This is such a fun episode because Janet Omstead loves to play, she lives and breathes it! It’s all about your mindset! Most people don’t enjoy “workouts” because it sounds like work! However, when you instead choose to “play” in whatever way brings you fun and in bite-size pieces throughout your day, you are boosting both your physical and mental health exponentially. Janet has written “The PlayBook”, which is an easy read with many helpful tips and 150 ways to play to get you started. For good health, it’s recommended you get 150 minutes of movement/week! It’s not about the “1-hour workout” that you can never make time for, break it down into 20 minutes/day, that’s doable! I love the idea of ‘play’, it feels light, refreshing, and fun, so let’s all get out there and enjoy our playtime and stop taking ourselves so seriously! Life is way more fun (and way healthier) that way!
On Janet’s website, you can download the free first chapter of her book
https://janetomstead.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/The-Play-Book-Ch-1.pdf
Your Guided Health Journey Membership – 1 month FREE Trial: https://yourguidedhealthjourney.com/membership-programs/
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https://welcome.yourguidedhealthjourney.com/Health-Kickstart
Complimentary 15-minute consult:
https://YGHJappointments.as.me/free-consult
Discover Your Toxic Load Quiz:
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About the Guest:
As Canada's play expert, author, and executive health coach Janet is on a mission to reignite people's passion for play to help fight lifestyle-related diseases while improving their quality of life as they age.
With over 20 years of experience in the health and wellness industry, Janet Omstead's strength as a play expert lies in working with habit-based change behavior psychology, allowing individual and corporate clients to make sustainable progress towards optimal health. Ultimately, Janet helps her clients thrive through a "deep health" methodology.
Most importantly, Janet guides people as they change their habits and have fun!
Janet is passionate about helping people make each day a little better because she learned to make every day count at a young age. After recovering from a near-death experience in 1991, Janet promised herself she would listen to her body and thoroughly embrace life.
This positive mindset has seen Janet through the ups and downs of raising kids, recovering from injuries and accidents, being a caregiver to her husband through his cancer journey, and losing loved ones. It's also enabled her to embrace unique opportunities, such as interviewing world-class athletes during her years covering the Olympics with CTV Sports, traveling the world, and singing joyfully in a rock choir.
Janet knows there is no one-size-fits-all approach to health. Her life's work is helping others live healthy, full vibrant lives. Through her personalized "outside of the gym" play-based approach, Janet helps her clients look for the good, find gratitude, and find joy.
Website:
Linked In:
www.linkedin.com/in/janetomstead
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/janetomstead
Email:
Mobile:
416-951-8568
About the Host:
Melissa is an Integrative Health Practitioner helping people get to the root cause of their health issues. Melissa neither diagnoses nor cures but helps bring your body back into balance by helping discover your “toxic load” and then removing the toxins. Melissa offers functional medicine lab testing that helps you “see inside” to know exactly what is going on, and then provides a personalized wellness protocol using natural herbs and supplements. Melissa’s business is 100% virtual – the lab tests are mailed directly to your home and she specializes in holding your hand and guiding the way to healing so that you don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
Melissa is the winner of the 2021 Quality Care Award by Business From The Heart and is also the recipient of the Alignable “Local Business Person of the Year “Award 2022 for Whistler.
Melissa has been featured at a number of Health & Wellness Summits, such as the Health, Wealth & Wisdom Summit, The Power To Profit Summit, The Feel Fan-freaking-tas-tic Summit, the Aim Higher Summit, and many more! She has also guested on over 60 different podcasts teaching people about the importance of prioritizing our health and how to get get started.
www.yourguidedhealthjourney.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissadeally/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Guidedhealthjourney
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guidedhealthjourney/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTYG85CdWUA5MZ0NDCs-Z3Q/videos
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Imagine getting up every day full of energy is
Melissa Deally:if you were in your 20s. Again, what would that be like? What
Melissa Deally:would that be worth
Melissa Deally:to you? What is your health worth to you? Think about it.
Melissa Deally:Your health isn't everything. But without it, everything else
Melissa Deally:is nothing. And yet too many of us are taking it for granted
Melissa Deally:until something goes wrong. No one wakes up hoping to be
Melissa Deally:diagnosed with a disease or chronic illness. And yet, we've
Melissa Deally:never been taught how to be proactive in our health through
Melissa Deally:our school system, or public health. As a registered health
Melissa Deally:coach and integrative health practitioner, I believe it is
Melissa Deally:time this information is made available to everyone. Combining
Melissa Deally:new knowledge around your health and the ability to do my
Melissa Deally:functional medicine lab tests in the comfort of your own home
Melissa Deally:will allow you to optimize your health for today and all your
Melissa Deally:tomorrow's don't wait for your wake up call.
Melissa Deally:Welcome back to the don't wait for your wake up call podcast. I
Melissa Deally:am your host, Melissa dealey and very excited to be sharing with
Melissa Deally:you today another special guest Janet Olmstead. Welcome, Janet.
Janet Omstead:Hi. Nice to be here.
Melissa Deally:I'm super excited to have you here. And I
Melissa Deally:just want to introduce you a little bit and then let you
Melissa Deally:share your story with the audience. But Janet is Canada's
Melissa Deally:play expert. How fun does that sound. She's also an author and
Melissa Deally:executive health coach, she is on a mission to reignite
Melissa Deally:people's passion for play to help fight lifestyle related
Melissa Deally:disease while improving their quality of life as they age.
