September 2, 2025 • 30 mins
Groundbreaking innovation emerges from right here in Montgomery County as we speak with Jasmin El Kordi, CEO of M Blue Labs. Their patented ingredient methylene blue is revolutionizing skincare with dual benefits.
The conversation takes an enlightening turn when therapist Marilyn Spinadel joins us to share practical mental wellness techniques you can incorporate into daily life.
Both segments showcase Montgomery County as a hub for innovation - whether developing cutting-edge skincare technology or pioneering approaches to mental wellness. Subscribe to hear more inspiring local stories and practical wisdom from the people making a difference in our community.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo
, an authentic unscriptedpodcast from your Montgomery
County government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening.
Moco, we are here today with alocal business, but they've been
recognized nationally and wehave the CEO, Yasmeen L Cordine,
with M Blue.
She can correct me butcheredname.
Correct me M Blue Labs.
M Blue Labs located in Bethesda, Maryland.
Wow, congratulations, Naturallyrecognized Montgomery
(00:41):
County-based business.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Welcome to the show, Thank you, I'm so excited to be
here and you know it is reallyfun to be at the Montgomery
County based business.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you, I'm so excited to behere and you know it is really
fun to be at the MontgomeryCounty Fair as well, because I
learned in doing some researchthat where we originated, which
is University of Maryland as acompany, is actually really well
connected to the MontgomeryCounty Fair from back in the
1800s.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of good things come
through.
What was it 4-H?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, and that's one of the foundations of the
educational, learning and thedevelopment of agricultural
skills that a lot of the youngpeople here that you see in the
parade and in the Royal Courtand everything have benefited
from.
And over the years I guessthat's been like one of the
staples of the Montgomery CountyEcho for Fairgrounds and Fair.
Yeah, yes, how cool is thatIncredible.
(01:29):
It's a very small world, smallworld, but a big world and a big
sunny world.
And so that brings us to youand your lab.
And so what is it that you'reso excited about?
I heard there's a new productthat has people have you excited
but has gotten you somerecognition.
What's that product?
Yeah, and what does yourbusiness do?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So MBlue Labs and I'll just do a little quick show
and tell Please do yes, We'lltalk more about this.
We were just awarded the patentfor our ingredient, which is
called methylene blue, and I'lltell you all about that
methylene blue okay by thepatent office um, as a nuisance
green ingredient that is notonly coral reef safe, but it
reverses human aging, oh really,so it's like a really
(02:13):
multifunctional product I justwant to say that you know the
the claims uh by people on thepodcast are not necessarily uh
vetted by the montgomery countygovernment.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
However, it sounds like an appealing benefit to any
type of uh solution or uhproducts.
Reverse aging now, how do you?
Yeah, how, what does that?
What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
when you say that this product helps to reverse
aging, yeah, so let me tell youa little bit about the company
and then I'll explain all thescience behind that.
So m blue labs came out of theuniversity of maryland seven
years ago.
Okay, my business partner andthe founder, dr sao, is a
cellular biologist at theuniversity okay, and she is a uh
globally known expert in humanaging okay now she was doing
(03:00):
research on a childhood disease.
It's a rapid aging diseasecalled progerium children die in
their early teens of old age.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Oh no, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
And Benjamin Button.
Everybody's seen that.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, we've seen that movie.
That's progeria, right.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
So she was working on looking for a cure for this
really terrible illness and indoing the research at the
university she was using skinfrom the children and models of
adult skin cells, and she foundthat an age old medicine called
methylene blue OK.
When you treat the cells withmethylene blue, they become
(03:34):
normal again in their agemarkers and they recover and
they become healthy.
So that was super exciting.
She found that about eightyears ago, published it in
scientific reports, nature'sscientific reports, and the
industry started buzzing aboutoh, this could be something for
skincare okay, it was neverintended to be a beauty company
(03:56):
okay, this was too good not totake to market and let everybody
benefit yeah, so yeah.
So we started the company andBlue Labs and created the brand
Blue Lean.
So I brought you the littleshow and tell.
All right, I'll see if I canhave that.
I'll see if.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I can get that in front of the camera there.
Blue Lean comes with a nicelittle tube here, like you would
on many other sunscreens orlotions, and it says SPF 21.
Yes, and what does that meanfor people that are not familiar
with that?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yeah, I'm glad you asked because you know there is
this misconception that SPF 50and 70 must be protecting you.
100% Correct, that is not true.
So the FDA regulates whatbecomes an SPF factor.
Okay, that only measures theexposure to UVB rays, and those
are the ones that cause most ofthe cancers, not all skin
cancers.
(04:46):
Okay, so they are the reallybad ones.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
But the difference between an SPF 21,.
It blocks 95.2% of all.
Uvb rays versus an SPF 50 at 97point.
Something.
It's tiny, right, it'sminuscule.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
So when people buy these high SPF sunscreens, they
make the mistake to assumethey're now covered for many
more hours.
That is really not the case andI'm glad we're having this
conversation because consumersare always really making that
mistake on burning and we don'twant your skin to burn Of course
not, Of course, and 80% of skinaging actually is attributed to
(05:24):
exposure to the sun.
Today we're out here, our UVindex.
The index goes from 1 to 10.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
What do you?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
think is today.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
It's a pretty sunny day.
I would say about 6 maybe.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
It's an 8.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
8?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, so we are right toward the top of that scale
right.
So you're getting an awful lotof the sun uv exposure on a day
like this even though there areclouds in the sky, right doesn't
matter.
So another common misconceptionon a cloudy day, I don't need
sunscreen.
Wrong, really.
You really need to protectyourself.
So you want to protect yourskin from harmful exposure that
(05:59):
can lead to skin cancer, but youalso want to be mindful to not
age quicker than you need to,and that's called photo aging.
The aging introduced by the sunand what really happens in aging
is whether it's from the sun orfrom other stress factors is
that you're setting up a wholebunch of free radicals around
yourselves okay and thatcompromises the health of that
(06:22):
cell.
So in this case it's a skincell could be other cells in the
body, but today we're talkingabout skin and those free
radicals damage the health ofyour cell and all our cells turn
over when they reproduce.
If they're not perfect they'regoing to make damaged kind of
replicas of themselves.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh, wow, okay so that's what you see.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
as people age, skin begins to lose its structure,
its support, its moisture.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So we're really getting very deep into the
biology of things, and we alsowant to highlight, though, the
business of things, which is theblueness, the blueness, the in
blue labs, and so let's talkmore about that.
You started off with ascientist looking for one thing,
but she found something totallydifferent, and that inspired a
(07:09):
company to be born, and you werepart of that birth.
Yes, and let's talk about itfrom there.
So from there, what happened?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
So we filed a patent with the University of Maryland
on this ingredient methyleneblue.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Oh, wow, yes.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
And that patent was granted about three years ago.
The new one was just grantedfor methylene blue for sun
exposure.
Okay, our second patent.
So it was really an interestingtime seven years ago.
It was before COVID, and sopeople were still going into
retail stores, buying online,online was really beginning to
take off and we were going intoan environment in health and
(07:43):
beauty that is super competitive, super crowded there are 300
new skincare brands every yearthat try to get into market Very
, very crowded space.
