November 19, 2025 • 24 mins
Episode Highlights With Katie
- Why minerals are the foundation for energy and hydration (and why I travel with salt)
- How front-loading hydration and morning sunlight reset your body clock
- The weird but effective tools I swear by: mouth taping, barefoot grounding, and more
- Why sauna, cold therapy, and protein breakfasts are in my non-negotiables list
- How to build your own list of non-negotiables to feel your best
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welk On for My Body's podcast. This podcast is brought
to you by Native Path. If you've ever felt like
you're hitting a wall during your workouts or just don't
even want to work out, creating might be what you need.
It increases your muscle's ability to produce energy during high
intensity exercise, which means more reps, better performance, and faster recovery,
which is a huge component for women doing high intensity training,
(00:23):
strength training, or any intense activity. Creating can be the
difference between struggling through and achieving your goals. And the
best part is better worker outs lead to better results,
more muscle improvementabolism, and getting stronger every day. But when
it comes to creating, quality matters, so look for creating monohydrate,
which is the most researched form and most research suggests
(00:43):
starting with three to five grams a day and personally
sometimes take up to ten. And the form that I
use is Native Path Creating, which I will link to
in the show notes. As always, talk to your healthcare
provider before starting any new supplement, especially if you have
a health condition, but for many of us, creating is
one of the safest, most beneficial selplements available and It's
time that we wolmen stopped thinking of it as just
for men. Save up to fifty six percent and try
(01:06):
it yourself and get free shipping at walnasmama dot com,
slash go slash Native Creatine, That's Wellnessmama dot com, slash
go slash nat I ve E c r E A
t I n E. And this episode is brought to
you by Apollo neuro This is a tool that has
really helped me feel more relaxed and de stress. It's
(01:26):
than Apollo wearable that can be worn anywhere on your body,
and it tracks sleep like other wearables, but unlike other wearables,
it actually improves my sleep automatically. Apollo was designed by
a team of scientists and doctors to emit silent, soothing,
sound weight vibrations that actually feel really good and work
in the moment so it feels like a hug. These
(01:47):
waves are proven in scientific studies to help us shift
into recovery mode so we experience less stress, better mood,
more energy, and better sleep. The sleep setting is probably
my favorite. Apollo is also the first wearable proven to
significantly increase HRV, which is heart rate variability, which is
a leading biomarker for health and longevity. It works at
the most foundational level to improve nervous system balance through
(02:09):
our sense of touch, just like getting a warm hug
from a friend or snuggling a pet. Apollo connects to
an app on your phone, so you can choose the
settings for mood and energy and the level you need.
I've used mine for years and I definitely noticed the benefits.
I especially live when traveling as well. It's especially great
for moms because it has no side effects and it's
safe if you're pregnant or nursing. You can learn more
about Apollo and get your own by going to Apollo
(02:31):
neuro dot com slash wellness Mama. So find out more
and get your own by going to a p O
L l O n e U r O dot com
slash wellness Mama and use the code wellness Mama all
caps in one word for a discount. Hello and welcome
to the Wellness Mama podcast. I'm Katie from mollaszoma dot
(02:52):
com and this brief solo episode is going to touch
on some of my personal daily non negotiables and weird
habits for feeling my best. In case these can servative
inspiration to be helpful for you as well. I'd be
curious how many of these you already do, as well
as other quirky habits that you might have that I
could learn from. So I'd love to hear your feedback
(03:14):
in the commons or on Instagram, or especially in a
rating or review. If you are willing to take two
minutes and leave an honest one, I would be deeply,
deeply grateful. In this episode, you've probably get it if
you've listened before. Here we talk about some things you
would expect, like minerals, hydration light, but I'm also going
to mention some weirder tools that I don't talk about
(03:34):
as much, and how to build your own list of
non negotiables to feel your best. Also, I've said before
I don't do anything every single day, including eat. I do, however,
try to sleep every single day, but there have been
days where I haven't done that either. But outside of
the very truly basic like hydration, light and sleep, I
don't take any supplements every single day. I don't eat
(03:55):
any certain foods any single day or every single day. However,
these are habits that I I do extremely consistently, if
not every single day. So people often assume, or seem
to infer that my non negotiables might evolve elaborate biohacks,
expensive supplements, fancy equipment. But actually most of the things
(04:16):
on this list, as you will hear, are extremely simple
and either free or very inexpensive, with a few weird
ones mixed in. The longer I've been in the health
amonous world, the more I've come around to actually these
kind of core foundational human supporting things that are not
expensive or complicated or don't take a lot of time.
(04:38):
They simply involve actually returning to a state I feel
like of being more human, of being in nature more
I have said before, I think many of the problems
we encounter in a modern world are really from a
type of nature deficit disorder, and that we are meant
to be much more in harmony with nature than a
lot of us get to be. We're meant to spend
(04:58):
time in the natural light. We are meant to have
darkness at night. We are meant to be hydrated with
water that has minerals in it and it is technically living.
We are meant to have our bare feet on the
ground to get fresh air, and all those things are
for the most part in most places available to some
degree by going outside. So you're gonna hear me talk
(05:20):
a lot about going outside. But as a preview, I'm
gonna touch on some topics you would expect, like minerals,
light and sleep, as well as once they don't talk
about as much, like mouth taping, grounding, and some other
strange odd habits. So start with the ones you might
already be tired to be talking about. Let's talk about minerals.