Melissa Deally:With over 20 years of experience in the health and wellness
Melissa Deally:industry. Janet strength as a play expert lies in working with
Melissa Deally:habit based change behavior psychology, allowing individual
Melissa Deally:and corporate clients to make sustainable progress towards
Melissa Deally:optimal health. Ultimately, Janet helps her clients thrive
Melissa Deally:through a deep health methodology. Most importantly,
Melissa Deally:Janet guides people as they change their habits and have
Melissa Deally:fun. And so I love that you're looking at using Play to fight
Melissa Deally:these lifestyle related diseases. And that's why I
Melissa Deally:wanted you on the show because it aligns so beautifully with
Melissa Deally:the work that I'm doing to also fight those same lifestyle
Melissa Deally:related diseases. And so please jump in and share with the
Melissa Deally:audience what brought you into this life of play?
Janet Omstead:Well, I've always been a huge kid at heart. You
Janet Omstead:know, all all fun aside, I really am passionate about
Janet Omstead:health and wellness. And it comes from a deep sense of well,
Janet Omstead:understanding how life is short. And the reason I got became a
Janet Omstead:health coach, after years and years and years of having an
Janet Omstead:interest in health and wellness is because my body gave me a
Janet Omstead:sign in my 20s which almost took my life. It was my body was
Janet Omstead:screaming at me and I wasn't paying attention. And I nearly
Janet Omstead:died from a ruptured ovarian torsion. Six weeks before I got
Janet Omstead:married, and I made it down the aisle. And that experience made
Janet Omstead:me promise to myself, I would never take my health for
Janet Omstead:granted. I would always look after myself. And ironically,
Janet Omstead:when I wrote my book, on Play, play also stands for please look
Janet Omstead:after yourself. In my book, I have some across sticks. And
Janet Omstead:that's a huge one for me. So play is a double meaning, please
Janet Omstead:look after yourself, which I promised at 24. I would. And
Janet Omstead:also the act of you know, understanding life is short. And
Janet Omstead:we do get to take care of ourselves ourselves. We don't
Janet Omstead:have to we do get too. And I think it's really Yeah, it's
Janet Omstead:it's a it's a choice, and it's a gift. And, you know, we are so
Janet Omstead:lucky to live in an age where we have lots of options to take
Janet Omstead:care of our health. But finding the most sustainable way really
Janet Omstead:matters to me too, because I know there's a lot. There's a
Janet Omstead:lot of quick fixes and magic potions that are sold to us. But
Janet Omstead:you know, sustainable habit based change and the psychology
Janet Omstead:that goes with it making deep changes to that our behaviors
Janet Omstead:reflect our values and our, our own beliefs. That's how things
Janet Omstead:last and that's what makes you show up every day and be able to
Janet Omstead:take care of yourself the best way you can.
Melissa Deally:And as hard as it was to go through that at the
Melissa Deally:age of 24. Just before getting married, again, where we always
Melissa Deally:look back at these things with 2020 vision and we know that
Melissa Deally:things happen for us, not to us, right. And you were able to
Melissa Deally:recognize that this happened for you because you needed to learn
Melissa Deally:that lesson that it was a choice to look at After yourself, and
Melissa Deally:you wanted to step into that, and you needed to listen to your
Melissa Deally:body. And I love that, because again, it's so much about what I
Melissa Deally:teach in the work that I do. And my regular listeners will have
Melissa Deally:heard me say this many times. But at first, our body whispers
Melissa Deally:to us with a gentle touch of a feather. If we don't listen, it
Melissa Deally:might scream, some bus with a break. And if we still don't
Melissa Deally:listen, then watch out for the wrecking ball. Right. And
Melissa Deally:unfortunately, that is the reality for too many people.
Melissa Deally:Because society teaches us to suck it up and push through and
Melissa Deally:keep going. Right? Yeah,
Unknown:work through the pain. Exactly. Yeah,
Melissa Deally:as opposed to our symptoms truly are our
Melissa Deally:body's way of talking to us and asking us to do something
Melissa Deally:differently.
Unknown:Yeah, and you know what, it's really served my own
Unknown:personal life well, outside of my, like, a my first health
Unknown:scare then. But as you know, I am a mom and I have had, I have
Unknown:kids that have all had their challenges. And they, they all
Unknown:started from their bodies talking to them. And I was able
Unknown:to say to them, you know, you have to pay attention to these
Unknown:signs, because they aren't fake, they're real. And you may want
Unknown:to brush them aside. But, in fact, my husband, most recently
Unknown:was his body was talking weird to him. And he luckily went to
Unknown:the doctor and was able to capture really serious medical
Unknown:condition early and get the treatment he needed. And thank
Unknown:God, he listened to his body. Like, it's really important. I
Unknown:can't I don't know how much the like else just to tell people,
Unknown:please look after yourself. Yeah, it really matters.
Melissa Deally:And listen to your body, like you say, right?
Melissa Deally:And, you know, get to the bottom of it. Don't just mask it. Oh,
Unknown:again, don't wait, you know, a lot of people are
Unknown:scared. And often what happens to me as a coach, you know, I
Unknown:will get referred to by a medical professional or another
Unknown:client who's worked with me. And often because they like your
Unknown:line of work in mind, they've had a wake up call, or they're
Unknown:scared about something. And even if someone comes to me, and
Unknown:they're kind of suffering from something, I'll say, please go
Unknown:to your doctor, let's let's get this diagnosed on the one hand,
Unknown:and then let's bring in all the other magic that is available to
Unknown:us to help you, you know, be healthier. And yeah, it's never
Unknown:too late to get the help you need. And I think it's crucial
Unknown:that more people do. And
Melissa Deally:the earlier you do it, the better. Oh, yeah, it
Melissa Deally:is right. I'm always talking about the body being in balance,
Melissa Deally:right? Yeah, exactly. It's just a little out of balance. It's
Melissa Deally:just a little tweak to bring it back into balance. But when is
Melissa Deally:way out of balance over here, it's gonna, you know, take more
Melissa Deally:effort and more work and take longer. Yeah, the other thing
Melissa Deally:that I like to share with people is, you didn't just get here
Melissa Deally:overnight. So why are you expecting to be better?
