Where is your Focus | S1E8 (E008)
One of the hardest things to shift is what we focus on while we are healing or working towards health goals. Have you noticed, yet, that you may focus a lot on the symptoms you are experiencing or how you’re “not there yet?” This something Evie and I help our clients (and ourselves, as you’ll hear) shift on a regular basis. And when we start to focus more on what we want, than we on what we don’t want, the biology shifts even faster!
In This Episode
Learned about focus from Jen Sincero (01:40)
What the brain pays attention to (04:55)
Is it Mercury Retrograde, or our thoughts? (08:03)
Current circumstances determining mood (11:26)
Looking for evidence to support our focus (20:58)
Meaning we place onto symptoms (23:32)
Unspoken expectations of perfection in health (27:37)
Resources mentioned
Join the Optimized Wellness Community
Submit your question for the show!
Transcript
Toréa Rodriguez 0:08
Welcome to the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast. I am your host, Toréa Rodriguez. And I'm joined by the lovely co host, Evie Takacs. Both of us our Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioners and we love working with women from all over the world, through our virtual programs, helping women not only feel better, but actually achieve that vibrant, no holds barred version of themselves, they've been missing for a long time, and how we actually get there. Well, that is what this show is all about. Now, please keep in mind that this podcast is created for educational purposes only and should never be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis or treatment. And if you like what you hear today, we would love for you to hit that follow button, leave a review in Apple podcast, share with your friends, and keep coming back for more. Let's start today's adventure shall we?
Welcome back, everybody. Today, Evie and I are very excited to talk about this topic, because this is one of those things that takes a little getting used to in terms of our thinking. But that is really where we're placing our focus. And this can be with anything in life. So that's part of why I love talking about this because it's applicable not only to health and wellness, but it's applicable to just about anything. And I really picked up on this concept when I was reading some books written by the author, Jen Sincero. So she happens to be one of my favorite authors, maybe it's because she drops an F bomb here or there. And that's kind of my style of speaking. But what she says and her quote is what you focus on, is what you will experience. And at first I was like, well, that's weird. I'm not quite sure I understand that concept. But then it started to kind of sink in. It's like, Oh, if we are constantly focused on what it is we don't want, or if we're constantly focused in on the symptoms that we're having, guess what our brain is going to notice. So it's kind of like the analogy I like to use is a brand new model of car, we'll just pick on Tesla cars. Most people know Tesla, right. But when they release their latest model, I think it's the Y now, at first you were like, Oh, what is that on the road? Like, I've never seen one of those before? Who makes that? Like, what is that? And then you realize, oh, hey, that's Tesla's new model Y. And then you drive down the road, at least out here in Silicon Valley. I don't know if it's the same for you in Cincinnati, but you drive down the road or drive down the freeway, and all of a sudden, you're like, Oh, there's one. There's one. There's one. There's one, right? And so our brain starts to notice those things that come into our awareness. And this is what we're talking about focus. So Evie, we were just talking right before we hit record. What have you noticed just about today, that your focus is on? And maybe we can shift that around a little bit?
Evie Takacs 3:09
Absolutely. Yeah. So we were just talking about how I wanted to get to the office early, I wanted to have everything set up. I wanted to have the mic ready so that we could record and be on time and didn't have any tech issues. And I was so focused on tech issues and avoiding tech issues. And as soon as I logged in, I was like, wait, I can't hear you what's happening. And we had tech issues. And so I, I told Toréa I said, this is what I was trying to avoid this whole time like I was plan my morning. I wanted to get here early. I did all these things before this that way, I wasn't going to have tech issues. And now here we go. Of course this happens. And she goes oh, that's an interesting thought.
