. She works closely with this age group because she is constantly working with college students, helping them navigate stress, building these healthier coping strategies that sometimes we miss out on in that age and just develop a more balanced relationship with food.

And she also has experience with intuitive eating. So just in general, really helping young adults build Healthy habits really early on. So they can live a life full of enjoyment and have fewer risk as they age. 

So hopefully, if you're a parent listening today, this will give you some ideas to help set your kids up for success down the road.

But I also think it's just really important for us as adults to reflect on that time in our life, whether you were in college or just looking for a job, because so much happens and so many habits develop, I think it'll be helpful for us to look at that and figure out where could we have gone differently and how can we change that now?

So, [00:03:00] So Ashley, can you just tell our listeners a little bit about how you ended up in this career? 

, Ashley Hinton here at 8 5 9. Well, I'm also the director of Health promotion at Center College. I also have two college age students myself, so I have an 18 and 20-year-old, one in Michigan and one in South Carolina.

So I get to live it at home and live it at work and the side stuff that I do. I have been in this work for over 25 years supporting student wellbeing in a variety of roles from several institutions, both large public and small private. And throughout that professional career, I've had the opportunity to advance my knowledge through certifications, trainings, hands-on experience.

So about three years ago I started 8, 5, 9 well, coaching and consulting to bring the same level of expertise to the broader community as an affordable research supported. Option for people to have trainings and workshops, individual and group coaching. Throughout this time I've realized many families often have the impact on our students' wellbeing.

And when we [00:04:00] don't involve the families who influence them, sometimes the most or other community partners we really are missing an opportunity to support student wellbeing, college age particularly. And so by creating these both for students and families we're hopefully creating a stronger support and system for overall health and success, both in and out of the classroom is the overall goal.

That's amazing. Yeah, it is. So you've really been with this age, I wanna say kid, but it's not kid, it's an adult. This age of adults from college and early career. Your whole career, it sounds

like 

since I was that age, I started at 22 working at Transylvania University. And I call 'em emerging adults because we still have a lot of supports around this age range that makes it a little different than, when you're on your own working.

Their habits are very different than those that choose not to go to college too, for that reason, because we do wrap them a little bit in support and love through this process and this journey as they emerge into adulthood. 

Let's talk about [00:05:00] wellness in this young adult stage. , It's great that you've done this for so long because you can reflect on this very well for our listeners.

What have the biggest wellness challenges been recently? And then after explaining that, reflecting on where we once were and how it's so different because I think that's what a lot of times as parents, we reflect on our own. Maybe college experience and things that might have been an issue then, but today's population can have completely different obstacles that they're trying to navigate.

 Yeah, I have seen so many changes, obviously in the 25 years I've been in this work. We continue to see belonging and mental health is the greatest challenge in college. Often we see both of these challenges have underlying concerns, such as maybe that self-confidence or that self-efficacy that make it hard for students to overcome those challenges.

Our goal is providing students with a toolbox of options they can choose from to have the success they need in any situation that might arise. So in over the past five to 10 years, [00:06:00] particularly, I think when I first started working in higher ed in early two thousands, we often did not see major cultural changes, but every four years.

So if I developed a program or if I had something I was working on with college students, I could repeat that for four years and it would be pretty relevant. The language would be similar. The connection to students would be similar Even before COVID, I started seeing this shift in this change that every class felt very different than the class before.

And a lot of that is those cultural shifts that have happened, whether that's the iPhone in everyone's hand, or the access to social media that was not always available to people in high school and their kind of forming years. Or whether that is COVID and having those changes based on when they experienced COVID, for example, if they experienced it as a middle schooler versus a senior.

That really shifted things too. 

What do you think difference in that? I'm curious like a middle schooler COVID versus a high schooler COVID. 

. We're just now probably experiencing the middle school, if I'm not mistaken.

I have [00:07:00] a student in my household who was a senior when COVID happened, and just the way he connects with people is so different than even my sophomore that experienced that COVID and her what would've been eighth grade year. And just the way they connect with people, the way they seek information, the way they just seem to connect with professional individuals too.

Like that ability to ask for help, talking to a teacher, not able to talk to a teacher, the way they adapt to online learning versus classroom learning. Live in the residence halls, just all these different things just seem to be very unique each and every year. And we constantly are changing how we work with students for those reasons.

So it's shifting daily due to that newest information that's readily available to us. Same thing with here all's field I imagine too. 

Yeah. Every year. Yes. It's evolving. 

 I think one thing on this though that we sometimes don't acknowledge is that true resiliency that this generation has or that the [00:08:00] students today have that, honestly, I can't say that I had, if I went through a lot of the things of which they are currently going through, I'm not sure I would've been successful in the classroom and out of the classroom.

Students today have been exposed to and continue to overcome so many things that they've had to constantly adapt. Just look at teaching alone as an example, the way they've evolved from online learning to textbook learning, to AI learning, and just the constant changes of how they are seeking and receiving information.

Oh, that's a great point. It is because they have I guess it's like the same for us that grew up having to work through internet. How having that access as we were aging, they're having new forms of technology all the time instead of one large change. 

Yeah. And I feel like the younger generation gets a lot of slack about oh, your life is easier and you have access to all these things.

And the older generation acts like they're lazy a lot of times, but you're [00:09:00] right, they really have had to take in so much over the last 10 years and adapt to that and still. Show success. So I like that we could, you're pointing. 

Yeah. We could sometimes assume that other people were hanging out without us or that someone said something mean or ugly about us today.

They know, they really, from middle school on, can see in writing someone's hanging out without them or excluded them or that they are maybe being talked about in a way that's not healthy or great for them. Just imagining that in a time of developing brain and how that would impact your confidence, your self-efficacy and your ability to connect with others, I think is very intriguing.

