Episode 700: Life Lessons, New Directions, and Letting Go

Child: Welcome to my Mommy’s podcast.

This podcast is brought to you by ARMRA, which is a new Colostrum I have been experimenting with and had to tell you about. Because you know I’m always on the lookout for new ways to improve immunity, gut health, fitness, metabolism, and enhance my skin and hair. And I have been liking this new Colostrum product.
Colostrum is the first nutrition we receive in life, and it contains all the essential nutrients our bodies need in order to thrive. But the ARMRA one specifically is a proprietary concentrate of bovine colostrum that harnesses over 400 living bioactive nutrients that rebuild the barriers of your body and fuel cellular health for a host of research-backed benefits. It strengthens immunity, ignites metabolism, and it has anti-inflammatory gut-fortifying properties. It can improve hair growth and skin radiance. I’ve been using it for fitness and recovery, and it also has a host of well-studied anti-aging benefits.
And this one is a premium one, unlike other ones I’ve tried. It’s natural, sustainable, and they’ve done research and testing from start to finish. Unlike most colostrums, which use heat that depletes their nutrient potency, they leverage their proprietary cold chain biopotent technology, which is an innovative process that purifies and preserves the integrity of the bioactive nutrients while removing things like casein and fat to guarantee that it’s highly potent and bioavailable and more so than any other one on the market. So they go above and beyond industry standards and they invest in expensive auditing and third-party testing to ensure that they always meet the highest demands of purity and efficacy and are glyphosate-free. And for you, for listening, they have a special offer just for you to receive 15% off your first order by going to tryarmra.com/mama15 and using the code “mama15” to say 15%.

This podcast is brought to you by Wellnesse. And this is a company that I got to help co-found and formulate the products for and one that I care deeply about. Oral health has been a fun research topic for me for well over a decade. When I discovered I had some cavities and started learning about the process of remineralization and how our teeth have the ability to stay stronger and healthier, dependent on a lot of factors, including our nutrition, our oral microbiome, and the environment of our mouth. And this is why we use something called hydroxyapatite, which is a naturally occurring mineral that is used in the enamel of our teeth. And there’s some fascinating studies that show that this is really effective at helping keep teeth strong and healthy. And this is also why I chose not to use fluoride in my products. Hydroxyapatite has many of the same upsides without the potential downsides that come with fluoride and is certainly much safer for children as well.
I really delved into the research around the oral microbiome. And I love that this is now an emerging area of conversation and research. But when our oral microbiome is strong, that helps us avoid both ends of the spectrum. One would be things like strep mutans, which is the bacteria linked to cavities, as well as the host of bacteria that are linked to things like gingivitis. Both of those can be combated by having a really healthy oral microbiome.
So we’ve recently released probiotic mints that have four probiotic strains that help enhance the oral microbiome and by choosing microbiome safe ingredients, as well as hydroxyapatite for tooth enamel in the toothpaste. So you can check out those as well as our full line of haircare products and other oral health products as well by going to wellnesse.com.

Katie: Hello and welcome to the 700th episode of the Wellness Mama podcast. It’s hard to believe that it has been 700 episodes since I began in 2014. And I’m so honored that I’ve gotten to speak to so many incredible people on this podcast and to share those conversations with you. And I thought it would be fitting in this episode to talk through very briefly some life lessons, some new directions and shifts, and some things of letting go that have happened for me in the last couple of years.

I know I’ve been a little more removed from the online world as I’ve gone through some personal transitions. And that’s also led to some potential transitions in how I show up as Wellness Mama online. And so I wanted to just vulnerably share from that today. And I also asked you guys on Instagram any questions you had, and those were actually the ones that came up the most around life shifts, the recent divorce that’s happened in my life, how co-parenting is going, a lot of things related to that. Also how or if that will affect Wellness Mama. So that is my focus in this solo episode today.