Toréa Rodriguez 3:47
Yes, it is. It's such a wonderful analogy. Because this can happen as with something as simple as wanting to avoid tech issues, right. And so, you know, sure all of those things are solvable and figure-out-able, but at the same time, the question really is where was the focus this morning? It was on what you didn't want. But our brains don't necessarily hear it that way. That isn't the translation that happens. So one of my other coaches who talks about the same concept, you know, will talk about it in terms of symptoms, like talking a lot about I don't want indigestion or I don't want bloating, and I'll do whatever I can to not have bloating, like maybe not even eat today because I know tomorrow I need to wear you know a certain outfit and I don't want to be bloated. Like we're constantly thinking about how can I avoid this situation and the brain is like, Oh, hey, you're talking about bloating alot. Really? Sure I'll serve up some bloating. How's that? That's what you want. You know, it's almost like talking to a young child or something and they're like, oh, yeah, you're talking about this a lot. They're not quite processing the "don't want" piece of it.
Evie Takacs 4:55
Right the brain and the body is going to hear that last bit. It's not hearing the "don't want." And now that we're talking about it I realized this morning that was me is I'm going to avoid tech issues. I don't want tech issues, and I bought in my brains like tech issues will give you tech issues. That's fine.
Toréa Rodriguez 5:11
Totally, totally. I mean, it happens with anything in terms of the body especially right because that's what the brain is paying attention to. And I see this a lot in my own healing journey. I've been there, especially around migraines, right? Because nobody wants to be in pain. Nobody enjoys being in pain. So I have spent a lot of time thinking, and I still do sometimes. But I've spent a lot of time thinking about how do I avoid getting a migraine? Or how do I set up my day so that I don't get a migraine. And there's always that ending part of the sentence of like, just don't get a migraine, please like whatever happens right now don't get a migraine and, but the brain starts to think about it in that way. Right? It hears migraine. And then, of course, by the end of that day that I've been obsessing over the migraine, guess what I'm experiencing?
Evie Takacs 6:07
The migraine.
Toréa Rodriguez 6:09
Totally, totally. And it's, I think, for people who are dealing with chronic symptoms, or have been dealing with healing for a long period of time. This is one of those pieces. And this is why I wanted to dedicate an episode to it that can be so hard to shift because really, we just are trying so hard, right? We're trying so hard to get that to that goal. Like I just want XYZ. But we almost always speak about it in terms of moving away from the thing that we don't want.
Evie Takacs 6:41
Mm hmm.
Toréa Rodriguez 6:42
We hardly ever talk about it in terms of moving towards the things that we do want.
Evie Takacs 6:47
Yeah, I I'm just I'm taking that all in? Yeah, yeah, it's so true.
Toréa Rodriguez 6:54
You know, when we start to shift the way that we're having that focus of I want x, y, z. But if we're describing it in a language that isn't about what we don't want right now, in the present circumstance, then that allows our body the freedom to be able to shift towards the thing that we do want. But the hardest part is talking about it in those terms of what do I want, instead?
Evie Takacs 7:20
Definitely.
Toréa Rodriguez 7:21
So one way that we could have reframed your morning thoughts, right. So instead of having tech issues, what would you have wanted to have instead?
Evie Takacs 7:32
I could have thought it's going to be a smooth morning, I'm going to be prepared, I'm going to be calm. And I could have focused on that and thinking, wow, because I set my morning up in this way, I'm now going to be calm organized on time, I could have thought about it that way. So just that little shift instead of I'm doing this because I don't want to be rushed and have tech issues. Versus I'm doing this because I want to be calm and on time and relaxed about it. It's a game changer to think about it in that way.