So we approached Tedco and gotour seed funding from the state
of Maryland's investment fund tostart this company.
Thank you, Tedco.
Oh hold on and we built thecompany, built the brand,
(08:09):
developed our first productionrun and then we decided in this
very crowded space, we're just astartup company, at that point
let's go to market by going onAmazon.
And nobody in beauty was doingthat back then.
They would go into retail first, maybe Amazon someday.
But we did that on purposebecause on Amazon you have
shoppers that are ready to buy.
(08:29):
Right, they're keying in I'dlike an anti-aging night cream,
so they're ready to buy.
Right, they're keying in I'dlike an anti-aging night cream,
so they're ready to buy that.
And we could advertise to thatneed immediately.
So we built our brand on Amazonand we grew it from there.
Today we're selling in multiplechannels our own, of course,
booleancom on Macy's, on Amazonon various other platforms and
(08:49):
we're selling around the globeto 42 countries.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Around the globe.
42 countries, wow.
Some businesses are just happyenough to have 42 customers.
You are serving 42 countries,and so what's next?
Well, before we talk aboutwhat's next for your company,
let's talk about what's now.
What awards have you beenrecently awarded?
I guess distinctions, and whyis it significant to you and
(09:13):
your company?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, so we're now in our seventh year of operation.
Last September we got a verybig award from the US Chamber of
Commerce to be named the Co-100.
So in the 100 top US smallbusinesses, so that's businesses
under about 15 million in thewhole United States so we were
one of 100.
(09:34):
That's an incredible honor.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
That's a lot of.
Yeah, that's really big.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And we got that because, in recognition of the
innovation that we continue tobring to market, our agility as
a business in a very competitivemarket.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Wow, wow, congratulations again.
That was last September, lessthan a year ago, less than a
year ago, still kind of fresh.
And when you have a milestonethat stays with you, what do you
hope to achieve in the future?
What can people look forward tofrom InBlue Labs in the future
as a Montgomery County basedbusiness, which I want to tout
(10:08):
that again Montgomery County,the economic engine of Maryland.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Absolutely so we.
Today.
We started with one product.
You know, the economic engineof Maryland?
Absolutely so we.
Today.
We started with one product.
You know, seven years ago itwas a single day and night cream
anti-aging, day, night cream.
Today we have 11 SKUs.
Okay 11 different products thatcover all of the body and face
skin care needs, focused onmaintaining the health of your
skin, reversing the age signsand preventing more aging in
(10:35):
your skin.
So the sunscreen is a very bigmilestone because that's now the
first time methylene blue as anew ingredient has been awarded
a patent, and we're lookingforward to working with FDA to
get that made an activeingredient for sunscreens,
because sunscreens today, 70 ofthem use chemical ingredients
like oxybenzone and they've beenshown to be very harsh on coral
(10:58):
reefs and aquatic life, verydetrimental.
There's some studies that showthat even for humans it could be
dangerous.
So there's a need to have somereally health promoting coral
reef protecting ingredients onthe market.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Wow, very nice so that's that one.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Everything we do comes out of our labs, which are
still at the University ofMaryland.
Okay, so we continue to haveour laboratory under Dr Sal.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So you still have a lab.
So this is a real test tubesand pestles and all that stuff.
It is a very sophisticated lab.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
That focuses on the mic, the processes of cellular
behavior and particularly aging,and we're very fortunate to be
a university of marylandportfolio company and to have
that collaboration.
Yeah, so we do.
Everything we do starts at thelab and it's all scientifically
proven.
It's not like a lot ofmarketing, which is what you see
.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
You didn't find something and just you didn't
have to just have upon somethingand then just start to market
it.
You actually developed aproduct, vetted it, got it
approved and brought it tomarket and everything.
So, wow, kudos to you.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
That's great, which is what we continue to do.
So we have two new excitingprojects in the research lab
right now.
To answer your question, what'snext?
We're going to be going intothe hair growth part of the
market.
Wow, yes, and another productcan't talk about yet.
It's too early, but hair growth.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
You say that sounds, that sounds great.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Okay, all right yeah, so we continue to innovate.
Um, actually, uh, one thing Ialso need to give credit to
national science foundation.
They gave us a grant to do thisresearch back in 2020.
And so we were able, as a smallcompany, to do this very
sophisticated research to findthis new application of
methylene blue.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Oh, wow, thank you so much.
That's awesome.
And so that's what's happening,moco, we have M Blue Labs here.
Ms Yasmin who was Yasmin longbefore Aladdin found his lamp
Okay, so she's the originator,okay, she's, and her company
found the secret to aging,anti-aging and also protecting
(13:07):
your skin from the sun andbeautification of skin, but also
, and most importantly, being avery successful Montgomery
County-based business.
Thank you for being here, weapplaud you and we look forward
to more great things from EmbuLabs.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate theopportunity.
Thank you, Derek.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
You're welcome, take care Good day.
Welcome to what's HappeningMoCo, and we have a very special
segment for this episode ofwhat's Happening MoCo segment
for this episode of what'sHappening in MoCo.
Our country is dealing withquite a few dynamics that may be
disturbing for some, concerningfor others.
(13:42):
It may be a source forunrecognized trauma or perhaps
even cause for some forms ofmental unwellness.
But you're in luck.
Today's episode we are invitingMontgomery County-based
business, authentically youCounseling LLC, with our good
(14:06):
friend Marilyn Spinadel, who hasbeen here before.
Marilyn, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for inviting me, thankyou for being here, and it's
good to finally meet you inperson.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
That's right to Thank you so much.
Thanks for inviting me, Thankyou for being here and it's good
to finally meet you in person,that's right to see you in
person, yay.
When Marilyn was last here, shespoke with our county health
officer for a dynamic episodewhere she shared quite a few
tools and tactics to help usmaintain our mental wellness, or
even increase our mentalwellness in some respects.
(14:34):
Marilyn, what do you say topeople that come to you for
assistance that are feeling alittle down or feeling a little
beat up by what's all that'sgoing on today?
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Yeah, so we talk about what they're focusing on.
To focus on what they cancontrol, not what they can, is
huge, like you know, you couldfocus on what you eat.
You could focus on um,exercising, getting enough sleep
that's so important but youcan't focus on what you see in
the news and how the newsaffects you.
You can focus on that and notbeing caught up in your thoughts
(15:09):
and your feelings.
You have really a lot morecontrol over your thoughts and
feelings than you think and I'llteach you some skills to help
you with all that and also tokind of lean into uncertainty,
which I'm learning to do andtrying to teach others.
How to lean into uncertaintyand go with the flow is
sometimes hard, but it'simportant for your mental health
.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Oh gosh, there were so many things I wanted to talk
about, but now that youmentioned this lean into
uncertainty.
I need to hear more about that.
I immediately feel like I needto understand what you mean by
that, and how could that helpsomeone that is managing things
that may be troubling them?
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Right, so good question.
So a lot of people areperfectionists.
So try not to be aperfectionist.
Try to just just go with theday, like have a plan, like a
loose plan of what you're goingto do, and have appointments of
course, appointments foryourself first, by the way.
Like to learn to work out.
