#33: Octagon Labs: Mindfulness Workshop with Micheline Lemay and Christine Everitt

This week we veered off from our traditional format diving into the stories and characters that make Stowe, Vermont so legendary.  We are calling this new series Octagon Labs.  Many community members have connected with us wanting to start their own podcast and this Labs extension of the traditional format brings an episode from community members diving into a specific topic or passion. The  goal of Octagon Labs is to provide our listeners with additional educational and thought provoking content to implement into their lives. For the first episode of Octagon Labs we explore Mindfulness with past Octagon guest, Micheline Lemay and Christine Everitt. 

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This episode of the Octagon is sponsored in part by archery close. Hey, this is Chris and Taste from Archery Clothes, your go-to boutique. For men's and women's fashion, we carry a curated selection of clothing, footwear, and gifts from unique and emerging brands. We're proud to sponsor the Octagon and even prouder to be local business owners here in Stowe. We love how the Octagon captures the history and characters of this incredible town. After coming off the slopes or the trails, stop by archery close. Located at 1650 Mountain Road in Stowe. Open seven days a week, or always open online@archeryclose.com. Welcome listeners to the Octagon Podcast where we usually dive into the stories and characters that make Stover Vermont so legendary. But today we're trying something new. We are calling the Octagon Labs. A lot of community members have connected with us. One is Start their own podcast, and this Lab's extension of the traditional format brings an episode from community members diving into a specific topic or passion. And today, for the first episode of Octagon Labs, we're exploring mindfulness. With past Octagon guest, Michelin Lame, and Christine Everett, welcome to the studio Michy. And Christine, thank you so much for having us. Absolutely. Thank you for the inaugural lab, inaugural labs edition. Feeling pretty excited. And I think first and foremost, we wanna thank you for giving us the opportunity to share. Some of this work and some tools with our listeners, because essentially that's our goal is to help people be happier and have some of these tools at their fingertips. So thank you for that opportunity. I know that probably many listeners have. I don't know if you've heard my podcast, but maybe know me from town. and I don't really think that mindfulness would be the very first thing that jumps out when people think of Michelin lame. I don't know. I'm usually sprinting up the middle chaotically, running around with hundreds of children or freaking out, up at the crack of John, skiing the side of a mountain. Absolutely But it is your. Instagram, Missy's. Mindfulness mission's. Mindfulness mission. And so this is a big part of who I am. And, I have been trying to put like little things out there to my Instagram followers and, I work with the students at the Mountain Mansfield Academy, teaching them mindfulness and mindset and I just, I'm very passionate about it and it's been a big part of my journey and my healing through. Surgeries and cancer. I'm grateful to have this opportunity, so thank you for having us. I just also wanted to take a second to introduce my friend here, Christine. And again, I don't think many local people know her because she lives in Williston. That's right. but we met at the Mountain River School. We both were co-directors there. Back in 2016. Was it? So we met there and we were instant friends and we were only there together for about a year. even I think it was even a little less. Even a little less, yeah. Yeah, maybe. But what was incredible is like our friendship that came out of that experience and. we basically talk to each other every morning after drop off, after we drop our kids off at school. And, we always have some kind of like extremely awesome conversation. We've helped each other through a lot of, parts of our life and, we both have children and work and all the life's things that happen, so we've been a huge support for each other. And we both have a huge passion for mindfulness. So we really get to bounce off things to each other and share things that are working and ideas. So anyways, we have been curious about starting a podcast around mindfulness. Nice. And I did let Ted know that, and so that's why they, let us in here on this Octagon lab. So let's go. and I think just to piggyback on that, mesh is sometimes. The universe brings us together for certain reasons. And clearly, there was that connection of movement and nature and teaching that brought us together with, being in a school. and I think that's what we've, the momentum we've carried into our friendship and our conversations as well. if we had a dollar for every hour that we've spent on the phone, I think we'd be millionaires by now. So after he dropped the kids off, it was never a. how's your day going? No. Oh no. We jumped, right? No, we're solving the world's problems. Lemme tell you. I'm gonna love those deeper conversations for sure. I think the idea of mindfulness came to me probably in a little bit of a different way. when I was a kid I was, actually I still am a very active dreamer. and have always been curious about just relationships and the why's and the how's and the who's and why people come into our lives and, why we land where we do. And, and it was something that always. Again, sparked my interest and I brought that into my teaching a little bit. and I think early on I was so scared to name, this practice as mindfulness because I thought you had to, be on a yoga mat or sitting in front of a river for five hours. It's how can you practice mindfulness if you're not? doing meditation and you've got the, the fun beads on your wrist and so I Stayed in this very, colorful dream world of mine. And I was wait a second. There's some real truth in this. And and diving in a little bit more mindfulness is, it's a practice of be paying attention to the present moment. And again, it can be super playful and super fun and super colorful and it doesn't have to be, You know what a lot of people shy away from, I had a friend that I worked with once and she said, no, I can't do this. I can't sit still for that long. And it's mindfulness doesn't have to be sitting still. It can just be in your everyday existence. and I think the big kind of