Toréa Rodriguez 8:03
It's a whole other feeling too, and I can see it. So those of you who are listening just on the audio, we also record this on video and I can see a shift actually in Evie's face in terms of what she's experiencing. Right. So this is why language is so so powerful. And what we were talking about in the last episode, because what goes along with our thoughts, our emotions, you can't really separate the two like it's extremely difficult to separate a thought from an emotion, we can shove the emotion down. Don't worry about that. Like we can definitely compartmentalize in that way. But having that resulting emotion to go along with that thought of like, what if there was a smooth morning without any kind of, and see, I did it without tech issues? Like, how would I actually say it, it's actually because we're so used to and programmed to kind of talk in a particular way about what we don't want, it's very easy for that to slip in. And if Evie was focusing only on calm, smooth morning, on time, I get to show up but not be frazzled. You know, I'm just going to be calm. And again, I inserted a "not be frazzled," right, so what am I focusing on? Oh, I'm focusing on the image of her being frazzled, right? So I'm trying to shift that in my brain. But that can really shift the overall emotional experience. And so what did you experience just in that little talking about your morning so far?
Evie Takacs 9:29
Well, when I thought about it, from a more calm standpoint, the original way that I could have thought about it, I felt like my shoulders did drop, I felt like I relaxed a little bit. So it's funny that you noticed that too, because I felt like that I almost felt like my head, my chin tilted up a little bit. Like I kind of was sitting up a little bit more straight. And I just felt more relaxed and it was just this wonderful feeling of it doesn't have to be this way. Or it doesn't have to be that hard. Or you don't have to think that it's going to be this hard all the time because it's not I think we make up these scenarios that it's always going to be hard for us because it has been hard in the past. And that's just not true. It doesn't have to be like that going forward. And I'm working on that a lot, particularly with my own health, like you said, you experienced that with your own health issues. And so do I. I am going through some stuff right now, where I've noticed recently that I am focusing on the things I don't want with my health, I don't want to be bloated, I don't want to have you know, GI issues, I don't want to have my thyroid be in a flare up. I don't want to be fatigued at 2pm. If I could just maybe switch the way that I think about that and say, okay, there are probably some things going on on a chemical standpoint, that or chemical perspective that could be worked on. Absolutely. However, what is my mindset doing to contribute to this? Is it helping or hurting the situation? So I've been really focusing on that. And this ties in really nicely with what we're talking about today, even personally, with the symptoms and the health and try not to focus so much on the symptoms versus just okay, what can I focus on instead, that I know is possible, because I've experienced it before, like I've had times where my thyroid has been great. I've had times where I didn't have bloating, I've had times where I've had great sustained energy throughout the day. So I'm focusing on that evidence versus going into the I don't want to feel this way, just because I'm getting little peeks of it here and there. Does that make sense to you experience that too.
Toréa Rodriguez 11:26
Huge, huge, absolutely. Like nodding my head the whole time that you're talking because we can place so much importance on our current circumstances. So what I was thinking about when you were talking is that there's a difference between what our current circumstances are and where we are going. So we know that we've experienced different states of health, it's always in an ebb and flow or bodies are always trying to talk to us, right, our symptoms are the way that our bodies talk to us. And let us know when things need adjustment, or shifting or whatever. It's easy to interpret those symptoms as this is my reality right now. And I'm unable to do anything about it. Right. And oftentimes with biology, it's not necessarily instant, sometimes it can be instant. But sometimes it takes a little bit of time for these kinds of changes to evolve. And so if we are really focusing in on what that experience is with those symptoms, yet, we don't want it. We're really just seeing more Tesla Model Y's all over the damn freeway of like, oh, look, there's bloating, and I've got it. Now I've got a stomachache, and it kind of snowballs on itself. And so I like to always think about what is my current circumstance? And while I have that, what can I do right now? One thing, just one thing, what can I do right now to support myself for what I'm really choosing to have, which is a life free of those things. And really focus in on that freedom, freedom of pain, freedom, of being frenetic and being calm and all of those things that we were talking about before. What's one thing that I can do now, but then stay keep my focus in on where I'm going in the future? Does that make sense?
Evie Takacs 13:25
It does. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Again, in this, this is why we focus so much on this in this podcast is the mindset is playing a huge role in this. If you don't have the awareness, or if you don't stop the thoughts from spiraling too quickly, then you will go down that road of oh my gosh, like, this is how it's always going to be and I knew this was going to happen. And, you know, I knew that this was going to happen again. And I knew that I couldn't stay healthy, and this and that. And so if you can really grab those thoughts before they run wild, and make sure that you focus in on like you said, just pick one thing that you have control over right now to help turn that around, or at least stop it from continuing down that path even more.