I would say starting broadly with a where we’ve come from kind of chapter. I feel like the last few years have been a journey to more integrated health. I, in the beginning, spoke much more only about the physical health side because that’s where my energy and intention were going. And I do think that that side is critical but I also have come to believe it’s more nuanced than I thought. Certainly more individualized and personalized and much more impacted by mental and emotional health than I used to think.

Like I said, for years, that was the only piece I’ve really focused on. And as I’ve shared some in other episodes, nothing even in physical health shifted substantially for me until I also addressed the inner side, the mental and emotional aspects and really worked on letting go and resolving those and then saw those shifts manifest in my physical life as well.

I feel like I’ve personally changed substantially, even in the last 100 episodes. And like I said, I’ve taken some personal time to go through those big adjustments in my life and to just be present with my kids. And my personal lesson and theme for the last few years has involved a whole lot of letting go and of learning how to consciously cultivate peace. And it’s been beautiful, certainly sometimes challenging, and it’s still a journey in progress. But I am excited to be able to share more of it with you, including here on the podcast and on wellnessmama.com, because I’ve realized in the last few months especially that in some ways I’ve kept large parts of myself out of Wellness Mama for years, partially for fear of judgment and also partially because I worried that some parts might not be relatable or interesting to other people.

So specifically, I haven’t talked really much publicly about my divorce and the big and investing that I’ve been doing for over a decade and really enjoying because I worried that those wouldn’t be, like I said, helpful or relatable. And when I really thought it through, I realized that most people will go through some sort of big life or relationship transition in their lives and that most women I know are actually involved in finance or business or have some sort of business or hustle that they do on their own. And so I’m actually really excited to get to start opening up more to other aspects of my life that I have previously been a little bit more private about. That doesn’t mean I’ll probably share details of my kids’ lives online because I still feel those are theirs to share. But I am excited to open up and talk about more topics and hopefully a more holistic approach of all that goes into motherhood and of being a woman.

Certainly the other topics are not going away either and neither is the content. But I do hope this will bring some new and interesting direction and guests.

Now on a personal level. The biggest life shift for me personally, of course, has been the divorce. And like I said, I’ve shied away from talking about this publicly for two reasons. First, that it felt like a failure and I had some big emotions around that. And it was tough to face personally without public opinion for a while. And so I took some time to do that. But secondly, I wanted to make sure before I did that I could hold my own boundary about not ever saying anything negative about him publicly, which was a vow I made during the process, in which I planned to uphold. And I actually do think that despite some tough patches, we were actually able to navigate it very respectfully and while staying mostly really kind even toward each other and trying to keep the kids and their transition in it as well as the focus.

I feel like for me personally, it was a great example and practice of understanding that I truly only do have the ability to control my own thoughts and actions and emotions, and that I could still choose kindness toward the other person who was likely also hurting and experiencing his own emotions around everything.

And for anyone else who’s navigated this life change or might be navigating it now, two things I found especially helpful were vowing to never let him make an enemy out of me. No matter how difficult the process got, I was very firm in not letting it ever escalate and not letting him make an enemy out of me because I could at least control my side of that equation and also to never speak negatively about him, especially to our kids, but to anyone outside of therapy.

One piece of advice that we found helpful that came from a therapist was we each designated a small list of safe people that we were able to talk through our feelings about with them, which included therapists and close friends, but we decided not to vent or speak poorly about each other outside of that. And I feel like that was helpful to us personally and also to our kids, because I do think it could be hurtful for them to hear negative things about either of their parents. And I only know my side of that, but it seemed to help my emotions to have those boundaries and to choose kindness even when I was really frustrated.

We also managed to navigate a relatively complicated logistical and legal process without opposing lawyers or court dates or fighting. In fact, we pre-negotiated and even pre-organized all the assets in a way that seemed fair and kind to both of us. And we were able to just have a judge sign off on everything. And it seems like this is perhaps unusual, not the way it normally goes. And it’s something I might share more about in the future if anyone’s interested.