And this is an area of interest for me the
(05:42):
past two years. I actually am coming more and more
to believe that this is a vital piece that a
lot of people don't have fully optimized, and that it
can be such a game changer. It absolutely has been
for me. I consume a lot of different minerals with
a lot of different sources for some reasons I will
explain more of actually coming relatively, but more minerals the
better for me right now. And this is not just
(06:04):
about drinking more water. I think this is a little
bit of a misconception when it comes to hydration. It's
also about minerals and electrolytes. I'm going to do a
series soon on how our body is electric and in
this sense, it's not water alone is not hydrating. We
need electrolytes and minerals for our proper electrical communication and
(06:28):
cellular communication to happen. So I consume a wide variety
of minerals throughout the day, but I start in the
morning with either mineral water with minerals or idon minerals,
or salt water or electrolytes in water, and I drink
this outside in the sun, which I'll also talk about
ideally barefoot. But a quirky detail here. I travel with minerals.
(06:49):
I do almost nothing every day, but minerals go with
me everywhere. I also travel with my own salt. Nine
of Americans are low in magnesium. I've had podcasts guests
say that to that percentage might actually be low in
sodium because of the low salt messaging we ought for
so long. And many of us, to varying degrees, are
low in other smaller trace minerals as well. These are
(07:12):
things that used to be present in much larger amounts
in food and in our water supply, and now we
have to be a little bit more intentional about getting
and especially if we live in a hot climate, exercise
or sauna that we deplete minerals much more quickly. I've
mentioned this stat before, but the person who does any
of those things can lose as many minerals in five
years as an average person might in an entire lifetime.
(07:34):
I do all of those things, so I'm very intentional
about minerals and get almost all of those forms of
minerals every day throughout the day in some form. I'm
also a fan of front loading and hydration and structuring it.
So we wake up mildly dehydrated from the water we
lose in simply our breath at night, so I try
(07:54):
to rehydrate before food and water before food or activity
in the morning. I also find uploading hydration is easier,
so I'm not chugging water at night and up to
go to the bathroom, or I'm not having to chase
it later. You could also get structured water from fruits
and vetchies, but I like having I actually a water
structure on my house from natural actions so that I
(08:15):
can link to, as well as a small portable one
that I can travel with and poor water through, so
I often addmnerals and structure water. I also love coconut
water and homeade mineral water instead of plain water. I
also did a podcast about this recently. But adding a pinch,
tiny pinch a baking soda to water first thing in
the morning seems to be very beneficial as well. I
(08:40):
know you've heard me talk about light before. I'm gonna
do it again. This is my daily reset and no negotiable.
I think it is actually one of the most overlooked
factors of health. I love that it's getting talked about more.
One of my non negotiables is to get morning sunlight
within an hour of waking with the out glasses or sunglasses,
not through a window. My bare eyes outside don't have
(09:01):
to look at the sun, but be outside exposed to
the light of the sun as soon as possible after
waking up. This is beneficial for circadane rhythm, for melatonin
production la during the day, for stabilizing our hormones, for
proper cortisol rhythms, for so much more. So. Again, that's
my habit, stacking of mineral water barefoot outside in natural light,
(09:24):
even on a cloudy day. We are getting much more
broad spectrum light outdoors than we are getting indoors, and
this has compounding benefits across the board. For health. So
quirky detail here. Like I said, I aim for sun
on my skin and my eyes whenever safe and possible,
especially in the morning. Anytime I can see sunrise and sunset.
(09:46):
That is beautiful, natural red light that is freely available
in nature. It is great for our skin, great for
our eyes. Again, I'm never staring directly at the sun,
but making sure I'm outside, not through a window or
through sunglasses or glasses. And morning light exposure is actually
linked to better BMI and sleep, and that was in
a study in sleep health in twenty fourteen found that
(10:09):
all other variables being equal without any dietary or other changes,
people who got consistent morning light exposure had a lower
VMI without changing their giet and lifestyle other than the light.
So again, this one is free. If you live in
a place that is not a bunker and can go
outside for ten to fifteen minutes, that's all it takes
in the morning, this one free habit might make a
(10:31):
huge difference for you. I feel like the flip side
to that is obviously sleep is very important. I believe
quality sleep starts in the morning with that light exposure,
with proper hydration, with safety signaling Qubes approaching in the morning,
which I've also talked about. But the flip side, of course,
is quality sleep. And almost a thousand episodes of this podcast,
(10:51):
I am yet to have anyone say sleep is not
important or it does not matter. In fact, I would
say sleep is absolutely no negotiable. Without autiom will sleep,
we cannot be optimal in every area of health, and
sleep is a superpower. I can link to some resources
around us. If sleep is a struggle for you, it
has been for me at various times of my life,
(11:11):
and I have had many guests on here who have
tremendous resources for helping with specifics of whatever that might be,
including Molly Eastman of Sleep as a Skill, and some others.