Toréa Rodriguez 14:01
Mm hmm, absolutely. And it can be a physical action concerning the digestion example that we were using before. You know, it could be well maybe I might switch around the kind of food I'm eating, maybe I won't eat as much raw food and I might eat cooked food for a while or something like that. Like that could be an action that you could take on the current circumstances that you're experiencing yet at the same time. Our focus from a mindset and a thought pattern perspective, stays on the goal, right? Keep your eye on the ball kind of thing. It's like we want to make sure that we keep that focus there. I want to make sure that people understand too, we're not asking people to completely bypass their emotions, like we'll have thoughts or we'll be experiencing certain symptoms. An emotion will come through and usually it's it could be disappointment or frustration or bitterness or sadness. or whatever that happens to be. And we're not talking about completely bypassing emotions and only being happy go lucky thinking about unicorns and rainbows all the time. That's not what we're talking about. It is using language as a tool, however to acknowledge like, okay, body, I've got some symptoms going on. Hmm. All right, I'm all frustrated. Cool. What can I do to shift that a little bit, take a little bit of action, and then focus on Okay, let's really start, Body let's start talking about okay, what is this going to be like, without bloating? No bloating whatsoever, eating food digesting? Great, you know, everything's perfect. I'm getting gold stars on my Bristol stool chart, all of that stuff. Like, that's what we can start thinking about in a way of thinking about our future and keeping our focus on what it is we do want.
Evie Takacs 15:51
Yep, I think remembering that we have control over that is really reassuring for a lot of people, including myself, because it can feel like when things do start to get a little out of control, or maybe shifting a little bit in a way that we don't want them to, it's hard to remember in the moment that okay, there are things that I can do to work on this. So, again, I hope that that really is something people take home and when they're listening to this or watching this is that you do have control over some of that. And like you said, you know, not that long ago, sometimes these things take time. So yeah, it might not be an immediate fix. But knowing that you can take action steps towards resolving or reversing whatever might be going on. That's always really reassuring to me. And so I try and remind myself of that, too.
Toréa Rodriguez 16:35
Yeah, I think part of how we get stuck in it, when we're focusing on what it is we don't want, it can just be that reinforcing circle. You know, it's like, oh, I don't want that. And yet I see it again, you know, and you were talking about your morning and not having it be filled with technical issues, right. And then we had a technical issue. And, and one of the things that I noticed and caught myself saying this morning is, "wow, I am so distracted, and things are not going to plan" like that is how my morning started. And then I was like, "Huh, that's interesting." You know, it's like, I'm blaming the dog for things not going to plan and all of those things. And and it's because that's where my focus was. But if I really asked myself, well, what was my plan for this morning? And was I focusing on executing that plan? No, not really, I was just kind of going through and reacting to everything that was happening this morning. And so, you know, I too, found myself in that situation of focusing so much on my present circumstances, that it led me into stumbling on more of the same thing. And so I just kept experiencing the same thing. And of course, Jen's voice because I listened to her audiobook, so I get to hear her voice. But Jen Sincero's voice comes in my head of like, "what you focus on is what you will experience" and that that one statement has been so life changing for me that it's it's really helped me kind of delve into this this world of, well one sect of sciences, psycho neuro immunology, but you know, just how the body reacts to what we're thinking and what our thoughts are. It makes a huge difference.