I read the book, Conscious Uncoupling, and I found that advice helpful, but I also might end up releasing a book in the future that’s a little bit more in depth about the way we went through the process, because I do think we found some unique ways to navigate it that seemed to limit the emotional and financial turmoil that can often accompany an uncoupling. So like I said, that’s something I might share more of in the future. I know it won’t apply to everyone, but I also know from all the people who showed up to support me that it does apply to a lot of people in today’s world.

And for me now, that also means that I’ve transitioned to life as a single parent and all that goes with that. He now lives in another state and he comes back to see the kids about once a month, but I’m largely responsible for essentially all of the kid logistics and care during the month for most of the time. And it’s actually only been a pretty small adjustment, especially with older kids who can drive now. And I’ve tried to just keep the focus on being present with them. I reread the book, Be Here Now, and I try to use that as a sort of motto of sorts for myself, is just be here now and enjoy the moments because it’s incredible how fleeting they are. And my oldest now turning 17. It’s really, it’s wild to think that I only have a year left with him as a child.

And on a strictly personal level, only because I got a few questions about this on Instagram, I’m definitely not focused on entering the dating scene, I think is how it was worded on there. And I certainly acknowledge that preferences can shift in major ways, but I don’t currently see myself ever wanting to get married again. I got married very young. I had six kids pretty quickly all by the time I was 28. So I’m actually just really enjoying being able to sleep alone, having a tiny bit of solitude and leaning into peace and just being present as much as possible that can happen in a busy house with six kids.

And I also got a lot of questions on that note about the kids and how they’re doing and how to help kids navigate hard changes that can be painful and feel out of their control. And this was, of course, one of the main considerations during this process as well, I think, for both of us. And while I certainly don’t think a change like this comes without some level of adjustment for everyone involved, I do think that we were both able to put our own egos aside and be able to help the kids navigate it pretty well, too.

The big piece of advice I would go back to here is really just holding firm to that boundary of not speaking or acting negatively toward or about each other. This was a piece of advice that we both got in therapy very directly. And we were even told in no uncertain terms that when one parent speaks negatively about the other to the children, it’s not only painful for them, but it’s actually a form of child abuse. And so we both worked and did a lot of work internally to make sure we had our own emotional support structures and people in place so that we weren’t relying on our kids for emotional support and instead could be there for them and show up as a safe and non-judgmental space as they process their emotions as well.

And certainly there were emotions to process on all fronts. For me, some of the emotions I felt and processed during that were things like my shame about it being a failure and being against the opinion of important people in my life, like my parents or the religion I was raised in. I faced disappointment, which was a big childhood trigger for me. That was kind of my worst-case scenario was ever disappointing anyone. And also guilt because I realized that working through my past trauma, I realized that I was definitely a factor that led to shifts in me that contributed to the marriage ending. I also had anger and frustration and many other emotions at different times that I got to work through and hopefully release and that seem much more peaceful now. And I hope the same for him. We have been able to stay amicable and have regular conversations about the kids and both show up for them. And I’m extremely grateful to have a co-parent who was willing to put aside the anger and the big feelings and to work together for the kids, even now as co-parents. So I know that not every scenario that is able to happen, but certainly I’m grateful that we were both able to do that in this time.

On the co-parenting side, we do still check in with each other and have conversations about the kids. And the best advice I can give here is goes back to keep that focus of never making enemies of each other, using kind words and keeping the kids’ needs as a focus. We did map out a pretty comprehensive co-parenting plan together, and thankfully we are still aligned on most kid-related things. And when disagreements do come up, which is pretty rare, we’ve been able to have conversations and figure out a solution. And we both, I think, maintain the idea that we’d rather put our own pride aside and make decisions that are best for the kids rather than get the court system involved. And I know that does require both people being willing to do that, and I’m super grateful that we were able to.

And I’m also, as I said, willing to open up a lot more about these topics. So please let me know in the comments or on Instagram if this is a topic you would like to hear more about in the future, or I’d love to hear actually your thoughts and advice if you’ve navigated something similar as well.

