Podcast: E19: Wellness on Vacation

Listen to the episode here: E19: Wellness on Vacation - https://apple.co/4f8XKBs

Hey there friends, I want to just welcome you to episode 19 of the podcast Integrative Mental Health Therapy with Dr. Tiffany. And I will be Dr. Tiffany and I'm always approaching every one of these episodes from the perspective of brain body mind. So that's my three legs stool of healing in the Doc Brown Bush method. And I am returning from vacation.

Super arrested, super tanned, and full of all kinds of thoughts. And I wanted to just capture a more just kind of to the point succinct episode here around wellness on vacation. Okay. So that's the title of this episode. And just my musings from being away. I did...

I did do like a little video on social media and I'll put the link to that in the episode notes. Just kind of my perspective on parts and parts controlling our health. So I won't repeat that part of my experience. But I do want to talk about just the rhythms because I know it's summertime, a lot of my clients are traveling and there is this tension around...

You know, like I'm gonna go away, I'm gonna get a break from my reality, I'm gonna get to focus on like fun and rest, and I don't wanna have to be weighed down by like the responsibilities of self-care. And I think that approach to mental health and that approach to physical health might've been realistic. I mean, I don't even think might, I think it was a possibility for some. There are young people in my practice who would not agree.

But for some in their late teens, early 20s, even mid to late 20s, they could get away with that. But if you're in my practice or you're someone who's interested in what I have to say, you may not feel like that's the case. I had one of my parents reach out for an 11 or 12 year old asking, we're going to keep this child on their supplements, but can we trim them down?

We're gonna keep our child exercising and doing the different things and watching the diet, but can we trim the supplements down just for the two weeks that we're traveling? So I do have young people who are definitely struggling with mood, mental health, and chronic disease issues who don't have the flexibility that maybe some of, some of my listeners do.

But if you're in your 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, you're seeing me for Alzheimer's or prevention of Alzheimer's, chronic illness, combined with mood issues, traumatic brain injury, ADHD symptoms, you know, chronic stress and anxiety. If you're like me, who has a diagnosis of lupus that's in remission and fibromyalgia,

Dysautonomia, if you're like any of these people, you go on vacation and you continue to take care of yourself. You don't look at it as a break from self-care. And I remember when I used to be in weight loss with my husband, how often people would prepare to go out of town and then go out of town and not do any of the things that they did to prepare to go out of town, right? Like eat healthy, exercise, and sleep properly.

And then come back from vacation and be completely out of their routine, struggle to get back in it. And some of them would never get back in it again until it was time for another vacation. It was this big yo-yo when it comes to self care. And that's just not how it can go. If you're the kind of person who listens to this kind of podcast, you've got to do it differently. And like I said, the post I made, I talk about...

Parts in our system running our health that aren't supposed to be running our health. So here is my take on how you can do this. And what I want you to know is it's not supposed to be fanatical. It is supposed to feel in alignment, in rhythm. This taking your healthy self on the road concept isn't supposed to be

In fear of a relapse, in fear of a flare, in fear of a panic attack. That's not what I want. I want you to say, hey, I know what it is that my body needs and I'm radically accepting that and I'm going to take that on the road. And that could be your own room, right? It could be a specific sleeping schedule.

It could be a specific eating schedule or dietary needs. And so the psychology of that is doing the work to release the concerns around being extra or having your needs met. It's your vacation, right? Eating at a time that makes sense for your digestive tract, I have a lot of IBS clients, is super important. And just trying to go with the flow.

And eat things or eat at times that don't make sense to you or for you could really cause a lot of problems during the trip and on your way and upon return. So making the kinds of choices like I had to do, which was like when I went on vacation here recently, we're in the Bahamas, I didn't always eat when everybody else was eating. I tend to intermittent fast. It's how I control symptoms.

And then when it's really hot, I don't have an appetite. So I have to honor that. And I've been on trips before where I had parts that didn't want to rock the boat and I would acquiesce and then I would pay for it later. And I've made a lot of major decisions around boundaries and self-care where it's just like, that's not an option for me. So one of the things I was really proud of with this trip is that my HRV stayed very high. It was even higher than it is at home.

My deep sleep and my REM sleep was really good, and I had a lot of energy and, I don't know what the word fortitude, when it came to sun sensitivity, which is a problem for me. My energy was high, there was no fatigue, and a lot of it had to do with honoring that HRV is impacted by late meals. So even though dinners would happen at 7, 8, 8.30, I would eat my last meal at maybe five, right?

And I'd have to make sure I remind it myself that I'm not on this vacation to try all the foods. I'm on this vacation for these experiences and for this connection. Maybe I didn't eat the first meal of the day with everybody. My meal came later. Maybe I went to bed earlier than others, right? I got up earlier than others and would meditate and pray and do my heart math work, right? Get outside and see the sun and exercise, right?

Take quiet time, read a book. There are a lot of things that I had to do that were different, than others, but they knew I was probably going to have to do something different. And unlike previous trips, there was space for it because I talked about it. I don't need people to make a lot of adjustments and space for me to do these things. However, I do need them.

To not get in the way of me doing these things. I packed all my supplements, they always go through customs, there's never a problem, and everybody worries about that. I flew in my PIF pad, my P-E-M-F pad, which if you're not familiar with that, I can talk about that as well. My heart math unit, I did all the things, and I had an incredibly rewarding vacation.

So you can take your wellness on the road as long as the priority is taking your well, healthy fit self on the road. And some of it is the psychology, some of it is honoring that your brain and your body are gonna need the right nourishment, movement, sleep, right? There are a lot of things that you want to keep in mind when you're doing this, but what I want you to hear me say is you deserve to take up the space for healing.

So I want you to just start with that psychological step of saying this is worth it, it is doable, and I believe I can do it, all right? I hope this was helpful. I know you're going on vacation this summer, so try to keep this in mind. I don't want you to come back ruined and we've gotta spend a month and a half or so trying to get you back on track. And until next time, be well.