plug with mindfulness too is it's without judgment, right? And so oftentimes or we observe something within ourselves and it's I should, could and would and can't and don't. And so you are automatically, we're in that judgment, state of mind. And being mindful is I can observe that I'm in maybe a critical space, but it's Christine, you're in a tough spot right now. I name it and then I reframe it and it's it's okay that this feels hard, but I can, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever it is. and obviously bringing mindfulness into your life can also, it does have so many wonderful benefits that, you and I talk about a lot. Sleep is a big buzzword right now, right? We're all talking about rest and sleep and, needing those, certain amount of hours. And I think, It. we, with mindfulness practice, it can help clear that hamster wheel mind that sometimes we go to bed with and, at night or we wake up with at two o'clock in the morning and your mind is just, there are mindfulness things tools that we can use. To help, bring our nervous system back down and help us calm back to sleep. it reduces stress and anxiety and depression, and it can just help better help regulate our emotions. And we know right now that we need that more than ever. Yep, for sure. So I always think, I always feel I have to be productive. And I do a lot of outside stuff, so to me I feel oh, I'm getting my outside time and My foot, but I don't know how is that? Being productive. you feel like I have to be productive in everything I do. Yeah. And that's a challenge. It is for me to settle and be. Mindful, although I'm not a hundred percent sure yet, what being mindful is that I'm gonna learn more from, that's why they're here. This episode talk about No, my daughter said to me the other day, she said, mom, you always have to be moving. Can't you just sit still? And I think that's a very interesting thing that you name, it's you can be in motion and be mindful. And it's organic. look at, yeah. I can't sit still either. Yeah. Yeah. and it can be sim as simple as. I, right now I'm looking outside of those beautiful trees and the leaves are, fluttering in the sunlight. And that is beauty to me. That is awe to me. And so I'm looking at it and I'm naming it, but yet I'm still here with you guys in conversation. So it doesn't, I think, again, it doesn't have to be this complete, shut out the world. I'm sitting here and I'm being mindful for a moment. It's just, it's a continuum and an awareness I guess, too. Yeah. Yeah. yeah, I will get into this too a little deeper on one of our tools, but, sitting still, and that is a, how a lot of people have mindfulness, right? so meditation. That's just a tool For mindfulness, it's mindfulness is just about being in the present moment. So whatever it is that you're doing to accomplish that goal, for me, mountain biking. You have to be present. Oh yeah. Or you're gonna be flying over your handlebars. So that is actually a very mindful activity. Yeah. skinning, you're in motion just sliding and feeling the snow and the cold air, I personally never do sitting still meditation. I have before. You've tried. I've tried. But maybe that could be interesting to try it. Yes. And what comes up? why is it hard? No, a very good point. Yeah. Just, and when I first started getting into this work, I did go that traditional route. I was you must sit there for five minutes and the next day, six minutes, and the next day, seven. Seven. Then that's the judgment. That's exactly right. Yeah. That's the judgment. So I did it for three months or something. It was after my fifth knee surgery. I was I gotta do something'cause I'm not. I need to find something to bring me to this more regulated state. Yeah. Without activity.'cause I couldn't move, so it forced me into it, but then it just opened my eyes to The magnitude of availability for mindfulness in our lives. one of the things that is so easy to talk about is where we live. in Stowe it is at our fingertips. We are staring at it and we are immersed in it. All day long. the whole, coined term of forest bathing is where people in Japan go and they walk through these forests and feel healed. We are basically doing that all the time. I don't really connect to that term. I just connect to a walk in the woods, a bike in the woods, a tour in the woods, whatever it is. Yeah. A hike in the woods, it is just happening to us all day long. Again, we are getting the benefit from it, but having the awareness of mindfulness and why is it working extra awesome for our bodies is, I think partly why we wanted to do this as well. So when you're in the woods, you're alerted to those senses, like Christine was talking about. You're feeling the breeze, you're smelling the smell, you're hearing sounds. that, that's a very mindful activity. I, I do not know a time, and I know that not everyone has the availability to get out in nature, and I understand that. But if you do, I do not know of a time that I would would say I was having a moment or I was in a bad mood and I made myself go out for a walk. Wow. I never felt worse. Yeah, for sure. tell me a time, if you ever felt worse. And I have a funny little anecdote with that. My, my son, he's 16 years old and he's super into football. all sports. but we, are big. I'm from Philadelphia, so a big Eagles fan. Oh, And so a couple years ago, I think the Eagles lost in the Super Bowl and he was fit to be tied. Yeah. the kid pulled himself together very well, but when they lost it was the end of the world. And he said, he's you know what, I need to go outside and go for a walk. And so for, for this 13-year-old boy at the time, he's 16 now, he went outside and he walked around our property for 20 minutes and he came back in and he was a totally different human. And as simple as that sounds, but I think miss you bring up a really good point. It's At what point have you gone outside and been oh, I feel like crap. it does do something for us. Like even if it's raining, even if it's negative 50 on the top of Mount Mansfield, you always feel better after you have done that exercise or that. Activity or a hundred percent. Yeah. I even sometimes get it, I have a view of the mountain. Yeah. Yeah. And I walk outside and I just look at the mountain. Oh yeah. And I do it every day. And there's something about the pace of the mountain that I like to know what's going on the mountain. The mountains are very nice, you're laughing at me, but, there's times in the spring where I'm going