Live from the Holistic Reset Retreat in Ohio! | S4E7 (E037)
What are the benefits of the cold plunge? And should you get into it?
How do you handle gatherings when you’re the only “healthy” one?
And how can you adapt your wellness habits when it’s cold and dark out all winter long?
This is just a taste of the topics we’re getting into on today’s Q&A episode. We recorded live from our Holistic Reset Retreat in Hocking Hills, Ohio and took some questions from the group. We weren’t sure where it would lead or what topics would come up, but, WOW did they ask some great questions! Plus, if you’ve ever wondered what a wellness retreat would be like or if you would even “fit in” at one, now’s your chance for a look behind the scenes! But, spoiler alert! If you want to go to one, then you belong! Listen in and we’ll tell you why.
In This Episode
Our recommendations for staying on track through the holiday season (4:09)
Tips for adjusting your wellness habits to winter weather (7:07)
A holiday visualization exercise & questions to ask yourself BEFORE going to your event (8:21)
Benefits of cold plunging (13:37)
How long to cold plunge before it becomes detrimental (18:11)
A first timer’s cold plunge experience (21:16)
Our advice for those who feel they won’t “fit in” with a wellness retreat (25:32)
The big WHY behind our retreats & our work (30:07)
Why showing up is already a success (34:44)
Retreat apprehensions related to needing alone time (36:19)
Evie’s journey to finding her people & the value of community (42:38)
Stay tuned for more information on upcoming events in 2023!
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 are 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?
Evie Takacs 1:09
Alright, everybody, welcome back to the Health In Motion Podcast and the Wildly Optimized Wellness Podcast. We are super excited for this recording because we are actually doing a live recording.
Toréa Rodriguez 1:20
Yes,
Evie Takacs 1:21
In Hocking Hills, Ohio. For those who don't know, Toréa and I had talked about doing retreats, I was like, you know, I'm gonna go ahead and do one I'm gonna get like the Cincinnati people together, let's go ahead and do a retreat fairly close to us. So I was like, you know, I put it out to my clients who wants to come, you know, spend a weekend out in nature doing nervous system resetting, community breathwork, all of that stuff. We've done cold plunges. And so last minute when Toréa came because I invited Toréa to come as well and just be a part of this, we could start doing these together as well, which we have more information coming about in person events. We like last minute we were packing and I was like I should take the podcast stuff that would be cool to do a live recording and to have the guests be participants in it because in like ask questions and have a live recording like this, because I think live recordings are really cool when people could do that. So we decided to do that. So we are coming at you from Hocking Hills,
Toréa Rodriguez 2:14
Which is really cool. And we totally surprised our retreat participants because it's like surprise, we're gonna do a podcast episode, but I'm really excited because it these kinds of experiences create such an impact. And you people listening to this podcast or watching this podcast are going to be able to see what the impact has been. Yes. And we've only been here two days.
Evie Takacs 2:38
Yeah it feels like a week.
Toréa Rodriguez 2:40
It does feel like a week.
Evie Takacs 2:41
Like in a good way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think it's really impactful because these retreats I think, are only gonna get more popular. And I think it can be very intimidating if you don't know what it is, or you've never been to something and you're like, I don't know, this person. Like I trust that they're obviously interested in the same things as me. So I'm gonna go do it. But putting yourself in an unknown situation like this, like kudos, because I I think I would have struggled personally if I was participating in something like this. So I think it's cool to do that. And I did want to mention that Hannah is here as well. Hannah has been a coach as well running this with us. So Hannah is going to be one of like the coaches on the panel as well. So I'm really excited for that. There's more to come with Hannah for HolisticallyRestored. So I think we should just get to this beautiful cabin this beautiful like firepit place they have. So if you can go to the video and at least see the setting in which we're sitting. I think it's really, really cool.
Evie Takacs 2:41
Yeah, yeah. So we want to open up this as Q&A session and allow these participants to ask coaches some questions. We're gonna be passing some mics around for those questions. And just also share your experience and how it's been so, Lee, welcome. We are so grateful that you're here. Not like you haven't been here. You've been sitting here the whole time. Not used to having a live audience. But I would just love to hear does anybody have a question that they want to ask first to kick it off with questions?
Retreat Participant 4:06
Hello. Okay, so my question is kind of a two part question. So the first part of the question would be, what are your recommendations for staying on track with your goals, health wise, and just kind of overall with the holidays coming up? And then the second part of that question is, especially if you have friends and family members that maybe aren't on the same type of, I'm gonna say wavelength, or maybe don't have the same type of, of goals and knowledge about things that you do?
Evie Takacs 4:40
It's a really great question, I think super common this time of year. It's on a lot of people's minds.
Toréa Rodriguez 4:46
Do you want me to go first?
Evie Takacs 4:47
Yeah, go ahead.
Toréa Rodriguez 4:48
Okay, so your first the first part of your question was about how to stay on track with your goals and stuff. Do the holidays. A lot of times people like to incorporate comfort foods and lots of sugars, are you talking mostly food? Or is it other habits?
