Episode 009: Take Control Of Your Health
In this episode, Dr. Lauren Hodge and Kendra Till talk about their experience and give tips to take control of your physical, mental and social well-being.
We talk about routines that help us advocate for ourselves and take responsibility for our health. We cover strategies to manage and prevent physical health conditions and highlight mental health strategies, such as self-check-ins and mindfulness to help you tune into your body’s needs and your personal needs.
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Read The Transcript
Lauren Hodge
In today’s episode, we’re talking about how to take your health into your own hands. I’m thinking about physical health, mental health and spiritual health whenever we are advocating for ourselves and really prioritizing our health, I think everyone can agree that you feel so much better. I know for me this is all about how I schedule things.
Kendra Till
Absolutely. I feel that it’s so important. A lot of times people just lose that sense of time, and if they’re not making themselves a priority, then it can easily go down the rungs of the ladder in terms of when you have time to exercise or eating healthy as a priority. Having these practices in place is really important, and as you mentioned, Lauren, for you personally having that in your calendar. I think a big tip here also is just the simplicity of prioritizing yourself, and placing yourself first.
Lauren Hodge
What kind of things do you like to do whenever you’re prioritizing yourself and putting your health in your own hands. What do you put into your schedule?
Kendra Till
Exercise, absolutely, that minimum 45 minutes a day is really important. I also make sure that I’m getting outside and getting fresh air as much as possible. It’s easy to just go from task to task and you’re just indoors. If you’re on your computer, you’re working, doing housework, just being outside is really important and scheduling that time.
Lauren Hodge
Prioritizing that time outside.
Kendra Till
Also regular checkups. Obviously most practitioners now, once you finish your appointment, you make sure you go ahead and schedule in for your next one. But I’ve spoken to some friends, for example, where they say, “Oh, I’ve really been meaning to get my skin checked”. It’s almost like the minute you say that, just automatically book it in, stop putting it off.
Lauren Hodge
Get all of these basic things taken care of and do them regularly, knowing that you are your own priority. That reminds me of self check ins that you can do for your mental health. At the beginning of the day, I always check in and see what my main target and goals are, and at the end of the day, I ask myself what are my three wins today and what was my main challenge, it gives me that way of also just prioritizing my mental health and make make me feel like “yes, I have completed something at the end of the day, even if it wasn’t all the things that I wanted to.” And I think also things like meditation and routines are so important to prioritize yourself. When things are routine and they just happen naturally and you don’t have to think about them as much. It’s just a part of your routine that you go and exercise or you go take a break outside.
Kendra Till
And I like what you’re saying there because essentially, the way that I look at that is that you are practicing prevention. So essentially you’re setting up these systems and processes within your daily life to keep on top of your mental health to keep on top of your physical health to stay on top of your spiritual health and your social well being.
You know, and as I’ve heard, you mentioned this before from a you know, you work for yourself and so that can be really self isolating sometimes and you’re so good at, you say I make time to go and I scheduled time to go walk on the beach with a friend in the afternoon. So you make sure that you’re tying in that aspect as well which is equally as important. But again, those are essentially preventatives. And so when you’re taking control of your health, and you have to think about preventative health measures to essentially help to just slow down the progression -if you have any current conditions- either medically or mentally and prevent issues happening in the future as well. So that can come in many forms. And you know, the simplicity of choosing a healthy diet and exercising daily are excellent forms of preventative health. You know, again, I mentioned scheduling wellness checkups are so vital, it’s so important and ensuring that that is priority.
Lauren Hodge
Yeah, it sounds like it’s like both internal and external environment, right? I think that having those key things in place that you need, whatever that is that you need to optimize your own mental health really comes down to your environment. And so giving yourself and prioritizing the things that you need for that optimal state, and that optimal external and internal environment.
When I think OF internal environment, I’m thinking of things like yourself, and the things that you do for your mental health, like reflection and meditation and that sort of thing. And then there’s your check ins at the end of the day. And then there’s the external environment, probably getting it right, so that you can do exercises during the day, setting up your office so that you feel like you’re able to get into flow state and get distractions out the way and that sort of thing. Right?