This is one I fiercely prioritize. Many of the things
I talk about in this podcast are free light, going
outside like light minerals are typically very inexpensive. Sleep is
(11:32):
one I prioritize in my budget because we sleep, on average,
hopefully a third of our life, and anything we can
do that improves our sleep without effort has compounding positive
effects to other areas of our life, not to mention
if it's something we can change in our environment or
our sleep pattern that is beneficial. We only really have
to make that change once and then get the passive
(11:53):
benefit while we sleep. So some things that I have
done that have been helpful for this are a chili pad,
I have a dock pro on my bed. There's a
lot of evidence showing that sleeping at a slightly cooler
temperature is very beneficial for sleep, both duration and quality,
and I have certainly found this to be true. So
rather than cool my whole house to sixty eight degrees,
(12:17):
I have a dock pro on my bed that I
keep cool, and this lets me sleep at a regulated
cool temperature similar to if I slept on the ground outside,
So again mimicking nature, and I find this has a
huge impact on my sleep and I miss it desperately
when I travel. So I have full blockout curtain, blackout
curtains from you blockout or shades that come all the
(12:38):
way down and remove all light in my room. I
have a chili pad dock pro on my bed, and
then I try not to keep my phone in my room,
and if I do, I keep it on the airplane mode.
Another sleep related thing I have not talked about as
much is mouth taping. This is a quirky one, not
necessarily going to be comfortable or beneficial for everybody. It
(12:58):
looks weird, but it can be very supportive of sleep,
and I try to do this pretty often. I'll link
to some mouth tape that is non toxic in the
show notes. I've also just used the tiniest bit of
athletic tape across the middle of my lips before, and
that seems to work for me. But there's a lot
of evidence that mouth breathing is not ideal for sleep.
It's also not ideal for our teeth, as it can
increase the risk of cavities, which dentists talk about. We
(13:21):
want slower ideally slower, longer breasts in and out through
the nose as you would expect. Mouth taping can help
facilitate this by removing our ability to breathe in and
out from our mouth. However, and Mala Eastman has a
whole podcasts on this, it is important to note that
if someone has sleep apnea or some kind of sleep disorder,
mouth taping may not be a good idea, and he
would want to figure that out and address that before
(13:43):
you're taping your mouth shut at night again. Sleep, I
think is one of the most important things we can do.
There's a statistic that if we sleep less than six
hours a night, we have a twelve percent risk of
higher death with all other factors being accounted were I
believe that was in the European Heart Journal, and there's
evidence about the importance of sleep across the world. Animals
(14:05):
naturally sleep more and eat less when they are injured
or recovering, and kind of upwards to about even the
nine hour mark. The benefits of sleep increased with duration
and quality, and the problems with lack of sleep increase
the less sleep we get. This podcast is brought to
(14:26):
you by a Native path. If you've ever felt like
you're hitting a wall during your workouts, which just don't
even want to work out, creatine might be what you need.
It increases your muscle's ability to produce energy during high
intensity exercise, which means more reps, better performance, and faster recovery,
which is a huge component for women doing high intensity training,
strength training, or any intense activity. Creating can be the
difference between struggling through and achieving your goals, and the
(14:49):
best part is better worker outs lead to better results,
more muscle improvementabolism and getting stronger every day. But when
it comes to creating, quality matters, so look for creating monohydrate,
which is the most researched form and most research suggests
starting with three to five grams a day. I personally
sometimes take up to ten, and the form that I
use is Native Path creating, which I will link to
(15:10):
in the show notes. As always talk to your healthcare
provider before starting any news supplement, especially if you have
a health condition. But for many of us, creating is
one of the safest, most beneficial supplements available, and it's
time that we woulmen stopped thinking of it as just
forman Save up to fifty six percent and try it
yourself and get free shipping at wellnessmama dot com slash
go slash Native Creatine. That's wellnesspama dot com slash go
(15:34):
slash nat I ve E c r E A t
I n E. And this episode is brought to you
by Apollo neuro This is a tool that has really
helped me feel more relaxed and de stress. It's than
Apollo wearable that can be worn anywhere in your body
and it tracks sleep like other wearables, but unlike other wearables.
It actually improves my sleep automatically. Apollo was designed by
(15:57):
a team of scientists and doctors to emit silent, soothing,
sound weight vibrations that actually feel really good and work
in the moment so it feels like a hug. These
waves are proven in scientific studies to help us shift
into recovery mode, so we experience less stress, better mood,
more energy, and better sleep. The sleep setting is probably
my favorite. Apollo is also the first wearable proven to
(16:18):
significantly increase HRV, which is heart rate variability, which is
a leading bio marker for health and longevity. It works
at the most foundational level to improve nervous system balance
through our sense of touch, just like getting a warm
hug from a friend or snuggling a pet. Apollow connects
to an app on your phone, so you can choose
the settings for mood and energy and the level you need.
I've used Mind for years and I've definitely noticed the benefits.
(16:40):
I especially love when traveling as well. It's especially great
for moms because it has no side effects and it's
safe if you're pregnant or nursing. You can learn more
about Apollo and get your own by going to Apollo
neuro dot com slash Wellness Mama. So find out more
and get your own by going to Apo lll O
n e u ro dot com slash wellness Mama and
(17:02):
use the code wellness Mama all caps in one word
for a discount. Okay, So the weird but effective list
of either free your inexpensive daily habits. I mentioned mouth
taping which can help with better oxygenation and deeper sleep.