Retreat Participant 5:05
Both because obviously, the weather shift outside Ohio, I'm not going to say challenging, but it adds different variables on to getting like your light in the morning because the sun is coming up later. And for those of us with like corporate jobs, it's harder to like, get outside when the sun's actually up. And then also, with the cold factor, it's sometimes a little bit more challenging to walk as far outside without being, you know, really cold. And
Toréa Rodriguez 5:29
Okay, so these are some really great questions. So a lot of these habits that we establish are meant to be lifetime habits. And so consider this season to be one of those things of like, how can I get really creative with this, because life isn't going to be the same every single day, Monday through Friday, or whatever, Sunday through Sunday, you know, 365 days a year, if it was I think we'd all be bored out of our mind. So think of it as a challenge to get creative of how can I stay on track? And how can I be realistic, right, so you've heard us talk about the 30,000 foot view a lot, take that 30,000 foot view, if you are going to a family house for a meal or something like that, and they don't cook the way you do? Is there something that you can find that is healthy-ish that you can focus in on, and then you go back to your house and you eat healthy the rest of the week, right? So it's like, you're not doing that seven days a week where you're just like, I've jumped off the train, the wheels are off the bus, I give up, like, you're not doing that. But you're allowing to have some of that because we want a healthy lifestyle to be easy to live and to be something that we can, we can go out to eat with our friends. And it's no big deal. We don't have to be telling ourselves with the food police that you've got to eat clean with my finger quotes all the time. Like I hear that. And it just bugs me because people can't live their lives that way in a full, vibrant, joyful social way. And that's so important for health. So really just think about it from a creativity standpoint. And then as far as the getting outside stuff. I mean, you know me, I love the cold, I love being outdoors. Bundle, as much as you can invest in a hat invested in a nice jacket to keep yourself warm. But if your sessions are shorter, that's okay. If your light isn't perfectly rising at 7am, you're, you're on a different planet, right? Our sun won't come up at 7am Every day unless you live on the equator. So for those that live on the equator, they actually get pretty consistent. I don't know, do you want to move to Ecuador. So just become flexible with it. So if you can't get outside, right at sunrise, because now you're in the middle of your workday, right? Switch it to noon, go outside at noon instead. So just play around with it. Because the more that you can build in the flexibility, you're going to be able to pull this lifestyle off as if it's second nature. And that's what we want for you. Does it makes sense?
Evie Takacs 8:08
I mean, the only thing I would add to that definitely the light, it's okay, right? It's not like if you miss it in the first 30 minutes, there's like no benefit of it, it's still important to have. So do what, when you can the first part of your question I always visualize how do I want to feel when this is over? So like, you know, to use January 1, just as an example not like as in like, oh, everything has to change, or you have these big lofty goals. But after the holidays like how do I want to feel? Do I want to go into that next season of winter feeling really lethargic, really tired, really, you know, bloated, or feeling really down? No. So what do I need to do to get to make sure that I don't get to that place? And I'd also really focus in on the why, like, Why have you been focusing in on being healthy for six months up to this, right? If there's an outcome you're looking for? What are the behaviors and goals that I need to do to maintain that? Because it's very easy to get into the hole, like, oh, well, there's pumpkin spice this or there's that, like, I want to try that. And it's like, that's great. However, if you don't feel well with that isn't really worth it just because of the seasonality or just because other people are doing it. Because it's like I might give into this thing at this party. But then I also may feel horrible the next day. And so then I'm like, that's not really worth it to me. So I always think like, what is the outcome I want to feel and then my behavior has to match that as well. And also being okay with maybe standing out a little bit. And like someone may be making a comment. Oh, you're not gonna have another piece of cheesecake? Like, oh, yeah, no, um, that was the first piece was great, thank you. Because some people might make comments, but you have to be grounded in who you are. And know, like, this is what I want to be doing. And this is what I need to be doing to be healthy. And so I'm just gonna have to have that outside noise, be outside noise and not let it come in. That's kind of how I perceive that. Yeah. Great question.
Hannah Dennis 10:00
I just want to sprinkle in two things. And it's everyday matters. We get caught up in holidays and the January 1, the resolution mindset, right? But like, why not today? Focus on tomorrow, you know, keep that mindset don't get too caught up, enjoy the holidays, enjoy the fun, you know? Absolutely. It's a joyful time and your rounds, you know, family, friends, what have you, there's fun foods, but everyday does matter. Show yourself some grace. Okay. And also, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Okay, so feel strong, and your habits and your choices? And have those statements that Evie kind of mentioned of like, Yeah, I'm good, thank you so much for checking in whatever it is, but don't make it your problem, their problem isn't your problem. That's what I would add.