Learn to work out, learn tobreathe, learn to do tapping.
I can teach all about thatbreathing wow deep breathing, by
(16:10):
the way, is the best things insliced bread, I think.
When you take a few deepbreaths, three times an hour
hour I say, like at noon, 1220,1245, take three deep breaths,
you get in touch with a sense ofwho you are and you let your
thoughts go, because you are notyour thoughts and you're not
your feelings.
You're not any of those.
You're like the essence, thelight, the great thing inside of
you that can help the world andwe all can be like a beacon of
(16:30):
light and hope and about leaninginto uncertainty.
Like like a beacon of light andhope.
And about leaning intouncertainty.
Like like not expect.
What I do is I expect things togo right, I expect everything to
go right, but it's not going togo perfectly, the maybe the way
I planned it, but just imagineyou know if it's a loose plan
and try not to feel you'resuccessful.
This is hard to explain.
Try not to feel you'resuccessful because things went
(16:51):
perfect today.
They don't have to go perfectand that's kind of fun and going
with the flow and like dancingin the rain, that kind of all
this crazy silly things.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Speaking of going with the flow, those of you that
are only listening to thepodcast may not be able be aware
of this, but we are recordingthis remotely and we're live at
Montgomery County, at CoastalFairgrounds, nine best days of
summer.
It's august, the 12th august12th wednesday, tuesday, august
the 12th, yes, and we're havinga grand time here with the
(17:21):
maryland spinadel and we'rewe're getting a sense of, uh,
how how to use the tools thatshe's sharing, and the first
thing she shared was, uh, beokay with letting things happen,
right.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Right With uncertainty.
Yeah, uncertainty and thingscan unfold in maybe a different
way than you planned Can bereally healthy, and maybe one of
my clients just said this to meand made me feel so good.
You know, everybody thinksdifferently about what's
happening in the world, but oneof my clients said that maybe
things are going backwards alittle bit.
if you feel that way, Kind oflike a bow and arrow and we'll
go forward even stronger andmore positive if that can help
(17:58):
you and you know what I meanLike if things don't have to be
perfect to be, to learn from ityou can learn from stuff.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
And we don't.
We don't control everything.
So, expecting to controleverything is an issue.
It can be very frustrating ifyou expect to control things
outside of your management.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Yeah, yeah, right.
Yeah, yeah, you meet somewonderful people when you
believe, when you least expectit.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, yeah, you do, you do, you do.
And we have all these wonderfulstickers here.
Yes, I see one here.
This is pray more, worry less.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
If you pray, win yourselves to succeed and this
is my favorite one never give up, never, ever give up, you know
hey, my favorite, have a niceday.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Have a nice day, there's a sunny, watermelon and
stay true.
Oh gosh, stay true, I'm gonna,I'm gonna wear that rest of the
day.
Stay true, stay true toyourself.
Stay true, all right, yes andalso can I tell you something
else?
Speaker 4 (18:51):
yeah about three questions you can ask yourself
daily about compassion.
To do with compassion overCOVID, a lot of families came to
me I'm a mental healththerapist in Rockville because
they didn't get along.
But if you can ask yourselfthree questions a day about
compassion, number one what didyou do today to show compassion
to yourself?
I came here, I'm talking to youand I'm smiling at everybody
(19:11):
that I see that helps me to helpothers and help myself, and and
I'm smiling at everybody that Isee that helps me to help
others and help myself.
And the second question is thatwhat do you do for someone else
to show them compassion?
Not like did you make themdinner, but like open the door
for them, smile at them, youknow, make them feel that they
matter.
Nobody can make you feelanything, but whatever you do
something nice that can helpthem.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Well, they can inspire you, they can set an
environment where you can feelbetter, right yeah?
Speaker 4 (19:37):
kinder to people.
And the last one is what doessomeone do for you?
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Wow, what does someone do for you, such?
Speaker 4 (19:42):
as you had me on the show today and I so appreciate
you.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You came on the show today and not only did you come
on the show, you always comewith such resources and you're
so thoughtful about what youshare and why you're sharing it,
and I think, hopefully, peopleappreciate all that you share
each time you're with us.
Thank you, and this might be, Iguess, a good time for me to
mention that we'll have MindfulMoments with Marilyn Spindel
(20:09):
here and there throughout otherpodcasts this year to help us
continue to be mindful ofmindfulness and how we can help
ourselves be healthier in thisregard.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Yeah, yeah, let me talk a little bit mindfulness.
Yeah.
So mindfulness, I feel, isbeing really present in the
moment, like trying to bepresent and not thinking about
the future or the past, causethen you can have a better
relationship with something Lifeis so much sweeter when you're
mindfully present.
Teach people how to eatmindfully, like taking a raisin
and taking 20 minutes.
Where did the raisin come from?
When you eat the raisin, howare you?
(20:42):
Meeting the people who grew theraisin okay.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So what you're saying is before you eat the raisin,
yes, think about it for 20minutes before you eat.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Wow I have boxes in my office.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Don't just get a box of raisins and just shove them
in your mouth because they're sodelicious and sweet in a small
box, okay right.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Enjoy it, immerse yourself in the in life in the
process.
Enjoy the process like I lovesunsets and I love mindfully
connecting to your senses.
So for instance, like let me,let me.
I hope you can hear this ohgosh it's called a singing bowl
and you all close your eyes whenyou listen to this.
It can make such a differencein your life, oh gosh.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Okay, let's listen.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Here we go, guys, one more.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Oh, wow, okay, it's calming right right, that is
very calming.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
I'm not why.
Why is it calming, though, likeokay, it's a certain sound.
I think it's a certain c or dcertain frequency maybe, but
more than that, it's connectingto a sense of who you are inside
.
That's not in your head, butit's in your body.
It's in, it's your essence.
And there's an eighth sense.
I forgot to bring you theevaluation eighth sense is then.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Typically there's seven senses right in the.
I guess the seventh sense isthe eighth one, and it's true.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
I just looked this up .
It's called interoceptionactually hold on.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
There's six senses right seven, and then seven is
extra sensory you know.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
No, the seventh is supposed to be knowing when you
stop and the other person begins, or like not looking into
things is seven and eight isinteroception knowing where your
senses are to be able to feelyour feelings and feel when
you're hungry.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
There's eight senses, I'm so lost.
Okay, that's cool, all right,you heard it here first, or
maybe yeah, look it up,everybody, check it out.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Interoception I'm gonna take a class in it soon.
All right, cool.
So what else can I tell you all?
Let's breathe, taking a breath,let's breathe.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
I thought the three breaths a day when you mentioned
that.
I immediately, while you weretalking, took my three breaths
and I did realize I am feeling abit calmer.
I would say almost right awayRight, and almost right away
Right, and I wonder how often itmade me think.
How often am I not breathing,or shallow breathing.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Or shallow breathing, yeah it makes you more anxious
when you shallow breathe.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Probably a lot.
We all do so.
Breathe in through your noseand then exhale out of your
mouth like you're blowing away afeather.