Also I mentioned grounding, which I love doing ideally also
sunrise at sunset to get the extra benefits while hydrating,
(17:24):
but grounding alone can feel calming can reduce inflammation. There's
studies that show that standing on the ground barefoot actually
could help get our cortisolt into better rhythms and improve
HRV over time. This one is not necessarily free, but
when possible. I love doing sauna and cold blund either
separately or together, which is called contrast therapy because these
(17:47):
are hormetic stressors, meaning they create short term stress on
the body that lead to better stressed mitigation over time.
And I've mentioned before the Finish Sauna study that was
re reported in Jamma in twenty fifteen that showed over
a forty percent lower all cause mortality with regular sauna use,
which I believe was defined US four or more times
(18:08):
per week in the minimum effective time dose I believe
was nineteen minutes per session. So if sauna is available
to you, this is another one I say, if it
was a pill, everybody would take it. Unfortunately, not everybody
has access to it. But sauna can be incredibly beneficial,
and if I could only keep sort of one wellness
modality in my house, it would be, without question sauna.
(18:31):
I've also talked before about safety signals and how thinking
this way can reframe our understanding of health in a
lot of ways. And one of the things here that
seemingly especially for women, for most women, can feel very
helpful and that I try to make a regular habit
is protein first mornings after the hydration with minerals in
(18:51):
the natural light. I also tried to get at least
forty grams of protein as soon as possible after waking,
and find this really helps with stable energy, satiety, and
from a hormone perspective, seems to send the signal that
food is abundant, we are not starving, things are going well,
and I find that I have much more stable energy.
(19:12):
I also try to stop eating at sunset whenever possible.
When I've talked about that before, it was surprisingly controversial.
I understand that won't work for everybody. I understand that
in some places in the world the sun does not
set at times of the year, or sets at one
pm at other times of the year. Obviously there are exceptions.
I live in an area with relatively normal sunrise and
(19:32):
sunset patterns and find ically better if I stop eating
before dark. Another one free for the most part, that
is not as talked about, and I think very valuable,
is hanging by our hands daily. This stretches our shoulders,
it decompresses our spine. If my pod, physical therapists say
that it's one of the most supportive things we can
do of our shoulders, and that many shoulder problems actually
(19:53):
will resolve with regular hanging. But even more importantly, it
supports group strength, which I've done a whole podcast explaining
the benefits of and how this correlates to longevity. I
think it's something worth nurturing, and there's a lot of
benefits to hanging for just ideally three minutes per day,
even if it's spread out into ten or fifteen second
(20:14):
chunks a cumulative time three minutes per day can have
awesome benefits for your spine, for your grip strength, and
then by extension longevity as well. I also sometimes add
in red light therapy, but a caveat here I will
link to some red light therapy in the show notes.
I love that these devices are available, and I know
(20:36):
they can be pricey, and that red light is naturally
and freely available at sunrise and sunset every single day.
Doctor Courtney Hunt talks about this a lot. I love
her light webinars and her research around this and recommend
checking her out. But you can get free red light
every single day during sunrise and sunset, so one we
or another, I think that's an awesome way to get
(20:58):
that really restorative type of life that we know is
supportive for mitochondria and skin health. And we don't have
to spend thousands of dollars on red light panels to
do it. We just have to prioritize sunrise and sunset
less conventional and this is not something that everybode will
have access to. However, I have recently opened a wellness
center where I live locally that has a wide range
(21:20):
of PEMF options and a biocharger. I do notice faster
recovery and energy from these. I don't feel like these
in any way have to be non negotiable. Like I said,
I would keep SOSNA if I could only pick one thing. However,
because I have access to these, these are things I
love to add in and I do feel a difference
from But I think it also goes back to the
(21:41):
habit stacking of the free simple things. My kids don't
think anything of me barefoot in the yard in the morning,
drinking salty water in the morning sun and in fact
some of them do this as well, or I will
see them out walking at sunrise, and I love to
see that. So as we get close to the end
of our time, I just wanted to highlight some of
the statistics in data which are when it comes to
(22:02):
the importance of minerals. Ninety plus percent of Americans are
low in magnesium, as well as many of us are
low insult and potassium, as well as trace minerals. Even
a one to two percent dehydration decreases focus at energy.
That study came out of the Journal of American College
of Nutrition. Morning light exposure is correlated to better be
my better sleep, better mood that was reported in Sleep
(22:24):
Health in twenty fourteen. If we get less than six
hours of sleep, we have a twelve percent higher risk
of early death. That was from the European Heart Journal.
The Finish Sauna study, reported again in the Gema Internal
Medicine twenty fifteen, showed that sauna four to seven times
a week resulted in a forty percent lower risk all
cause mortality, which is statistically very significant and almost absurd
(22:48):
in its significance. And there's even a study showing that
grounding reduced imflammation markers and improvesleep that was actually in
the Journal of Inflammation Research in twenty fifteen. So wrap
up summary. Key takeaways. Non negotiables do not need to
be complicated, as you heard. Most of mine are pretty simple.