Evie Takacs 18:21
Yeah, I guess to an extent, I always kind of knew, like, I think we know that, okay, what we focus on is what we will experience I think we, we get that like on a subconscious level. But, you know, ever since talking with you and working with you, and you repeating that to me, and just telling it to me when I need to hear it, it really has made a big difference, because I can turn those things around a lot quicker. So instead of staying in a crummy mood, or instead of staying in a stressed out state, or instead of staying in this, like despair of "Oh, my health is crumbling," or "oh, something's going on," I've been able to come out of that a lot quicker, because you've been reminding me of these things. So it really does help, especially for people who have some sort of chronic illness where they do experience things on a more regular basis. Or they can at least it's different, because instead of focusing on "Wow, here we go again, this sucks." It's like, "okay, I'm noticing this. I'm not a fan of it. But what else can I focus on because I don't want to experience this for the next week", or whatever it might be. So it really is, like I said, I call it a game changer. And I stand by that it really has been for me. And even now I feel like my my day is turning around after having this conversation and being reminded of this.
Toréa Rodriguez 19:31
As you were talking, I was remembering that one way that people describe this phenomenon, right of what you're focusing on is what you'll experience. Another way to say that is is life happening to you or for you? Right, so sometimes we can think Oh, life is happening to me and like oh, look, the mic messed up and now we have tech issues, right? Why does this always happen to me?
Evie Takacs 19:56
Yeah, I'm the victim of the mic attacking me sabotage my morning.
Toréa Rodriguez 20:01
Or is, you know, life happening for us? And is this situation of hey, the mics not functioning properly? Is that because you've been focusing on the mic not functioning properly? Like, is this an opportunity to change our the way that we're thinking in this moment? And so that's another way of me catching myself because those are the you'll learn. Everybody has their own phrases in their brain, right, that they talk about. But one of those phrases is, "how come this continues to happen to me?" That's something that I hear a lot. And that reminds me of like, oh, it's not really happening to me. It's just I'm focusing on it a lot. And I need to kind of shift it around.
Evie Takacs 20:45
Mm hmm. Yep. I know, I have a few of those two that I repeat. They kind of like, it's a carousel of those, and one just kind of comes out like "oh, see? I knew this would happen," or "Oh, are you really surprised?" I have a lot of those.
Toréa Rodriguez 20:58
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So it's like, Oh, hey, see more evidence to reinforce that there's going to be tech issues no matter what. Are you really surprised? It's funny how we, as human beings will go out and look for evidence to support what it is we're currently thinking about. One of my coaches always says, we are meaning making machines, which is so true, we have to make a meaning out of everything, including a malfunctioning you know, microphone, like that has to mean something. But it doesn't it's, you know, it's like oh, setting was off, oh, no big deal. It's interesting how we constantly create meaning out of things. And that becomes a reinforcement. For the focus of Gosh, this is always happening to me, or I'm always dealing with migraines, or I'm always going to be sick. Those kinds of thought patterns are the things that can be shifted, and it takes practice, you guys. Evie and I have been practicing this. And we still got caught up in it all the time. But it just takes practice, because at first it's like, well, what are you talking about? How do I talk about something that isn't my current circumstance? That just takes practice. It really does, especially when you're very used to talking about things in a in a particular way.
Evie Takacs 22:24
Yeah, when you were talking about how we're meaning making machines. So that's all very tied to cognitive behavioral therapy, which I've been doing for like eight or nine years. And one thing that I finally clicked, you know, talking to my therapist, and doing a lot of this work, because I was always looking for meaning I was always looking for evidence to back up the thought that I had, the schema that I had in my brain, right? That was just so all encompassing. And I just realized that, like, I have made myself a detective. And this is exhausting. Like, I don't need to be a detective all day long. Why am I going out looking for evidence of things that don't even really exist, I'm making evidence, and I'm twisting things to make it support the thought that I'm having that isn't even true to begin with, that I should have never even paid attention to. And that is an exhausting state to live in. And so just again, the more aware we are of am I trying to make this mean more than it does. If you can snip that in the bud, it's gonna be stress relief for you. Because you're not going to be in that detective mode, which is very exhausting. Because we have so many other things going on in our lives, the last thing I need to do is look for every little thing that happens to me to mean something spectacular or significant.