Melissa Deally:Overnight? This Oh, and building in your body for weeks, months?
Melissa Deally:In some cases, years? Exactly. So if working with me, or
Melissa Deally:working with you is a six month process that's still, in most
Melissa Deally:cases, much less time than what you've already been?
Unknown:For sure. And, you know, and especially in my line
Unknown:of work to with habit based change, you know, the the secret
Unknown:really, is you may not have paid attention to all those little
Unknown:changes you were making to get that out of balance. But when
Unknown:you start making little changes consistently over time. Yeah,
Unknown:they're manageable. it's manageable. It's doable. It's
Unknown:and like you said, it's, it will eventually come back. You just
Unknown:have to give it time.
Melissa Deally:Exactly. Yeah. So I have your book here, which
Melissa Deally:I've thoroughly enjoyed reading, and I see your background there.
Unknown:And I have a copy here. Yeah, and I
Melissa Deally:highly recommend people pick up this book because
Melissa Deally:it is such so much great information in it, some
Melissa Deally:worksheets etc. And what I also really love that you have in
Melissa Deally:here is your list, your list of 150 different things to get
Melissa Deally:people moving, for those watching on video 150 ways to
Melissa Deally:move more so I don't know if you want to maybe share your
Melissa Deally:favorites from this list. Just to kind of inspires some people
Melissa Deally:for some things that they haven't thought of. I certainly
Melissa Deally:know I love moving my body but yeah, what are your maybe it's
Melissa Deally:your favorites or maybe it's the easiest ones for many of your
Melissa Deally:clients to step into when you get them moving again.
Unknown:Yeah, you know, I there's two things about that
Unknown:list. 150 is is a kind of a double meaning 150 minutes a
Unknown:week is the minimum amount of time people need to invest to
Unknown:keep healthy, which is if you break it into time, it's 20
Unknown:minutes A day, right? And 20 minutes a day. The magic here is
Unknown:it doesn't have to all be done at once right to break it up. So
Unknown:coming up with 150 ways to move. I think that's, you know,
Unknown:something that comes very naturally to me. I can be
Unknown:outside and look at a sidewalk crack and think, oh my gosh, I
Unknown:could jump over the sidewalk crack. I could do squats on the
Unknown:sidewalk crack. Like there's lots of ways we're skipping
Melissa Deally:over it as children like.
Unknown:One, there's lots of wrong rhymes. Yeah, they're
Unknown:really
Melissa Deally:good. And don't step on the line or your break
Melissa Deally:or father's fine. I mean, I hope in Japan, and we did that for
Melissa Deally:air you go,
Unknown:there you go. So the 150 so the the 150 minutes a
Unknown:week, and then 150 ways because I honestly think people deserve
Unknown:the option to find what works for them. And one of the
Unknown:assessments, personal assessments, I didn't want to
Unknown:actually call them worksheets, because I don't want people to
Unknown:think of working out as this like, negative, right when you
Unknown:you get to move your you don't have to but you get to play. So
Unknown:the personal assessment on what did you like to do as a kid?
Unknown:Because that is still available to us. You just because you know
Unknown:we Yes, we grow and age. But those things that brought us joy
Unknown:as a kid are still available. And often just as good as if not
Unknown:better than especially for people that don't like to go to
Unknown:the gym. There. The world is your playground. So my
Unknown:favorites. Well, I love skipping rope. I love hula hooping. It's,
Unknown:I love to Hulu, I love to stand in line. Yeah, I love to stand
Unknown:in line and balance on a leg one leg, or, you know, I love to
Unknown:airbox if I'm at a stop sign, like I just think of, you know,
Unknown:I actually also don't care what people think when I'm doing
Unknown:public. But I want to do some functional movement, because we
Unknown:all need to keep strong and functional as we age functional
Unknown:is just how we move our body naturally, like getting in and
Unknown:out of a chair or on and off of a toilet or in another car. All
Unknown:of those movements need to be practiced so we can still do
Unknown:them. So you know, in my book, I even refer to stalking a habit
Unknown:that you may have, you may not want to go do squats somewhere,
Unknown:but boy, you go to the bathroom, you can do five squats after
Unknown:you've done gone to the bathroom very easily. And so every time
Unknown:you go to the bathroom, you can add that habit on. And yeah, it
Unknown:just simple ways to put more movement in your day and make it
Unknown:fun and playful. And then you can get those 150 minutes pretty
Unknown:easily. It's not that hard.
Melissa Deally:Yeah. And it comes from choosing or
Melissa Deally:recognizing it's a choice. And then as you say, just figuring
Melissa Deally:out how you can fit it in, in small different places through
Melissa Deally:the day. Yeah, so I'd love to share with you a couple of
Melissa Deally:stories. I recently bought the mirror. Are you familiar? Like
Melissa Deally:it? Oh my goodness, I cannot say how much I love my mirror
Melissa Deally:enough. Because it's right, you know, 10,000 workouts to choose
Melissa Deally:from. Right, right. It's right downstairs in the living room
Melissa Deally:kind of behind the couch. So I can do like stretching in the
Melissa Deally:evening and my husband's watching TV and I'm on the other
Melissa Deally:side of the couch. She doesn't even know I'm there doing my
Melissa Deally:stretching. So AI stretch way more, which is really important
Melissa Deally:after my days on the mountain skiing. But with 10,000
Melissa Deally:workouts, I do something on that every single day. Sometimes it's
Melissa Deally:two, sometimes it's three classes because they have five
Melissa Deally:minute classes, they have 15 minute classes, right. And I've
Melissa Deally:tried all these new things that I wasn't doing before. So I was
Melissa Deally:spending about $1,400 a year on my yoga and my gym membership.