Most of them are free. I think the song is
(23:10):
awesome when you can add it in totally fine if
you can. I think the quirky biot hacking tools are
so much fun and awesome and you can be completely
healthy with that for them. And I think it's the small,
consistent inputs that change everything for the long term. If
you have time, I would encourage you to add in
one of these normal and one of these weird, quirky
habits to try this week, and to remember that consistency
(23:32):
creates the compound effect. I've heard compounding called the eighth
wonder of the world, and I think this applies very
much in health, just like it does in money. The
weird little habits you do daily can make you feel
extraordinary long term. And I would love to hear what
yours are. What are your non negotiables, what can you
not do every day? What are you unwilling to not
(23:52):
do every day? I'd love to hear about it in
the comments or on Instagram. I would also love, as
always to hear from you who I should talk to
you next topics you would like me to cover, what
questions you have and your honest feedback. It's always welcome.
If you could take just a minute to leave an
honest rating and review on Apple, Spotify or wherever you
listen to podcasts, I would be extremely grateful as that
(24:12):
helps other people find and listen as well and helps
keep Walesswama going For today, Thank you so much for
spending your time with me, for sharing your energy attention
with me today. I don't take that lately. I am
so grateful and I hope you will join me again
on the next episode at the Wannesswama podcast. If you're
(24:34):
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 can benefit from the information.
I really appreciate your time and thanks as always for listening.
Welk On for My Body's podcast. This podcast is brought
to you by Native Path. If you've ever felt like
you're hitting a wall during your workouts or just don't
even want to work out, creating might be what you need.
It increases your muscle's ability to produce energy during high
intensity exercise, which means more reps, better performance, and faster recovery,
which is a huge component for women doing high intensity training,
(00:23):
strength training, or any intense activity. Creating can be the
difference between struggling through and achieving your goals. And the
best part is better worker outs lead to better results,
more muscle improvementabolism, and getting stronger every day. But when
it comes to creating, quality matters, so look for creating monohydrate,
which is the most researched form and most research suggests
(00:43):
starting with three to five grams a day and personally
sometimes take up to ten. And the form that I
use is Native Path Creating, which I will link to
in the show notes. As always, talk to your healthcare
provider before starting any new supplement, especially if you have
a health condition, but for many of us, creating is
one of the safest, most beneficial selplements available and It's
time that we wolmen stopped thinking of it as just
for men. Save up to fifty six percent and try
(01:06):
it yourself and get free shipping at walnasmama dot com,
slash go slash Native Creatine, That's Wellnessmama dot com, slash
go slash nat I ve E c r E A
t I n E. And this episode is brought to
you by Apollo neuro This is a tool that has
really helped me feel more relaxed and de stress. It's
(01:26):
than Apollo wearable that can be worn anywhere on your body,
and it tracks sleep like other wearables, but unlike other wearables,
it actually improves my sleep automatically. Apollo was designed by
a team of scientists and doctors to emit silent, soothing,
sound weight vibrations that actually feel really good and work
in the moment so it feels like a hug. These
(01:47):
waves are proven in scientific studies to help us shift
into recovery mode so we experience less stress, better mood,
more energy, and better sleep. The sleep setting is probably
my favorite. Apollo is also the first wearable proven to
significantly increase HRV, which is heart rate variability, which is
a leading biomarker for health and longevity. It works at
the most foundational level to improve nervous system balance through
(02:09):
our sense of touch, just like getting a warm hug
from a friend or snuggling a pet. Apollo connects to
an app on your phone, so you can choose the
settings for mood and energy and the level you need.
I've used mine for years and I definitely noticed the benefits.
I especially live when traveling as well. It's especially great
for moms because it has no side effects and it's
safe if you're pregnant or nursing. You can learn more
about Apollo and get your own by going to Apollo
(02:31):
neuro dot com slash wellness Mama. So find out more
and get your own by going to a p O
L l O n e U r O dot com
slash wellness Mama and use the code wellness Mama all
caps in one word for a discount. Hello and welcome
to the Wellness Mama podcast. I'm Katie from mollaszoma dot
(02:52):
com and this brief solo episode is going to touch
on some of my personal daily non negotiables and weird
habits for feeling my best. In case these can servative
inspiration to be helpful for you as well. I'd be
curious how many of these you already do, as well
as other quirky habits that you might have that I
could learn from. So I'd love to hear your feedback
(03:14):
in the commons or on Instagram, or especially in a
rating or review. If you are willing to take two
minutes and leave an honest one, I would be deeply,
deeply grateful. In this episode, you've probably get it if
you've listened before. Here we talk about some things you
would expect, like minerals, hydration light, but I'm also going
to mention some weirder tools that I don't talk about
(03:34):
as much, and how to build your own list of
non negotiables to feel your best. Also, I've said before
I don't do anything every single day, including eat. I do, however,
try to sleep every single day, but there have been
days where I haven't done that either. But outside of
the very truly basic like hydration, light and sleep, I
don't take any supplements every single day. I don't eat
(03:55):
any certain foods any single day or every single day. However,
these are habits that I I do extremely consistently, if
not every single day. So people often assume, or seem
to infer that my non negotiables might evolve elaborate biohacks,
expensive supplements, fancy equipment. But actually most of the things
(04:16):
on this list, as you will hear, are extremely simple
and either free or very inexpensive, with a few weird
ones mixed in. The longer I've been in the health
amonous world, the more I've come around to actually these
kind of core foundational human supporting things that are not
expensive or complicated or don't take a lot of time.