Yeah. I feel grateful that I did not have social media. Me too, during college. It 

would've been 

awful. 

Yeah. I can only imagine how much more stressful that is. What advice do you give people as far as navigating that. 

The really unique thing about students today is a lot of them do care about their wellbeing.

And so oftentimes they are making their [00:10:00] own choices to limit those things. Like we can encourage those environments, we can support them. Obviously as parents, we tell 'em what to do, they're gonna do the opposite. So that never works. But modeling it, like having the ability to turn off and shut down and be grounded in our relationships in front of us instead of on a screen is obviously a helpful thing to model.

But encouraging and asking questions around those, connections that they have, how often they're on it, are they, taking breaks from their phone every once in a while? I know a lot of our students here, they set their own limits on their phone, so they will set limits on how much they're on one of the social media, or when they start feeling that it's toxic to them they will delete it for a period of time.

So they might remove themselves from that space and they can, which is cool too. Like oftentimes with people in our environments, we cannot always remove ourselves from those people, but online we can absolutely remove ourselves from that information. Starting kind [00:11:00] of those own wellbeing initiatives too around alcohol consumption.

So we're seeing a great trend in that wellbeing in a kick that's happening right now. The non-alcoholic drinks and them wanting not to have over consumption setting their own fitness. Some of those of course. Aren't always healthy and great because of the information and how they're receiving it.

But they really oftentimes are trying to practice their own version of self-care and boundary setting and just us having those tools available to them to help them be successful in those ways, to have the correct information to give them modeling those skills and behaviors ourselves and just really understanding that they're constantly inundated with so many ideas and suggestions that for them it's hard to decipher what is best for them.

And so if we can build those early tools and resources for them from honestly elementary school age on they can continue to give 'em space to explore wellbeing. But they'll also be better equipped to get, the things [00:12:00] that they're interested but also accurate information on health habits that they're starting now.

So 

that is amazing that you brought this up because I will say in our practice. That's one of the things we help adults with more than anything is being like, Hey, I'm trying to be healthy. I have free access to all this information, but it doesn't all match up. How do I actually tease this out?

So I love that our younger generation already is like, I can't believe everything I see. And so I need to build this skillset because I think That's something that we didn't have to do at all. 

Yeah. You really have to search out information If you wanted to improve something,

or go to an expert to receive the information and felt confident in that relationship because you saw a professional to receive that.

But now today, it's like how do you find a good resource? A trust, something's trustworthy. Are they trying to sell me something? Are they actually have my interest in their best interest in trying to learn that? But I love how you're [00:13:00] saying it's like we need to be working on teaching this to our kids way before they even reach college.

 Someone told me early on in my parenting that keep talking, they're listening and my son at one point goes, you never stop talking. Of course I hear most of what you're saying. So keep trying, keep talking. They are listening at some point that brain develops and they will give back to healthy in some of these ways that maybe if we give too much pressure on, they'll go the opposite of 

 And we've talked about setting limits on social media. As adults. And , I tell my kids that because I have a limit on my social media consumption. So, , When it pops up, I'll try to show 'em like, oh, I'm at my limit. Can't look at that for you on Instagram or whatnot because I've reached my limit today.

So, Yeah, I think showing them that we do it too is 

Yes. 

Is important. I'd love to know a little bit more about the change in alcohol consumption. I feel like in my college days, alcohol was involved in every single social [00:14:00] situation. And I hear that is not happening as much now How much difference is it you think?

Yeah, I think it's interesting. The trends that I've seen through the alcohol consumption over the years, so obviously similar probably timeline of when I was in school with alcohol being very present and very much the social scene. I think that still exists for places. I think the increase of cannabis access is changing that a little bit on a college campus.

So especially in states where recreational cannabis is legal, you're seeing a little bit more of that as the social maybe connection that people have. It's really interesting that a lot of the students, they don't like to lose control, like they don't like to be in situations where they're not in control and they recognize and understand that alcohol , Kind of Loses that control when over consumed. You don't remember what you said, you don't remember what you did. And they do not like that feeling of that loss of control. So that's some of the things I hear and see around that shift. The other thing [00:15:00] is there are other options and that mocktail scene, that non-alcoholic scene 

distillers association with bourbon and some other project we can talk about another day, another time. But they see that is an increasing field as where it's like a $9 billion industry here of having those opportunities for social without over consumption for even adults and older populations too.

We're trying to focus on our wellbeing and we're also trying to be social. How do you do those things? Not in a bar? We still see alcohol. Our trends shift every single year as cannabis increases, unfortunately. But we also, I think students understand a lot of our medicated and generation here that, that alcohol.

Has a significant impact with mixing it with some of their prescribed medications. And so they have that understanding a little bit more and a little bit more reserve around that than maybe we did in our days. 

Yeah, I hadn't thought about the That is a really good point, the loss of control because in our generation we didn't have to worry that someone was [00:16:00] videoing us 

Yeah.

Or whatnot. Or that it would get plastered all over the internet, and having that sense of if I don't know what's going on, I may wake up the next day to something horrible. That's a really good point. I hadn't even thought about that. Yeah. And how that just changes the psychology of it.

What would you say to, let's say someone that's in their second or third year of college they've been in a group of friends where alcohol is very predominant and it's. The heart of their social scene, but they are really wanting to scale that back, but don't know how to do that without damaging their friendships and that kinda stuff.

What would you tell them? How would they start? 

I know, I think oftentimes we think that we are the center of the attention, and the reality is most people are only paying attention to themselves, especially at that age and generations. Having a beer in your hands and it not being constantly.