Evie Takacs 10:49
And I actually had this conversation with a client in a private call, the week before Thanksgiving, where she was, this was her first kind of like, wanting to hone in on being healthy and standing her ground and her family isn't really into the things that she's becoming into. And so we had this talk where I actually had her visualize Thanksgiving Day. So I said, Talk me through your day, like from when you wake up to Okay, I'm going to wake up, I'm going to do this, and then we leave for my parents house at this time. And then I get there, and then I go sit on the couch. And then I and she did this visualization, visualization. And I asked her to do it for Friday morning as well. And so she wrote this out because she's also like, visual in that way. And she wrote it out. And she said, I feel like I have a plan. And I'm, I'm happy with this plan. It doesn't feel like I'm doing it to be restrictive. And so she we checked in with her the weekend after Thanksgiving, I said how did things go. And she was like, I already knew what to do and how to handle things because I wrote it out. And that made it so much easier. And she said that was the first Friday morning that I woke up after Thanksgiving and didn't feel like garbage. And so like that might be your tool too like if you need to plan that out or like meditate on when I get asked why I'm eating this way, this is my response. Or when everyone's standing around the countertop grazing before the dinner comes out. I'm not going to be grazing on food because I want to enjoy my meal. Like you might have to play that out in your head of what is my reaction in this particular moment, because then you feel more confident because in a way, you've already done it, because you've seen yourself do it. So I think that was really powerful.
Toréa Rodriguez 12:19
This is really cool. So of course, you know, mindset and all of that stuff, right? It's it's kind of like you're planning your actions ahead of time. And by doing that, you've got your checklist already made. So if you for those that don't know, I have an aviation background. So checklists are my jam. And so you've already got checklist. So if a scenario shows up, you know what to do, you just execute the checklist. And you can get creative with it. So this Thanksgiving, we went to, we elected to go to a restaurant. And I don't know if you guys know, but restaurants suck at Thanksgiving, it doesn't matter who it is. It is hard to pull that off for Thanksgiving. So I give him some grace. But I knew that the food wasn't going to be that great. But that's what we nobody really wanted to cook. So our compromise was a restaurant. So the grazing guests who was in charge of grazing food, me, and guess who did a lot of grazing and guests who were used the I'm just too full. I can't eat a lot of this at the restaurant, right. And that helps save me to feel good at the end of the day, instead of going to this buffet and having three plates of crappy food and feeling like crap afterwards.
Evie Takacs 13:32
So yeah, yeah. Great question. Anyone else?
Retreat Participant 13:37
So we all some of us for the first time, some of us just a couple times, but we all did the cold plunge this weekend. And I think we all enjoyed it, I think we all enjoyed the benefits of it. But maybe if you guys can talk about some of those benefits for people who have never done it or maybe thinking about doing it, and then maybe how often you should do it?
Evie Takacs 14:02
That's a great question. So if you don't know as well, we actually have an episode devoted to this, too. So we go into more depth about that. It's both both both on health, emotion and wildly optimized wellness. But we did talk yesterday about you know, what are the benefits of cold exposure? Why would we possibly want to do this, right? It's Oh, my gosh, it's so uncomfortable. It's so scary. Why would we do this. And when I was building out a lot of the planning with the retreat, I knew I wanted to build this in because it's been so impactful for me. And I at least want to give the opportunity for people to see like, wow, this can be impactful for me as well. So there's a lot of benefits ranging from your nervous system, to your immune system to metabolism. Those are the three that I really like focus in on myself, and that I remind myself of, hey, I should continue to do this because of that. But let's take metabolism, for example. So when your body is in that state of where you're shivering and you're cold, what happens is it you're going to activate brown fat cells. And so that's going to then you're going to be burning that and so that means that you're Already more of like that, in quotes, unwanted fat in those quotes, like unwanted fat areas, right? So like abdomen, thighs, things like that, that's typically where that fat is going to be hanging out. And so when you're activating that party metabolism, those fat cells are what typically get targeted with the cold exposure. So there's that benefit of it, there's also benefits of recovery. A lot of athletes know about this, because they just grew up doing it, you know, after practice and things like that. And then also, in terms of nervous system, that the second biggest thing that I look at it for that is going to be in my opinion, when you get into the cold tub, or you know, whatever you're using for this, it's such a shock to the system, especially initially, that it is you are inducing a stressful state, you're putting yourself in what we call sympathetic state, which is the fight flight or freeze. And so you're having that oh, shit moment, but you're ultimately safe, because you're in a tub of water that you're not going to, like drown in. And so what I like about it is you are putting yourself in a stressful state, you are telling yourself and getting yourself into a relaxed state. So you're getting into parasympathetic, that restful state while you're in the cold water. And so then you can do that. And so then that applies to outside world, because if I can practice putting myself into a stressful state learning and proving to myself that I can calm the F down while I'm in there, then I feel like well, I can calm the F down when I'm in traffic, and someone pisses me off because they're doing this or because I'm running late. And that made me mad, or because I got an email about something or something I saw on Facebook for my aunt, like, all that stuff doesn't even, it doesn't even touch how angry I used to get. Because I feel like I'm so much better at getting from something that's triggering a stressful response to wait a second, I know what I can do. And the vessel for me to do that is breathwork. And that's why I was stressing that yesterday is all you have when you're in the tub is your breath. That's all you're focusing in on. Because now your brain has made these pathways of stressful state, wait a second, I can do breath work. So I can do breathing. And then I can get out of that. So you're, it's a big life lesson of like, whatever I'm experiencing in the tub is preparing me for real life