I do it with my eyes shut,which really helps.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Do that a few times.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
And if you're like me and you have allergies, breathe
out of that good nostril or dothe best you can.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
And you can even be grateful for your breaths.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
You know it gives you life and I say do it three
times an hour, taking three deepbreaths at noon, 1220, 1245 can
reset anxiety and everything.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
It calms you down.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
It definitely calmed me down.
My last breath I yawned a bit.
I don't know if that's good itis that's good or bad.
I definitely was relaxed.
I guess I'm in the mood to putmy head down for a little bit.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Yes, all right, because it's hot.
It is hot here at theMontgomery County Agricultural.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Fear.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Grounds, but we're hot and ready to learn more
about wellness.
Yes, and please, please, try tochange negative thoughts to
positive, because negativethoughts can't help you and they
can't help anyone else.
We're like a stone that'srippling on water.
Whatever we're feeling andthinking and saying, we can
ripple out to everyone.
If you start off with somethingpositive, that can change your
day and change everybody else.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Courage.
I learned that when I hadlittle kids.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Be positive Much bigger.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
My kids are also therapists, by the way.
Oh, wow, look at that, theapples in the tree right, okay,
I think they would have been iteven if they didn't have me, but
I don't know, maybe, maybe.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Okay, it's great that you guys are doing that.
Your career path has broughtyou to help people.
So what do you have there?
You have a sheet there.
Do you have some more tips forus?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Yeah, yeah, of course , of course.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
We want to give.
I think we want to give peopletools they can use.
Thank you To continue not justas you listen to the podcast,
yeah, but when you go to visitMaryland or whomever might end
up being your therapist.
You want to have tools that youcan use on a daily basis.
So is there something?
Speaker 4 (24:58):
else.
Yes, remember,psychologytodaycom is the best
resource to find a therapist,and people should answer the
phone.
I always answer when peoplecall me.
I take insurance, but you canput your zip code in psychology
today and what you're lookingfor if you have PTSD, trauma,
sleeping problems, and you canfind people in your area that
take your insurance.
It's not hard, I'm just saying.
(25:19):
And if you have anyone in thefamily that's thinking God
forbid about suicide, please,please, please call.
This is numbers right here.
It's a card here you can get.
988 is in Montgomery CountyCrisis Center.
They're open 24 hours, yeah,right, so don't think twice
about getting somebody help oryourself help if you're thinking
bad thoughts, right, yeah.
So what other things I canteach?
(25:41):
A couple techniques.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Let's go with some techniques.
I believe the techniques areone of the things I enjoy the
most when we talk.
Okay, we don't only talk whenwe are on the podcast or when
you're on the podcast withothers.
We don't only talk when we areon the podcast or when you're on
the podcast with others.
We don't talk quite often, solet's do a few of the exercises
that you may have available forus.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
I know a bunch, so I'll do a few right now, just to
remember.
Okay, one is something calledthe stop technique.
Let me just tell you about thatS-T-O-P.
If you're yelling at someone,if you're anxious, s is that you
stop not to push away yourfeelings.
T is you take those three deepbreaths, Okay stop O yes stop,
stop, take three deep breaths Oobserve what's going on inside
(26:24):
of you.
Okay, you observe and youaccept it.
I'm feeling this way because ofthis.
Acknowledge your feelings.
Yeah, all feelings are okay,unless they're the sad ones and
hard ones for too long.
Then get help right away.
Right, and the P is perceiveyourself and others with
compassion.
Stop, wow, isn't that beautiful.
It's easy.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Yeah, it's nice, yeah , can you repeat that one more
time, one more time.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Okay, s-t-o-p.
Put this on your refrigerator,if you want.
So S is stop going on, juststop before you blow up.
Okay, then you take three deepbreaths.
That's the t, okay, oh, observewhat's going on inside of you,
take a breath in and feel yourfeelings.
Some people can't do that bythe way feel your feelings.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
That's hard that is hard, I would say, as a guy, you
know sometimes you don't wantto feel feelings.
Yes, you know, but you can'thelp it, you know they're there,
by the way.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
That's why they're called feelings isn.
Isn't that huge, isn't thatmind-blowing?
Speaker 2 (27:16):
That is.
I guess they are calledfeelings, because it's not
conscious, you're not thinkingabout it.
I want to feel.
It just happens, all right.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
And then the last thing is perception, or perceive
yourself and others withcompassion.
So S-T-O-P.
And then this I made this cheatsheet kind of thing.
This is nice.
So 24-7, we have thoughts,feelings and behaviors, and if
it's all positive, then you'refeeling good and good about life
.
If any one of them is negativea negative thought, feeling or
(27:46):
behavior that's toxic then theyall can become toxic Anytime you
change one of them.
It can help with the wholething.
It can make it all much better.
It's like a continuous loop.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, and anytime one of those becomes goes negative,
it can uh make the entire thingnegative, yeah even sleep
that's something, yeah, a lot ofpeople come to me.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
They say they're depressed, but they're just not
getting enough sleep you know,and it's sometimes it's hard to
sleep.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
I will say I I definitely understand that.
I definitely understand that.
I can understand that.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Yeah okay, and then we'll do.
I keep talking, keep onclapping technique you clap your
hands.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
This is magic.
You're one of my clients.
Clap your hands.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
Okay, close your eyes .
It's really important.
Rub your hands together and putyour hands over your heart,
take a nice deep breath in andyou're showing yourself a lot of
compassion oh wow, all right,all right, self, you're welcome,
(28:43):
right?
You need to.
Everyone needs to lovethemselves first, by the way,
and have a picture nearby.
Yeah, all right have a picturenearby of internal resources.
I talk about not a cup halffull or half empty, yeah, but
have a picture of things thatyou can do to lift yourself up.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
That you always know right.
And one more thing Internallocus of control.
There's so many things I wantto teach.
It should be like that.
Yeah, internal locus of controlmeans that you know you're in
charge of your thoughts,feelings and behaviors.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
External means you let other people control your
feelings and thoughts.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Like like the news, or if you get fired or something
bad happens to your health, godforbid, yeah, god forbid.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
No, no nothing bad's gonna happen to anybody.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Okay, that's right.
We don't want those things tohappen.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
No, yeah okay, see what I'm saying, but have an
internal locus of control meansthat you're in charge of all
those things you don't have tobring.
Don't let anybody bring youdown.
I'm trying to say that's.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
That's a nice full circle from not focusing too
much on the things we can'tcontrol all the way through to
be assured that the things youcan't control, you can't control
, yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
And change your perception.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Right.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
Right, so I hope you all are doing okay out there and
can love yourself and othersand and have a really good
support system is so importantright now.
People who are isolated, youknow, don't do well mentally and
physically usually as well aswhen people aren't isolated and
your thoughts can make you havebetter health, I think we have
more control over your healththan you realize.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
All right, and that's what's happening.
Moco, you have more controlover your health than you
realize.
And we're here with our goodfriend Marilyn Spinadel, thank
you.
And we're here with our goodfriend Marilyn Spinadel, thank
you.
She is a psychotherapistlocated in a turf in a
Montgomery County business owner.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
And I was born in Maryland, born in Maryland.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Maryland to Maryland.
So that's what's happening,moco.
Thank you for having me.
Good luck everybody.
All the best to everybody.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
All right bye, Yay.