A new beer in your hands can help. Like sometimes just holding that drink in your hand without consuming it or refilling it [00:17:00] can give them that connection of social without actually consuming alcohol or over-consuming alcohol. Setting those limits and communicating those limits. I feel like a lot of individuals are respecting that among one another.

So if it's like, Hey, I have a big game tomorrow or have an exam tomorrow, I'm only gonna have one tonight. No one's expecting or pressuring them to do anything different than what they say out loud. And so having that ability to make that plan, know what that plan is, and understanding how you can stick to that plan in different ways.

So maybe it is having that one and they only bring the. $5 or $10 they need to purchase that one drink and no cards on them or anything else to then maybe shift that. 

That is a really, yeah. 

Different ways of tracking alternating with these non-alcoholic beers. So sometimes that gives them kind of that, that feeling of connection.

If you're going to hang out with people and there's a lot of a alcohol around you bring your own you know how much you're gonna drink when you do that, or you have those non-alcoholic drinks or mocktails or waters in between [00:18:00] things as well. Or you just be that person that takes care of people, which no one likes.

But sometimes accepting that role going into it, then you can monitor yourself a little bit better too. 

All that is great, and I'm glad to hear that shift, but some of the other things you said is. With this, we're also seeing increase in marijuana use. So what kind of guidance are you giving, parents on how to educate their kids as well as these college age kids on safety around that as well?

I think, that might be the million dollar question. I keep saying, if I could solve the alcohol problem on a college campus, I would honestly be living on a yacht somewhere at this point, because it's been in, in decades old. Problem for colleges. I think there was this research study back in, oh, I wanna say it was the fifties or late forties even that I got my hands on talking about alcohol as becoming the problem of colleges.

And I was just so blown away by this article and it was blaming faculty [00:19:00] too. So it's a really fun, deep dive in history of understanding that alcohol culture. So cannabis oftentimes until recently has not been correlated with that college experience because that reputation around cannabis was a little bit more sluggish, lazy, not those high achieving students.

And so the cannabis today, I think the biggest message I can share with people is not the cannabis that we knew. Back in the eighties or the seventies or any of that, the potency of cannabis today can be up to 90% THC in products because of the lack of regulation around what's out there. And so when you think about what was used to being three to 5% potency with THC, that active drug, and now it's up to 90% in some of the tested products, that is a significant change.

And oftentimes when we educate around cannabis, we are really communicating. You do not know what you do not know. You might be the expert in what you think you know about cannabis 'cause you read this, talked to this, listened to this influencer. We've got the cannabis infused drinks, all these different things [00:20:00] coming out where it's very prevalent.

But because of that lack of regulation and that inability, I can tell you what a standard drink size is of a beer based on what that a PV, that alcohol per volume is. I can't tell you that on a cannabis product and when it's in a different form, it shifts and it changes. You never have the same experience twice with a cannabis product either.

And so really understanding the risks that you take with using cannabis is an important piece. We talk about tolerance breaks with cannabis and alcohol too, just to reset our body. There's a great guide out there called the T Break Guide, which is the Tolerance Break Guide. It's a little 21 day. Each day gives you a different way to slowly reduce or cut out cannabis in your life and hoping that reset will help people not continue to need and seek that higher potency product that they can continue to find. 

I'm glad you said that because I had just assumed that drinks that are all the rage now that would be regulated or [00:21:00] standardized, but since alcohol is, 

And so maybe if someone is doing the cannabis drinks, they really need to just stop halfway through and see is this feeling the same as normal or something?

Absolutely. I think anything, it's just using it with caution and just because it's sold somewhere, understanding what it is and how it's regulated is an important piece of it too. So a lot of those Delta nine, delta eight that we saw in the gas station when the farm bill passed, we saw a lot of concerns with students having and adults too, having those reactions of psychotic episodes because of those products that were high potency and not fully regulated.

Yeah. Is that in the works? Do you know? Seems like we should regulating 

Yeah, I mean it's different for state. Sometimes it's that legalization of recreational cannabis that actually adds those regulations into it. And as you know, Kentucky is not legalized for recreation use. It is now legalized for medical use.

And so some of those, and [00:22:00] most of those should be regulated. 

Outside of alcohol and cannabis, are there other concerning things that maybe parents don't even know is going on campuses, right? There's always like these, new upcoming things that just surprise you.

What else should we be talking about? 

Yeah, I think overall just that stress management. 'cause as we talked about in the early part of this, oftentimes the underlying things with their challenges at this age start with anxiety or start with stress or depression or just that healthy mental health that we need.

And so how do we really, again, build these toolboxes so that I do not need to go drink to be social. It's, I don't have to have a social Lubricant to be active in those environments, feel belonging in those environments, have fun with others and peers. I don't need that confidence from alcohol or cannabis.

I don't need cannabis to help me. Sleep actually does the opposite, so I'm gonna put that plug in there as well. 

Yes. 

But there is this belief [00:23:00] and this feeling that it makes them tired and, but they don't get full REM sleep, just like alcohol doesn't give you that either. And how can we adapt those healthy sleep schedules?

How can we adapt the healthy response to stress and anxiety that all of us have stress and anxiety. It's how we respond to that or how we cope through those things. And then when we have these unhealthy coping mechanisms, we tend to create more problems for ourselves without realizing that one quick fix didn't actually fix things, but made things harder there, forward.

 I think the big thing is checking in with yourself, like being real with yourself. How do you start with a, how am I doing today moment? Whether that's a check in the morning, a check throughout the day, or stepping away. I think we feel like we have to constantly respond to whatever is in front of us.

And we know that if we step away from that frustrating text or email or whatever it is, situation, we can sometimes calm ourself before we respond, and that way we create less problems by doing so practicing those health habits daily. I think when we create these healthy [00:24:00] habits. When we hit these higher stressors, our body is naturally gonna go straight to those healthy habits that have been working for us on a daily basis.