Melissa Deally:Now I've bought this and the ROI is like within a year, and I pay
Melissa Deally:$50 A month membership for it. But for all of these different
Melissa Deally:classes now so I've tried boxing, I never did boxing
Melissa Deally:before but now I'm learning how to box write and write. I've got
Melissa Deally:cardio strength, I just found foam roller stretching the other
Melissa Deally:day, which I needed after we had 70 centimeters of snow on the
Melissa Deally:mountain last Monday and my thighs were killing me. So I've
Melissa Deally:been doing foam roller stretching. I did Tai Chi with
Melissa Deally:my kids when they were home at Christmas. We were laughing
Melissa Deally:there's kickboxing, there's bar, there's Pilates, there's yoga,
Melissa Deally:there's toning, there's sculpt, there's bar, I mean, there's so
Melissa Deally:many different workouts on there. You can do competitions
Melissa Deally:with other people. So they'll go together and for 30 seconds, you
Melissa Deally:work out as hard as you can and you get a squat. So it's super
Melissa Deally:fun. And again, it makes you union makes me feel like I'm
Melissa Deally:playing and it's really convenient.
Unknown:Right? That's a big piece for people really is
Unknown:because
Melissa Deally:even going to the gym is still for me I'm if I
Melissa Deally:walk, it's a 20 minute walk. And then I do an hour workout and
Melissa Deally:then it's a 20 minute walk home says a big chunk of my day. Or
Melissa Deally:if I drive it's still a five minute drive and dadadada da
Melissa Deally:right and then just to be able to go downstairs for Five
Melissa Deally:minutes and just do something for five minutes. Right? Yeah,
Melissa Deally:absolutely. So I really love that they've come out with that.
Melissa Deally:And
Unknown:yeah, the pandemic really did serve us well, on
Unknown:that front because it brought the option to a lot more people.
Unknown:I mean, even if you don't have a mirror, there are, you know,
Unknown:YouTube has 1000s and 1000s. Exactly. And, you know, peloton,
Unknown:you don't have to own a peloton bike, you can use the app, you
Unknown:know, they don't have to have a bike. Just, you know, I think
Unknown:that's a you bring up a really important point, convenience,
Unknown:fun. And if you'll use it, then you'll do it. So and there's no
Unknown:right or wrong, right? You're experimenting, you're a perfect
Unknown:example of you're trying stuff on and wow, I really liked that.
Unknown:And who knew and it just opens up a whole world that I think as
Unknown:we age, and as life evolves, we deserve that. Because why
Unknown:wouldn't you try? There's no reason not to. Exactly.
Melissa Deally:And it has opened up a whole new world
Melissa Deally:because before all I did was cardio classes and stretch
Melissa Deally:strength classes at the gym, and Emily yoga classes, different
Melissa Deally:kinds of yoga classes, but I didn't have access to bar and
Melissa Deally:pilates and kickboxing, and boxing and tie all of these
Melissa Deally:other things. Right. And I certainly wasn't stretching as
Melissa Deally:much as I should share five minutes at the end of every
Melissa Deally:class, but not like I should be right. Yeah, yeah, sure. What I
Melissa Deally:also love too, is the whole family can do it. And like I
Melissa Deally:said, they have classes from five minutes to an hour from
Melissa Deally:beginner to advanced. So there's something for everyone. There's
Melissa Deally:even chair workouts, which is fabulous. And I've done some
Melissa Deally:chairs stretching, which is just as good as not doing you know,
Melissa Deally:like, it's there's all sorts of things. So doesn't matter where
Melissa Deally:you're at, you can get started.
Unknown:You can also I do want to point out, you said something
Unknown:really, really valuable there is that there's five minutes,
Unknown:there's 10 minutes, the only reason that people think they
Unknown:need an hour is because that's how trainers get paid. Right?
Unknown:It's a huge fallacy to think that that is a necessity. You
Unknown:don't need an hour at all. If you have an hour, awesome. Go
Unknown:for an hour walk or whatever. But you know, just that all
Unknown:movement matters. In the end the time you have, like you said,
Unknown:it's fantastic.
Melissa Deally:And in fact, and you can correct me if I'm wrong,
Melissa Deally:but I've heard from other trainers that you're better off
Melissa Deally:actually moving multiple times through the day then doing a
Melissa Deally:whole hour long workout first thing in the morning and then
Melissa Deally:not moving all day. Right? Absolutely. If that is your
Melissa Deally:answer to those little five minute work workouts is better.
Melissa Deally:Have you heard
Unknown:of non exercise Activity Thermogenesis? It's
Unknown:called neat. I have not. Okay, so neat is exactly what you're
Unknown:talking about. It's a fancier word. But neat stands for non
Unknown:exercise Activity Thermogenesis which means you are doing
Unknown:yourself a disservice by doing your workout and sitting for the
Unknown:rest of the day you almost cancel out the benefits. Versus
Unknown:Yes, please still keep up your strength in your cardio on those
Unknown:things. But be intentional about how you're moving throughout the
Unknown:day set timers to get up. You absolutely that movement is as
Unknown:good as if not better than a full long workout. All that's
Unknown:why all movement matters. And that's why Yeah, it throughout
Unknown:the day. It's everything. It's kind of the thing that people
Unknown:don't talk about, but really everybody should know.