or when those stressors happen. So yes, you're putting yourself in a stressful state for a short period of time. But you're also teaching yourself that I know how to get out of it. And I know how to handle it and not assume my breath work. And then you just feel like a badass afterwards, because like I just sat in a tub, where we did at least three minutes yesterday, have really cold water outside in the cold air. For the first time ever. I overcame a fear, like there's no way you can't feel accomplished about yourself. I mean, dopamine also increases. So you're increasing that neurotransmitter, which dopamine is so hard to come by these days, because we have too many sources of or to get dopamine. So everything just feels muted for a lot of people. So if you can increase that dopamine by doing that, then you're just like, everything just feels so much better. So it's like I chase that hit of like, this is what real joint accomplishment feels like, because I just did something super hard. So like, yeah, maybe this is a hard task today. But like I can sit in cold water for four minutes. Are you kidding me like I can handle this. So that's like my big thing of why I love it. And in terms of like amount of time, there's different variables, I don't know if today if you want to get into Yeah, so
Toréa Rodriguez 18:12
what we've seen in the scientific literature, if you're in bodies of water that are also very cold and then cold. So very cold would be anywhere from you know, 35 degrees to 50 degrees of water. And then when you get into the 55, and to 65 degrees, that would be cold, right? So when you're in very cold water, the scientific literature is pretty clear that the benefits pretty much peak at about three or four minutes, no more than five. And then actually, you can start going down the backside of the curve and actually do detriment to yourself by being in the water that long. So if you're really looking for the benefit, it doesn't have to be that long, which is great. But say, I mean, not everybody's going to get a horse draft for headspace, for horse draft, not everybody is going to have a fancy cold plunge or access to a spa with one. So when you're using like a cold shower, or just filling your bathtub with tap water that's cold. And that's in that like 55 to 65 range, you still get the benefits. But what you may need to stay in longer until you get that sugar response. And so sometimes that might be eight minutes or 10 minutes to get that sugar response. But once you get the sugar response, you're good. And the cool thing about the cold water as well as the very cold water eat, it's still compared to the outside air, it's still a temperature differential enough that you're gonna get that shock so to speak, so that you're having to focus on your breath. And I think one of the best things that I love about doing this is that we live in a society in a culture today where most of the clients that I meet for the first time they're stuck in the fight or flight or freeze response. We don't know how to get out of it or our nervous system just operates there all the time. Waking till sleep, and sometimes even during sleep. And so one of my big jobs is teaching my clients how to shift that nervous system response through various different means. But this is one of those. Because if you can focus on your breath, you're actually shifting it. And for some clients, this is their first experience actually, being in parasympathetic. And feeling that shift, you all felt a relaxation, we saw it on your face, we saw it in your shoulders, see it, this relaxation that occurred while you're in that water, because you were focusing on your breath. And that experience, that sensation in your body is what you want to pay attention to you because that's when you're in traffic and chaos is going on, and you're late for your doctor's appointment and all that stuff. And you're feeling that ramp up. You can actually notice yourself, calm yourself down with the breath. And if you're noticing that sensation, man that is gold in this day and age. So
Evie Takacs 21:00
yeah, definitely. It's, again, there's Yes, the sciency benefits, but I just think that the accomplishment and the feeling of that. I mean, you tell me like did you feel like how did you feel after doing it for the first time talk about your experience for someone who's never done it before, and you would be apprehensive about doing it?
Retreat Participant 21:16
Yeah, so I was very apprehensive like thinking I was going to be the one who's only going to be in for 30 seconds. And you know, Kassig a little bit as I got in, guys all taught me some techniques of you know, saying a little mantra touching yourself getting that, you know, kind of centering yourself before you even get in and doing a little bit of the breath work before you get in. And then getting in and you do feel when you first are in there, I did find that the do it wants to do the majority of your body in once you don't do little bits. So that was helpful. And then you do start to see where the cold is wanting you to do quick, shallow breaths. And you have to work through that. So working through that, like then getting into the rhythm of it. And it just, it's so cold. But towards the end for me, it was oddly, like there was a warmth to it as well. So you think that you can't do it? And it doesn't, that three minutes actually goes by a lot faster than you think it's going to and because usually when you're doing something you don't really that's going to be a little bit of like shock on your system on anything. It feels three minutes can feel like three hours. So that's kind of what I
Evie Takacs 22:39
Yeah, well, and it was awesome, because we definitely saw like, when you got in it was very apparent like this is uncomfortable. I'm this is hard. And then it was like within a minute. Again, your body language just change. And that's what I was watching for. So I asked like, does anyone want coaching throughout this. And as soon as I saw shoulders go down, that's when I said, Okay, if you're ready, I would dip a little bit lower, because that's a sign of, you know, the shoulders are not at the ears anymore, they were down and like, let's try and get more of that. So it was like your body was already relaxing on its own. But you just probably didn't know about it because you were so focused on like breathing. But visually, we could see it outside of the tub of like, Oh, she's got this or, you know, you got in Sarah, and you were to like talking and I'm like, Oh, she's fine. Like, if she was talking, she's got this, like, if she's holding conversations, we're good. So that was really, really cool. And personally that that might be that might be one of my favorite parts of this week. And I haven't reflected enough to know. But it was very powerful for me to see people put themselves in uncomfortable situations around, you know, strangers, essentially. And being able to push yourself like that was very inspiring to me. So I am very thankful that you guys did that. And then also inspired by it, too.