Versus when we try to seek those healthy habits in the moments of high stress, it's really hard for those to immediately help us calm our nerves or the situation. So if we practice it daily, it's there when we need it, instead of trying to find it in our moments of high stress and turmoil continuing to explore those new ideas and trying something different.

If I could get both my kids to practice mindfulness, it would be a dream of mine, but sometimes I'm like, I should be the unhealthy one. Maybe they would be super healthy if it was the opposite way. I think that reverse psychology works a lot, unfortunately for me. So but how do we just, okay, you don't think you're gonna like this, but, and maybe you tried it once and you didn't like it, but there's so many ways to practice mindfulness.

There's so many ways to, to practice stress reduction strategies that the one thing you tried one time, you maybe journaled it didn't go well, but it doesn't mean a [00:25:00] different way of doing that wouldn't work for you in a different situation. And then finding that network of support. And so who, how, who are you surrounding yourself with and how do you seek that support?

And so one of the things, especially since you have a lot of families and parents listening, is I try to check in with the situation in front of me. Do you want to be heard or do you wanna be helped? Are you just wanting to unload some information and you just need to get that off your chest Are you wanting me to help solve whatever it is you're bringing to me? Because oftentimes, as parents, and really helpers in the community, we wanna solve it. We want them to feel better, we wanna help them in any way that we can. But what they really needed was just to say this out loud and not feel judged and to feel heard and seen, and so checking in sometimes the first moment of that phone call is like, all right, am I listening or am I helping?

So if I can get on the same page with you, it might be a better connection for you in the future to, to respond to me again or to call me again. And then learning those healthy communication skills [00:26:00] I was practicing, we have these cards called the GROK, the Grok cards, and it has a stack of cards.

Have you all heard of these before? 

No, not familiar. 

Okay. So it's this practice of nonviolent communication. And one stack of 'em are your feelings. So in a situation it has. Every feeling on a deck of cards kind of thing. And you try to figure out what is it that I'm feeling, maybe where am I feeling it in my body?

And then the other stack of cards is, what am I needing right now? And so sometimes it's so hard to be vulnerable with people to talk about like your feelings or your needs and to ask for help. It's really hard for all of us to ask for help. And so using those forms of communication to really first understand yourself, what it is you're feeling so that you can communicate that effectively.

And then what is it that you're needing right now? What is the thing that you're asking for? And so going through a difficult situation, it might be, I just need space right now and some balance and I need, maybe to disconnect [00:27:00] from this right now. Or maybe it is, I need just someone to help me stay accountable for my health habits because things are really hard.

And I need to make sure I fit those in and everything that I do. 

I'm very intrigued by this. I too, I'm in, you saw okay, this, okay, so is this something like, it just gives them options as they're trying to recognize and then they're looking through all the words and they're like, okay, this is it.

This is what I'm So is that how you use those? 

Yeah, you can use them a hundred different ways. 

I'm like, okay, where can I purchase these 

too? 'cause I was like, this seems appropriate for my kids. My, I 

know, 

right? 

These are the big rock cards. I have a individual set as well.

And on the back it has the example. I'm feeling concerned, but I'm hopeful and I'm gonna be, surprised or whatever those feelings are. And then it has the, I'm looking for respect or security or something right now to help me in this moment. So you could use them in a situation.

You could use them in. A relationship, for example, like I'm having a hard time communicating to my person in my [00:28:00] life what's really happening and how I'm handling this right now. . They're trying to solve everything for me, but what I really need is this.

Mm-hmm. And so they could help in that way. You don't need the cards obviously, to do this work, but oftentimes our communication style is so either fix it or combative. It feels just to be able to talk in a way that expresses how you're feeling without that judgment, without that one up.

Maybe that others might give you of you think this is bad, let me tell you about what I've been going through. So how can we truly give space for. Here's what I'm feeling in this moment. Here's what I need in this moment. And allowing the other person to do the same. So we do a lot of practicing of non-violent communication in those ways and GR cards.

It's just one way to do it that I think is very simple. 

 That is awesome. And then this makes me think of something else. I know we did another podcast where we talked about just how technology , has changed our children's ability to recognize different facial expressions and [00:29:00] just reading the room, et cetera.

Just because they have so much online communication or texting or emails. Are there other tools that you suggest to help build that nonverbal communication for this age group, since that tends to be a big issue for them as well? 

Yeah, and we often, I mean I think a lot of people do this, we fill in the blanks with the negative.

So we might see someone make a face at us and we assume all these things immediately. Like our brain just spits it out in immediate of, this person doesn't like me. This person's judging me, this person's laughing at me, this person's whatever. And the reality is the person wasn't even looking at you. I had this moment in college, and I loved this class that I was in a biomechanics class, and the teacher came up to me and it was my favorite class.

I was thinking about switching my major, like really loved this class. And she came up to me, she goes. I feel like you hate my class. And I'm like, I'm sorry. And she goes, your expression just looks like you hate my class. And I'm like, oh, that must be my thinking face. I really need to understand that this [00:30:00] expression I'm giving you is quite the opposite of what I am feeling in this moment.

And it was such a reality check for me that I share with students sometimes that we cannot read people's expressions and assume all of these things. We can't read people's texts. Those are their words that we put assumptions into with the feelings and the thoughts behind them. And oftentimes it's just, a quick communication.

And so then we assume all this backstory took place that may or may not have other. And so how do we just stop, pause, and really check in Hey, I got this text, or Hey you're looking this way towards this is everything okay? Or, and just take those assumptions out of it. 

And you mentioned.

really trying to practice healthy habits for your mental health on a daily basis. For someone that hasn't been doing any of this what do you recommend as something they can start with? 