I’m still, I feel like in some ways, as cliche as it sounds, trying to figure out who I am in this phase of life and who I am going forward. But aye. Have been journaling a lot. And I am, like I said, I’m still trying to pinpoint it, but I had a stream of consciousness journal that seemed to like touch on at least some of the places I am right now.

And I wrote this the other day that I am in my peace era, my unashamed era, my inner fire era, my sweet and savory era, my sometimes salty era, my drinking coffee in bed era, my might get a pet tiger era, my house plants everywhere era, my blankets and pillows era, my harem pants era, my unbrushed hair and salty skin era. My wear clothes I actually love and not care what other people think era. My creative era, my reading things that speak to my soul era, my travel era, my run through the forest barefoot era. My ravenous era, my wild era, my untamed era, my fierce era, my rebellious era, my gentle and nurturing era, my lioness era, my embracing the feminine era.

And as you might imagine, that many personal life shifts also led to some business shifts as well. And on the Wellness Mama side. I had some of these tied into my personal ones. And as I said, I realized I was only showing surface level parts of myself as Wellness Mama and it started to feel inauthentic. And I lost some of the passion I had in the early days. In fact, I recently also journaled and wrote an obituary for the person Wellness Mama was in the past and I was fully prepared to let it go. And once I had, I realized that perhaps this is a caterpillar death of sorts, and that the new version emerging is one that I’m excited about again. I think this is going to involve, like I said, talking more openly about topics that I’ve mentioned. Getting back to nurturing the heart of community and connection like it was in the earlier days. And I wanted to share just as a personal note, the obituary I wrote as I’m sharing my journey through this to clarify no actual humans died in the making of this obituary. Just my online persona, Wellness Mama is not going away. It’s just shifting into hopefully a more dynamic and authentic place. And I realized just as motherhood is a place of birth and death, we lose who we were before motherhood. It feels like perhaps a rebirth into a new era for Wellness Mama as well. And I’m excited for that. But what I wrote in the midst of the big shifts in the turmoil was.

In loving memory of Wellness Mama…… Wellness Mama, the enigmatic mother of six, whose kids’ names still remain undisclosed on the internet, the mastermind behind wellnessmama.com, and the voice behind the Wellness Mama podcast has gracefully taken her final bow with a bittersweet blend of gratitude, tears, and a sigh of relief. She transitioned to the cloud mostly peacefully, surrounded by the anonymous avatars of her six beloved children, all of whom, for the record, continue their epic battle for the coveted favorite child crown.

Wellness Mama is survived by her trusty laptop, the incredible team that has been the backbone of her online community for years, by millions of words, thousands of blog posts, hundreds of podcasts, several books, and an unwavering love for the countless souls she had the privilege of connecting with during her 16-year cyber lifetime. Born in 2006, right after her first child arrived, Wellness Mama embarked on a quest to decode her own health struggles, and in doing so, had the incredible privilege of sharing her journey with millions. This odyssey took her through five more pregnancies, countless doctor’s appointments, hundreds of spreadsheets, many crazy dietary experiments, and the occasional moment of soul-searching despair.

It turns out that shedding the skin of attachment that was the actual source of the suffering was the key to her transformation, leading her on a path that eventually resulted in her digital demise. In her virtual existence, she juggled parenting duties with the finesse of a circus ringmaster, all while navigating the perilous waters of online opinions from anonymous commenters. A feat worthy in a Nobel Prize in Patience, had there been a category for collective maternal endurance, which of course, if there were, all mothers would claim annually.

Her online journey also led to helping her nurture and grow value-driven companies, earning her national and international recognition, and granting her the privilege of traveling across the globe. As the host of her podcast, Wellness Mama engaged in riveting conversations with hundreds of remarkable guests and forged friendships that were some of her greatest treasures. Her surviving blog posts and social media profiles stand as a testament to her life chapters. From the birth of her children to the wild experiment she embarked on in the name of health, from raw liver to arctic cold plunges to 10-day water fasts to coffee enemas and so much more.