Thanks for listening to what'sHappening, MoCo.
Please subscribe via yourfavorite podcasting platform and
follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,Facebook, Instagram or YouTube
(30:56):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
What Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo
, an authentic unscriptedpodcast from your Montgomery
County government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening.
Moco, we are here today with alocal business, but they've been
recognized nationally and wehave the CEO, Yasmeen L Cordine,
with M Blue.
She can correct me butcheredname.
Correct me M Blue Labs.
M Blue Labs located in Bethesda, Maryland.
Wow, congratulations, Naturallyrecognized Montgomery
(00:41):
County-based business.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Welcome to the show, Thank you, I'm so excited to be
here and you know it is reallyfun to be at the Montgomery
County based business.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you, I'm so excited to behere and you know it is really
fun to be at the MontgomeryCounty Fair as well, because I
learned in doing some researchthat where we originated, which
is University of Maryland as acompany, is actually really well
connected to the MontgomeryCounty Fair from back in the
1800s.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of good things come
through.
What was it 4-H?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, and that's one of the foundations of the
educational, learning and thedevelopment of agricultural
skills that a lot of the youngpeople here that you see in the
parade and in the Royal Courtand everything have benefited
from.
And over the years I guessthat's been like one of the
staples of the Montgomery CountyEcho for Fairgrounds and Fair.
Yeah, yes, how cool is thatIncredible.
(01:29):
It's a very small world, smallworld, but a big world and a big
sunny world.
And so that brings us to youand your lab.
And so what is it that you'reso excited about?
I heard there's a new productthat has people have you excited
but has gotten you somerecognition.
What's that product?
Yeah, and what does yourbusiness do?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
So MBlue Labs and I'll just do a little quick show
and tell Please do yes, We'lltalk more about this.
We were just awarded the patentfor our ingredient, which is
called methylene blue, and I'lltell you all about that
methylene blue okay by thepatent office um, as a nuisance
green ingredient that is notonly coral reef safe, but it
reverses human aging, oh really,so it's like a really
(02:13):
multifunctional product I justwant to say that you know the
the claims uh by people on thepodcast are not necessarily uh
vetted by the montgomery countygovernment.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
However, it sounds like an appealing benefit to any
type of uh solution or uhproducts.
Reverse aging now, how do you?
Yeah, how, what does that?
What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
when you say that this product helps to reverse
aging, yeah, so let me tell youa little bit about the company
and then I'll explain all thescience behind that.
So m blue labs came out of theuniversity of maryland seven
years ago.
Okay, my business partner andthe founder, dr sao, is a
cellular biologist at theuniversity okay, and she is a uh
globally known expert in humanaging okay now she was doing
(03:00):
research on a childhood disease.
It's a rapid aging diseasecalled progerium children die in
their early teens of old age.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Oh no, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
And Benjamin Button.
Everybody's seen that.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, we've seen that movie.
That's progeria, right.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
So she was working on looking for a cure for this
really terrible illness and indoing the research at the
university she was using skinfrom the children and models of
adult skin cells, and she foundthat an age old medicine called
methylene blue OK.
When you treat the cells withmethylene blue, they become
(03:34):
normal again in their agemarkers and they recover and
they become healthy.
So that was super exciting.
She found that about eightyears ago, published it in
scientific reports, nature'sscientific reports, and the
industry started buzzing aboutoh, this could be something for
skincare okay, it was neverintended to be a beauty company
(03:56):
okay, this was too good not totake to market and let everybody
benefit yeah, so yeah.
So we started the company andBlue Labs and created the brand
Blue Lean.
So I brought you the littleshow and tell.
All right, I'll see if I canhave that.
I'll see if.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I can get that in front of the camera there.
Blue Lean comes with a nicelittle tube here, like you would
on many other sunscreens orlotions, and it says SPF 21.
Yes, and what does that meanfor people that are not familiar
with that?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Yeah, I'm glad you asked because you know there is
this misconception that SPF 50and 70 must be protecting you.
100% Correct, that is not true.
So the FDA regulates whatbecomes an SPF factor.
Okay, that only measures theexposure to UVB rays, and those
are the ones that cause most ofthe cancers, not all skin
cancers.
(04:46):
Okay, so they are the reallybad ones.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
But the difference between an SPF 21,.
It blocks 95.2% of all.
Uvb rays versus an SPF 50 at 97point.
Something.
It's tiny, right, it'sminuscule.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
Right.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
So when people buy these high SPF sunscreens, they
make the mistake to assumethey're now covered for many
more hours.
That is really not the case andI'm glad we're having this
conversation because consumersare always really making that
mistake on burning and we don'twant your skin to burn Of course
not, Of course, and 80% of skinaging actually is attributed to
(05:24):
exposure to the sun.
Today we're out here, our UVindex.
The index goes from 1 to 10.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
What do you?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
think is today.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
It's a pretty sunny day.
I would say about 6 maybe.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
It's an 8.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
8?
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Yeah, so we are right toward the top of that scale
right.
So you're getting an awful lotof the sun uv exposure on a day
like this even though there areclouds in the sky, right doesn't
matter.
So another common misconceptionon a cloudy day, I don't need
sunscreen.
Wrong, really.
You really need to protectyourself.
So you want to protect yourskin from harmful exposure that
(05:59):
can lead to skin cancer, but youalso want to be mindful to not
age quicker than you need to,and that's called photo aging.
The aging introduced by the sunand what really happens in aging
is whether it's from the sun orfrom other stress factors is
that you're setting up a wholebunch of free radicals around
yourselves okay and thatcompromises the health of that
(06:22):
cell.
So in this case it's a skincell could be other cells in the
body, but today we're talkingabout skin and those free
radicals damage the health ofyour cell and all our cells turn
over when they reproduce.
If they're not perfect they'regoing to make damaged kind of
replicas of themselves.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Oh, wow, okay so that's what you see.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
as people age, skin begins to lose its structure,
its support, its moisture.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
So we're really getting very deep into the
biology of things, and we alsowant to highlight, though, the
business of things, which is theblueness, the blueness, the in
blue labs, and so let's talkmore about that.
You started off with ascientist looking for one thing,
but she found something totallydifferent, and that inspired a
(07:09):
company to be born, and you werepart of that birth.
Yes, and let's talk about itfrom there.
So from there, what happened?
Speaker 3 (07:15):
So we filed a patent with the University of Maryland
on this ingredient methyleneblue.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Oh, wow, yes.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
And that patent was granted about three years ago.
The new one was just grantedfor methylene blue for sun
exposure.
Okay, our second patent.
So it was really an interestingtime seven years ago.
It was before COVID, and sopeople were still going into
retail stores, buying online,online was really beginning to
take off and we were going intoan environment in health and
(07:43):
beauty that is super competitive, super crowded there are 300
new skincare brands every yearthat try to get into market Very
, very crowded space.
So we approached Tedco and gotour seed funding from the state
of Maryland's investment fund tostart this company.
Thank you, Tedco.
Oh hold on and we built thecompany, built the brand,
(08:09):
developed our first productionrun and then we decided in this
very crowded space, we're just astartup company, at that point
let's go to market by going onAmazon.