Yeah, I think it's very dependent on them, obviously what it is they enjoy doing. And sometimes we make things harder than they need to be. And just taking that [00:31:00] two minutes that we need to put our legs up the wall before we go to bed is a great practice of mindfulness and yoga that we may not have that hour, but if we could just reset our bodies before we sleep at night, that could make a huge difference.

Mindfulness is one of those approaches that I think we've complicated and made it more than it needs to be. So there's over 400 mindfulness practices out there, maybe even more, but the reality of it is it's just slowing down and being fully present and aware in the moment without judgment. So how do we find clarity, calmness, and focus.

Just that current situation of which we are in. 

And for that I wanna pause on the mindfulness. Have you found any specific practices or apps or things that tend to relate well to the college age generation? Of getting them started with mindfulness. 

Absolutely. And I shared in a story where the first time I was exposed to mindfulness was through this book club and this MBSR thing that I was hosting for faculty on a college [00:32:00] campus.

And so it was mindfulness based stress reduction and it was a 45 minute practice every single day. Um. I was in a room where some people were like, this is amazing. And I'm like, this is awful. I don't have the ability to sit still for 45 minutes. That is not who I am. I got to spend 45 minutes with a raisin smelling, tasting, experiencing it.

And I don't even hate raisins, but I never wanna do that again in my life. And so my. First impression of mindfulness really did not connect with me. And so fast forward a little bit I learned Duke University had started working with college students 'cause they were frustrated. They're like, we have this thing, we know this thing works.

We wish you would do this thing. It's very simple. Why is this so hard for you to do this thing? And so they did a lot of research on mindfulness. And they took all those practices and they started finding out which ones resonate with students the best. They found out that you could do 'em for one, five or 10 minutes and get the same benefits than if you were doing it for 45 minutes.

So had the same effect, but not [00:33:00] that time commitment that most of us, if I asked you to do something, if I asked you to sit still for 45 minutes, we'd be like, we are way too busy for that. But if I asked you to do something for one minute, you're like, I probably could fit that in, if I had to.

And so how do we. Introduce it in a different way. And I think that's what they were able to do. So I'm trained as a it used to be called Kru, KORU. Now it's mindfulness for the emerging adult. I am well past that age, but I will tell you, when I went to this training, I was like, this one, this is the one that understands, this is the one that clicks for me.

And when I teach this to adults my age and even greater, they're like, I really like this approach. I don't have 45 minutes, just like our students don't have 45 minutes. And so we can do it in such an easy way that we've, the first time, and I hear this a lot from people, we have this image that mindfulness is this thought bubble above our head that's completely empty.

And the reality is our minds. Are never going to be completely empty. But [00:34:00] how do we slow it down? Oftentimes, we are standing in the middle of a rushing river of thoughts, and we have just so much coming at us in so many different ways, and it's overwhelming and it's creating stress and anxiety and depression.

How do we just get that river just to slow down one thought at a time. So the thoughts are still there. Our minds are not this wonderful, blissful, empty bubble. But there's fewer browsers popping up every five seconds or maybe we get to this point after a lot of practice of standing on the bank of that river and just really experiencing and seeing each thought as it goes.

And so we do that through that practice of that minute. That minute becomes five minutes, maybe it becomes 10 minutes. And before long our every day we're able to slow down, literally go out and just touch grass, literally see the things around us noticing our surroundings in ways that maybe we've been ignoring for so long.

That's pretty impressive. 

Yeah, it is. Yeah, because I think, I used to roll my eyes at mindfulness, and [00:35:00] I've said that before on here because it just, yeah, it seemed like I've got too much to do. It's not gonna work for me anyways. I can't make my mind blank. And then once I just tried something small and simple, I was able to see, yes, this is so helpful.

And then you can just start doing it more and more. But it is a practice. You're not gonna be good at it, or you may not feel all the benefits right away. So I think recognizing that you may have to try different kinds, different times, when you're doing it to figure out when it can help you, is, it's great that you're putting that out there that

you didn't like at the beginning either. 

Yeah. And that's that toolbox again, like we teach, 10 different practices and you might need a different one for a different time. And you never know, but you have 'em and you might think immediately upon learning 'em, you'll never do that again. And then I have students come back and be like, I do that thing like a lot and it really helps.

Being willing to try things. I think again, that fitting it in piece of it, like we really can incorporate it before we even get out of bed. What is that body scan [00:36:00] check that we wanna do? How are we feeling as we're starting our day? Just a couple simple things you can do even before you get out of bed as that alarm went off.

Maybe it's that midday office break that we need or that walk that we need. Between classes just to slow down and reset our brains. Or maybe it's that evening practice that we have just two minutes before we go to bed, we're gonna do this one thing, we're just gonna focus on our breath, or we're gonna practice this skill.

Or again, those legs up the wall can make a huge difference of just letting our body unfold and reset too. And if we have time today, I'm happy to end this podcast in a short mindfulness practice, but I know you also wanna talk about intuitive eating, so I will leave that all up to you all. 

I think that'd be a great wrap up.

I, yes. I like doing those myself. So thank you for that segue of talking about intuitive eating. I do think that, as you have mentioned, like this specific group of people have been inundated with so much information, especially when it comes to the world of nutrition. And it can be very [00:37:00] confusing and complex.

Where does intuitive eating come in helping this specific generation? 

I think a lot of the social media or the influencers they've taken this word of intuitive eating and they've turned it into just another diet. And so I wanna be clear in this moment that when I'm talking about intuitive eating, I'm talking about the science driven approach to intuitive eating where two dieticians got really frustrated that these diet plans over and over for people were just not working.

