Welcome to The Own Your Health Podcast.
I'm Cyndi Lynne, and I can't wait to
help you step into your health power.
So this week it's all about
owning your health on the road.
So whether it's travel or just having an outing for
a day, when we're away from home we need to
be and really can be excited about owning our environment.
So what does that mean exactly?
Well, this series that I'm doing, this short series, is
all about creating spaces that you want to inhabit.
Last episode we did owning your health at home,
and if you haven't listened to that, I encourage
you to go back and do so.
I'll put the link to that in the show notes.
And this time we're talking about environment,
spaces we inhabit outside of home.
And very often this is travel because I think
so many of us can get wrapped up in
travel and kind of lose our health.
I have so many clients who get back from holidays,
get back from work travel, get back from visiting family,
and they've just kind of let go of all of
the practices that they really value and at the same
time don't really feel well afterwards.
So I love to travel.
I like to feel good while I'm traveling.
I like to respect myself while I'm traveling and
be very aware of what decisions I'm making and
what decisions kind of get made for me as
we just get swept along in the moment.
So let's look at the type
of environments we might encounter.
We could be simply out at
a restaurant, in town with friends.
We could be a shopping day out with girlfriends.
We could be in business meetings all day.
I remember those very well from my corporate life where
for some reason they thought they could just put you
in a room and keep you there for 8 hours,
as long as they kept bringing food in.
Depending on who you are and when you're listening to this,
that may sound like a very strange thing, but for a
lot of you, a lot of my audience, I know, probably
recognizes that right away, like that was a thing.
It's just like this is the meeting, it's all day long,
we bring in food and we have your full attention.
So we know that that wasn't really
ideal for most of our health.
So being that the environment on the road can mean
so many things, I want to really focus on three
situations that I have found where owning my health, stepping
up and really taking ownership in owning my health in
these environments have been most impactful.
And when I say owning my health in these
environments, for some of you, it may bring up
these very stringent thoughts of, oh my gosh, I
do everything the same way all the time.
And if I leave the house, I have
to do it the same way too.
And it's not about rigid rules,
it's mostly about awareness, and awareness
in that, hey, I'm changing environments.
I have things that I value for my health.
How do I take those things out into the
world and at the same time shape that environment
or select that environment to continue to support me?
So here are the three most impactful that I have found.
First and foremost is owning
your meal times and routines.
So I don't know that there's anyone who enjoys
traveling on their stomach more than I do.
I love to go to other countries, other cities, and
eat the local foods and enjoy all of it.
But I found that the scheduling
can really, really affect my health.
And a couple things come into play.
First of all, if you're going, say, to Europe
from the US, there's time changes that are very
different and those you can adapt to relatively quickly.
The biggest effect that my health feels from eating in Europe
is that very often we love Spain, we love Portugal, but
very often people are eating dinner at 8,9,10 o'clock at night,
and my body's just not used to that.
It doesn't do well with that at all.
And that's not something that your body typically adapts
to in a few days like it does
time changes.
So how do I stay feeling good,
actually get the sleep I need?
Because that's one of the biggest impacts.
If I eat that late, I simply don't get good sleep.
So how do I enjoy all of that food
and still feel good while I'm doing it?
And that is by respecting my eating times.
So what does that mean?
That means very often when we're traveling, my husband
and I, we will have a really big lunch.
And it's the meal that comes 12:00-01:00 when I
would normally be eating, when I'd normally break my fast.
And we'll have what most people consider a full dinner.
We'll order all of the fish and all of
the salads and all of the courses and really,
truly enjoy it and have our glass of wine.
And then very often in the market,
we'll pick up something light for dinner
because honestly, the restaurants aren't open.
When I'm typically eating dinner, I like to finish eating
by 07:00 so that I have plenty of time before
I go to sleep so I can digest.
Now, this may be your schedule,
it may not be your schedule at all.
At home, you may eat very differently, but I can
almost guarantee that you will feel better, that you will
be able to own your health better when traveling, if
you respect the times that you normally eat.
Enjoy all of the things, but the
timing can be really, really critical.
Give it a try.
Let me know how it works for you.
The second thing that I found to be really impactful
is recognizing your need for downtime when you travel.
And this is probably a little bit more
of an impact when you're traveling for a
week or two at a time for vacation.
Where you stay and how much downtime you plan
in your schedule can make the difference between feeling
exhausted when you get home and truly enjoying everything
you experience and returning home rested.
So, for example, there are places we travel where we
stay with friends and family, and I do that only
if I know that those individuals have guest space where
I can have downtime, I can have time on my
own, I can go to bed and read at night,
rather than staying actively socially engaged until midnight.