Toréa Rodriguez 23:32
I love that you brought that up, because I want to make sure that anybody who's listening to this that is dealing with chronic health issues or chronic symptoms for a long period of time, and feel like they might be in a rut. We're absolutely not minimizing your experience. However, one phrase to keep in mind that helps me with that is that while you may be experiencing these symptoms, or having the symptoms that you're dealing with, remember that you are a human experiencing those symptoms, you aren't the symptoms, right. And a lot of times we delve into the meaning making so much that it becomes our identity. And so I'll work with some clients, and I'll hear them say it and it's very casual, of course because it's just kind of become their everyday way of talking about it. But they will introduce themselves as I have XYZ diagnosis I have Hashimotos or I have this other the other and that doesn't necessarily have to be so layered down with all the evidence on to the meaning that we make it concrete. Doesn't have to be cemented into place. It's all about how we're languaging and turning that focus of you might be experiencing, you know chronic GI symptoms right now, but that's exactly what is happening. You are human who is having that experience of that emotion, or having frustration or having sadness, right? It doesn't mean that you are frustration, or sadness. And that's something that I have to remember a lot, because I'll get a migraine. And I'll be like, see, it's happening again, you know, and I can instantly get into that mindset. And then I have to remind myself, Oh, I'm a human that's experiencing a migraine. Maybe I should just check in and make sure like, have I done anything that I know is a trigger for migraine recently that I could correct right now? And then, you know, give myself that time and space to kind of deal with that. But I think reminding ourselves that we don't have to place so much meaning onto something. For example, you were sharing that you're dealing with some health symptoms yourself right now, it doesn't mean that you've gone backwards. But that's what we'd like to assume almost immediately when symptoms start to show up, again, is that we've traveled back in time magically, somehow, and that we're back in our worst state. Right? So just being careful with how we're assigning meaning, I think it's really important.
Evie Takacs 26:15
Yeah. And one thing that I've been repeating to myself is, it's not necessarily that you did something, right. Like, sometimes things just happen, it doesn't mean that there was something that you did in particular, it might have been a culmination of things, or maybe your focus was on something else, because, you know, life happens. And there's a lot of things going on. And so for me, I tend to when I have this flare up, or I have symptoms that I'm experiencing, my go to is typically to do like self blame of like, it's because you didn't do this, or you you fell off the wagon with this, or you've neglected this. And I've been trying really hard to say, You know what, I've done the best that I can. And sometimes these things just happen. And thank goodness, I have the tools to course correct. So that's my focus now is what can I do to course correct. So really does tie into what we've been talking about is, like, I just I share this, because I want people to understand that you and I go through this, right? We're not immune to any of it. We go through this, and we have to support each other and work through the same self talk that we're talking about on this podcast. It's not like you all of a sudden learn it, and you're like, Oh, I'm good. I'm never gonna have to experience this again. No, you very much still have to do and it's a daily weekly practice. And the more you do it, the more reps you put in, the easier becomes so then you can catch yourself a lot sooner and not spiral as much as you would have maybe a year or two ago,
Toréa Rodriguez 27:37
I loved how you said that. Because we are we're human, we are experiencing different things, as you know, we go through life, not every day is perfect. I will definitely say, I don't get fiber as much as I should every single day. And I'm not always eating organic and all of that stuff. And I think what you said is so important, because in our space, the health space, right? There's this expectation, this unspoken expectation that comes across that once you learn something like eating or choosing organic over conventional or, you know, eating enough fiber during the day, or you know, not eating sugar or whatever. Oftentimes, a lot of these examples have to do around food, because it's an easy lifestyle thing to shift, right? But there's this unspoken expectation that gets placed on to people that life will always be that way that it will be permanently that way. And if you're not showing up 100%, you're making mistakes, or you're doing bad things to your body or you're regressing or whatever. And it's your fault, right. And, by all means, like throw that dogma in the trash bin, that's just crazy and ridiculous, and not allowing any kind of room to just be human. And this is all part of the human experience. And if we can make one small shift by just really recognizing what is it that we're focusing on, we can kind of relax a little bit not relax in the sense of like, give up. That's not what I mean by relax, but not be so hard on ourselves and not be so critical on ourselves for having these different kinds of circumstances or experiences.