It was creating this sense of failure that those, that really and truly, it wasn't the person that was failing. It was the diet and the approach that was never going to work, that was failing. And so they shared intuitive eating in a way that. Really just remove diet culture from the language, from the start.

And how do we start then to recognize how inundated we are in this diet mentality? Whether it's from our peers, our family, our ads social media, our [00:38:00] menus, everywhere you go you can really start to understand and see diet, culture. And so for some that first step is rejecting diet mentality.

And for some, I've taught classes with students and with faculty and staff, and it's like the students are like. I'm good. Move on to principal two. And that four week, workshop that I led really got them able to really reset some of those things they needed to reset for a healthier relationship with food.

And my faculty and staff were like, I'm gonna need the 12 month program that you all offer of, I'm gonna spend a little bit more time because I've been hearing this and living this for 30 plus years in my life. And just saying goodbye to it because I know it's bad is really hard to do. And so it's different how we approach it but we definitely see the impact that rejecting that diet mentality and creating that healthier relationship with food can do for our minds and our bodies and our relationships with others.

 What [00:39:00] trends do you see with college age kids in eating? , My mom had the same thing all the time, so I was used to a certain thing and then suddenly I could have an omelet for breakfast. There was an omelet station every day, and there was, you could have bacon and eggs every day and there's so many options if you go to the cafeteria and I think you can just be like, oh yeah, , and then a lot of people gain weight.

I was one of those. How do you tell people how to navigate that and are there more healthy choices out there for them now? 

I think really and truly. If you tell me I can't have something to eat, it is the thing on my mind. And so it's not necessarily saying what you can and can't have or what you should and should not do.

It's more around what does my body need? And that's what intuitive eating and those 10 principles help guide them towards, we've lost the connection of our actually guiding what we need and how we feed it. So if you think about us [00:40:00] as infants, we knew when to stop eating. Like your child would tell you they were done eating when they were, with a bottle.

And they knew when they were hungry. You would hear it and the cry or the attitude or whatever it is you received. So we were all born intuitive, eaters. But at some point that shifted in our lives to where. Food has become that reliable, constant thing that sometimes makes us feel really great through those sugar, adrenaline and whatever, and the social atmosphere around it.

And so how do we actually, instead of saying we can't have something because there's not a single food out there, that if we ate one time would be the end of any of us. But we treat foods like that and the more we treat foods like that, the more we want that food. So then we seek all these other foods that aren't that food and build up all those calories of which, maybe we'd never even wanted, if we would've just allowed us.

That one thing that we forbidden ourselves from can change that mind and that relationship with food. And then sometimes, like I was given the example in one of my recent workshops of those old Swiss cake [00:41:00] rolls, I was like, I used to love Swiss cake rolls and I've never allowed myself to buy 'em. 'cause I'm scared I'll eat the whole box.

And then just allowing myself permission to try one. I was like, I do not like Swiss cake rolls. I do not know why. For 20 years I have thought I like Swiss cake rolls. And sometimes it's just that memory of that food and we think we want it and we think it's bad for us. So we forbid it from our diets, our shopping list.

And then when you go back to it. It's maybe not what it even is. And then other times it's like, why have I forbidden myself from eating this item? This, actually does taste great and I still appreciate it, but I don't need to eat all of it because I didn't forbid myself from eating it for the past six months.

So once our bodies know , that we're not starving our bodies in any way, shape or form, that food is around the corner and we start building that trust within our bodies will tell us when to stop eating. Our bodies will tell us what we need to eat and how much we need to eat.

If we just slow down, it takes 20 minutes from our stomach to our head to say, Hey, I'm full. But we're in such environments where we eat fast, [00:42:00] we're on the go. We're cramming food in without even tasting it. We're not experiencing food the ways that food are meant to be. If you've ever traveled abroad.

I had the opportunity to go with some center students to Italy for a flavors of Italy class where we literally ate our way through Italy. My stomach has never felt better and we ate all of the foods that here in America we would say we shall never eat. Pastas, cheese, just all of these breads and rich foods.

And I'm like, my stomach feels amazing because everything was slower, everything was intentional. I was experiencing it for the taste and the moment and the company of which was surrounding me, which was not loud music and a TV blaring or on the coho in a car. And I found that I didn't eat as much honestly either.

Now with this current college age kids. Do you see a trend of these, like lack of connection to what they're eating and being able to follow their hunger cues? Has that gotten worse over time [00:43:00] or are we starting to see a shift that they are becoming more knowledgeable about this again? 

I think that one's a little bit hard hard for me to answer.

I'm not sure. It would be very specific student to student and how much they are how much they're being influenced by both their peers, their family messaging that they received , versus their bodies telling us and queuing us. I do think that especially in these high academic environments, that oftentimes when we can't control the things we really need to control, we look for that thing we can.

And that's where a lot of those higher disordered eating rates start to appear in in these high stress environments. I can't control the outcome of this grade, but I can control what I put in my body. And so we seek control in ways that sometimes create very unhealthy relationships with food and other parts of our lives.

And so if we could just shift a little bit of that stress reduction or those tools or those information and that relationship with food to not always be that reliable friend [00:44:00] that I like to call it, and more of just that additional need in our lives that we take care of ourselves through the things we consume.

when I was in college. And Sarah, I'm actually interested to ask you this because you've always had an interest in nutrition. So for me, in college I did not, and eating was just getting through the day, like how much time did I have before the next class? I was focused on grades and having fun and nutrition was never on my mind.

Were you thinking about it at that time?

I would say yes, but in an unhealthy way because it took, probably until grad school that I was able to actually look at nutrition in a way that was more of what does my body need? How do I nourish my body? And more of this intuitive eating mindset.