skinny and I run into someone, they're wait, there's snow up there. I'm How do you not see that there's Snow Mountain in tune? Not in tune. Not in tune. And that's a really good realization because, and that's, mic and I talk about this a lot. This is something that has become so much part of our own DNA that we forget that a lot of folks just don't, it don't exist in this. realm or practice these practices. They are so just, all the time. and that's, I think one of our goals too is it can be so tangible for even the most hurried person. And it's, what's that saying? if you say you don't have five minutes to meditate, meditate for 10, right? You say you don't have five minutes to go take a walk. You need to walk for 10 minutes. Yep. The other thing that's. Really cool fact is that, the trees themselves omit an oil, a phyto side that actually heals your body. So it increases your immunity and it increases the cell production of fighting off disease. It lowers your cortisol stress hormones. this is what's happening by being in nature scientifically. I think a lot of people like to hold onto some facts around this because yeah. For sure. They're oh yeah, go walk in the woods. But it's literally heals you. Yeah. By walking in the woods. Yeah. Okay. I've seen people hugging trees even. Oh, have you ever done that? Oh, definitely. I'm not. You have? Yeah. Who have I have not hugged a tree. I've done it. We should tried. You've done it. I've done, I'm not doing it all the time. Although, I will say, did you hear the story about, in Central Park that, a boy was. Actually struck by he, they had gone under the tree and he was struck by lightning and he went unconscious. This was just in the news a couple days ago. Yes. So don't go hug a tree during a thunder storm. The lightning store. A lightning storm. Yeah. Otherwise, you'll be in good shape. What tree did you hug? Just trees. General or a perfect tree like that. tree's. Perfect. I think it was a spruce tree or something. I spend many hours in the woods. Oh you do? yeah. Wildlife, I'm intrigued by. if I'm out in the woods and sitting on a rock And the animals dunno, you're there if you sit there long enough, you have no choice but to essentially become immersed Yeah. In nature and be at their speed and, just watch them. Yep. it's pretty cool. and when you're done that, how do you feel? Oh, I feel amazing. Yeah. And I'm not thinking about anything else. I'm just. You're another animal in the animal world. yeah. You have to adjust that too. It's a different thing even. Yeah, absolutely. So that's something I really enjoy. So all these, all these activities and all of this access that we have here is incredible. And I think just having an immense amount of gratitude for that is also a practice in and of itself. I also am on the STO Land Trust board. and I felt very excited to join that board because. Of how passionate I am about having that access. And how grateful I am. And it's a pretty cool organization. So it would seem the first takeaway for listeners, correct me if I'm wrong, is it can take many forms. just to encourage people to engage in the practice. Not to think it has to, fit in a certain box that they can a million craft their own. And it doesn't have to. And they might try stuff and it might not work. That's exactly right. And there's again, that non, non-judgment piece. It doesn't have to be strenuous. I think, I actually think the hardest part is putting your sneakers on and walking out the door. Once you start doing it and moving the flow your then it's, I think that's a good point. you don't want it to be this miserable Experience. No. What feels natural? what? and I think for the two of us, I think something else that brought us together is we both. like to get outside first thing in the morning. And I mentioned that I live in Williston, but I actually have a direct view of Mount Mansfield. And so each morning my husband and I bring all of our weights outside and we have a big deck and we we run and we lift. So I'm getting the power of Mansfield from the other side and the sunrise. And I, it is without a doubt, sets my day up for success. Yeah. And that more I, and I know people exercise at various times or they have their preferences, but that first thing in the morning, and even if you're in the most chaotic moment, even going outside as you said, and just staring at the mountain for three minutes. Can just work wonders for anyone and maybe for someone it would be at the end of the day. Yeah. Maybe that is something that would just click with them more. Yep. Yep. I do think the morning though, there's something about setting your day up, like you said. Yeah. It helps me versus chasing it at the end of the day. Yes. Yes. I am, yes. I'm a morning person. I'm a morning person too. Big time. it washes the cowboy cobwebs off from the night before. The challenge is how do you not look at your phone in the morning? that's my, that's a whole nother topic. You just can't look at it. You just have to go do your thing. You gotta get up and I know. As M said, how do you avoid your phone? Yeah, that's a great question. Do you take it with you or you don't take it with you Typically? Do you put it on silent or you just know, Hey, this is my time, I'm not gonna check it for the next hour. I typically do not take it outside with me. Yeah. And I just literally use, I use nature to be my, and it sounds cheesy, but to be my music. Yeah. And that's what kind of gets me through and I, I teach, or I have been teaching full-time. I was a long-term sub since January and. So you're gearing up for your day of go. And it was, it was definitely such a gift that we can give ourselves. And, I think in addition to moving out in nature is also just the other feel good hormones that you get by exercising. dopamine and serotonin are released when you're exercise. So if you just think about dopamine, serotonin, lowering cortisol and increasing your immunity. By going out and taking a walk in the woods. Hey, that's a pretty amazing combination of things that can happen in the first half an hour of your day or at some point in your day. Yep. another thing I wanted to talk about was bird songs. I had recently heard on a different podcast about the power of bird songs, and so if you listen to bird songs a few minutes a day, it lowers your nervous system for hours after the fact, and out in nature is. Ideal, but you can even get a similar effect by listening to a recording. Wow, that's cool. Which I thought