Toréa Rodriguez 23:51
So I have a question for you, ladies, in terms of that experience. What do you think has shifted about your own views of yourself? Does anybody want to answer that question?
Retreat Participant 24:01
So for me, after we got out of the cold plunge, you said something like, let's take a second for those of you that are those overachievers, and really revel in the fact that you did something really frickin hard. And you succeeded in that. And I think that for me, and one of my biggest issues is, I did something hard. Alright, let's move on. We'll move on to the next mountain. That's fine. But you have to actually take that time to appreciate the mountain that you just climbed and like be proud of yourself for that and live in that moment.
Evie Takacs 24:25
And now you can apply that to other big things that you do have like, Okay, I'm not just going to move on. Let me actually sit in that and be really good. Yeah, that's awesome.
Retreat Participant 24:32
I think for me personally, well, first of all, plunging in nature's like, unreal, like, I love ebb and flow. I'm a devoted, you know, plunger, ebb and flow, but there's just something different about looking at like the trees and plunging in nature. But for me, I tend to almost like disassociate with pain, which I was talking to Toréa about yesterday. And so, really just like being mindful and being in my body and like understanding and feeling like there is an unconscious Trouble, pain happening right now. And I need to acknowledge that and understand like, I'm going to embrace this and endure it and not just like, pretend like it's not happening. And once I focus more on like being in my physical body, like once I get out, especially like, my body's just like, oh my gosh, like now I feel recovered. Like, I did just endure this, like painful cold, but there's so many benefits. And now like, I can relax. And so that's been, that's been good mindset, not just ignoring pain, actually acknowledging it. So the plunge has helped me.
Evie Takacs 25:30
Any other questions? We have time for a couple more.
Retreat Participant 25:32
So if what would your advice be for somebody that sees a retreat like this? And it's like, I'm not healthy? I'm not enough to, to come to that type of thing. Like, what would your advice be for somebody?
Evie Takacs 25:48
I almost want to answer that with a question of like wool. What would you guys say? Like, there had to have been hesitations of like, Should I really go? Is this for me? Is this the right thing? Because in my mind, I'm like, no, absolutely, you are qualified to come here you are a person, you you are a woman. This is women, only a woman who is interested in health, you clearly have an you know, an adventure of mindset, or you're open to that you're open to new experiences, you want to learn you want to nerd out about sympathetic nervous system. Like, if you're interested in that, then you're welcome. So to me, it's like those are their criteria. Like it doesn't matter like how quote unquote, healthy you are, like, whatever that would mean. It's more of like, if you want to do this, and you want to build community and meet other people who are like you, because that's also a missing piece for people's you might not have friends who are into this stuff. So it might be hard to do it day to day. That was my vote my that was my goal and my hope of like, now you at least know other people who are into it. And so anyone was welcome to do that. And it was also just helpful to have like, I knew all of you previously, which was nice as well. But for someone who may be like, Well, I don't know anyone, and I don't even know the people hosting it, I can see that that's intimidating. But again, when you hear what's going to be there, if that feels like it's aligned with what you would like to do and what you want to implement more of that I do recommend taking that on. And getting curious as Toréa always says of like, there's like, I'm curious, what would come of me putting myself in that situation, or I'm curious of what this could kickstart for me later in my life. And so I take on that perception of like, there's gotta be something for me there. But if I don't do this, then I'm not going to figure out what that is. Because if it piques your interest at all, then it's clearly something for you. You know, if someone has no interest in any of this, they would have, they wouldn't have even looked to see what this is about. So I would say if you had this instinct of like, that sounds interesting to me. But then you have these doubts come up. It's like, okay, the doubts can still be there. But you can still do it. Like one of my favorite sayings. And Hannah, you'll appreciate this is from Joanna Gaines, I actually have this magazine clip out from like, years ago, I'm not even like a big fan of hers. I just I love this article. She has she talks about her story of like, she just got to the point where she said, I'm going to do it afraid. And I love that because maybe some of you are like, I'm kind of afraid to go, but I'm going to do it anyways. And I think about that all the time of like, do it afraid it's okay to be afraid or be unknown about it. And to continue.