And nobody in beauty was doingthat back then.
They would go into retail first, maybe Amazon someday.
But we did that on purposebecause on Amazon you have
shoppers that are ready to buy.
(08:29):
Right, they're keying in I'dlike an anti-aging night cream,
so they're ready to buy.
Right, they're keying in I'dlike an anti-aging night cream,
so they're ready to buy that.
And we could advertise to thatneed immediately.
So we built our brand on Amazonand we grew it from there.
Today we're selling in multiplechannels our own, of course,
booleancom on Macy's, on Amazonon various other platforms and
(08:49):
we're selling around the globeto 42 countries.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Around the globe.
42 countries, wow.
Some businesses are just happyenough to have 42 customers.
You are serving 42 countries,and so what's next?
Well, before we talk aboutwhat's next for your company,
let's talk about what's now.
What awards have you beenrecently awarded?
I guess distinctions, and whyis it significant to you and
(09:13):
your company?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Yeah, so we're now in our seventh year of operation.
Last September we got a verybig award from the US Chamber of
Commerce to be named the Co-100.
So in the 100 top US smallbusinesses, so that's businesses
under about 15 million in thewhole United States so we were
one of 100.
(09:34):
That's an incredible honor.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
That's a lot of.
Yeah, that's really big.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And we got that because, in recognition of the
innovation that we continue tobring to market, our agility as
a business in a very competitivemarket.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Wow, wow, congratulations again.
That was last September, lessthan a year ago, less than a
year ago, still kind of fresh.
And when you have a milestonethat stays with you, what do you
hope to achieve in the future?
What can people look forward tofrom InBlue Labs in the future
as a Montgomery County basedbusiness, which I want to tout
(10:08):
that again Montgomery County,the economic engine of Maryland.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Absolutely so we.
Today.
We started with one product.
You know, the economic engineof Maryland?
Absolutely so we.
Today.
We started with one product.
You know, seven years ago itwas a single day and night cream
anti-aging, day, night cream.
Today we have 11 SKUs.
Okay 11 different products thatcover all of the body and face
skin care needs, focused onmaintaining the health of your
skin, reversing the age signsand preventing more aging in
(10:35):
your skin.
So the sunscreen is a very bigmilestone because that's now the
first time methylene blue as anew ingredient has been awarded
a patent, and we're lookingforward to working with FDA to
get that made an activeingredient for sunscreens,
because sunscreens today, 70 ofthem use chemical ingredients
like oxybenzone and they've beenshown to be very harsh on coral
(10:58):
reefs and aquatic life, verydetrimental.
There's some studies that showthat even for humans it could be
dangerous.
So there's a need to have somereally health promoting coral
reef protecting ingredients onthe market.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Wow, very nice so that's that one.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Everything we do comes out of our labs, which are
still at the University ofMaryland.
Okay, so we continue to haveour laboratory under Dr Sal.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
So you still have a lab.
So this is a real test tubesand pestles and all that stuff.
It is a very sophisticated lab.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
That focuses on the mic, the processes of cellular
behavior and particularly aging,and we're very fortunate to be
a university of marylandportfolio company and to have
that collaboration.
Yeah, so we do.
Everything we do starts at thelab and it's all scientifically
proven.
It's not like a lot ofmarketing, which is what you see
.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
You didn't find something and just you didn't
have to just have upon somethingand then just start to market
it.
You actually developed aproduct, vetted it, got it
approved and brought it tomarket and everything.
So, wow, kudos to you.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
That's great, which is what we continue to do.
So we have two new excitingprojects in the research lab
right now.
To answer your question, what'snext?
We're going to be going intothe hair growth part of the
market.
Wow, yes, and another productcan't talk about yet.
It's too early, but hair growth.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
You say that sounds, that sounds great.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Okay, all right yeah, so we continue to innovate.
Um, actually, uh, one thing Ialso need to give credit to
national science foundation.
They gave us a grant to do thisresearch back in 2020.
And so we were able, as a smallcompany, to do this very
sophisticated research to findthis new application of
methylene blue.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Oh, wow, thank you so much.
That's awesome.
And so that's what's happening,moco, we have M Blue Labs here.
Ms Yasmin who was Yasmin longbefore Aladdin found his lamp
Okay, so she's the originator,okay, she's, and her company
found the secret to aging,anti-aging and also protecting
(13:07):
your skin from the sun andbeautification of skin, but also
, and most importantly, being avery successful Montgomery
County-based business.
Thank you for being here, weapplaud you and we look forward
to more great things from EmbuLabs.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate theopportunity.
Thank you, Derek.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
You're welcome, take care Good day.
Welcome to what's HappeningMoCo, and we have a very special
segment for this episode ofwhat's Happening MoCo segment
for this episode of what'sHappening in MoCo.
Our country is dealing withquite a few dynamics that may be
disturbing for some, concerningfor others.
(13:42):
It may be a source forunrecognized trauma or perhaps
even cause for some forms ofmental unwellness.
But you're in luck.
Today's episode we are invitingMontgomery County-based
business, authentically youCounseling LLC, with our good
(14:06):
friend Marilyn Spinadel, who hasbeen here before.
Marilyn, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Thank you so much.
Thanks for inviting me, thankyou for being here, and it's
good to finally meet you inperson.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
That's right to Thank you so much.
Thanks for inviting me, Thankyou for being here and it's good
to finally meet you in person,that's right to see you in
person, yay.
When Marilyn was last here, shespoke with our county health
officer for a dynamic episodewhere she shared quite a few
tools and tactics to help usmaintain our mental wellness, or
even increase our mentalwellness in some respects.
(14:34):
Marilyn, what do you say topeople that come to you for
assistance that are feeling alittle down or feeling a little
beat up by what's all that'sgoing on today?
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Yeah, so we talk about what they're focusing on.
To focus on what they cancontrol, not what they can, is
huge, like you know, you couldfocus on what you eat.
You could focus on um,exercising, getting enough sleep
that's so important but youcan't focus on what you see in
the news and how the newsaffects you.
You can focus on that and notbeing caught up in your thoughts
(15:09):
and your feelings.
You have really a lot morecontrol over your thoughts and
feelings than you think and I'llteach you some skills to help
you with all that and also tokind of lean into uncertainty,
which I'm learning to do andtrying to teach others.
How to lean into uncertaintyand go with the flow is
sometimes hard, but it'simportant for your mental health
.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Oh gosh, there were so many things I wanted to talk
about, but now that youmentioned this lean into
uncertainty.
I need to hear more about that.
I immediately feel like I needto understand what you mean by
that, and how could that helpsomeone that is managing things
that may be troubling them?
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Right, so good question.
So a lot of people areperfectionists.
So try not to be aperfectionist.
Try to just just go with theday, like have a plan, like a
loose plan of what you're goingto do, and have appointments of
course, appointments foryourself first, by the way.
Like to learn to work out.
Learn to work out, learn tobreathe, learn to do tapping.
I can teach all about thatbreathing wow deep breathing, by
(16:10):
the way, is the best things insliced bread, I think.
When you take a few deepbreaths, three times an hour
hour I say, like at noon, 1220,1245, take three deep breaths,
you get in touch with a sense ofwho you are and you let your
thoughts go, because you are notyour thoughts and you're not
your feelings.
