Rise Again Episode 16 | Environmental Health

Welcome to Episode 16 of the Rise Again Podcast: Environmental Health.

Your environment can have a powerful impact on your health, energy, stress, sleep, and overall well-being, especially during perimenopause and menopause.

In this episode, we explore environmental health and the everyday factors that surround us, from the air we breathe and the products we use to the spaces we live and work in. Learn how becoming more aware of your environment can help you make informed choices and create healthier surroundings.

Because health isn't just about what happens inside your body. It's also about what your body is exposed to every day.

If you're navigating menopause and looking for a more holistic approach to your health, this episode is an important part of the journey.

The Health Pillar continues as we look beyond symptoms and consider the bigger picture of whole-body wellness.

#Menopause #Perimenopause #EnvironmentalHealth #HormoneHealth #WomensHealth #WomenOver40 #MidlifeWellness #MenopauseSupport #HealthyLiving #HolisticHealth #HealthyHome #EnvironmentalWellness #RiseAgainPodcast #BeautifulOnions

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Have you ever walked into your own place and instantly felt overwhelmed? Nothing happened. Nobody said anything. But something just feels heavy. You look around and think, why can't I focus in here? Why do I feel tired just being in this room? Why does everything feel too much? And haven't even started every day. And then you leave that same space, but you go somewhere else in a different room, a different place, and suddenly you feel lighter, clearer.