(04:38):
They simply involve actually returning to a state I feel
like of being more human, of being in nature more
I have said before, I think many of the problems
we encounter in a modern world are really from a
type of nature deficit disorder, and that we are meant
to be much more in harmony with nature than a
lot of us get to be. We're meant to spend
(04:58):
time in the natural light. We are meant to have
darkness at night. We are meant to be hydrated with
water that has minerals in it and it is technically living.
We are meant to have our bare feet on the
ground to get fresh air, and all those things are
for the most part in most places available to some
degree by going outside. So you're gonna hear me talk
(05:20):
a lot about going outside. But as a preview, I'm
gonna touch on some topics you would expect, like minerals,
light and sleep, as well as once they don't talk
about as much, like mouth taping, grounding, and some other
strange odd habits. So start with the ones you might
already be tired to be talking about. Let's talk about minerals.
And this is an area of interest for me the
(05:42):
past two years. I actually am coming more and more
to believe that this is a vital piece that a
lot of people don't have fully optimized, and that it
can be such a game changer. It absolutely has been
for me. I consume a lot of different minerals with
a lot of different sources for some reasons I will
explain more of actually coming relatively, but more minerals the
better for me right now. And this is not just
(06:04):
about drinking more water. I think this is a little
bit of a misconception when it comes to hydration. It's
also about minerals and electrolytes. I'm going to do a
series soon on how our body is electric and in
this sense, it's not water alone is not hydrating. We
need electrolytes and minerals for our proper electrical communication and
(06:28):
cellular communication to happen. So I consume a wide variety
of minerals throughout the day, but I start in the
morning with either mineral water with minerals or idon minerals,
or salt water or electrolytes in water, and I drink
this outside in the sun, which I'll also talk about
ideally barefoot. But a quirky detail here. I travel with minerals.
(06:49):
I do almost nothing every day, but minerals go with
me everywhere. I also travel with my own salt. Nine
of Americans are low in magnesium. I've had podcasts guests
say that to that percentage might actually be low in
sodium because of the low salt messaging we ought for
so long. And many of us, to varying degrees, are
low in other smaller trace minerals as well. These are
(07:12):
things that used to be present in much larger amounts
in food and in our water supply, and now we
have to be a little bit more intentional about getting
and especially if we live in a hot climate, exercise
or sauna that we deplete minerals much more quickly. I've
mentioned this stat before, but the person who does any
of those things can lose as many minerals in five
years as an average person might in an entire lifetime.
(07:34):
I do all of those things, so I'm very intentional
about minerals and get almost all of those forms of
minerals every day throughout the day in some form. I'm
also a fan of front loading and hydration and structuring it.
So we wake up mildly dehydrated from the water we
lose in simply our breath at night, so I try
(07:54):
to rehydrate before food and water before food or activity
in the morning. I also find uploading hydration is easier,
so I'm not chugging water at night and up to
go to the bathroom, or I'm not having to chase
it later. You could also get structured water from fruits
and vetchies, but I like having I actually a water
structure on my house from natural actions so that I
(08:15):
can link to, as well as a small portable one
that I can travel with and poor water through, so
I often addmnerals and structure water. I also love coconut
water and homeade mineral water instead of plain water. I
also did a podcast about this recently. But adding a pinch,
tiny pinch a baking soda to water first thing in
the morning seems to be very beneficial as well. I
(08:40):
know you've heard me talk about light before. I'm gonna
do it again. This is my daily reset and no negotiable.
I think it is actually one of the most overlooked
factors of health. I love that it's getting talked about more.
One of my non negotiables is to get morning sunlight
within an hour of waking with the out glasses or sunglasses,
not through a window. My bare eyes outside don't have
(09:01):
to look at the sun, but be outside exposed to
the light of the sun as soon as possible after
waking up. This is beneficial for circadane rhythm, for melatonin
production la during the day, for stabilizing our hormones, for
proper cortisol rhythms, for so much more. So. Again, that's
my habit, stacking of mineral water barefoot outside in natural light,
(09:24):
even on a cloudy day. We are getting much more
broad spectrum light outdoors than we are getting indoors, and
this has compounding benefits across the board. For health. So
quirky detail here. Like I said, I aim for sun
on my skin and my eyes whenever safe and possible,
especially in the morning. Anytime I can see sunrise and sunset.
(09:46):
That is beautiful, natural red light that is freely available
in nature. It is great for our skin, great for
our eyes. Again, I'm never staring directly at the sun,
but making sure I'm outside, not through a window or
through sunglasses or glasses. And morning light exposure is actually
linked to better BMI and sleep, and that was in
a study in sleep health in twenty fourteen found that
(10:09):
all other variables being equal without any dietary or other changes,
people who got consistent morning light exposure had a lower
VMI without changing their giet and lifestyle other than the light.