You're not any of those.
You're like the essence, thelight, the great thing inside of
you that can help the world andwe all can be like a beacon of
(16:30):
light and hope and about leaninginto uncertainty.
Like like a beacon of light andhope.
And about leaning intouncertainty.
Like like not expect.
What I do is I expect things togo right, I expect everything to
go right, but it's not going togo perfectly, the maybe the way
I planned it, but just imagineyou know if it's a loose plan
and try not to feel you'resuccessful.
This is hard to explain.
Try not to feel you'resuccessful because things went
(16:51):
perfect today.
They don't have to go perfectand that's kind of fun and going
with the flow and like dancingin the rain, that kind of all
this crazy silly things.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Speaking of going with the flow, those of you that
are only listening to thepodcast may not be able be aware
of this, but we are recordingthis remotely and we're live at
Montgomery County, at CoastalFairgrounds, nine best days of
summer.
It's august, the 12th august12th wednesday, tuesday, august
the 12th, yes, and we're havinga grand time here with the
(17:21):
maryland spinadel and we'rewe're getting a sense of, uh,
how how to use the tools thatshe's sharing, and the first
thing she shared was, uh, beokay with letting things happen,
right.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Right With uncertainty.
Yeah, uncertainty and thingscan unfold in maybe a different
way than you planned Can bereally healthy, and maybe one of
my clients just said this to meand made me feel so good.
You know, everybody thinksdifferently about what's
happening in the world, but oneof my clients said that maybe
things are going backwards alittle bit.
if you feel that way, Kind oflike a bow and arrow and we'll
go forward even stronger andmore positive if that can help
(17:58):
you and you know what I meanLike if things don't have to be
perfect to be, to learn from ityou can learn from stuff.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
And we don't.
We don't control everything.
So, expecting to controleverything is an issue.
It can be very frustrating ifyou expect to control things
outside of your management.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Yeah, yeah, right.
Yeah, yeah, you meet somewonderful people when you
believe, when you least expectit.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Yeah, yeah, you do, you do, you do.
And we have all these wonderfulstickers here.
Yes, I see one here.
This is pray more, worry less.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
If you pray, win yourselves to succeed and this
is my favorite one never give up, never, ever give up, you know
hey, my favorite, have a niceday.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Have a nice day, there's a sunny, watermelon and
stay true.
Oh gosh, stay true, I'm gonna,I'm gonna wear that rest of the
day.
Stay true, stay true toyourself.
Stay true, all right, yes andalso can I tell you something
else?
Speaker 4 (18:51):
yeah about three questions you can ask yourself
daily about compassion.
To do with compassion overCOVID, a lot of families came to
me I'm a mental healththerapist in Rockville because
they didn't get along.
But if you can ask yourselfthree questions a day about
compassion, number one what didyou do today to show compassion
to yourself?
I came here, I'm talking to youand I'm smiling at everybody
(19:11):
that I see that helps me to helpothers and help myself, and and
I'm smiling at everybody that Isee that helps me to help
others and help myself.
And the second question is thatwhat do you do for someone else
to show them compassion?
Not like did you make themdinner, but like open the door
for them, smile at them, youknow, make them feel that they
matter.
Nobody can make you feelanything, but whatever you do
something nice that can helpthem.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Well, they can inspire you, they can set an
environment where you can feelbetter, right yeah?
Speaker 4 (19:37):
kinder to people.
And the last one is what doessomeone do for you?
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Wow, what does someone do for you, such?
Speaker 4 (19:42):
as you had me on the show today and I so appreciate
you.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You came on the show today and not only did you come
on the show, you always comewith such resources and you're
so thoughtful about what youshare and why you're sharing it,
and I think, hopefully, peopleappreciate all that you share
each time you're with us.
Thank you, and this might be, Iguess, a good time for me to
mention that we'll have MindfulMoments with Marilyn Spindel
(20:09):
here and there throughout otherpodcasts this year to help us
continue to be mindful ofmindfulness and how we can help
ourselves be healthier in thisregard.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
Yeah, yeah, let me talk a little bit mindfulness.
Yeah.
So mindfulness, I feel, isbeing really present in the
moment, like trying to bepresent and not thinking about
the future or the past, causethen you can have a better
relationship with something Lifeis so much sweeter when you're
mindfully present.
Teach people how to eatmindfully, like taking a raisin
and taking 20 minutes.
Where did the raisin come from?
When you eat the raisin, howare you?
(20:42):
Meeting the people who grew theraisin okay.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So what you're saying is before you eat the raisin,
yes, think about it for 20minutes before you eat.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
Wow I have boxes in my office.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Don't just get a box of raisins and just shove them
in your mouth because they're sodelicious and sweet in a small
box, okay right.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Enjoy it, immerse yourself in the in life in the
process.
Enjoy the process like I lovesunsets and I love mindfully
connecting to your senses.
So for instance, like let me,let me.
I hope you can hear this ohgosh it's called a singing bowl
and you all close your eyes whenyou listen to this.
It can make such a differencein your life, oh gosh.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Okay, let's listen.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
Here we go, guys, one more.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Oh, wow, okay, it's calming right right, that is
very calming.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
I'm not why.
Why is it calming, though, likeokay, it's a certain sound.
I think it's a certain c or dcertain frequency maybe, but
more than that, it's connectingto a sense of who you are inside
.
That's not in your head, butit's in your body.
It's in, it's your essence.
And there's an eighth sense.
I forgot to bring you theevaluation eighth sense is then.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Typically there's seven senses right in the.
I guess the seventh sense isthe eighth one, and it's true.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
I just looked this up .
It's called interoceptionactually hold on.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
There's six senses right seven, and then seven is
extra sensory you know.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
No, the seventh is supposed to be knowing when you
stop and the other person begins, or like not looking into
things is seven and eight isinteroception knowing where your
senses are to be able to feelyour feelings and feel when
you're hungry.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
There's eight senses, I'm so lost.
Okay, that's cool, all right,you heard it here first, or
maybe yeah, look it up,everybody, check it out.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
Interoception I'm gonna take a class in it soon.
All right, cool.
So what else can I tell you all?
Let's breathe, taking a breath,let's breathe.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
I thought the three breaths a day when you mentioned
that.
I immediately, while you weretalking, took my three breaths
and I did realize I am feeling abit calmer.
I would say almost right awayRight, and almost right away
Right, and I wonder how often itmade me think.
How often am I not breathing,or shallow breathing.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Or shallow breathing, yeah it makes you more anxious
when you shallow breathe.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
Probably a lot.
We all do so.
Breathe in through your noseand then exhale out of your
mouth like you're blowing away afeather.
I do it with my eyes shut,which really helps.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Do that a few times.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
And if you're like me and you have allergies, breathe
out of that good nostril or dothe best you can.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
And you can even be grateful for your breaths.
Speaker 4 (23:25):
You know it gives you life and I say do it three
times an hour, taking three deepbreaths at noon, 1220, 1245 can
reset anxiety and everything.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
It calms you down.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
It definitely calmed me down.
My last breath I yawned a bit.
