Show notes –
Join Shannon & Christine & guest Chantal Debrosse to chat about the 8 dimensions of wellness & how to improve your physical wellness, especially with sleep!
Shealo Glo – www.shealoglo.com Now offering Subscriptions * Delivered on the 1st & 15th!
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Stillpoint – https://www.amazon.com/Stillpoint-Self-Care-Playbook-Caregivers-Breathe/dp/1732370400
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2022 InterPlay Playathon –https://www.interplay.org/playathon2022.htm
Cranial Sacral Therapy –
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/17677-craniosacral-therapy#:~:text=Craniosacral%20therapy%20(CST)%20is%20a,and%20boosting%20health%20and%20immunity.
Forest Bathing – https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/
Lies my teacher told me – https://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-2nd/dp/B07T15Q8TM/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Sound Therapy Training – https://iash.in/tag/germany/
How to connect with our guest Chantal –
Show Transcript –
NOTE: While it’s not perfect, we offer this transcription by Otter.ai for those who are hearing impaired or who don’t find listening to a podcast enjoyable or possible.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
sleep, wellness, body, people, eat, talking, chantal, rest, conversation, work, physical, women, called, feel, listening, wisdom, age, vet,
life, podcast
SPEAKERS
Shannon M., Chantal Debrosse, Christine Gautreaux
Shannon M. 00:08
Let’s do this. Okay, ladies, welcome to our podcast. I am Shannon Mitchell, a black female, millennial entrepreneur, the founder
of shallow glow, a handmade shea butter company. I am a champion for your self care, business care and intentional wellness.
Christine Gautreaux 00:25
And I am Christine Gautreaux, a white social justice advocate, an international speaker, coach and published author who helps
you upgrade yourself in community care.
Shannon M. 00:35
Yes. And together, we are women connected in wisdom, a podcast grounded in the eight dimensions of wellness. Welcome, welcome to our show.
Christine Gautreaux 00:43
And we like to get together every week to have intentional conversations about how to be wise in business relationships and wellness. And we like to bring on phenomenal guests to like our guest today. So we’ll let y’all know who that is in a few minutes. Yes. Let’s do a check in. Right,
Shannon M. 01:06
that big ticket on which which part? I know we’re talking about? Well, we haven’t talked about what we’re talking about today. But I know we’re talking about dimension of bonus. Right. But where do you want to start?
Christine Gautreaux 01:17
Well, let’s first of all, we are on episode number 55. Wrapped up? They do play Yes. Right. And how the heck are you?
Shannon M. 01:29
I’m good. I am so grateful for these conversations, especially through COVID. And everything that’s been going on to be
intentional about wellness. And my, you know, focus going there. I think it’s been great. Again, we always talk about holding
both grief and gratitude. So there’s a lot going on. And I’m proud of the way that I’ve been maintaining the things that I can
control. No, absolutely. Yes. Well, and
Christine Gautreaux 01:58
you know, we are talking today on February the 16th, a couple of days after Valentine’s Day is celebrated and commercialized
here in the United States. How did that go for you?