was very cool. It increases your attention and your focus, as well as lowers the stress, increases your overall wellbeing. and one of those things too that I like about it is that it's connecting you to nature and those primal instincts. If you think about how long birds have been around. Yeah, that's a good one. Which is pretty cool. I sometimes will try and mimic the bird. sometimes they do the same Song over and over. And then I'll try and repeat it. I didn't know that while you hug trees, I. you hear, ever hear that? It's do, yeah, do. And it just keeps going. I'm sitting, I'm like, you're having a full blown conversation. And if you guys you like it, I'm gonna do it. I just didn't know that. If you guys don't, how would I ever share that with you? I don't know. If you don't have the Merlin app or if you've never done that. That thing is amazing. You press record it tell you what the bear is, tell all the bird is really awesome. I've never heard of that either. Yeah, Ohr, but then you're on your phone and then someone text you. The cycle continues. That's what would happen to me. I'll do airplane mode sometimes, so then I can take pictures. Yeah, that's good. That's more of if I'm out hiking or something. Yeah. and I think, I actually have been thinking a lot about this and I haven't brought this up to you too, but I think. the moment of taking a picture is actually a mindful moment, right? when you are and you do that so well, your photography is extraordinary, but that is a mindful moment and, anyone who looks at your pictures, you are just right back in your body. the thing is it's an absolute pinnacle moment of awe. Mm-hmm. it's all the things I got, you're climbing up, you're getting all the things, you got the dopamine and the serotonin at the top of the mountain and then boom, it's the icing on the cake. Boom. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. it's so crazy that I, you actually become addicted to that. Moment. I'm if I don't get a sunrise for four days, I'm just it just I just don't feel as, yeah. I fi I get a sunrise Saturday morning Brook, and I was, man, it's been a long time. Yes, because usually in ski season I see'em all the time and it was, yeah, it was so powerful. It was magical. So powerful. Just had such a good day. Such a good day. Nothing can go wrong. Go. Everything go is great for sunrise. okay, I also wanna take a second to talk about breathing. So here we are. We got some tools, right? We're talking about walking in the woods. Yep. We're talking about bird songs. Now we're gonna talk about a little bit of breathing now. Of course we've all heard this, take a deep breath when you're overwhelmed or stressed, there is complete and total truth to this, right? And the science behind that is when you do exercises, when you're exhaling longer than you're inhaling, it tells your nervous system to calm down. And regulate. Okay, so these, this, we're gonna practice one together. Nice. I'm ready. But, it's, it again, all the things I know I'm repeating myself, but lowers cortisol improves, overall wellbeing. a big one too is when you're in a stressful state, I talk to my kids about this at the academy all the time, when you're in that start gate and your heart is racing and you feel out of your body. You need to do something to bring you back into your body. So up until you don't need it, you're gonna you're gonna wanna know this, right? they all roll their eyes at me, but it's Hey, when you're feeling this way, you're gonna be really psyched to pull this tool, right? So even just doing two or three of these breaths that we're gonna do together, it literally. Just calms your entire nervous system. The other thing that's just so beautiful about breathing exercises is you can access them and do them anywhere. There's no right or wrong way to do it. obviously there's the exhaling longer than the inhaling piece, but if you're in your car, if you're about to take a test, if you are about to go onto a podcast Whatever it is that is making you ooh. You can bring it down really quickly. Yeah. There's tons of different Yeah. Ways to do it. You Google it, you can pull up five to 10 different things instantly, but I love to do 4, 2, 6. So what you're gonna do is you're gonna bring it into the, through the nose for four. You're gonna hold it for two, and then you're gonna exhale out the mouth for six. The other thing that is very important is when you're inhaling, you want to fill your belly, not have it stay up into your lungs, you want to bring it down into your belly.'cause again, that's gonna tell your nervous system to more regulate. And then when you're exhaling, you're depleting. The belly. Okay. Before you I, it's interesting that you say that real quick'cause I remember learning to breathe and I feel I learned to like breathe incorrectly where I would have to go and your stomach would go in and then out, but it's in fact the opposite. Yep. And I think you taught me that belly out. That's right. Like the balloon you're filling up. But I, again, I didn't learn that until very recently, so thank you. And it amplifies the power of it. Yeah. okay. So if you're listening, you can follow up right along with us. Yeah, absolutely. And if you're in your car, you aren't gonna close your eyes, but you don't have to close your eyes. But it can help ground a little bit if you wanna put your feet flat on the floor. I like to either put my hands on my knees and go ahead and close your eyes. And now you're gonna breathe in through the nose for 2, 3, 4. Hold for one, two, exhale out of the mouth for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Inhale through the nose. 2, 3, 4 filling the belly. Hold for one, two, exhaling out of the mouth for 2, 3, 4, 5. Six. One more with me. We're gonna go in through the nose for 2, 3, 4. Hold for one, two, and exhale out of the mouth for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Okay, so now you're gonna open your eyes. I almost fell asleep. And I just want you to check in with Your nervous system. Actually Calm. Yeah, calm. Feel good. it's actually crazy calm. Yeah. Yeah. So just know that anywhere you are, any moment, you're in traffic, you're annoyed at the grocery store, whatever it is that is firing you up. You can do this trick. And it works. Yep. Okay. Really good. Yep. Another great time is when you're, again, waking up with racing thoughts or trying to fall asleep at night, it helps improve sleep and it, because you're bringing in so much more oxygen, it