Hannah Dennis 28:11
No, thank you for mentioning that. And that's something to like we talk about a lot in coaching is, you know, challenge yourself and getting out of your comfort zone is where change happens. It's not an easy thing. Absolutely not. It takes courage, it takes bravery, right. But also, I want to acknowledge you all did it. And yes, there was that, you know, community and those relationships already. So if this is something, you know, brand, brand new, that's okay, like you still belong, come in with that open mind. And if that interest is there, don't compare yourselves to others that might be there as well or even as coaches. Okay, let's humanize the experience for all human beings at the end of the day, and has something to learn. And no, I think we learn best from each other. So that's where that power comes, in my opinion.
Toréa Rodriguez 29:00
Yeah, I think it's beautiful. Because I want to second this aspect of community we just were in coming out of dono pandemic, right. So it feels like all one big day of social isolation, really. And so what people are craving now is that sense of community, seeing people connecting with people, that kind of thing. And so during that pandemic period was when I built or rebuilt the optimized wellness community, which is an online based community because that's all we had for a while. But it's those kinds of things, whether it's online or in person, building, that community is something that's really, really important to help because if we look at how we are, and how we evolved as humans, we evolved in tribal fashion, meaning we were always within a community and working within a community and that becomes more and more isolated as we focus in on just our our job and our family and that kind of thing. We're not actually extending into the rest of the community. And that is part of wellness. So it's really a big part. But what you were asking about, you know, what would I say to somebody who considers them, quote unquote, non not healthy, or maybe outside the box looking in, just know, like, Hannah, and Evie and myself, have a passion and invite you to come in because we love to teach. We love to introduce these concepts. And we love to help. See, you learn and see you transform, like, that's what lights me up is when I can see my clients transform. You guys have all transformed so much in this weekend. And I can't wait for the next like workshop, because we're going to really dive into that. But that is something that we love to do. And we're open arms. It's not like it's this cool kids club or click and highschool.
Evie Takacs 30:54
Oh, not at all kids.
Toréa Rodriguez 30:59
So, yeah, so. So just know that when we're in business for something like this, and sure, there are some people that are in business for money only, but that's not what drives me. And I that's not what drives Hannah. We're in it because we we love seeing that transformation and people come on in.
Evie Takacs 31:17
Yeah and personally like, you know, it's like I like I selfishly wanted to do this, because I wanted to hang out with people who wanted to talk about the same things and wanted to do this, like I was thinking like, Man, I just personally want to have a weekend like that. So let me curate that. And let me bring in people to support that. And let's do this together like it, it is sometimes selfish, too, because, you know, I have friends who are into it, but it's like, how often can you get everyone together for this and that. So it was like, if you're down and you want to come and you're signing up perfect. Like, I'm excited about that, because that means that like, now I get to hang out with someone like that, too. So it's exciting. Just just as much for us. If you build it, they'll come Yeah, yeah. So I would like to ask, like, you know, for you participants, like do you have any advice for someone who's listening and is like, that sounds so cool. But I don't know. Like, that's not for me, or I feel like I'd stick out too much are like, I can't keep up with that. Maybe some of that was how you felt coming in? And what what how did you work through that?
Retreat Participant 32:13
Yeah, so I was in my head all night, the night before. And I kept telling my husband like, I don't know, maybe I shouldn't go, maybe I should. And he's like, just go like, you're gonna regret it if you don't. I'm like, I don't know. Like, I don't, I don't, I'm not like, I'm not here. I'm like, in the middle. And he's like, just just do it. And so I did not sleep. And the next morning, I'm like, I'm not even gonna think about it. I'm just gonna go and then, you know, if I failed, I'm at least dried. And so that was like, my mentality of like, if I'm here, I'm trying and, and I tried. If I don't, then I'll never know.
Evie Takacs 32:50
Yes, yeah. And I think it's interesting. You said, I'll fail, like, what did you think that would even look like? or mean? What do you think that would like? What was that?
Retreat Participant 32:58
I don't know. I think it's just like a mentality of like, I know this much. But I don't, I don't know what I don't know. Right? And I feel like, Yeah, I'm coming to learn. But I also have that like, little spot in my mind that's like, well, these people know more than you, they they're going to do more than you, you need to like, be up here to be there. And so having that like little voice in your head is always like questioning you like, should you really be going there?
Evie Takacs 33:27
Yeah, kind of like, Am I worthy of going like, or is this for people who are above me. And in that response, like, I feel that in certain other areas of like this imposter syndrome in terms of my own work, but two things when you're saying that one, I sure hope that I do know a little more than you want me to know more than you into like, I don't know, everything either. Like, Teresa knows a lot more things about certain areas, and like I'm listening to her, but then I might have a different perspective or know more about it. So like, even she and I are always like, I'm always like, well, I don't know much about this, can you help me with this? Or she'll come to me like, Well, what do you think about this? Like, we each have our own strengths, so that's okay, too. And there's someone who has said to me, it's stuck with me for like, almost two years now, I think about almost every week regarding this is like, it's okay to not be the smartest person in the room. And that's really hard for me because I fall into like, Why have to be because then I have no value if I'm not, but it's okay to not know everything. It's okay to not be the most holistic person out there. Like, that's fine too. Because ultimately, like you have pieces of information, and you've given such good impact to other people, that if you didn't come we wouldn't have known that or we wouldn't have seen that. So like you have a role in being here as well. So I am glad that you came even though you were afraid. Yeah. Thank you for that.