She had a mild houseplant addiction, an affection for honeybees, and truly for all animals, which she always called baby, a knack for spontaneous costume parties, and a surprising reconciliation with bananas before her digital demise. Wellness Mama’s hobbies include reading scientific journals as bedtime stories, soaking up sunshine like a solar panel, embarking on DIY projects that inevitably took twice as long as expected, cooking without so much as a measuring spoon, traveling, scuba diving, and achieving world records in both walking on Legos and the endless answering of the question “why” by her children. She departs with profound gratitude to all who have shared their most valuable resources of their time, their energy, and their attention with her over the years, and a reminder that we are each our own primary healthcare provider and healer. In lieu Virtual Bouquets, she implores you to honor her memory by being fully present with your loved ones, sharing laughter over a home-cooked meal, spontaneously breaking into dance, and embracing the boundless power of unconditional love.

Like I said, Wellness Mama isn’t going away, but I feel like the version of me, both in real life and online that has lived for the past 16 years has so drastically changed that it felt like. An important letting go and an important rebirth for me personally. And I also thought that perhaps a more authentic introduction would be a great place to start in this podcast specifically. And so this is one actually that I modified from a version I wrote to a friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time or talked to in a while and in the effort of trying to be more all the way myself online. I wanted to reintroduce myself.

Hi, I’m Katie. Last name still be to be determined. I’m a divorced single mom of six who never plans to be legally married again in this lifetime. Spending time with my kids is my biggest joy and time in solitude could be a close second most days. As of this year, I’m also a volunteer track coach for high school. It doesn’t pay, but it lets me have great time with my daughter while driving to meets and I love getting to work with these kids. I never thought I’d be Coach Katie or be sprinting with teenagers for fun, but it has been a truly joyful experience.

I don’t care much about accomplishments anymore, but getting an official certification for coaching felt like an honor because it means I get to spend more time with my kids in their teenage years as they grow. And I’m honored that they still want to spend time with me too.

I have 25 tattoos and will likely end up with a lot more. My favorites are stars that my kids drew that are down my spine, a Valkyrie symbol I tattooed on my own forearm when I felt like I’d survived the inner battle and journey to hell and back. Others include references to quantum physics and geometry, my Japanese name Hikoko, which means fire empress, and small reminders that there’s more to my story and to question everything.

I’m no longer afraid of gluten or EMFs or gaining weight or most of the other things I used to worry about. I don’t follow a diet or a plan, and I don’t take supplements everyday. Sunshine and lifting weights have become my main medicine. I firmly believe that our interpretation of things and our energy around them carries more weight than the things themselves. I’m still a huge fan of coffee. I feel a deeper, deeper spiritual awareness than I ever have, though I’m less religious than I ever have been. I don’t get angry anymore, but not for the reasons I used to, of avoiding anger out of fear of emotion, but because it just doesn’t seem to come up anymore.

I’m in a major houseplant and pillow era. And after not really being able to allow to have it either for years, I probably have 50 houseplants and 12 pillows on my bed that I sleep in alone. I’m running a heptathlon within the next year because it turns out I actually am an athlete. I’ve gotten to witness and hold hands and support from both birth and death this past year and I was awed by the beauty in both. I came away with a strong feeling that while we stop inhabiting our body one day, the real self always remains. I don’t fear death anymore and though I have no strong certainty of what might come next, I have much more peace about it. And I’m also okay and excited by being surprised by whatever happens next. I used to be very cerebral and use statements that started with I think or I see, and now I often hear myself starting with I feel. It’s a learning process.

I still massively overuse ellipses and asides. And when I stripped away other people’s opinions and people pleasing, it turns out I’m not a huge fan of baseball or jeeps or camping or most Italian food, boats or cold weather. Some days, I’d rather be a contemplative monk than a profile on the internet, and I might end up somewhat nomadic and monastic when my kids are grown.