Kendra Till
Yeah, and that’s part of what you incorporate into your course Flow coaching course, isn’t it?
Lauren Hodge
Yeah, that’s right. It’s bringing awareness to things that you already do that are in your internal and external environment, that are optimizing your mental health and then awareness to what you want to change and to bring in or to stop doing in order to optimize those spaces. But I think any positive changes that you’re making, even when it’s something you want to bring in can be difficult sometimes. So just starting with small baby steps.
Kendra Till
Absolutely. Yeah, baby steps that feel achievable, absolutely. I know we’ve we’ve spoken about that in different podcasts in terms of creating these healthy habits and making the positive changes where needed. Another element I want to talk about too, is just the aspect of cultivating mindfulness. I know that something that in my line of work, I see a lot in the sense of people when they don’t cultivate mindfulness, and what I mean by that is having that mind body connection.
So we know that the body and the mind are complex machines. And if you’re not really supporting yourself emotionally, or spiritually or psychologically, you can have a disconnect with the mind body. That in itself is a bit of a red flag, I believe from an intuitive perspective, if they have an injury or if they have a niggle or an ailment or some sort of pathology, but they’re not in tune to it, it makes the issue worse in a way.
Lauren Hodge
So it sounds like it’s important to pay attention to the subtle things in your body when you’re having back pain or “this hurts whenever I’m pushing this way.” Or “whenever I’m stretching that way” to know where your body is in pain, and then also just how your body’s functioning in general.
Kendra Till
Just that mindfulness of being in the present moment. So in pilates, for example, what I love is that’s a big element, it’s cultivating that mind body spirit connection. Being in that moment of time, and connecting with your body, actually paying attention to the sensations in the body, and where are you feeling those little niggles? The body is communicating to you, and I see a lot of people come in, who’ve shut off that channel. We need to investigate that and be mindful to be present, and give yourself permission to feel into that and to investigate that a little bit further.
Lauren Hodge
I love that, that’s something that you’ve definitely taught me to do is be mindful of what my body’s doing, and in any kind of place, but definitely when I’m in an exercise class. I sometimes like to close my eyes when I’m in a pilates reformer class and visualize the parts of my body that are working and visualize what that would look like. There’s some people who can do the mind-body connection and be really mindful with their eyes open, but for me, I have to actually close my eyes and go there. I also really like to take it off the mat, mindfulness while I’m brushing my teeth and washing dishes, and to just be really present with the task at hand. So I think that’s very much related to being in the present moment.
Kendra Till
Another tip I want to share too, is just being your own self advocate. So Lauren, I know you and I have had different experiences both personally as well as family members and friends where just the importance of being your own self advocate is just vital. Obviously, navigating the healthcare systems in any country is very complex and challenging. What we mean by being a self advocate is being able to ask the right questions with practitioners, if it’s a GP or a specialist, or your acupuncturist or a dietitian, your therapist.
Just asking the right questions, because you have to be your own self advocate, you know how you’re feeling, you know on a moment to moment basis what’s going on in your body and your mind and in your spirit. Ask the right questions. If you don’t feel like you’re getting answers, then keep digging. Or perhaps even look at swapping practitioners or finding somebody who aligns with you more, and is going to help you be an advocate.
Lauren Hodge
I’d add to that, too. There’s asking the questions, and then providing the information to your practitioners as well. So giving them all the information if you’re changing providers, or if you’re going into a new kind of health related situation. Just making sure that as much as possible that you’re giving each practitioner all the information that they need to make the decisions, which probably sounds obvious, but I know that we’ve both been in situations where we’ve had to communicate for the practitioners because they weren’t communicating.