Melissa Deally:And for me, I live in a two storey home. So
Melissa Deally:after each call that I do with my clients, I'm always up and
Melissa Deally:down the stairs, right just on purpose, I need more tea or
Melissa Deally:something else. And then I sit on a ball. And I love my this is
Melissa Deally:I can wiggle right. And I'm just always moving. You
Unknown:got things going on there, girl. I love it.
Melissa Deally:I love all of this. And what I do want to say
Melissa Deally:too, about the mirror that I really loved is they give you a
Melissa Deally:30 day money back guarantee. Right? You can't lose. You can
Melissa Deally:buy it and try it. And if it's really not for you, you can
Melissa Deally:return it. But I bought it and I tried it and I just loved it. So
Melissa Deally:four months later, I'm still rocking my mirror.
Unknown:Again, find something you love to do, and you'll stick
Unknown:with it. Exactly. And if it doesn't work, there are 1000s of
Unknown:other ways to move your body 100% And get outside. Yeah,
Melissa Deally:something else that I also want to share with
Melissa Deally:you. You were talking about, you know, what did you do when you
Melissa Deally:were a kid? Right? Yeah. So I recently did some training and I
Melissa Deally:did NLP and timeline therapy and hypnotherapy training. And we're
Melissa Deally:tapping into the unconscious mind. And I know you're all very
Melissa Deally:familiar with that with habit change. I'm actually reading
Melissa Deally:atomic habits right now to Oh, what a great well, a lot so
Melissa Deally:aligned here. But you know, understanding that our
Melissa Deally:unconscious mind is a toddler, right? It just wants to play and
Melissa Deally:have fun and it only communicates in signs and you
Melissa Deally:know, numbers and single words because it's a toddler. So I
Melissa Deally:went out for a walk during the day that we were doing
Melissa Deally:hypnotherapy and it was just a beautiful sunny day, and I just
Melissa Deally:let my phone just start playing music and I just wanted to dance
Melissa Deally:and I'm on the valley trail I live in Whistler, so Oh, no one
Melissa Deally:was around me at the point of that point. And when music comes
Melissa Deally:on, I just have to move my body dancing across the bridge across
Melissa Deally:the waterfall and eyes are closed, and I'm twirling, and
Melissa Deally:I'm thinking, I'm just like a little kid and I start skipping,
Melissa Deally:and it takes me back to being seven years old. I can't
Melissa Deally:remember my skips, right. And then I see a man walking up the
Melissa Deally:path the other way. And I'm like, he probably thinks I'm a
Melissa Deally:nutcase. But I don't care, maybe he'll just see my pure joy. And
Melissa Deally:maybe that was it for today. I kept on skipping past and
Melissa Deally:enjoying my music. And I literally felt like I was seven
Melissa Deally:years old again. And it was amazing. But so often we create
Melissa Deally:ourselves back, right? Because we think, Well, an adult can't
Melissa Deally:behave like that.
Unknown:Yes, we can. Why not? I know, you know, it's true.
Melissa Deally:We all get so serious.
Unknown:Well, there's, that's the thing, becoming an adult
Unknown:does take on a level of seriousness that also sheds the
Unknown:light on the fact that, you know, we think these playful
Unknown:moments aren't available to us anymore. I mean, imagine if
Unknown:your, your spouse or your friend said, Hey, let's go play in the
Unknown:woods. Or instead of going to the gym, it's so much easier to
Unknown:say, Okay, I'm just gonna have to play for a while I'll be
Unknown:right back, then I have to go do this serious thing, because I
Unknown:know why it's good for me, but I actually hate it. And it's
Unknown:really bothering me. And, you know, those kinds of things.
Unknown:Being, being giving yourself permission to getting back to
Unknown:being a kid feels way more fun and achievable, then, you know,
Unknown:not it's, it's a state of mind, really, Melissa, you know, plays
Unknown:a state of mind and exercise is playing. And that, that
Melissa Deally:that is the state of mind, I totally agree.
Unknown:Yeah, if people can switch the, their thinking and
Unknown:understand that, you know, play is exercise, exercise is play,
Unknown:then their whole world can open up
Melissa Deally:100%. And I love what you said about let's go
Melissa Deally:play in the woods, because I know, you've mentioned that play
Melissa Deally:is nature's therapy. Oh, it is nature's therapy
Unknown:on so many levels. And you know, the mind body
Unknown:connection is so powerful and you really can feel it. Big time
Unknown:when you're outside in nature. You know, the the mental and
Unknown:physical benefits of being outside is, is really next
Unknown:level. And again, it doesn't take a lot of time. But it does
Unknown:take and I also like to say there's no bad weather. There's
Unknown:only bad cooling down here. Yeah, I'm gonna guide leader I
Unknown:know about what to do. Where I got it from, I was never a Girl
Unknown:Guide leader. But you know, i No matter the weather, play is
Unknown:still available to us. Yes. Yeah. As long as you're safe, of
Unknown:course. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And because it boosts your mood, it
Unknown:improves your memory. It helps fight disease. You know, there's
Unknown:chronic diseases that are preventable. If you spend more
Unknown:time moving your body and enjoying nature. That's why it's
Unknown:nature's therapy.
Melissa Deally:Well, and because we know that nature
Melissa Deally:helps us drop out of our chronic stress state and into our rest
Melissa Deally:and digest parasympathetic nervous system. And in our
Melissa Deally:world, today, too many of us are living stuck in that chronic
Melissa Deally:stress, state, fight or flight. We're in that fight or flight
Melissa Deally:right in order for the body to be producing the cortisol, the
Melissa Deally:adrenaline that it thinks we need in order for us to get away
Melissa Deally:from the lion or tiger that it thinks is chasing us. It shuts
Melissa Deally:down other systems, one of which is our immune system, because
Melissa Deally:the immune system takes energy. And right now the brain thinks
Melissa Deally:we need all the energy we can to get to safety. And so that's why
Melissa Deally:it's so therapeutic. And I mean, I'm so fortunate I live in
Melissa Deally:Whistler, I've got nature all around me. It was a choice to
Melissa Deally:live here. I only ever came for one season. And two years later,
Melissa Deally:I'm still here you are at 22 Somehow I knew to make that
Melissa Deally:choice. But I remember just a couple summers ago, I went to
Melissa Deally:Vancouver for the day, right? So driving around in the city and I
Melissa Deally:was doing appointments and things and so that can be
Melissa Deally:stressful when you don't do it all the time. Right?