Toréa Rodriguez 34:44
And in our eyes, too. You know, when we're putting on an event like this, man, you succeeded. The moment you rolled into this driveway. Yep. Yeah, the fact that you've got yourself here was such a huge accomplish that. And we know what it took, because we've been there with that voice in our own head of like, Oh, God, I don't know. I mean, I flew across the country, right? So it's like, I'm flying across the country to go to a state that I don't know, to Ohio, a bunch of people. Like I knew Evie. I hadn't met Hannah yet. And I didn't know like, what was what was going to come? Right. So I to even though I was excited about this event, and everything else, I had that little voice in my head, like, Are you sure you really want to get on plane and fly all the way, like this timezone thing? It's gonna jack you up, right? So knowing that we're gonna have a critical voice in the head, the most important thing that I've learned about that voice in my head is that it doesn't always tell the truth. We'd like to believe that it is the truth. But if we start to get curious and start to question like, well, is that really true that I don't have something to offer? Not really can't quite answer that with 100% de facto, yes. Right. So just using that and just knowing like, all of that truth or a lie, I don't know. Right. Thanks. Thanks for playing the game. Thanks for putting in your input. I think I'm gonna get my car now. And you did that. And that's huge.
Hannah Dennis 36:15
So awesome. Yeah. Very good. You're good. Sorry.
Retreat Participant 36:19
I was also like, slightly apprehensive to spend like an entire weekend around people because I love people like I thrive off of other people's energies. But I'm also someone who like, at the flip of a switch, like I need to be isolated. And I was like, so what were you telling my boyfriend I was like, I feel like there's gonna be a point where I'm just gonna be like, No one talked to me, I'm going off in the woods. I didn't feel like that, like this entire weekend, which was so cool. Because I think when you have people who are like, interested in the same types of things, I've learned, so much of every single one of you, I'm just like, mind blown. Like, we talked about getting a cow, we talked about where to get vegetables, like, I'm just like, This is so cool. But also just like, everyone had such amazing energy and like compassion for one another and themselves. And that makes all the difference. Like being around people like that. It's like, I don't want to be alone. Like, I want to be around you guys like this. I feel loved. Like, I feel safe in this environment. And so thank you for like recreating this. And also like, for me, the hardest thing was like to not help. Like, you guys, were so awesome. Like, I was like, Okay, let me help wash this, like, sit down? No, you're not allowed to. Just like, okay, so thank you guys for creating this, like, amazing experience. And then also now this community that we can all like, get Laura's updates on Yeah, hairstyle. Yes. Like geek out together, so thank you. Well, thank just gonna echo that, because that was one of my biggest apprehensions was like, I'm gonna go to the woods with a bunch of strangers. Like, I don't know what this is about. But I guess like, I trust me, I know that she's not gonna like, I'm pretty confident we're not getting murdered. So were okay.
Evie Takacs 37:58
I was, I was double checking all the locks on the door.
Retreat Participant 38:08
But no, it's one of those things that you're putting yourself in that uncomfortable situation. And I was like, But wait a minute, I feel like we're doing this ourselves every single day. Because I think very even you mentioned like, going out with friends and having that peer pressure of like, Well, are you going to be drinking? And are you going to be eating this thing that you don't normally eat? It's like, Well, hey, at least that components not gonna be there. Because everybody is that like minded person. So you've got that community, like you said, and that, you know, now we've built this little group of, it's okay to go to a restaurant be like, No, I'm just going to have water. That's okay. Or no, I don't need the pizza because I'm perfectly content with my unbelievably colorful salad here. And it's delicious. So I think that that's something that was scary at first of look at all these strangers, what am I going to be doing here and having that, you know, night one, it was like, Oh, wow, these people actually do think like me, we're not you might be strangers that we're all connected in this way of we're focusing on our health, we have similar goals, we have similar protocols, which I think it's also helpful, I think that we're working on and we can kind of feed off that energy with each other. So you may be having a rough day. It's like, oh, but I see somebody doing this good thing. I should be doing that good thing because I know that it makes me feel better too.