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Shannon M. 02:13
It was great as a black young woman striving towards financial freedom. I was working 14 hours that day actually at work, got
to work at 430 in the morning, but had my breakfast and my water and it was a great day. And our Valentine’s is on Friday. Now. I still got my flowers. I wasn’t expecting expect you to be on camera, but give a shout out. Yes. So I had a beautiful day. Oh,
Christine Gautreaux 02:44
it was delightful. You know, I have been with my sweetheart for 27 years, I think that maybe twice I don’t know. We started to
lose count, right. But we both looked at each other. And we just had this moment of peace and contentment. And you know, it was such a beautiful place to be. And we both had full days of work. We you know, but we were intentional about sharing a meal together. We were very thoughtful with Yeah, it was we had a Sun Moon and stars theme going on, which was a lot of fun,
too. So that was really it was really beautiful. And it was delightful. So yeah, I mean, you know, that’s, that’s the thing is, is all
these pieces of our wellness of who we are, you know, in addition to our work in the world, in addition to the roles we play, how
do we how do we do it? You know? Yeah, then you were talking about
Shannon M. 03:47
physical wellness. That simple that holds it all the feet that take all the steps to wash all the dishes and go get gas and laundry
and all of this stuff. So the definition we’re using physical wellness is the ability to maintain a quality of life that allows you to
get the most out of your daily activities without undue fatigue, or physical stress and physical wellness recognizes that our daily
habits and behaviors have an impact on our overall health, well being and quality of life. Hmm,
Christine Gautreaux 04:21
yeah. Alright, let’s do a quick check in about physical wellness. I didn’t remember we were talking about physical wellness
today, but I feel like I feel like the teacher’s pet today. I’m just gonna I’m just gonna name it. You know, both my parents were
public school teachers. So you know, I have that piece of me still that likes to be prepared that likes to make the a that like, you
know, and I’m like, Oh, it’s a good day to talk about physical wellness because, you know, I started the day interplay, the
national and international organization is doing a 2020 to play A THON, and I am teaching two classes as a part of that play a
THON. And so this morning, I started the day at 830, doing the pop ups, which is 30 minutes of Interplay where you start the
day in your body grounded, we’re warming up our bodies, we’re connecting with other people on the call it really just focus and
intention to start your day. So I did that. And then I jumped off the call and took the puppers for a two mile walk. It’s a little more physically active than I intended to be, because I’ve been working too much. And so I have been working with my training
as much as I have with him. So at about a mile and a half, things kind of fell apart a little bit. And so it was a little more of a
physical walk. Because he was not very big. I jumped on today as part of the play at on, one of our leaders out in Seattle is
offering an interplay class, based on Brene, Brown’s new book Atlas of the heart. And I am just feeling so lucky because I’m
taking it not teaching it. So I jumped on and did that. But that is more like dancing and warm up and embodiment. So when I
sat down today, I actually went and got a cup of coffee a little later than usual, because I was like, I’m tired. And I thought, Well,
yeah.
Shannon M. 06:24
Yeah. Episode 55. All this inner playing. Yeah.
Christine Gautreaux 06:27
And then I know you do all the stairs at work. How are you? kicking around?
Shannon M. 06:32
So again, teacher’s pet, we’re both talking at the front of the class. Okay.
Christine Gautreaux 06:39
It would be interesting to do a podcast survey, like how many podcast hosts?
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It would be interesting to do a podcast survey, like how many podcast hosts?
Shannon M. 06:44
Were at the front of the class. Right? Yeah, that’s a good point. But hey, if somebody told me in college, you can get a that’s
great. But it’s better if the professor knows you. And they weren’t wrong, okay? I’m not. We’re this is what we’re here for. And
I’ve always had that relationship with teachers too. Because I’m going to early class, I need to study and make sure I know what
I’m talking about. But for me with physical wellness, I did a great job on Valentine’s Day it, making sure that I ate before I
poured into everything else, right? I’ve been working on my sleep schedule, which is something that we’re going to talk about
today. And I actually got up. I think one that morning, too. Usually, I would say, don’t do that you’re in the cycle of insomnia,
right? That day where you can’t sleep and you’re so wired about work, but really, it was so that I could have the time to take my time with myself and work out and drink water and write in my journal, and then get to work early and make sure I ate
breakfast and then start. And so it’s actually a good thing. And throughout the day, we took breaks and made sure to stretch. And that’s when I would play like type music. And then other times, I was playing focused music and you know, giving myself a
break and not working straight through the 14 hours. Yeah.
08:02
You make me tired just thinking.
Shannon M. 08:05
That’s why I got to do it now. Because in 10 years, I won’t be on a boat somewhere. Okay, I’m not doing this next year. I don’t want to work on Valentine’s Day, somebody called Chris off and let him know. I worked the last two years. I was at Shiloh global market last year, right this year, I’m counting this retail. And next year. Maybe I’ll be at time freedom by that point. Who knows where we’ll be on the on the freedom journey.