Unknown:And on the way home and all those cars on the road.
Unknown:Exactly.
Melissa Deally:Where's your money going? Where am I going to
Melissa Deally:find a parking spot right? And why is it so grounded in this
Melissa Deally:line because I have five minutes to get to my next appointment
Melissa Deally:anyway. So I'm driving home and I stopped in at Alice Lake one
Melissa Deally:of our camping sites in Squamish where my sister and her family
Melissa Deally:were camping for the week and it was my niece's birthday and I
Melissa Deally:pulled into their spot and I parked and I needed to go to the
Melissa Deally:washroom so I walked over to the little outhouse there. And as I
Melissa Deally:walked back towards their sight, like I had not been there two
Melissa Deally:minutes, and I physically felt the stress just leave my body
Melissa Deally:Yeah. And it was just again, another reminder of I'm fully
Melissa Deally:aware of the benefits of this, but to feel it so. You know, I
Melissa Deally:don't know viscerally. I guess in my body, I'm just that Aha of
Melissa Deally:Gee, I did kind of had a stressful day to day for it to
Melissa Deally:leave my body like that. Within two minutes of being back in
Melissa Deally:nature. Love it, right. So by an outhouse. Wow, that's a lot.
Melissa Deally:There's a lot of relief happening. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So
Melissa Deally:talk to me more about, I know, there's studies that show the
Melissa Deally:benefit of, you know, nature and the benefit to the brain, at
Melissa Deally:cetera, et cetera, and benefit to health. So share a little bit
Melissa Deally:more of these studies with me?
Unknown:Well, sure, you know, there is a recent study found
Unknown:that moderate physical activity thickened parts of the brain in
Unknown:beneficial ways to that led 60 year olds who had been sedentary
Unknown:scoring as though they were 20 years younger, which is kind of
Unknown:phenomenal onyx, with executive function, which is the ability
Unknown:to pay attention and organize and achieve goals. So you know,
Unknown:that in itself, the having that happen, but also, you know, the
Unknown:other medicinal benefits of play are, it can help manage
Unknown:arthritis. In fact, it can improve arthritis symptoms by up
Unknown:to 40%. And even that 150 minutes a week, the moderate
Unknown:physical activity can reduce your risk of developing type two
Unknown:diabetes by 26%. And that's huge in today's world. 26%. Yeah,
Unknown:with moderate intensity, right. And that's what people have to
Unknown:really understand that one in four adults globally, do not get
Unknown:150 minutes a week of exercise, because there's this stop gap
Unknown:between what they think they need to do to get in shape
Unknown:versus really what's available to them. And that's where I'm,
Unknown:you know, bringing this whole play message back to is that,
Unknown:that 150 minutes, is seriously easy to get, when you give
Unknown:yourself more permission to be playful, and find the things
Unknown:that you'd like to do. Right.
Melissa Deally:And you've got a whole list of 150 things to
Melissa Deally:start sparking ideas.
Unknown:Oh, that and, you know, also, I didn't want to write my
Unknown:book, too, I didn't want to write another exercise book, I
Unknown:didn't want to write a book that says, This is what you have to
Unknown:do. And this is the way you have to do it. Right? I come in at
Unknown:this as truly, as a coach, here are some tools you can use to
Unknown:start understanding how much time you're moving every day,
Unknown:the kinds of things you'd like to do your vision of what being
Unknown:healthy as you age looks like, you know, having a I even
Unknown:actually did a vision board specifically for this book,
Unknown:which I have as a screensaver on my computer. And you know, it's
Unknown:literally it's fresh fruits and vegetables and playing in the
Unknown:woods and being in nature and those things, they really speak
Unknown:to me and still to this day. And also things in my book, you
Unknown:know, really what you value and believe. And really, you know,
Unknown:what you're willing, able and able to do all helps paint the
Unknown:right picture, as an individual to find the way to move a little
Unknown:more and play every day.
Melissa Deally:And I love that you made a vision board around
Melissa Deally:it and just to create that future plan for yourself.
Unknown:Yeah, well, you know, we deserve some inspiration. And
Unknown:we all imagine, you know, it's this is not about getting cut
Unknown:for competition, you know, play, it's not about, you know, always
Unknown:building and, and goal achieving and those type of things. And
Unknown:it's it's also not about fitting in a dress from when you were
Unknown:15. This is about like achieving manageable, sustainable change,
Unknown:and movement. Play is the most positive catalyst for change.
Unknown:Once you start moving more, you feel better. Once you feel
Unknown:better, you'll probably sleep better, because you're a little
Unknown:more tired. Like your body's working for you, not against
Unknown:you. When you're sleeping better, you actually eat better.