I have many more questions about life than answers these days, and I love it that way. I’m only interested in authentic relationships, where there’s freedom to say the hard things, to show up imperfectly, and to apologize when things don’t go well, to be truly seen, and I’m okay with that being a very small number of relationships. I have a greater capacity to love these days. Because my love before could only come through the lens of how I treated myself. And I judged others without meaning to, because the constant judgment I had for myself. I’m completely imperfect, and that’s perfectly okay with me.

This podcast is brought to you by ARMRA, which is a new Colostrum I have been experimenting with and had to tell you about. Because you know I’m always on the lookout for new ways to improve immunity, gut health, fitness, metabolism, and enhance my skin and hair. And I have been liking this new Colostrum product.
Colostrum is the first nutrition we receive in life, and it contains all the essential nutrients our bodies need in order to thrive. But the ARMRA one specifically is a proprietary concentrate of bovine colostrum that harnesses over 400 living bioactive nutrients that rebuild the barriers of your body and fuel cellular health for a host of research-backed benefits. It strengthens immunity, ignites metabolism, and it has anti-inflammatory gut-fortifying properties. It can improve hair growth and skin radiance. I’ve been using it for fitness and recovery, and it also has a host of well-studied anti-aging benefits.
And this one is a premium one, unlike other ones I’ve tried. It’s natural, sustainable, and they’ve done research and testing from start to finish. Unlike most colostrums, which use heat that depletes their nutrient potency, they leverage their proprietary cold chain biopotent technology, which is an innovative process that purifies and preserves the integrity of the bioactive nutrients while removing things like casein and fat to guarantee that it’s highly potent and bioavailable and more so than any other one on the market. So they go above and beyond industry standards and they invest in expensive auditing and third-party testing to ensure that they always meet the highest demands of purity and efficacy and are glyphosate-free. And for you, for listening, they have a special offer just for you to receive 15% off your first order by going to tryarmra.com/mama15 and using the code “mama15” to say 15%.

This podcast is brought to you by Wellnesse. And this is a company that I got to help co-found and formulate the products for and one that I care deeply about. Oral health has been a fun research topic for me for well over a decade. When I discovered I had some cavities and started learning about the process of remineralization and how our teeth have the ability to stay stronger and healthier, dependent on a lot of factors, including our nutrition, our oral microbiome, and the environment of our mouth. And this is why we use something called hydroxyapatite, which is a naturally occurring mineral that is used in the enamel of our teeth. And there’s some fascinating studies that show that this is really effective at helping keep teeth strong and healthy. And this is also why I chose not to use fluoride in my products. Hydroxyapatite has many of the same upsides without the potential downsides that come with fluoride and is certainly much safer for children as well.
I really delved into the research around the oral microbiome. And I love that this is now an emerging area of conversation and research. But when our oral microbiome is strong, that helps us avoid both ends of the spectrum. One would be things like strep mutans, which is the bacteria linked to cavities, as well as the host of bacteria that are linked to things like gingivitis. Both of those can be combated by having a really healthy oral microbiome.
So we’ve recently released probiotic mints that have four probiotic strains that help enhance the oral microbiome and by choosing microbiome safe ingredients, as well as hydroxyapatite for tooth enamel in the toothpaste. So you can check out those as well as our full line of haircare products and other oral health products as well by going to wellnesse.com.

So all that to say. I am excited for the new directions. I am incredibly grateful to those of you who have been with me on this journey for so many years and for the years to come and what it will look like.

And I also, like I said, it’s not about physical health to me anymore, but there have been some recurring themes of the last 100 episodes that I wanted to just briefly highlight before I end this podcast. So these will be sort of my top takeaways that were recurring in a good number of the past 100 episodes. Certainly, the common thread here is that the simple and free things are often the most impactful but often overlooked because they are so simple. Recurring themes are things like the importance of sleep and of getting morning sunlight. And there’s a lot of detail and nuance that goes within those and many podcasts on those topics. But getting morning sunlight especially is one that I recommend often because I think this is actually good for body, mind and soul to get outside as soon as possible after waking up, even on a cloudy day, even for just five minutes and get natural light in our eyes, not through a window. And the science says this actually does help our circadian rhythm and improve sleep and melatonin production as well. It’s also very helpful for kids if your kids have trouble sleeping. And it’s completely free. So it’s one that I and many guests have recommended.