I don't know if that's good itis that's good or bad.
I definitely was relaxed.
I guess I'm in the mood to putmy head down for a little bit.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
Yes, all right, because it's hot.
It is hot here at theMontgomery County Agricultural.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Fear.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Grounds, but we're hot and ready to learn more
about wellness.
Yes, and please, please, try tochange negative thoughts to
positive, because negativethoughts can't help you and they
can't help anyone else.
We're like a stone that'srippling on water.
Whatever we're feeling andthinking and saying, we can
ripple out to everyone.
If you start off with somethingpositive, that can change your
day and change everybody else.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Courage.
I learned that when I hadlittle kids.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Be positive Much bigger.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
My kids are also therapists, by the way.
Oh, wow, look at that, theapples in the tree right, okay,
I think they would have been iteven if they didn't have me, but
I don't know, maybe, maybe.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Okay, it's great that you guys are doing that.
Your career path has broughtyou to help people.
So what do you have there?
You have a sheet there.
Do you have some more tips forus?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Yeah, yeah, of course , of course.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
We want to give.
I think we want to give peopletools they can use.
Thank you To continue not justas you listen to the podcast,
yeah, but when you go to visitMaryland or whomever might end
up being your therapist.
You want to have tools that youcan use on a daily basis.
So is there something?
Speaker 4 (24:58):
else.
Yes, remember,psychologytodaycom is the best
resource to find a therapist,and people should answer the
phone.
I always answer when peoplecall me.
I take insurance, but you canput your zip code in psychology
today and what you're lookingfor if you have PTSD, trauma,
sleeping problems, and you canfind people in your area that
take your insurance.
It's not hard, I'm just saying.
(25:19):
And if you have anyone in thefamily that's thinking God
forbid about suicide, please,please, please call.
This is numbers right here.
It's a card here you can get.
988 is in Montgomery CountyCrisis Center.
They're open 24 hours, yeah,right, so don't think twice
about getting somebody help oryourself help if you're thinking
bad thoughts, right, yeah.
So what other things I canteach?
(25:41):
A couple techniques.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Let's go with some techniques.
I believe the techniques areone of the things I enjoy the
most when we talk.
Okay, we don't only talk whenwe are on the podcast or when
you're on the podcast withothers.
We don't only talk when we areon the podcast or when you're on
the podcast with others.
We don't talk quite often, solet's do a few of the exercises
that you may have available forus.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
I know a bunch, so I'll do a few right now, just to
remember.
Okay, one is something calledthe stop technique.
Let me just tell you about thatS-T-O-P.
If you're yelling at someone,if you're anxious, s is that you
stop not to push away yourfeelings.
T is you take those three deepbreaths, Okay stop O yes stop,
stop, take three deep breaths Oobserve what's going on inside
(26:24):
of you.
Okay, you observe and youaccept it.
I'm feeling this way because ofthis.
Acknowledge your feelings.
Yeah, all feelings are okay,unless they're the sad ones and
hard ones for too long.
Then get help right away.
Right, and the P is perceiveyourself and others with
compassion.
Stop, wow, isn't that beautiful.
It's easy.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Yeah, it's nice, yeah , can you repeat that one more
time, one more time.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Okay, s-t-o-p.
Put this on your refrigerator,if you want.
So S is stop going on, juststop before you blow up.
Okay, then you take three deepbreaths.
That's the t, okay, oh, observewhat's going on inside of you,
take a breath in and feel yourfeelings.
Some people can't do that bythe way feel your feelings.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
That's hard that is hard, I would say, as a guy, you
know sometimes you don't wantto feel feelings.
Yes, you know, but you can'thelp it, you know they're there,
by the way.
Speaker 4 (27:11):
That's why they're called feelings isn.
Isn't that huge, isn't thatmind-blowing?
Speaker 2 (27:16):
That is.
I guess they are calledfeelings, because it's not
conscious, you're not thinkingabout it.
I want to feel.
It just happens, all right.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
And then the last thing is perception, or perceive
yourself and others withcompassion.
So S-T-O-P.
And then this I made this cheatsheet kind of thing.
This is nice.
So 24-7, we have thoughts,feelings and behaviors, and if
it's all positive, then you'refeeling good and good about life
.
If any one of them is negativea negative thought, feeling or
(27:46):
behavior that's toxic then theyall can become toxic Anytime you
change one of them.
It can help with the wholething.
It can make it all much better.
It's like a continuous loop.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, and anytime one of those becomes goes negative,
it can uh make the entire thingnegative, yeah even sleep
that's something, yeah, a lot ofpeople come to me.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
They say they're depressed, but they're just not
getting enough sleep you know,and it's sometimes it's hard to
sleep.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
I will say I I definitely understand that.
I definitely understand that.
I can understand that.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Yeah okay, and then we'll do.
I keep talking, keep onclapping technique you clap your
hands.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
This is magic.
You're one of my clients.
Clap your hands.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
Okay, close your eyes .
It's really important.
Rub your hands together and putyour hands over your heart,
take a nice deep breath in andyou're showing yourself a lot of
compassion oh wow, all right,all right, self, you're welcome,
(28:43):
right?
You need to.
Everyone needs to lovethemselves first, by the way,
and have a picture nearby.
Yeah, all right have a picturenearby of internal resources.
I talk about not a cup halffull or half empty, yeah, but
have a picture of things thatyou can do to lift yourself up.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (29:00):
That you always know right.
And one more thing Internallocus of control.
There's so many things I wantto teach.
It should be like that.
Yeah, internal locus of controlmeans that you know you're in
charge of your thoughts,feelings and behaviors.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
External means you let other people control your
feelings and thoughts.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Like like the news, or if you get fired or something
bad happens to your health, godforbid, yeah, god forbid.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
No, no nothing bad's gonna happen to anybody.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Okay, that's right.
We don't want those things tohappen.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
No, yeah okay, see what I'm saying, but have an
internal locus of control meansthat you're in charge of all
those things you don't have tobring.
Don't let anybody bring youdown.
I'm trying to say that's.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
That's a nice full circle from not focusing too
much on the things we can'tcontrol all the way through to
be assured that the things youcan't control, you can't control
, yeah yeah.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
And change your perception.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Right.
Speaker 4 (29:48):
Right, so I hope you all are doing okay out there and
can love yourself and othersand and have a really good
support system is so importantright now.
People who are isolated, youknow, don't do well mentally and
physically usually as well aswhen people aren't isolated and
your thoughts can make you havebetter health, I think we have
more control over your healththan you realize.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
All right, and that's what's happening.
Moco, you have more controlover your health than you
realize.
And we're here with our goodfriend Marilyn Spinadel, thank
you.
And we're here with our goodfriend Marilyn Spinadel, thank
you.
She is a psychotherapistlocated in a turf in a
Montgomery County business owner.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
And I was born in Maryland, born in Maryland.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Maryland to Maryland.
So that's what's happening,moco.
Thank you for having me.
Good luck everybody.
All the best to everybody.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
All right bye, Yay.
Thanks for listening to what'sHappening, MoCo.
Please subscribe via yourfavorite podcasting platform and
follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,Facebook, Instagram or YouTube
(30:56):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
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