Whereas my initial interest in nutrition was more of restrictive. Paying attention to it, but [00:45:00] not in a healthy way. So for me it was more, I had this evolution and through, dietetics and nutrition training, learning how food is our fuel and changing that whole mindset. But that is not where the love per se of nutrition came from.

It was more of I think about it a lot, but in a very, probably disordered way upfront. 

Yeah. I just wonder how you, like it's taken me many years to get to having a practice of intuitive eating and appreciating what does my body need? I just wonder how can we get someone. College to even think about this.

Or should we be starting earlier and this something that we need to be building foundations before they leave for college? What is something you would tell a parent? 

Yeah. I definitely think, again, it comes back to that modeling.

What is that message we're modeling? What is it we're doing? And, I am not a perfect intuitive eating. I don't know that really any of us can be all the time. And so really [00:46:00] understanding that connection we have with food and checking in with it regularly because we are so inundated with those moments.

You can rarely go out with a group of people and someone not talk about, oh, you're going to eat that. Or, I just lost five pounds. It just seems to be part of our daily conversation in some way, shape, or form or some messaging around it. Or I'm not gonna eat 'cause I'm going out tonight, or I'm, I'm in my.

Wedding dress, plan right now. And just these different moments that we use around food. So with college students, I think it is intentional in the messaging, trying to train our collaborators on campus too, like our counselors and what we're doing, the workshops that we're hosting, the messages that we're trying to deliver through social media.

Really sticking to those 10 principles, but also acknowledging and recognizing that it takes an effort every single day to practice those. And we have to start at the beginning one of seeing and recognizing that diet mentality. And so some ways that [00:47:00] we can do that is first is getting angry at it.

We see it, we recognize it, and we see the harms that it creates in our own self-worth and the self-worth that those that we love. And then to rid ourselves of whatever that diet. Thing is that diet culture is, maybe that's unfollowing diet culture on social media. Maybe that's throwing out those skills that we have or any dieting tools that we've brought into this.

Then start to really be aware of that thinking and that mentality. Calling it out when we see it as a quick fix. Like knowing and recognizing that nutrition is a lifelong journey for all of us and not a quick fix to whatever it is we're trying to do. Stop counting and really start to embrace that body diversity.

All of our bodies are meant to look and feel different. And what is my natural need for my body instead of this image that I think my body should be like? And so some of that has stopped that body checking game, and we see it at all ages. Like I, I find myself in different spaces going, oh, I wonder how much they [00:48:00] work out.

They look really fit and active. And I'm like, stop, Ashley. No, we need to focus on what my body needs and my body definitely needs to get outta the chair at some point and move around and walk. And so finding that compassionate self as well, like how do we find compassion towards ourselves that, really doesn't continue to self-critique what we're doing, how we're looking so that we start loving who we are and who we're meant to be. 

It's a great message. 

It's not easy work. It's not 

easy work. 

Yeah. I can say all that in 

two 

minutes. 

It's not easy. I wait my daughter who's 10 the other day asked me well, I have a class in college to learn how to do taxes and make dinner for my family and like all those things that you do.

We had just finished doing the taxes so, I was like, there really should be a class, but you're just like, gonna pick that up from us., It would be great if, we could teach people even just how to cook for themselves at the end of college. And I'm 

all about bringing Hoc back.

Yes. 

Like 

I, I feel like we have [00:49:00] failed ourselves because if you come from a family that doesn't do that, like how do you learn those skills unless you make the time and the effort outside of your normal education too. Achieve that, as well as just learning some of these like basic relationships with food and nutrition.

If you have been surrounded in a family that doesn't value that, again, like how do you get those skills to, because 

you don't realize anything's wrong. You, that's what, that's just what you're used to. 

Yeah. 

And food politics plays a huge role. If you compare the food guides to the one in Canada, it's just mind blowing how much politics plays a role in our food sources and our resources too.

And I think a lot of our young adults, our emerging adults are definitely recognizing that and curious about what are you putting in my food right now? And knowing that they don't need to consume a certain way and a certain thing that maybe has a lot of chemicals in it or non-food sources in it.

I think that is, social media has lots of negatives, but [00:50:00] the one thing I think it has done for that generation is like they. Have all these different resources. So it does at least give them the knowledge to be able to make their own decisions and feel like, Hey, just because this one, program says this is how I should do it, that doesn't mean it's truly the only option.

Absolutely. Yeah. They're very curious and I think curiosity is great and having that ability to just I don't know, my daughter came home from spring break from college and wanted to make jam from scratch, and I was like, I would never think to do that. I would not know how to do that. I could not help you do that, but YouTube can and YouTube did.

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. I do feel like maybe this generation will be more interested in cooking and just trying to eat for health purposes in general. 

I lead workshops if ever interested around that to teach those 10 principles.

And there's a workbook that's on Amazon that we use within that because sometimes just doing your own workbook is not easy, but having [00:51:00] that guided workbook option. But there are workbooks out there, so there is one for teens specifically. So if you are a parent looking for like how do I start creating healthier habits around food and not diet culture mentality, ingrained in my child.

There are great intuitive eating workbooks. It is the original intuitive eating workbook and there is one for teens as well. 

That's great. 

And it's on Amazon for $25. 

You're giving us all these great resources. I know. 

Yeah. We'll try to link some of these in there. Show notes. I know Sarah's gonna be getting, looking for those cards as soon as we, how did you know?

I probably, as soon as we end, they're going in my Amazon box. So if someone is on a campus where you are not 

yeah. 

How If they're looking for help. Who do they look for to help on their campus? 

Yeah. So each campus has resources. We have so many resources. And I think that as oftentimes we inundate students in those orientations with here's all the resources, and they're like, I'm just wondering if I'm wearing [00:52:00] what I should be wearing to sit next to the people and make friends with the people.