If we go someplace where that isn't the lifestyle of
the people we're visiting, we stay in a hotel.
And if it's going to be an extended stay, if
we're going to be in one city for four, five,
six days or more, we actually typically get Airbnbs or
Vrbos so that we have much more of a downtime
and away from the public and the hustle and bustle.
Now I enjoy the hustle and bustle and being out
in the streets and the shopping and seeing everything that's
going on when I travel and also the downtime.
And I find even in a nice hotel,
I don't get enough of that downtime just
because of all the action that's around.
So I like to be able to sit
outside in a space that's quiet whenever possible.
I like quiet evenings whenever possible, in
a fine balance with the activities.
So knowing what your balance is between quiet
time and social time is very important when
you're selecting where you're going to stay.
And it's also very important when you're selecting
how many activities you're going to do.
Now, I know loads of people who have the
energy for and love to do five cities in
three days, and they thrive on that.
And that's fabulous.
I, and a lot of my clients, because frankly, that's
who's drawn to me, need a little bit more of
a balance of active time and quiet time and downtime.
So typically when we travel or we're out and about
for long distance travel, we will select one activity a
day that's social learning, a lot of input, one museum
a day, one type of that activity where you're learning,
you're taking it all in, and then that would be
a morning or an afternoon.
The opposite would be a quieter activity.
So visiting a park or taking a double
decker bus tour, something that requires a little
bit less active brain work on our part.
Because when you're in a completely new environment, it
takes a tremendous amount of energy just to navigate,
just to be aware of what's new, aware of
your surroundings, calibrate to the surroundings you're in.
Even for day trips, this can be a factor,
because if you're someplace new and there's a lot
going on, it takes a lot more energy.
So owning your health in that means balancing it.
Now, some people I know have super packed, busy day
and then a complete down day that works for them.
Whether it's a physical activity like skiing, people I
know ski a couple of days, take a day
off, or just very active travel schedules.
And many of us plan that same way,
even when there's social activities away from home.
So whether it's dinner out, dinner with
friends, shopping with girlfriends, I don't schedule
those day after day in a row.
And I think this is a very timely subject right now
because a lot of us have come off of the holidays
and the holiday schedule can creep up on you, and there
are many things that you want to do.
And I have weeks like that where I've looked
at everything that I have on the schedule, everything
that I've let on the schedule, and all of
it is stuff I want to do.
But taken together, it seems really overwhelming.
And that's not what we want.
That's not what owning your health is about.
So I encourage you to think back if that schedule
got away from you at all in December. If it
did, reconsider how you want to plan your time, how
you want to plan and protect your health in those
external environments. If it didn't get away from you -
congratulations. Good job.
Keep up the good work as we move through the new year.
So the third thing that I found to
be very impactful when it comes to taking
and owning my health on the road is
recognizing what your absolute creature comforts are.
Now, I typically travel carry on
only even for two weeks.
There is one thing that deserves space in my
suitcase or carry on wherever I go, and that
is some kind of travel yoga mat.
And it's not so much that I have to do yoga every
day because that you can do in any kind of situation.
But with that mat, I know that I can create a
clean, cushioned place on the floor where I can stretch, where
I can move my body, where I can meditate, where I
can bring those practices from home into the new environment.
And that yoga mat is, one,
a comfortable place to do it.
But second, it's a cue to me, an external
cue in a new environment, that my existing practices
belong here, and it's a reminder to do them.
So that, for me, is pretty much a non negotiable unless
I go somewhere where I know they're going to have one.
I like mine.
Is it my favorite yoga mat?
No, it folds up, it's extra thin, but it is a place.
It's a creating space that I can inhabit and
own my health within just about any environment.
And I've had it outside, I've had it
inside, I've had it all over Europe.
It's just one of those things.
What is that for you?
For some people, it's pillowcases that have been washed
at home and are comfortable on their skin.
For some people, they absolutely
have to have certain clothes.
And again, it's not so much a matter of OCD
or, oh, my gosh, you can't do yoga without your
mat, or you can't get along without these particular items.
But recognizing those items that are really pivotal in owning
your health at home and can go on the road
with you, not just for their physical use, but for
their queuing to remind you and to bring you back
to that space so that a little bit of that
health that you have in this beautiful environment you've created
at home comes with you on the road.
So I hope that's been helpful.
There's many, many other examples, and if desired, we
can do another episode on this, but I really
encourage you to think about how you can own
your health and take it on the road.
Happy travels everyone in 2024.