So again, this one is free. If you live in
a place that is not a bunker and can go
outside for ten to fifteen minutes, that's all it takes
in the morning, this one free habit might make a
(10:31):
huge difference for you. I feel like the flip side
to that is obviously sleep is very important. I believe
quality sleep starts in the morning with that light exposure,
with proper hydration, with safety signaling Qubes approaching in the morning,
which I've also talked about. But the flip side, of course,
is quality sleep. And almost a thousand episodes of this podcast,
(10:51):
I am yet to have anyone say sleep is not
important or it does not matter. In fact, I would
say sleep is absolutely no negotiable. Without autiom will sleep,
we cannot be optimal in every area of health, and
sleep is a superpower. I can link to some resources
around us. If sleep is a struggle for you, it
has been for me at various times of my life,
(11:11):
and I have had many guests on here who have
tremendous resources for helping with specifics of whatever that might be,
including Molly Eastman of Sleep as a Skill, and some others.
This is one I fiercely prioritize. Many of the things
I talk about in this podcast are free light, going
outside like light minerals are typically very inexpensive. Sleep is
(11:32):
one I prioritize in my budget because we sleep, on average,
hopefully a third of our life, and anything we can
do that improves our sleep without effort has compounding positive
effects to other areas of our life, not to mention
if it's something we can change in our environment or
our sleep pattern that is beneficial. We only really have
to make that change once and then get the passive
(11:53):
benefit while we sleep. So some things that I have
done that have been helpful for this are a chili pad,
I have a dock pro on my bed. There's a
lot of evidence showing that sleeping at a slightly cooler
temperature is very beneficial for sleep, both duration and quality,
and I have certainly found this to be true. So
rather than cool my whole house to sixty eight degrees,
(12:17):
I have a dock pro on my bed that I
keep cool, and this lets me sleep at a regulated
cool temperature similar to if I slept on the ground outside,
So again mimicking nature, and I find this has a
huge impact on my sleep and I miss it desperately
when I travel. So I have full blockout curtain, blackout
curtains from you blockout or shades that come all the
(12:38):
way down and remove all light in my room. I
have a chili pad dock pro on my bed, and
then I try not to keep my phone in my room,
and if I do, I keep it on the airplane mode.
Another sleep related thing I have not talked about as
much is mouth taping. This is a quirky one, not
necessarily going to be comfortable or beneficial for everybody. It
(12:58):
looks weird, but it can be very supportive of sleep,
and I try to do this pretty often. I'll link
to some mouth tape that is non toxic in the
show notes. I've also just used the tiniest bit of
athletic tape across the middle of my lips before, and
that seems to work for me. But there's a lot
of evidence that mouth breathing is not ideal for sleep.
It's also not ideal for our teeth, as it can
increase the risk of cavities, which dentists talk about. We
(13:21):
want slower ideally slower, longer breasts in and out through
the nose as you would expect. Mouth taping can help
facilitate this by removing our ability to breathe in and
out from our mouth. However, and Mala Eastman has a
whole podcasts on this, it is important to note that
if someone has sleep apnea or some kind of sleep disorder,
mouth taping may not be a good idea, and he
would want to figure that out and address that before
(13:43):
you're taping your mouth shut at night again. Sleep, I
think is one of the most important things we can do.
There's a statistic that if we sleep less than six
hours a night, we have a twelve percent risk of
higher death with all other factors being accounted were I
believe that was in the European Heart Journal, and there's
evidence about the importance of sleep across the world. Animals
(14:05):
naturally sleep more and eat less when they are injured
or recovering, and kind of upwards to about even the
nine hour mark. The benefits of sleep increased with duration
and quality, and the problems with lack of sleep increase
the less sleep we get. This podcast is brought to
(14:26):
you by a Native path. If you've ever felt like
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(15:10):
in the show notes. As always talk to your healthcare
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slash nat I ve E c r E A t
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(15:57):
a team of scientists and doctors to emit silent, soothing,
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significantly increase HRV, which is heart rate variability, which is
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use the code wellness Mama all caps in one word
for a discount. Okay, So the weird but effective list
of either free your inexpensive daily habits. I mentioned mouth
taping which can help with better oxygenation and deeper sleep.
Also I mentioned grounding, which I love doing ideally also
sunrise at sunset to get the extra benefits while hydrating,
(17:24):
but grounding alone can feel calming can reduce inflammation. There's
studies that show that standing on the ground barefoot actually
could help get our cortisolt into better rhythms and improve
HRV over time. This one is not necessarily free, but
when possible. I love doing sauna and cold blund either
separately or together, which is called contrast therapy because these
(17:47):
are hormetic stressors, meaning they create short term stress on
the body that lead to better stressed mitigation over time.
And I've mentioned before the Finish Sauna study that was
re reported in Jamma in twenty fifteen that showed over
a forty percent lower all cause mortality with regular sauna use,
which I believe was defined US four or more times
(18:08):
per week in the minimum effective time dose I believe
was nineteen minutes per session. So if sauna is available
to you, this is another one I say, if it
was a pill, everybody would take it. Unfortunately, not everybody
has access to it. But sauna can be incredibly beneficial,
and if I could only keep sort of one wellness
modality in my house, it would be, without question sauna.
