People are wired for connection. It’s an evolutionary survival mechanism innate in even the most introverted of us. And it’s repeated from our cultural community and tribal tendencies all the way down to a cellular level in the body. Connection in the context of health and wellness can look like mindfulness practices, building self awareness through meditation and journaling, setting healthy boundaries, improving work life balance, strengthening relationships with family and friends, getting involved in your community, building your own communication and leadership skills, tapping into hobbies and activities that bring you joy.

On the surface those things might not seem as critical to our health as getting our blood pressure under control or lowering our cholesterol and losing weight. But it’s precisely BECAUSE those things are critical that we need to acknowledge the influence that our connection to ourselves and our community has on those more measurable health outcomes. Today we’re discussing the internal and external connections that matter when we’re making changes to our health.

We are working our way through 5 categories of health with our Cat 5 challenge and today we’re diving into category 4 the nervous system. Last week we discussed the overlap of the nervous system and sleep and how we’re looking for ways to help the body feel safe enough to be able to relax into that parasympathetic so we can rest and be close to other people. Today I want to discuss how playing it safe ALL the time can actually keep you in a state of protection, hypervigilance and anxiety.

Everything we do during the day can affect how we sleep from what we eat and drink to when we eat and drink, when and how we exercise, whether or not we get outside to the temperature of the room and the state of our sex life. But today I want to talk about something different in relation to sleep, sex and stress. And that’s our perception of safety.

For me anything that you do that takes your body beyond what it can already comfortably do can be resistance training. But that’s the hard part. To do that we have to push ourselves. We have to be willing to try things that we aren’t sure that we can do. So not only is there physical resistance, we also have to overcome the mental resistance to being uncomfortable.

Once we can do that we can do anything.

But why? Why should we care about this kind of exercise?

Today I thought we’d take a look at 4 areas of nutrition to focus so we don’t actually have to diet. If we can get these 4 things dialed in we never have to diet again. They kill cravings, balance metabolism, help shed excess weight, correct insulin and leptin resistance, maintain muscle and bone mass, balance energy throughout the day and help us sleep better which in turn improves our stress response, cognition and memory. Pretty much all the good things. But it sounds too good to be true doesn’t it?

My guest today is sobriety coach Krysty Krywko. Join me as we discuss gray area drinking and the benefits of letting go of alcohol in the new year.