Retreat Participant 39:12
I was just gonna say same kind of same thing of like that energy and we're all like minded like, I was worried. In case you guys didn't realize I do talk a lot
Retreat Participant 39:21
We talk too much. Okay. So that they have like, Oh, when I sleep, you know, kind of like go sharing the room. Like all these things. You kind of like worry about it. Like, I'm going to be well, no one's gonna say anything, but they're gonna think it and so you kind of have those feelings, but it's it's a level of like, I think it's even like throughout our lives, like people always say like, oh, too many women in a room like that's never good. You're never gonna get along. And I did a trip this summer and is similar for different reasons, but as people who travel by themselves and all of us got along, and that kind of that brought like that same energy here, like we're all like, like minded, and I think we're all like open to things. And so it did really bring like a really, really good energy. And I think we all got like, along like gangbusters, yeah.
Hannah Dennis 40:22
Yes, thank you. I just wanted to point out like, as much as I'm hearing a confidence and vulnerability, like we all came in with maybe a little, a little bit of fear of our personal vulnerabilities and then being in a group setting with that. And I hear so much more confidence in that and just being proud of ourselves and celebrating that. So I want to acknowledge everyone in this room for that, because I think we all probably came in with with something and whether or not that is completely resolved, we did it. And I just wanted to acknowledge them.
Toréa Rodriguez 41:02
Yeah, this has been a fantastic experience for the facilitators, as well. And Evie and I both have been dreaming of doing retreats for a very long time. We've got quite a 2023 calendar, going for a retreat. So there's lots of opportunity coming up. So anybody who is listening to this, who is like, Darn it, I missed it. Well, guess what, there's more opportunity. But, you know, it's what's really fascinating is that, even though we go to attend these kinds of things for ourselves to learn and have that experience, behind the scenes, the facilitators are growing just as much as you are. And so our stuff is coming up, just like your stuff is coming up, right, our fears are present, just like your fears are present. And so collectively, we have built this little community of seven people here that we all went through a have come through this, like wonderful piece of growth. And the amount of love that I have in my heart for each of you right now. It's kind of exploding, I'm kind of having a hard time containing it and seeing tears coming out of that besides, you know, it's just like this is such a momentous occasion. And how special is it? That we were able to do this because we don't get this opportunity? nearly enough. And so thank you, everybody here, because this is just such a wonderful thing. And I cannot wait to do more. Yeah.
Evie Takacs 42:39
And I get a like, I mean, it's not hard for me to cry, but like I get emotional because I just I think back to like when I first started wanting to be healthy. And it's like, I got backlash from people or I felt like I was an outcast, or I felt like I was a weirdo or whatever. And it's like, but not anymore like this. It's amazing to be able to have people who want to trusted us to do this. And then also, like, now I feel like there's a deeper connection with each of you of like, well remember, we talked about this at the retreat, or like, you know, I saw you do this, or how can we channel that. And it's just really cool. Because I always felt, well, when I first started getting healthier, it was a lot more criticism than I would have wanted from like, people close to me. And so overcoming that, and now I'm looking like, you know, four or five years later, I'm like, How how did we get here? Like, this is unreal to me like, like you. There's no way that I would have seen myself doing this like five years ago. There's just no way. And so it's really humbling for me to be in this position of having friends in this way. And so I'd really appreciate you doing that. And like I said, I said this last night at dinner, I don't think that there could have been a better group to kickstart this stuff. Yes. Like, honestly, I'm like, so if you're thinking of coming, you have to be super awesome. Because you have to tie like you this this group is just as almost like it can't be beat. It's just amazing. I'm joking. But seriously, this has been an amazing group to start with. And it's like, I don't know if he could have had better people come to like kickstart this and have us feel comfortable running this as well.
Toréa Rodriguez 44:10
Yeah. Yeah.
Hannah Dennis 44:14
I was gonna say just again, to humanize it, I feel like I've I've been friendships and you know, relationships that will evolve and grow past this. And I think that can be pretty rare and pretty hard as an adult and navigating the ebbs and flows of life. So just just walking away with that too, I think, right? We're all human beings that get to walk outside of this as friends with so much more knowledge, some growth and then just room for so much more opportunity. So I'm excited to reflect on that and I yeah, I hope everyone else does too, and celebrate those successes.
Toréa Rodriguez 44:54
So thanks, everybody for eavesdropping in on our first live podcast episode. This was really be fun. And we really really enjoyed this experience. And so we wanted to share it with you. We wanted to have it on both the help and motion and the wildly optimized wellness podcast episodes, because we want to get it out that far. So thank you so much for listening in. And we'll see you next time.
Evie Takacs 45:18
Yeah, have a great week, everyone.
Toréa Rodriguez 45:20
Hey, everybody Toréa here. If you've liked what you heard today, then I'm inviting you to become a premium member over at the Optimized Wellness Community because membership gets you instant and exclusive access to the full length versions of each of these conversations, both in video and audio format. Not only that, but with the community. You also get access to seminars, regular q&a activities, or seasonal challenges and starting in December. Your first month in the membership, you will get a copy of the wellness optimizing journal, we also have a luminary tier membership that gets you access to the live top breathwork classes as well as the visualization library and access to the coaches. Use the link in the show notes. Become a member and join us at the Optimize wellness community.
Toréa Rodriguez 46:19
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!