Evie Takacs 29:23
Definitely. I know. It's exciting for me, because again, I know that I'm a lot further than I used to be years ago. But it's exciting because I know that I'm eager and excited to see where things are going to be in the next year. And the more practice I get so every time these things come up where I'm like, "oh my health again or oh my gosh, my GI system symptoms" or, "Oh, I think that I'm having some adrenal stuff." Like, I'm always like, "okay, use the tools, you have to correct this and work on your mindset." And it's cool, because every time this happens, because again, it's not like it's never gonna happen again. I have this new opportunity to evaluate well, how far I come, how much should I grow? The way that I'm handling this situation right now with my symptoms is totally different than how I would have handled it two years ago. And that's because of the work that I've been putting in. And I don't want to say daily to scare someone, but it is daily for me, sometimes, I have to stop and think because my thoughts, they will go crazy if I let them. So I have to really, you know, keep a tight leash on them and say, Okay, wait a second, like, is that really true? Do I need to pay attention to that thought? Probably not. Okay, you know, just fine on by, I don't need to pay attention to you, okay, you can land because you're relevant, you're important. So it's that daily practice. So again, the mindset stuff really does come into play with the health because I know that my health would be a lot worse if I wasn't focusing on the mindset stuff as well.
Toréa Rodriguez 30:43
Yes, 1000 1,000%, you'll hear people say that we experienced, you know, 10,000 thoughts, 30,000 thoughts a day, whatever. I finally found a study on it, by the way. And they've been able to map out thought patterns or thought they called them thought worms, which I thought was kind of weird, because that makes me think about worms in the brain. But um I say thoughts spiral, because I know that I can kind of just ruminate on the same kind of topic, and find myself in a spiral. So we actually do have about 5000 of those every single day. And if you think about it, it is a daily practice. In fact, it's a moment to moment practice. And they say, one step at a time, or one moment at a time, one minute at a time. Sometimes that's how this is, especially when we're first starting to try and shift around that that focus, right. But yeah, it is a daily practice and is a perfect? Never. It's never perfect, but it doesn't have to be. And that's the important piece that I think that you're trying to express is that, yes, it's a it's like going to the gym, it's a muscle, right? The first couple times we try and lift that weight, it's going to be all shaky, and like, out of balance, and we may not get get that big weight lifted up, right? But the more we practice, the smoother it becomes, and the stronger we become. And we're able to actually do that. It's the same kind of thing with really paying attention to what our focus is on. Exactly. Anything else you want to say about this topic?
Evie Takacs 32:20
No, I I hope that it is inspiring to other people, and again, gives them hope and gives them confidence that this is something that they do have control over. Because I know it can feel like you're spiraling a lot. So I'd be curious to hear from everyone who listened and or watched, like, what their takeaways are with this and if they can relate to anything that we've expressed.
Toréa Rodriguez 32:41
Love it, love it. And we'll be returning next week. Next week. We've got another guest for you. So we're really excited about that. And hopefully we'll see you guys outside!
Hey, thanks for joining us for this episode of the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast. If you're ready to dig deeper into your health, stop playing the Whack-a-Symptom game, start testing to get better guidance, you can find more about Toréa at torearodriguez.com and you can find Evie at holisticallyrestored.com. Want a peek into what it's like to work with us? Come join us at our Optimized Wellness Community. You can find the invitation link in the show notes below. And if you have a question for the show, you can submit your question under the podcast section of torearodriguez.com. Finally, if you found something helpful in this episode, don't forget to leave a review, hit that follow button or share it with a friend. They're gonna love that you thought of them. Until next time, see you outside!