helps your muscles and your tissues, it helps with exercise performance, it helps with recovery. All of those things. It's, I, yesterday I'm I was trying to think last week, no, yesterday I decided to go on this mission bike ride Mission notch You on a mission, no notch loop. I was I'm going to do that today.'cause I had time and I got, I was going around and I was going, doing a notch loop and I got a little sidetracked and by the time I was at the bottom of the notch, I was probably at mile 60 something. I am not really in the. As the shape as for that type of an activity quite yet this year. And I was starving. I was thirsty. I was like about to be hitchhike. That's how badly I didn't want to go up the notch and just, I kept telling myself these affirmations, which is another great tool for mindfulness. I call them powerful, positive phrases. So picking a few things to say to yourself that are personal to you. so I kept telling myself you can do this hy you biked across the country. You can bike 12 more miles over the notch. but the amount of kind of self-talk that I had to do to get through that. And then I found myself just taking deep breaths very frequently throughout that last leg of the journey. And I was okay, I talk about this stuff, I know about this stuff, but like actually putting it into practice Yeah. Yeah. Was very helpful. I'm one pedal at a time. Yep. take it one minute at a time. Don't just think about the whole thing at once. Yep. Yep. Yeah, I saw that on Strava. I was that darn Strava. I was damn. and just to connect that a little bit to, addiction treatment, that's the aa. Saying is one day at a time. And it, people can be oh, okay. whatever. It's there's actually A lot of truth to that, especially people in, maybe early. Sobriety. think, oh my God, how am I gonna do this the rest of my life? just stay sober today. and that's, and I think that's actually, a mindfulness practice in of itself is our brains are so used to wanting to press the rewind button and the fast forward button. Totally. And we are so good at that. You can think of a remote control and you're B, the old VCRs and we're trying to go back and solve the past, or we're trying to fix the future and we cannot. Do either of those things, and so having all of these mindfulness tools really. Supports you in pressing play. And that is just being in that present, being in that one moment at a time. It's a good term. One day at a time. Conceptualize it. yeah. And that, and I speak to the power of vis visualization with mindfulness. This episode is sponsored by Edelweiss Mountain Deli located on the mountain Road. I know for me it is the perfect stopping point after day on the hill to grab my favorite Waitsfield sandwich and a cup of coffee, and for me grabbing my favorite Sweet Sensation bar. Whether you're looking for fresh Vermont pastries, farm to table prepared meals or local Vermont products to add your barbecue, make sure Edelweiss Mountain Deli is your next stop. When it comes to luxury real estate in Stowe Trust, Meg Kaufman of Land Vests, Christie's International Real Estate. Meg Kaufman knows the market inside and out. She's been a part of the Stowe community for over 20 years. Whether you're buying or selling, Meg Kaufman offers a concierge level of service. Taylor, just for you. Backed by the power of land vests and Christie's International. She brings proven success and local insight to every transaction, luxury real estate, local expertise. Meg Kaufman and Land Vests are the team you want on your side and just to go with, a couple of the tools that I use. mish is the, extreme. She loves those extreme bikes and hikes and, and I tend to use some more playful, fun easy tools that you can use on the move in your everyday existence. but one of them is. What's called the grounding cord. And I learned this. I just, a couple years ago finished my clairvoyance course, which was a two year, class that I did up in, Northern Vermont. And, clairvoyance is just the power of seeing clearly, and the way I explain it to people, it's we hear the term reading the room, like you read the room and you can read the emotions and the energies of people. Clairvoyance is that, and then even a little bit more, it's like reading between the lines of reading the room and such. And so one of the tools that they taught us was something called the grounding cord. And what this does for you is it brings you back into your body. So if you are in a state of overthinking, overanalyzing, what have you, which our brains are so good at doing, using this tool can help just help you. Get back inside of yourself, and just feel grounded. And so what you do, and maybe we will walk through this real quick. Are you good with that? so again, we're, are you guys comfortable, Joe? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, for sure. A little visualization. Bring it. So again, it's, it's two feet on the, on the floor and you can close your eyes. and what I suggest to people is that they they notice the energy between the floor and their, the bottom of their feet. And then you notice the energy between, your, your bottom and the chair, wherever you're sitting. And then what I want you to do is to, we're talking a lot about trees here. So let's picture a, a root system, like a big, beautiful, oak or Sequoia or redwood tree, and you're picturing the root system. And the roots are going way down deep, to the bottom of the earth. And now that you've pictured that root system, I want you to bring your attention to the bottom of your spine, and you are going to actually take that root system and you're gonna fasten it or almost attach it to the base of your spine. You take a couple deep breaths. I know anything that's popping up for you, whether it's, again, an emotion, a concern, a worry, you can take that worry or concern. Sometimes I give it a color and you let it roll down the root system and out of your being. And then sometimes another one will pop up. And again, you can give it a color and you allow it to roll down to the center of the earth. Now you can open your eyes again, and I know that can sound a little out there, but again, visualization tools can be so effective and a lot of times like giving feelings and emotions, colors. I think of the movie, is it Inside Out, right? Have you guys seen Inside Out? It's a Pixar movie where they, you've got our anger is red and jealousy is green. we could do that with our emotions and we can help clear it out of our, out of