Another theme you guys are probably tired of me saying by now is that we are each our own primary healthcare provider. And I would recently add Healer to the list. And that while we can work with amazing doctors and practitioners, and I hope that we do when we need them, that at the end of the day, the responsibility always lies within us. But the beauty is that we already have within us everything we need. And kind of puzzle piece together with that. Is the idea I’ve talked a lot about, about our body is always on our side. Dr. Cassie Huckaby mentioned this as well in her episode. I think especially for those of us who have experienced autoimmune disease, it’s easy to feel like our body is out to get us. And she had a great reminder that our body is always on our side. It’s always trying to heal. It’s always trying to live its best life. And that if it wanted to kill us, it could do it in less than a second. It would be instant. And it’s not, it’s always trying to be on our side. And so we can work with it to find the things that it needs that it doesn’t have, or to remove the things that are keeping it from being able to heal.

Of course, in that there’s the theme of addressing stress, which is a moving target in today’s world certainly, and one that I have experienced pretty acutely the last couple of years, but a very valuable and worthwhile pursuit as well. There’s been lots of talk in the last 100 episodes of the importance of protein especially, but in adequately fueling our bodies with enough nutrition. And statistically, this is especially a factor for women that we need more protein than many of us are getting. We need more nutrients than many of us are getting. And in today’s world, it’s very easy to get a diet that is potentially enough calories, but not enough nutrients, which sends stress signals to our body and can make it difficult to balance hormones or to reach a healthy weight or to sleep well. And this is a moving target for me as well. I’m untraining years of not eating enough and learning how to properly fuel my body and listen to what it wants.

In parallel with my own journey, there’s been a recurring theme of the importance of addressing the mental and emotional aspects of health. And like I said, while I ignored these entirely for decades, I have now come to see them as at least equal or potentially more important parts of the overall health equation because they tie in so directly to physical health. And I have many episodes on this already and many more coming in the future as well. I’ve also talked a lot about minerals and had many guests talk about these as well. I use ones like Eidon and upgraded formulas and LMNT, but I do think that many of us could benefit from a lot more minerals than we’re getting because our bodies are actually not 60% water, but 60% saltwater. And a lot of us are simply not getting enough minerals to adequately replenish. This is especially true if you sweat a lot, whether it be in the sauna, whether it be athletics, whether it be living in a hot climate. I read the statistic that you can lose more minerals in five years in those scenarios than the average person can in a lifetime. So I’ve seen firsthand how much more energy can come when we get the mineral equation right, and it’s one I often encourage now.

And then ending with the idea that our body is always on our side and is always there to be our friend. This was a hard learned lesson for me and one that I’m glad has come up in so many podcast episodes. And as we move on to the next 100 and hopefully 300 and hopefully many more podcast episodes, I would really love to hear from you and however you wanna reach out, whether it be via email or Instagram messages or comments on the site, which I do read. I would love to hear from you about what you would like to hear about, what would be most beneficial in your life, in your children’s lives, the struggles that you’re having and what guests I could bring on to help with any of those. I love hearing feedback from you guys and I have missed in my couple of years of isolation, the community aspect of Wellness Mama and I’m very excited to reengage there. And as I’m glad I’m getting to say again, and not entirely let Wellness Mama go, I am so grateful for all of you for being here, for caring about your family’s health, for being the grassroots movement that is actually gonna make changes for the future, and for sharing your most valuable resources of your time, your energy, and your attention with me today and always. I’m so grateful that you did, and I hope that you will join me again on the next episode of the Wellness Mama podcast.

If you’re enjoying these interviews, would you please take two minutes to leave a rating or review on iTunes for me? Doing this helps more people to find the podcast, which means even more moms and families could benefit from the information. I really appreciate your time, and thanks as always for listening.