(18:31):
I've also talked before about safety signals and how thinking
this way can reframe our understanding of health in a
lot of ways. And one of the things here that
seemingly especially for women, for most women, can feel very
helpful and that I try to make a regular habit
is protein first mornings after the hydration with minerals in
(18:51):
the natural light. I also tried to get at least
forty grams of protein as soon as possible after waking,
and find this really helps with stable energy, satiety, and
from a hormone perspective, seems to send the signal that
food is abundant, we are not starving, things are going well,
and I find that I have much more stable energy.
(19:12):
I also try to stop eating at sunset whenever possible.
When I've talked about that before, it was surprisingly controversial.
I understand that won't work for everybody. I understand that
in some places in the world the sun does not
set at times of the year, or sets at one
pm at other times of the year. Obviously there are exceptions.
I live in an area with relatively normal sunrise and
(19:32):
sunset patterns and find ically better if I stop eating
before dark. Another one free for the most part, that
is not as talked about, and I think very valuable,
is hanging by our hands daily. This stretches our shoulders,
it decompresses our spine. If my pod, physical therapists say
that it's one of the most supportive things we can
do of our shoulders, and that many shoulder problems actually
(19:53):
will resolve with regular hanging. But even more importantly, it
supports group strength, which I've done a whole podcast explaining
the benefits of and how this correlates to longevity. I
think it's something worth nurturing, and there's a lot of
benefits to hanging for just ideally three minutes per day,
even if it's spread out into ten or fifteen second
(20:14):
chunks a cumulative time three minutes per day can have
awesome benefits for your spine, for your grip strength, and
then by extension longevity as well. I also sometimes add
in red light therapy, but a caveat here I will
link to some red light therapy in the show notes.
I love that these devices are available, and I know
(20:36):
they can be pricey, and that red light is naturally
and freely available at sunrise and sunset every single day.
Doctor Courtney Hunt talks about this a lot. I love
her light webinars and her research around this and recommend
checking her out. But you can get free red light
every single day during sunrise and sunset, so one we
or another, I think that's an awesome way to get
(20:58):
that really restorative type of life that we know is
supportive for mitochondria and skin health. And we don't have
to spend thousands of dollars on red light panels to
do it. We just have to prioritize sunrise and sunset
less conventional and this is not something that everybode will
have access to. However, I have recently opened a wellness
center where I live locally that has a wide range
(21:20):
of PEMF options and a biocharger. I do notice faster
recovery and energy from these. I don't feel like these
in any way have to be non negotiable. Like I said,
I would keep SOSNA if I could only pick one thing. However,
because I have access to these, these are things I
love to add in and I do feel a difference
from But I think it also goes back to the
(21:41):
habit stacking of the free simple things. My kids don't
think anything of me barefoot in the yard in the morning,
drinking salty water in the morning sun and in fact
some of them do this as well, or I will
see them out walking at sunrise, and I love to
see that. So as we get close to the end
of our time, I just wanted to highlight some of
the statistics in data which are when it comes to
(22:02):
the importance of minerals. Ninety plus percent of Americans are
low in magnesium, as well as many of us are
low insult and potassium, as well as trace minerals. Even
a one to two percent dehydration decreases focus at energy.
That study came out of the Journal of American College
of Nutrition. Morning light exposure is correlated to better be
my better sleep, better mood that was reported in Sleep
(22:24):
Health in twenty fourteen. If we get less than six
hours of sleep, we have a twelve percent higher risk
of early death. That was from the European Heart Journal.
The Finish Sauna study, reported again in the Gema Internal
Medicine twenty fifteen, showed that sauna four to seven times
a week resulted in a forty percent lower risk all
cause mortality, which is statistically very significant and almost absurd
(22:48):
in its significance. And there's even a study showing that
grounding reduced imflammation markers and improvesleep that was actually in
the Journal of Inflammation Research in twenty fifteen. So wrap
up summary. Key takeaways. Non negotiables do not need to
be complicated, as you heard. Most of mine are pretty simple.
Most of them are free. I think the song is
(23:10):
awesome when you can add it in totally fine if
you can. I think the quirky biot hacking tools are
so much fun and awesome and you can be completely
healthy with that for them. And I think it's the small,
consistent inputs that change everything for the long term. If
you have time, I would encourage you to add in
one of these normal and one of these weird, quirky
habits to try this week, and to remember that consistency
(23:32):
creates the compound effect. I've heard compounding called the eighth
wonder of the world, and I think this applies very
much in health, just like it does in money. The
weird little habits you do daily can make you feel
extraordinary long term. And I would love to hear what
yours are. What are your non negotiables, what can you
not do every day? What are you unwilling to not
(23:52):
do every day? I'd love to hear about it in
the comments or on Instagram. I would also love, as
always to hear from you who I should talk to
you next topics you would like me to cover, what
questions you have and your honest feedback. It's always welcome.
If you could take just a minute to leave an
honest rating and review on Apple, Spotify or wherever you
listen to podcasts, I would be extremely grateful as that
(24:12):
helps other people find and listen as well and helps
keep Walesswama going For today, Thank you so much for
spending your time with me, for sharing your energy attention
with me today. I don't take that lately. I am
so grateful and I hope you will join me again
on the next episode at the Wannesswama podcast. If you're
(24:34):
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 can benefit from the information.
I really appreciate your time and thanks as always for listening.
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