unknown 0:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So now the question becomes what changed because it wasn't you.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Shadows fade in the light this time. Every scar tells seal.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Welcome back to Beautiful Onions Health Series. This is your girl Andrea, and we're continuing our Rise Again journey one layer at a time. We have already talked about your body in episode 12. We talked about your thoughts in episode 13. We talked about your emotions in episode 14. And we talked about the behavior in episode 15. And in this, in the last episode, we focused on what you do, your patterns, your habits, and your reactions. But here's what we didn't say loud enough. Behaviors don't happen in isolation. What you do is deeply influenced by what surrounds you. So today we're shifting from what you do into what's around you. This is your environment because your environment is either supporting health or silently working against your health. 1 Corinthians 14, 33. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. Let that sit for a second. God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. If confusion is showing up in your space, your mind, your emotions, then we need to ask what environment is feeding that? Because God operates in peace. And peace often requires order. So we're going to move right into section one. What is environmental health? Environmental health is when most people hear environment, they think, my house, my room, my workplace. But your environment is much bigger than that. Your environment includes what you see, what you hear, what you scroll, what you allow around you, who you engage with, and how your days are structured. Which means this: you are constantly responding to environment, whether you realize it or not, not reacting loudly, your nervous system is taking notes, your mind is processing input, your emotions are adjusting, and in midlife, you feel this even more because your tolerance has shifted, your capacity has changed, and your sensitivity has increased. So what used to feel normal now feels like noise, clutter, overwhelmed, all of that. I can't take it. This environment, I mean reflection. What I'm constantly surrounded by, and how is making me feel just how this makes me feel, my surroundings. So as we move into section two, which is physical environment and how it overwhelming. Yes, I have this one. Let's talk about your physical space because this is where a lot of women start feeling it, but don't always connect. Clutter. Did I say that enough? Did I say that right? Clutter. Clutter. Clutter. Piles, piles of clothes, piles of shoes, unfinished projects, things sitting where they don't belong. And you might say, I get it. It's not that bad, but your mind is saying something else. This is not complete. This needs some attention. Yeah, I need to finish that. That's another thing. And now without realizing, your space becomes a constant reminder of what's undone, what's waiting, what's piling up for you. That visual stress comes. In midlife, visual stress turns into mental fatigue quickly. Yes. Visual stress turns into mental fatigue. So the simple action is clean one small surface, not the whole house. Clean one zone in your house. Finish one small task that has been sitting. I know those were easily said, but me, I get into okay, I'm gonna clean this area, start cleaning that area. And I say, Oh, I gotta go do something, change the clothes in the lot from the washing machine to the dryer and get there. And I see that is dirt on the floor that has been tracked in by the dog. So then I grab the broom, start sweeping that up, and then I'm in that room and I start doing something else. Menopause in midlife can't stand it some days. So the reflection is what is in the space that feels unfinished and keep calling my attention. So you're trying to figure out and be aware of what needs to be done and try to get it done so you can pay attention to it. Okay. Section three is digital and mental environment. Now let's talk about the environment most people ignore, which is your phone, your social media, your notices, consistent strolling, endless information. That wears me down. And I do it myself. And I have to control myself because by the time I get to the end of the day, if I don't been on my phone all day scrolling, getting information, talking to people, I am exhausted. I wake up and before my feet hit the floor, my mind is already full of stuff. So normally when I wake up, I don't reach for my phone and start scrolling. That's too much for me. So pretty much the truth is you're getting too much input. And that takes you into a mental fatigue. Not because you're weak, but because your brain was never designed for the level of constant stimulation. And now you're comparing, you're processing, you're absorbing, you're reacting. And before you even start the day, you're already tired, exhausted for what don't what you just read on your phone, scrolling and looking at different things. A simple action that you can take is delay your phone in the morning for 15 to 30 minutes. Unfollow accounts that drain or trigger you. Yes, sir. I've done that many times. Don't got a lot of people off of my thing. They send craziness, can't do it. Create a quiet window during your day, which I do. That, that, now I have to take it. And reflecting in this section, which is how do I feel after I scroll? After you do all that scrolling, how do you feel? So you can track it and monitor how you feel. In the next section, which is section four, relational environments. Now let's go deeper here because now all environments are physical. Some environments are people, conversations that drain you, energy that feels heavy, interactions that leave you tired instead of supported. And sometimes it's subtle. It's not loud conflictions, it's quiet tension. It's being around people where you can't fully relax. And your body feels that, your emotions carry that, your mind replays it. You can't relax with that person. Simple action to take is limit exposure where you can. Create boundaries in the conversations and spend more time with people who bring you peace. If they don't bring you peace, you need to be getting them out your life and reflections. Who do I feel lighter around and who leaves me feeling drained? You got to figure that out because that's important. You cannot have people that's draining everything from you in midlife. It's no peace there. Section five, lifestyle environment. Now let's talk about something most people don't realize is an environment. Your schedule, your calendar, your pace, your daily flow flow, like how you move. If you feel like always rushing, I gotta go do this, I gotta go do that. I'm always behind, I ain't did this, I ain't did that. And you always own, like I is constantly movement. That's an environment that you you've created. And your body is living inside of it. Your mind is trying to keep up with it, and your emotions are reacting with it. Simple action. Build margins into your day. Even 15 minutes. I'm not fit to run to do that. At two o'clock, I'm gonna go do that. And then when I get back, I ain't doing nothing till 5. If I get back at 2:30, then I'm I'm I'm on break for