our. Space, and that helps us become more mindful. another thing that Mish talked about and we've talked about a little bit is just using your senses, right? Our five senses are such an easy tool. It's I, if I'm moving a mile a minute, it's oh. I smell dinner cooking, or I feel, the rug on my feet or, and it just, it can bring us again, back to presence. one little story I wanna tell quickly is I am a lover of signs and symbols and noticing like serendipitous moments. And, last night my husband and I were talking a lot about, our son. And whether or not he should do this basketball camp at Middlebury College. And so he's a, he's a basketball player. He goes to boarding school in Connecticut. and it's his love, it's his thing. And he's only a sophomore. sometimes doing these camps, you don't really need to do it as a sophomore. You can wait till junior year. And so we were hemming and hauling, talking about Middlebury basketball And we didn't really come to a solution. And so we went to bed carrying that with us. And then this morning I woke up, we're staying down at Lake Dunmore right now. And so I went for a run and I was running up Silver Lake. and I, didn't pass a single solitary soul. Saw nobody got up. There was feeling the groove, feeling all the things. Yeah. And I start, I still hadn't seen the soul. I start running back down the mountain. And I turn around the corner and there's a woman and she's got her head down, but she has a pink hat on, and she all of a sudden lifts up her head and I look at her shirt and her shirt just says, Middlebury basketball on it. And I was oh my gosh. Wow. And there was a mindful moment, right? That was just an, a pure playful observation of building two connections of things that were happening in my brain, and noticing it and verbalizing it. And I mean it, and that's the thing with this practice is it can be so fun and so playful. And I love those serendipitous moments. so we'll see if he goes or not, but at least it was like a sign in the Right. That's what I was gonna ask him. so is he going, I think, oh, that, that's, did you you giggled to yourself a little bit? I did. You have to, right? I was like, way to go, Christine. Making those observations. Yeah. I think I started running a little bit faster, was just feeling like, Hussein Bolt after that, but. yeah, so those are, some of the tools that I like to use and I use'em with my students sometimes as well, and especially around test anxiety and, all the mental health stuff that is happening in schools today. And, and it also seemed you and your husband were talking about the camp and you didn't know. And you just let that be. Exactly. That's a good point. That's exactly right. And then it's. No, I totally agree. Yeah. Yep. You take some of just the resistance out and we don't have to decide now, yes. Let's see what information that the universe might provide. You can't always do that with decisions in life, but you, you could with that and Yeah. Absolutely. Maybe provide more clarity. That's right. and again, it goes back to the, the judgment versus not of having to find an answer. they're so wired to want, have it all figured out. Bring up a Google review of the camp, the 30 pros, the 42 cons. That's exactly right. And that's my husband. he is a, he is a. Spreadsheet man. And he will spreadsheet the heck out of anything. And for him to let something just be, and I, and then he came home being I saw a woman, you, yeah. And now we're signing him up and now he's gonna go play basketball for Middlebury. No. But anyway, it was one of those really cool moments. That's cool. Sure. That's cool For sure. And that kind of made me think about, we talked a lot about moving in nature, but. One really fun, easy tool that I love to do is when you start your activity, before you start it is say you're curious about something or worried about something. You can ask yourself a question that you may be seeking the answer for. And then throughout your, that's, I love that, right? walk or bike just increase that awareness of what is coming to me or what is being presented to me with this shirt, When it come to you instead of, it's pretty cool. And that is a very fun, playful way. Yeah. Yep. To add, again, building on just the walk is amazing, but then the walk with maybe some intention. you call it setting an intention before. And the other thing I, wanted to bring up and highlight is just the power of connection. And that is a huge part of what we have going on. when you have someone that you can connect with, and be vulnerable with that also just opens up so much. More and just in this realm, I guess I would say. And I always love the power of taking a walk with someone. I don't know about you guys, but I find when you start doing that, maybe not the very first walk, but the things that you end up talking about are so connecting and so deep.'cause they were like both in this space where you're comfortable and you're feeling. Good and open, Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's true. I'm sure so many people, again, I don't live here, but, use the bike path as a avenue to walk, but encouraging folks to get out and do a trail walk and, get into the woods because That access to your vulnerable self just becomes so much more available, quicker.'cause otherwise you're seeing the cars, you're passing people, you're, all that noise can get in the way. So I think taking advantage of what you guys have here is such a, and it's free. Yeah. It doesn't cost any money. Exactly. And that's what I love about all of this work. It doesn't Cost a dime. Yeah. And it can truly heal us. At any moment. At any time. Yeah. And I think even to further discuss it is just if you have kids or with your partner, getting out in nature and moving and walking with them is just such a easy way. It's when you're in the car with them, conversations flow a little bit easier'cause you're side by side or whatever. But I feel Initiating and just getting into the forest together, can help solve A lot of things. Yeah. Yeah. Changes what you talk about. It calms you. You're at a different level, different, less on the defense, You're more on the collaborative, a good point. So I just have a question. you think of mindfulness, would you say it's necessarily a goal to have periods of time where you're thinking about nothing? I think, that's, if that's even possible. It's hard. That's a hard thing to do. It's, I mean that is, because that sounds peaceful. It, I mean that, that's the