Like they're not thinking about all of the resources thrown at them in those moments. And so a lot of the campuses are working really hard to communicate those at the right times and throughout the year to remind students when they actually really need these resources, they are still there.

But how we communicate is always the challenge, right? Like they find out those resources oftentimes through friends. And so they're not necessarily checking all of those social medias or. Ways of which we're trying to reach students. Parents can follow along on the social medias and be like, did you know there is a health promotion office on your campus?

Do you know that they have this program coming up? Maybe that's awesome. And so sometimes that can help. But oftentimes maybe their friend just coming along and telling them they went to this office, it wasn't that scary. This was really helpful. That's really how it grows and changes. 

And then if any of our listeners are on here and they're like, oh my goodness, I would love to work with you specifically even if I don't have a child at center.

How [00:53:00] does that work? What are you able to do for people that aren't necessarily at your college campus? 

Yeah, so there's a couple things. I do, and I know you guys will link it, but I have a website that you can connect directly to me. I am horrible at social media. I think that's like my boundary of me trying to stay off social media makes me really bad at doing social media for a business side.

So I'm working with a college student to improve that right now, who also has a really cool podcast. I should connect you all to at some point that she's doing there at transi. But you can set up individual coaching sessions. You can set up a group coaching session if you wanna host a workshop and you'd like me to come in for a group of people Hey, we, have 10 people or my church group or this group, or Will you come talk about this in these spaces?

I'm available to do those things. So if you want to do an intuitive eating workshop, that's one of 'em. If you wanna do the mindfulness, like how to incorporate mindfulness into everyday life, that's another opportunity. I sometimes will have those just. Online and sign [00:54:00] up and things coming. I don't have dates set for anything coming up.

I wait until the people are wanting it instead of just throwing spaghetti at the wall. So that there is an audience that is interested in doing any of these things. You can also do all of both of those mindfulness coaching and the intuitive eating coaching in individual or maybe a group, small group thing too.

So if you just wanna go through it with, more of a personal connection, that's an option. 

That's great. It's, yeah. Yeah. You've given us so many good thoughts today. That I think really applies to people at every age, from young kids to college, kids to adults.

But it really has helped me like think about how critical developing healthy habits can be for that group of people and how , what you learn, and that young adulthood, you carry it along.

For decades to come. And so it's really important to be thinking about that, learning how to have healthy habits, build boundaries, have a stress management toolkit, how valuable that is. [00:55:00] Learning when you're out on your own to begin with, how to navigate all this. It really sets you up for so much more success as you age.

 Our goal in college wellbeing is not just while you're in college, but how do we create healthy you 

In the classroom and out of the classroom and beyond the classroom. 

That's great. Yeah. And I think focusing as parents too, not just asking, how did you do on that test? When we're checking in with our college students and do you still have enough money to make it through the week?

But really checking in on how are you doing? Are you making time for. Mindfulness, are you making time to actually get some protein and fiber in your diet? Are you sleeping? And maybe asking those so that they seem as important as your grades and stuff too. 

Yeah. Yeah. I, yeah, that is great advice. Thank you.

 To wrap us up, do you 

care to lead us in some mindfulness? 

No, absolutely. So if you just wanna find a comfortable seat, whatever that is for you your body can be upright, eyes closed, or maybe [00:56:00] lower down to the ground. Whatever feels most comfortable for you in this moment.

If you're driving, please absolutely do not participate in this right now. I should say that too. But go ahead and just check in, notice how you feel in this position, and maybe do that one thing you need to do to shift your position right now, make you a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more present.

Go ahead and seal your lips and breathe in and out through your nose. Choosing a gentle, easy, steady breath that's right for you.

 Allowing yourself to take your time with each breath in and spending at least as much time with each breath out and maybe a little more,[00:57:00] 

finding a breath that reflects all the qualities of calm. Patience, spaciousness, and ease that you would like to see in your mind.

The intention for this meditation is the noticing of the breath, so committing right here and right now to holding the mind's attention on the breath,

and we hold, not with a tightness or a grasping, but with spaciousness[00:58:00] 

and remaining with this gentle, easy breathing. Noticing the breath in whatever way it chooses to speak to you. Maybe it's the sound of the breath moving in and out through the nostrils,

or perhaps it's the temperature of the breath.

A cool breath in and a warm breath out.

Being open to noticing a smell or a taste to the breath[00:59:00] 

and noticing the felt sensation of the breath. What do you notice as the breath moves in and what do you notice as the breath moves out?

As we inhale, noticing the expansion of our body, our ribs, our chest, our abdominal region,

and as we exhale, letting it all go, releasing the shoulders, the belly, the thighs,

noticing a sense of upward lifting or lightness with the breath [01:00:00] in a sense of grounding or rooting to the earth with each breath out.

Continuing to notice the breath as if it were the most intriguing thing we've ever seen.

Curiosity about the breath itself, its movement and its energy. I.

Acknowledging [01:01:00] and noticing that at times our mind might begin to wander away from the breath,

acknowledging it, recognizing and returning back to that breath while remaining open and spacious and free.

When you're ready, just allowing a little bit of tiny movements in your hands. Maybe your toes slowly bringing you back to this present moment.

 And a quick check-in of your body in this time, how it feels from the time we started, and then this couple of minutes that we just [01:02:00] had.

Thanking yourself for being present, for being a part of this amazing podcast with these amazing leaders in our community.

 Allowing yourself this space in this time and the future when you need it most. And when you're ready, slowly opening your eyes, allowing yourself to wiggle, or stretch, or shake whatever it is you need to do. And thank you all for participating. 

What a grand way to end that show. Thank you so much, Ashley, and we'll see you next time.