two or three hours. Okay? Stop overloading your schedule. Give yourself permission to not do everything. Schedule stuff. I say I'm gonna clean this spot, I'ma throw away something today, I'ma get rid of some things, I'm gonna move some stuff and and and stick to what I'm doing. So in this section, the reflection would be does my life feel like I have space or pressure? Section six, we got quite a few in this environmental because a lot of people don't understand environmental health. They just think the one place they at. It's a lot of different types of environmental health that fringe on your life and cause stress to you in midlife. So I'm trying to identify them with you so you can kind of make some corrections, small corrections at a time if you can. Section six is creating supportive environments. We're shifting a little bit. We're gonna create some stuff in our environment. Because this isn't about fixing everything overnight. It's about being aware, the awareness, and then making the small adjustments. Because small changes in your environment create big shifts in your experience. You don't need a full overhaul, you need intentions, a calm space, a calmer space, less noise, better boundaries, more supportive flow because your environment should help you, not fight you. Okay? We're moving on. Here we go. We're moving into how all this integrates together in our health. This is very important because, like I said from the beginning, health is very big. It's not just physical health. Okay, let's bring everything we talked about together for a moment. Over the last several episodes, we talked about our body, which is the physical. We talked about the mental health, which is our thoughts. We talked about emotional health, which is how we feel. We talked about behavior health, is the actions we take. And now we're talking about environmental health. And if we're not careful, we can start believing that everything or every problem is something inside of us that needs to be fixed. It's not. But environmental health teaches us something important. Sometimes I should say, healing isn't about changing yourself. Sometimes healing is about changing what you constantly are exposed to. If I don't like to hear loud music or a certain type of music because it irritates me, I'm gonna take myself out of that environment. Or I won't play it, or I won't be around the person that probably is playing it, or I'll try to have a conversation of how that might irritate me. I'm just saying, these are just some things that happen. So sometimes healing isn't about changing what you constantly expose to. The clutter, the noise, the stress, the pressure, the conversations, the relationship, the constant demands that pulls on your energy every day. Because your body responds to your environment. Your mind responds to your environment. Your emotions responds to your environment, and your behaviors respond to your environment. Everything is connected. All of these are connected. That doesn't mean we blame our environment for everything, but it does mean we become aware of what is influencing us. Because awareness creates choices you can make. And choices create change. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do for your health is not add something new. Sometimes it's removing what has been draining you all along. And you are not just managing yourself, you are managing what is shaping you. How I want my day to go or how I want my peace in my life to be. That's what I'm doing. I'm shaping that because that is the most important thing to me because I don't want a stressful day. I try to keep my stress as low as possible so I can keep my health as big as I can make it. Okay, self-reflection is for this series. You just need to take a moment and ask yourself what environment makes me feel calm? What environment drains me? What's in my space feeling overwhelmed? I told y'all that word. I got it together with that one. And don't rust, rush the answers. When you sit down and talk and journal and practice, don't be in a rush. Just think. Just be at a place of relaxation. Okay. You need to connect, try to connect all these systems, start paying attention to all these patterns, environment and your mood, environment and behavior, the environment and clarity, because this is the process, awareness, adjustment, and peace. And when you begin to track that, you stop guessing and you start understanding. Okay? If you are noticing patterns between environment, your mood, your energy, your behavior, this is where tracking can be helpful. This is the reason I created the Natural Menopause Healing Toolkit and the Beautiful Onion Journal. Sometimes awareness begins when you start paying attention. You can find these resources at beautifulonion.com. And it's other things there for you to go and take a look at. So please enjoy. I try to make it a place that you could be comfortable, you can enjoy things, you can read stuff, you can listen to music, and you can relax. All right, in closing, I'm gonna return to our scripture, which states 1 Corinthians 14, 33, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. When we hear that scripture, we often think about our mind. But today I want us to think about our environment. Because sometimes confusion isn't coming from within us. Sometimes it comes from what is surrounding us the noise, the clutter, the pressure, you know, the demands, the environment that are pulling you away from peace. We're trying to build. God's desire peace for us. And part of creating that peace is becoming aware of what is shaping us every day. Throughout this episode, we talked about physical environment, digital environment, relational environment, and even the environment we create through our daily schedule. And if there's one lesson I hope you remember, it is your environment is either supporting your health or quietly working against it. Because your body responds to it, your mind responds to it, your emotion responds to it, and behavior responds to it. Everything is connected. But some good news is that you don't have to change everything overnight. You don't have to clean the whole house today. You don't have to fix every relationship. You don't have to reorganize your entire life. Start where you are, choose one thing, one space, one habit, one boundary, one small adjustment that creates a little more peace than yesterday. Because healing is often built through small choices that are repeated constantly over time. And remember, you are not becoming weak, you are not becoming difficult. You are becoming aware. And awareness is where healing begins. Awareness is where clarity begins. And awareness is often where peace begins. And in the next and final episode of this health series, we're going to be talking about spiritual health and stewardship. We'll bring together everything we learn about the body, the mind, the emotions, behavior in our environment. Because when the foundation is strong, everything in every area of your health has a better chance of thriving. Finally, until then, be gentle with yourself. Protect your peace. Pay attention to what is shaping you. And remember that healing happens one layer at a time. This is your girl Andrea with beautiful onions, peeling back all those layers. One layer at a time. See ya.