essence of meditation, of a deep meditation is like you're in an almost an empty space. I think for me. In a way, my thoughts and my surroundings keep me upright, keep me balanced. And so to get to that state of nothingness, it's a really good question. I know I've never achieved it necessarily, gimme a couple more years, but, yeah, I mean I think the closest I get to is. these moments of awe or these mo being, when you're walking outside just being you're just experiencing it. you might be thinking, oh, that's beautiful, but that's right. The second analyzing this, the second you think you're out of it. You're, when you're thinking, mind takes over. You've removed yourself from the mindful moment. Yeah. But really mindfulness is just about being. Present. Yep. So when you are walking and you're saying, look at the light on that leaf, look at the, that heart rock. That for me is my greatest practice of when I'm thinking the least, right? my monkey brain is the least when I'm just out there. you're not thinking about what you're making for dinner? No. Like I'm just like, huh. And I find myself like a kid in a candy store in the woods, right? I'm just huh. And look at that and look at that. And I just like laugh to myself and smile because it's, and that is where a lot of that healing and. Calming takes place. Because you're not thinking about what's for dinner and what time the pickup is. and again, we want these tools to be tangible and easy. We have very busy lives, all of us. we're. Balancing and juggling so much. So if you can take some of these tools and just pepper them in throughout your day. It's going if you think about your cortisol just being high all day,'cause you're on zoom meetings, straight through in between them. Try to take three deep breaths. If you, during your lunch break, try to take a walk outside. When we are in a better state ourselves, when we are more whole, when we're more regulated, we are better not only for ourselves and healing ourselves, but we are better people for every other person that we interact with. When I go skinning in the morning and then I have to show up to 125 kids and 30 coaches and chaos, I can do it because I have set myself up for success for Grounding and being calm enough to with flexible Yeah. Withstand the day and just oh, for sure. Yeah. and do it with joy. life is supposed to be joyful. We are here to be joyful and experience and love life, right? Yeah. There's vibrations. Energetic vibrations that bring us to a very high state. Those of being love, joy, peace, gratitude. Where at the way lower scale is fear, anger, frustration, right? So the more that we're putting ourselves in this place of joy, gratitude, peace. It's gonna raise our entire vibration and then we. Emulate that out to wherever we go. Yeah. I totally agree. just, in sto I think it's easier for me when I'm here. I can scan, I can hike, I can bike, I can do all these things, and that brings me that calmness when I travel for work and I'm three days. In New York City and it's dinners and I'm not getting exercise, I get really grumpy and I'm not calm. And that's when it's really challenging for me. Yes. So I need to figure out how to, and so I guess what I hope you can take away with is even if you're go down to Central Park or you go near one tree, it's gonna give you more of a benefit. Okay. The world doesn't want you to do that Sometimes. Yes. There is a work world that Yes. It keeps you from a hundred percent achieving. We're lucky we can, you can sit on the porch when you're there. Oh, we're in meetings from eight to six and we're going right to dinner and drinks. I'm huh. Yeah. But have about listening to a few minutes of bird songs or breathing, breathing exercise or breathing exercise. That's let's GOs I think I need, That's okay. That's where I need to incorporate it. Yeah. my husband travels to Atlanta a lot and I can. Certainly tell the difference from when he comes home, because it's the planes, it's the meals, it's the, it's the sitting on zooms and in conversation all day and he comes and he's wearing it. we wear all of that heaviness. And I think, one thing real quick, my daughter who's 14, we've been, I've been helping her to pay attention to the people that she meets and the people that are in her life that help raise her vibration, that help make her feel, Happy, who make her feel joyful. And she recently came across this girl that she was like, mom, I just feel so good when I'm around her. And I'm that's a really good mindful moment. You're paying attention to the energy that people bring and how they make you feel. And conversely, we can also pay attention to those people who drain our energy, suck it out of us, the places that drain our energy. And so having practices, can just help. Yeah. Us. Navigate that stuff a little bit easier. Yeah. What would be a good, so I, we did a big hike on Saturday. We did trout club up all the way around the forehead, all the way over to Mansfield and down. It's a long hike. Yeah. And there's a group of us and I can put myself in a spot where I'm It's heads down, enjoy. Look how amazing this is. And some of the people were getting tired and I think needing a little more. Coaching to get through it. Have you ever faced that? Where is there a way to get just calm down, we can all do this, how do we get through? I feel like that's your job. Like you can talk that is your job, right? Because that happens in situations or you're skinny and you're in a tough situation and you're Hey Ray, look outside. Look how awesome this is. Let's just, it's almost Stop. Sit down or take a break. Eat something. Yeah. Drink some water. Yeah. Take a couple deep breaths. Talk about a plan. Yeah. Moving forward. Was morale dropping? No. Okay. Not completely, but there was a lot of how much farther? And I don't like that. I don't like how much farther Were they adults or children or both? They were adults. They were adults. Okay. But I see you see this you go hike Pinnacle and you're coming down and there's groups of people going up saying. How much farther, and I always say a lot. Yeah. It's really hard. Yeah. Yeah. So this is the activity. If you don't wanna do the activity. Then I don't know what else to tell you. So I don't know. You deal with this a lot, but I could use some coaching tips for Yeah, those moments, you could say closer than when you started. There you go. I always say smile at every step, but I don't want to set them up to think, oh yeah, you're getting there. Oh, Because I think that's worse when you turn the corner. Oh, I'm not at the top. Yeah. Oh, I'm not. it's a tough question to hear right from your hiking party about. Yeah. yeah, it's enjoy the moment, yeah. But I do think hunger and thirst, the basics, really. The basics. Yeah. True. I totally agree. Yeah. Or if they're hot or cold, Take care of the per, the immediate personal needs. Yeah. And then, yeah. Yeah. Continue on. Yeah. But you do it so well with your kids when you do your overnight trips as well. and these kids are carrying packs of, 20 pounds, right? 