Christine Gautreaux 08:30
I love that. We’ll talk about Shayla glow before we bring up our incredible guest. What has happened. I mean Shiva glow is our
sponsor of this podcast. Yeah. And also just in regards to physical wellness, what you got going on over there, it’s
Shannon M. 08:47
so good. So I don’t know where to start. I’m so excited. We have more sense coming. So not only do I love new scents and
being able to switch stuff out sometimes, right? But when I started this company, I said that it was going to be it was going to
grow and the products that I would make would be based on what the streets are asking for. And they’ve asked for. I’m not
going to tell you the sense where they’ve asked for some sense and they’re coming and that is through the help of let me see if
I can show you scared bah bah bah bah bah good and the spark innovation labs we Auburn we have been having such a good
time. I need to work on the social media I’ve been at work for 14 hours so social media is not where my honor student inside me would like it to be right but we’re putting stuff together get in a retail space together what designing it and it looks
amazing. So we’re we’re working on the foundation of everything right now.
Christine Gautreaux 09:46
I love it. So Y’all stay tuned and in our show notes you can find out where to find more information about Shaelyn flow and
check out all their product lines because y’all you glow from head to toe when yes into products. They are phenomenal. So,
alright, you want to give our listeners the definition one more time before we bring our esteemed guest up here.
Shannon M. 10:11
Okay, so we’re talking about physical wellness. And it is the ability to maintain a quality of life that allows you to get the most
out of your daily activities without undue fatigue or physical stress. physical wellness recognizes that our daily habits and
behaviors have an impact on our overall health, well being and quality of life.
Christine Gautreaux 10:36
I just feel like I need to like tape that on to the bathroom wall. Yeah,
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Shannon M. 10:41
a little, little the one that the one that we update, take that one on the bathroom wall.
Christine Gautreaux 10:47
Well, no, our guest today I’m very excited to introduce you to Chantal DeBrosse is a transformational life coach, for strong women who are sometimes seen in the extremes as the perfect saint, or the black sheep. Neither description fits our life
purpose is to help those who feel stuck in an identity that is not theirs. And don’t know where to begin the journey of the
sovereign self. I’m going to read that one again. I had to pause I was I read this before the show. And then it just as I was
reading it, like the power of that hit me, her life purpose is to help those who feel stuck in an identity that is not theirs. And
don’t know where to begin the journey of the sovereign self. Always keeping the individual at choice. shantala provides an open
and safe space for a person’s energy to blossom so that they can develop the wings to fly beyond the currently. I love that be
on the come on up here. And let’s have a conversation. Hey, hey there. so delighted that you are here. I met Chantal at the
sovereign women’s Tellus summit just a couple of weeks ago. And I was like, oh, please come have this conversation on the women connected wisdom podcast. Yeah. So we are so delighted you are here.
Chantal Debrosse 12:19
Thank you for having me. I’m so pleased to be here. This is exciting.
Shannon M. 12:24
I’m glad you feel that way. I can’t wait to talk about our topic today. I think it’s going to be really good. And then I’m going to go
do some wisdom and action around it after this. And you’ll get it after we talk, I guess.
Christine Gautreaux 12:38
So one of the things that when you did your presentation at the teleseminar that we were presenting it together, one of the
things that stuck out to me was just your practical wisdom around physical wellness, and, and of course, your powerful personal
story. So will you share that with our listeners about what puts you on the path of physical wellness? Oh, absolutely.
Chantal Debrosse 13:06
Um, I had always been a bit of a brainiac. So between the spirit and the brain, I was always taking care of things. I was learning
things, I was meditating, I was being kind, I was forgiving, but I wasn’t taking care of my body. And there came a point where as
the years went by, I lived under a lot of stress. When I was growing up a dysfunctional family, I repeated the dysfunction in my marriage. And I was struggling so hard to be a better person. But my body was saying, Hey, how about me and I wasn’t paying
attention. I ended up gaining weight over time, just slowly, but everyone said, Oh, but that’s what happens when you get older. And I thought well, I need to try harder to you know, not eat so much or I need to be more active like I was when I was younger. And it just in my 40s That was the the loop that I was in in my 50s I realize it’s not about aging that was making it worse. It’s
about not taking care of cleaning out things, not making sure that only the best thing is going to my body as far as clean water,
clean food, and not following somebody else’s program like some people are vegan, and that works perfectly for them. Others
eat meat, just make sure that they’re clean meats. And I think meats should be like limited. So I’m not going to tell you never to
eat meat. But you got to find what’s best for you. And that’s what happened. I couldn’t sleep. I’d go to work. I’d sleep 10 hours.