Unknown:Those all those ways to manage our health, as we age are
Unknown:available. And I believe the lowest barrier to entry and the
Unknown:most fun way to do it is playing 100%
Melissa Deally:I totally agree with you there. I totally agree
Melissa Deally:with you. And you also mentioned just there we all need a little
Melissa Deally:inspiration. And so I just want to let the audience know that if
Melissa Deally:you're tuning into this episode for the first time that this is
Melissa Deally:coming out in my theme of play for the month of May 2022. But
Melissa Deally:my April episodes were all about inspirations So if you're also
Melissa Deally:looking for inspiration in your life go check out those episodes
Melissa Deally:as well. So I agree that the lowest barrier to entry is play
Melissa Deally:like there's almost no barrier at all. And we can just walk
Melissa Deally:outside our front door and find ways to play when we open our
Melissa Deally:mind too that something again I'm grateful for through this
Melissa Deally:pandemic is I bought a paddleboard because I figured,
Melissa Deally:well, if I can't travel anywhere, I'm going to be home
Melissa Deally:more, and I absolutely love my paddleboard. In fact, last year,
Melissa Deally:April 16, was my first day on my paddleboard, Oh, I did it for
Melissa Deally:seven days in a row because we had this sudden week of gorgeous
Melissa Deally:blue skies, sunny weather. Yeah, I won't be on my paddleboard
Melissa Deally:this year on April 17 16th. Because a the mountain is still
Melissa Deally:open for the first few years is usually open but the last two
Melissa Deally:years it closed early. But secondly, we still have a lot of
Melissa Deally:snow this year, and the weather isn't as warm. So I will keep
Melissa Deally:skiing. And then in May, I will I'm looking forward to getting
Melissa Deally:my paddleboard out. But the other thing that I started was
Melissa Deally:backcountry hiking with my oldest daughter, nice, and we
Melissa Deally:have absolutely loved getting out into nature, you know,
Melissa Deally:hiking up taking everything with us, exploring different
Melissa Deally:dehydrated food options, et cetera, et cetera, you know,
Melissa Deally:having our tent. And we're again planning this summer, more
Melissa Deally:backcountry camping trips, because we just enjoy the time
Melissa Deally:together the memories, where we're taking devices, but we
Melissa Deally:can't really use them, we're having them for one more like on
Melissa Deally:the way back and forth, et cetera. But we're out of self
Melissa Deally:range, right? So we're leaving the world behind. Love that just
Melissa Deally:getting into nature.
Unknown:You know what I love about that. And I use the I
Unknown:share this a lot with my clients in that, that in itself, what
Unknown:you're doing is a wonderful role modeling opportunity to help you
Unknown:know you, I know you're a guided health professional, but you
Unknown:truly are guiding your own child and helping them explore and
Unknown:understand those wonderful ways that nature can really
Unknown:decompress us, and really help us tune into our world. I think
Unknown:it's great, you know, there's a lot of people that struggle with
Unknown:their kids on devices, or their grandchildren, or it's a real
Unknown:issue. But having the opportunity to be in a role
Unknown:model position to introduce other people that we love to
Unknown:other ways of getting outside and moving. It's wonderful. So I
Unknown:applaud you for that.
Melissa Deally:Well, thank you. And we both really love it. And
Melissa Deally:in fact, it was she that last October. Before we went, she
Melissa Deally:looked up the time of sunrise, and she made me get up at 430 in
Melissa Deally:the morning, because I think I think Sunrise was at five, but
Melissa Deally:we wanted to see all the beautiful change of the colors
Melissa Deally:in the sky. Right? I hope we have to first get out when it's
Melissa Deally:pitch black.
Unknown:Yeah, did you take pictures?
Melissa Deally:We took a lot of pictures. Out there in complete
Melissa Deally:silence, we found an empty platform that we just went lay
Melissa Deally:on in our sleeping bags and looked up at the sky. And then
Melissa Deally:when it started getting lighter, we actually sat up and took tons
Melissa Deally:of pictures. And it was just magically we barely talked we
Melissa Deally:didn't need to talk. We were so in awe.
Unknown:Of what how and wonder. Yeah, no, we all deserve more
Unknown:awe and wonder. And it again, like nature, it's available to
Unknown:us. You have to be intentional. Be exactly and when your
Unknown:intention matches what you really desire. That's, I'm so
Unknown:glad you had that experience together. That's wonderful.
Melissa Deally:Yeah, it was it was super, super fun. And I
Melissa Deally:absolutely love what you're doing. And not only bringing
Melissa Deally:this to individuals, but also into the corporate workplace.
Melissa Deally:Because that's often where we can feel like we have to be
Melissa Deally:serious, we're being paid to do a job, right. And, you know,
Melissa Deally:that is a little bit bred into us in terms of society,
Melissa Deally:especially in the corporate world. I know from my experience
Melissa Deally:in my past life, being in the corporate world, that it's
Melissa Deally:serious. And I think
Unknown:the industrial revolution really set the tone
Unknown:for that, that, you know, productivity over fun. And I
Unknown:believe that it doesn't have to be like that. In fact, when I
Unknown:talk to corporate groups, my the favorite topic I talk about is
Unknown:how to add more play into your workday. And people are often
Unknown:surprised by that. But it's it's not that hard. You just have to
Unknown:find a way and again, role modeling as leaders. I think
Unknown:it's important that leaders take the time to model that behavior
Unknown:to their employees, because because you can you know, you
Unknown:can It's simple. It's not easy, but it's simple.