Kendra Till
That’s right, and that’s exactly it. I’ve been in instances where I have asked for occupational therapists or physios of clients that if they have an injured ailment, and I asked the client, “Hey, if you can get file notes, or any sort of any type of note, that’s going to help me with what we’re working on here in the studio.” So exactly what you’re saying, Lauren, I think it’s really important to ask your practitioner to share files on your behalf, and if they aren’t able to do that, then ask to have your client file notes, and that’s across the spectrum.
So if you’re seeking other modalities, it’s just gonna help to optimize your health. I’m really passionate about that, I think that there’s some holes in the systems, particularly in the US, but in other parts of the world, in Australia, I saw it as well. But it’s vital to ensure that you’re optimizing and getting the best results for yourself, because you’re taking the time and the money to invest in yourself in your health. You just want to make sure that you’ve got this team of people that are behind you. I think that’s really important.
Lauren Hodge
Right? This could be collaborating or helping practitioners know the information about you across teams, it can also be just with insurance. I know that’s been a new thing for me here with the health care system in the US, and asking the right questions, asking how much these things cost, how much the treatment costs, how much each individual piece within your treatment costs, and you can talk to your insurance companies to get tips on exactly how to do that, but I know that’s something that I’m kind of having to navigate right now, with learning how to communicate with the insurance providers and to ensure I’m getting everything that I need.
Kendra Till
I mean, it’s a bit of a minefield, isn’t it? You’ve spent countless hours researching providers or insurance companies, and it’s a bit of a minefield. So I know you’ve spent a significant amount of your time to ensure that you feel comfortable with what decisions you’ve made and sometimes it’s like you’re treading water out there.
Lauren Hodge
I know that must have felt really overwhelming for you too, when you were navigating the system in Australia, and you are going through your treatment and needing to make sure that you are making sure that your practitioners are communicating across settings.
Kendra Till
Yeah, absolutely. I did have an experience about five years ago when I was going through quite a lot of fertility treatments and it was very overwhelming. My specialists they worked in silos and it was really frustrating because I was going to different specialists for different reasons. However, it was still this underlying fertility issue. I had to really self advocate and ask questions. I’ll be honest, some of those conversations felt uncomfortable, I felt pushy and then on top of that, you’re heightened with the emotional side of everything. So it was challenging, and I didn’t feel overly supported. But I just knew that I wasn’t going to get the outcomes that I desired if I wouldn’t have done that.
Lauren Hodge
That’s so hard too, when you’re going through a big life changing time and transition, or in your case receiving this information about your fertility, you’re shocked. Then they are like, “it’s go time, we need to move on this fast and now” and you’re having to not only go through that, and go through the fertility treatment process very quickly, without a lot of heads up, and then having to also advocate for yourself and speak across the practitioners to make sure that everyone was communicating. I can’t imagine how difficult that would be, but it’s great that you have the skills to do that.
Kendra Till
Thank you. I guess I’ve heard stories from other people and clients where unfortunately with terminal illnesses, or you hear of these really horrific stories where people are having to push to get, what they desire, and what they believe is right for them. Just having those discussions can be like trudging through really thick mud, and it’s just unfortunate. It’s being strong willed and keep practicing flexing that muscle of being a self advocate.
Lauren Hodge
So we hope that everyone got some really good tips today on prioritizing yourself, and taking your health in your own hands and advocating for yourself. So, if you want to find us, you can find Kendra at kendratillpilates.com, or on Instagram, @Kendratillpilates, you can also find her in Hilton Head Island, she has a couple pilates classes going there, and you should definitely go and check her out, look her page up on Instagram, you’ll be able to find that information. You can find me and contact me through my website, which is drlaurenhodge.com. Any links or resources that we mentioned will be linked in the show notes today. If you like what you heard, please find us on iTunes Podcasts or Spotify and tell us what part you liked about the episode today and give us a five star review. We’d love to hear from you and hear which parts of this you enjoyed the most.
Kendra Till
We really enjoyed that feedback, y’all. So if you can go ahead and take some time to provide that we’d be very grateful. So thanks so much for tuning in.
Lauren Hodge
See ya next time.
