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The Connection Prescription: How Relationships Shape Your Health, Sleep, and Longevity
Thursday Tea with Sami
Loneliness has been compared to smoking 15 cigarettes a day in terms of its health impact — and yet we rarely think of our relationships as part of our health routine. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Lauren Messina, couple and family therapist and co-owner of Evergrow Therapy and Wellness Collective, to explore why connection is one of the six pillars of lifestyle medicine and how it shapes everything from our physical health to our sense of purpose.
Lauren shares her journey from family science research to working with military service members on "social fitness," and how that experience shaped her current work supporting new parents through the relational side of the transition to parenthood.
In this conversation, we cover:
- Why the quality of your relationships at 50 can predict your long-term health better than your cholesterol levels
- How sleep deprivation impacts empathy and communication in relationships (and what to do about it)
- The biggest relational challenges new parents face — and why we were never meant to parent in isolation
- Practical communication shifts, including "making the covert overt" and the power of simply saying "I love you"
- Why 15 minutes of child-led play a day can transform your parent-child connection
- The difference between spirituality and religion, and how social connection fuels our spiritual core
- How connection intersects with the other pillars of lifestyle medicine — nutrition, movement, sleep, and stress management
- Simple, realistic ways busy parents can build community and ask for support
Grab your tea and settle in for a conversation full of both heart and science.
Connect with Dr. Lauren Messina:
- Website: evergrowtherapycollective.com
- Personal site: laurenmessina.com
- Instagram: @evergrow_collective
- Military/HPRC resources: hprc-online.org
Find Samia Estrada of Dignus Wellness on social media @DignusWellness
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🎶Special thanks to Nothing Short of Tragic for creating the amazing music you hear in our intro and outro—bringing the perfect vibe to each episode!
Curious about more? Check out everything I’m working on at Dignus Wellness. https://DignusWellness.com
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Email me at: SamiaEstrada@DignusWellness.com
Disclaimer:
This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical, psychological, or mental health care. Listening to this podcast does not create a therapeutic or clinician–patient relationship.
The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host, Dr. Samia Estrada, Psy.D., DipABLM, or Dignus Wellness. Content discussed on this podcast reflects general wellness, lifestyle medicine, and mental health education and may not be appropriate for everyone.
Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalized advice or treatment. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency or are in crisis, please seek immediate support from local emergency services or a trusted crisis ...