10 pounds, 20. and having to give them encouragement. you did it with my son when he was eight and I was just. Enamored, you're a miracle worker. My parents, I always bring up food references if I'm hiking with someone and they're oh my God. I'm like, just, we'll be done. And or like the nachos after that's start talking about something that's gonna distract them from Yeah. what's hard right now. Yeah. Yeah. Can be helpful. Yeah. I wanted to share something about, protection for energy. Oh, yeah. Oh, nice. Okay. a tool that I love to use is called the Golden Light Shield. Oh. Okay. If, you have to enter into. a interaction with someone that maybe you don't jive with particularly, or you're going into a meeting where you maybe don't enjoy what's gonna be coming your way or whatever it is. you can make this protective shield of golden light come over your whole body. You visualize it from your head bubbling around your toe and be and behind you. Yeah. all around you a bubble. And then that's your protection bubble. Yeah. You don't have to take it in. That's exactly right. You don't, yeah. You take the, you walk in with your bubble. Yeah. You don't have to, when the stuff comes, it just bounces right off the problem. It's like when somebody says how much longer in your hiking group, like you don't have to, my gold shield says I'm not answering that question. That's their problem. That's a you problem, me problem. But I find that to be super helpful. Yeah. If I know I'm entering a situation, then I'm just yeah. can't handle, Sure. And almost just being like, okay, sure. like responding back, like knowing that the only thing that we really can control are our responses a hundred percent. We can't control are our reactions, right? We can't control what other people are gonna do or say. Yeah. So that's another great thing. Either taking a deep breath before you answer. Or setting yourself up to know that you're gonna be just responding calmly and not reactive. Not reactive. And again, like these are things that help with all types of relationships. Yeah. The deep breath, man, deep breath. That's where it's at. I do the deep breath in tennis. Oh yeah. Do you do it? Not really in the middle of a heated match. Sure. And it's an important point. I step up to the serve line and I take a deep breath. Breath, deep breath serve. Yeah. All right, here we go. and it resets whatever just happened, man. A lot of it comes back to food for me. I don't know if that's all about, but you start thinking about, are you hungry? no. if I'm tired or in a tough match, I'll be Yeah, I'm gonna get a nice coffee at Cafe on Moscow on the way home. I'm yeah, it's gonna just gonna be great. Okay, cool. Yeah. Back. I don't know, something. Same kind of thing. in another little treat to look forward to, little trick is music songs that you love and that make you happy. That's also a super easy, powerful thing to do. Yeah. To improve your Mood. Music. The other thing I was thinking about when you were talking about it sometimes. let's say I'm cross country skiing and I go slow. I get some benefit from being calm and present. And then other times when I'm going fast, hammering up to the cabin, I get it in a different way. So I don't, it's weird for me some days I'm just gonna go slow today and enjoy, and other days I'm hammering and I'm in a different place. And I get the same thing in a different way, but they're both, It's all But they're both mindful. They're both mindful, but they're different. Totally. That's good. Yeah. you probably have extra dopamine and serotonin going through your, on the posing through with the charging day. The fast. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. I know. I have a, when I set out to exercise in any fashion, I'm I just, I have to just do it because I'm sometimes a get it over with person, which'cause it's strenuous and I just wanna be done. And then I'll go out and do my mindful exercise after that. So I'll do my physical, gotta get up there, gotta get the run done. I'll do it mindfully, but then I'll later in the day will I do a more mindful walk or where I can just take that all in the benefit. Yeah. Yeah. different. a cool story though. I was watching a deer hunting video. Out of all activities. And they were interviewing this guy, and they're so when you get to the spot, what do I need to do? What do you need to do? And he's I step outta my truck. I stop and I breathe. It was I don't know, just it was really, simple saying, but it there's no rush. There's no. This is plan A, B, and C, and then I have to do this. He's I'm just happy to be out there. Yep. He's like that. Do you hunt? Do you hunt? I do. Yeah. You do? Yeah. it's interesting. My, my brother-in-law, is a big deer hunter, and let me tell you, type A, a, d, HD kind of guy. He fits the bill on all of it. And yet I, I hear of him going out and sitting for hours on and being completely and utterly present and mindful. I'm wow. wonder what that. Yeah. it's such a juxtaposition. Yeah. If you're sitting in a tree stand, you're watching the sunrise, you're watching animals all around, you're aware and you have to be still. And it's, and I think that begs, brings about a final point is anyone can do this. Yeah. It, if you are that a DHD kind of person that just is. Needing to be on the move all the time, you can still practice mindfulness. Yep. and so I think that's what, something, you and I really try to, with our husbands and our kids, it's these are such usable tools. And it just brings, joy and contentment and peace. Oh, and it spreads. Yep. Yeah. Ripple effect. Yep, definitely. Awesome. Cool. I guess that concludes the first Octagon Lab. Thank you guys very much. Thank you both. That was great. Yeah. Thank you so much. That's awesome. Thank you. Hope you enjoyed that episode of the Octagon Podcast. Remember to like us on Instagram and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. See you next time.