Melissa Deally:Exactly. And I was, I heard a stat, I don't
Melissa Deally:remember the exact stat recently, but I know, you know,
Melissa Deally:employee engagements are at all time lows, right? Like, like 80%
Melissa Deally:disengagement, right. But when they see the CEO or the
Melissa Deally:leadership step into caring for themselves, so this was more
Melissa Deally:about encouraging CEOs to look after their health, looking
Melissa Deally:after everybody else's, and then they're not looking after their
Melissa Deally:own. But what they saw was when the CEO started looking after
Melissa Deally:their health, then everybody else started doing it too,
Melissa Deally:because it gave them permission to do that. So maybe if the CEO
Melissa Deally:went for a walk at lunchtime, will Oh, he if he can do that, I
Melissa Deally:can do that. Right. But if he's in his office working all
Melissa Deally:through lunch, then the rest of the employees think that that's
Melissa Deally:what they have to do to
Unknown:Yeah, it comes back to that role modeling, whether you
Unknown:are a CEO, being intentional with leading your healthy
Unknown:behaviors and your healthy habits around others that see
Unknown:it, it makes a huge, huge difference on how people will
Unknown:show up for you, as a parent, or as a leader, for sure. Well,
Unknown:parents are leaders. So let's just put that all in the same
Unknown:category.
Melissa Deally:And the reality is, is when we're playing, we
Melissa Deally:are getting out of that stress state. And so ultimately, you
Melissa Deally:might be thinking you're taking time away from doing something
Melissa Deally:to play. But yes, actually get more done. Because when you get
Melissa Deally:out of that stress state, your frontal lobe will function
Melissa Deally:better. And you will be able to be more focused, when you come
Melissa Deally:back to your work. And your mind just won't be in this overwhelm
Melissa Deally:of ping, ping, ping, ping, ping getting nothing.
Unknown:And not to mention, all that play time, adds up to
Unknown:reducing the other big, big thing that's come out of this
Unknown:pandemic, which is anxiety and depression, you know, getting
Unknown:people to understand those movement habits, the play habit,
Unknown:can reduce their help to reduce it. Absolutely. There's a whole
Unknown:I mean, I speak to Dr. John Ratey, and my book who is like
Unknown:the preeminent psychiatrist on movement, and play, and, you
Unknown:know, just it can be as good as not necessarily replace
Unknown:medication, but as good as taking medication. Not that
Unknown:anybody should ever stop taking their medication with their
Unknown:doctor. But those regular exercise can work wonders for
Unknown:your mental health, and, therefore also lead to
Unknown:productivity at the office. So
Melissa Deally:100% agree. Well, I've totally love laughing
Melissa Deally:with you throughout this episode. Because it's been fun,
Melissa Deally:and we've been playing. So I always love to ask my episode
Melissa Deally:guests. What does? Now I can't even say it. What does don't
Melissa Deally:wait for your wake up call mean to you?
Unknown:Oh, yeah. You know, the wait, don't wait for a wake up
Unknown:call means be as proactive about your health as you can. You are
Unknown:the CEO of your health, you are the person in charge. And
Unknown:having, you know, stuff happens in life. But the more prepared
Unknown:we are and the better we take care of ourselves proactively.
Unknown:When those Wake Up Calls happen, like we talked about at the
Unknown:beginning. They're way less scary, because you have things
Unknown:in place to help you through, manage through and come out the
Unknown:other side, on the positive end. Because Wake Up Calls will
Unknown:happen to everybody. They just do at some point. So the more
Unknown:prepared like a girl guy, the more prepared you are, the
Unknown:better off you'll be, because health through health as well.
Melissa Deally:Exactly. I love that. And I'm so happy to hear
Melissa Deally:that your husband has just experienced exactly that. So and
Melissa Deally:that he's doing really well. So that's awesome. So if people are
Melissa Deally:interested in learning more about you, your work your book,
Melissa Deally:how can they find you and reach out to
Unknown:you. So everything anybody needs to reach out to me
Unknown:is on my website, which is Janet Olmstead. So no l no, H O M S, T
Unknown:E, D homestead.com. And over there, you'll find links to find
Unknown:my book, I have free downloads. Those assessment sheets, we were
Unknown:talking about the free first chapter of my book, if you'd
Unknown:like to get a preview, and also, you know, speaking or coaching,
Unknown:it's all there. So perfect Instagram, I'm on Instagram, I'm
Unknown:on LinkedIn, and I think those notes will be in.
Melissa Deally:Yes. So I will make sure all of that is in the
Melissa Deally:show notes for the listeners. And yes, thank you very much for
Melissa Deally:the gift to the audience as well of the first chapter of your
Melissa Deally:book because I know when people read that they will definitely
Melissa Deally:want more. And as we finish up, what is one tip that you would
Melissa Deally:like to leave with the audience so they can listen to this and
Melissa Deally:then go out and just start playing today? The tip
Unknown:of this moment, I would say is, the mindset is, I get to
Unknown:play, I don't have to work out, I get to play. And when you
Unknown:change your mindset, it will make a big difference to how you
Unknown:show up. And I'd love to hear how you're playing. So let me
Unknown:know if you found something fun. Reach out to me, because it'd be
Unknown:great to know how you determine that.
Melissa Deally:I love that. So yes, start playing and email
Melissa Deally:Janet and let her know what you have started doing in your life.
Melissa Deally:Well, thank you again for joining us here today. Janet.
Melissa Deally:It's been so much fun. And thank you to my audience for tuning in
Melissa Deally:every week. And we will be here again next week. So have a
Melissa Deally:wonderful week out there everyone.
Melissa Deally:Bye. Thanks so much. Bye. Thank you for investing this time with
Melissa Deally:me on the don't wait for your wake up call Podcast. I'm so
Melissa Deally:glad you joined in. If you can take two minutes to share this
Melissa Deally:episode with someone you think can benefit and have a positive
Melissa Deally:impact on their life. That would be wonderful. Please leave a
Melissa Deally:review by going to your favorite podcast listening app. And let
Melissa Deally:me know what you enjoy or would like to hear more of it will
Melissa Deally:support me in my effort to bring the possibility of natural
Melissa Deally:healing to a wider audience and help disrupt the sick care
Melissa Deally:system we have today and make human health a global priority.