Let’s say I go to bed at nine wake up at seven and I take a nap during my lunch break and I was still exhausted. So I finally
reached a point where I was like, I need to stop. I need to just take care of my body.
Christine Gautreaux 14:59
I love that story. Now, I was trying to think about when you were talking about what age I was when I had that realization in
that crash, I had a crash to like a physical health crash. Was it in your 40s that that happened? Or was it in your 50s?
Chantal Debrosse 15:15
It was last year, I’m 59. Okay, well, last year when I was 58, I was trying to get out of bed. And I it was about, I don’t think I got more than like three feet off the bed when you’re getting up. And I just fell back down as if somebody had kicked me down, like
somebody was physically knocking me over. And I went, something’s wrong. Because i No matter how badly I felt, I could
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somebody was physically knocking me over. And I went, something’s wrong. Because i No matter how badly I felt, I could
always keep going. It comes a point where your body makes you.
Christine Gautreaux 15:45
So wise, and as women, we do that all the time, we discount the little signals that our body is sending us or we discount in we
just, I always use it with my clients, when I’m talking about I’m like, I had a habit before I got embodied and started really doing
this work, I would see a little problem. I go, Oh, that’s a little problem. And I throw it behind my shoulder, or Oh, that’s a little
symptom, and throw it behind my shoulder. And then one day you look turn around and you’re like, That mountain is bigger
than me. Like, that’s huge. So that paying attention to our bodies before it becomes a crisis. Yes.
Shannon M. 16:30
I love that story. And I think it’s interesting too, because a lot of times again, we’re talking about with age, right? So we think
that it comes with age, but it just comes with living children’s nutrition is important, too, you know, and even as a young woman, I went to college and it wasn’t in college. It was the last few years. But it was also after college. Again, like you said,
between my brain, my spirit, all these things, I knew that I should focus on it. But the way I remember it was my birthday. I went over my friend’s dorm, see, I think my thighs getting bigger. I said no, you’re fine. A few years later, my thighs were
getting bigger. Okay, like I was I knew it. Look at his pictures, I took my passport picture. I said, What is going on? What is going
on? No, we got to take care of ourselves. And it was also when I tried to discipline my diet. And I realized that every day I will go
to work and come back home. And by the time I came back home, I had broke the word that I had given myself, you know, like,
you’re not committed to what you say, you’re going to do for yourself. It’s crazy that I can’t not put a fry in my mouth. When I
go to pop. It was crazy, because I was working at Papa Joe. And that’s when I realized every day you in here eating this food. I
thought you told yourself that you were gonna take care of yourself what happened? You know? So yeah,
Chantal Debrosse 17:47
there comes a point where you have to have a conversation with the committee in your head. Okay. And yeah, like, we all need
to be on the same page,
Shannon M. 17:58
have a conversation with the committee
Chantal Debrosse 18:01
all need to be on the same page, because we’re all living in this one body. Right? So ego get over here. High and Mighty
spiritual over soul, you come down here, I want everybody let’s look at each other in the eyes, and do what it takes to help this
body. Because let me tell you, my body says to me, and I would have just imaginations like about the cells. It says, If you don’t
give me what I need, I can’t do what you need in order to stay alive. And that’s when I started to change my activity, my food. And I started watching my sleep, every little thing I started just allowing myself to receive messages whenever it would pop up.
If something popped up more than once. I’d be like, Okay, I get the message. And that’s when I realized that I wasn’t sleeping
properly. I was waking up four or five times a night I had sleep apnea, I had gained weight to the point where everything was
uncomfortable and it wasn’t just fat, it was inflammation. There’s a difference. And what you have to do is figure out what that
difference is. And I’m going to tell you what the difference was for me. I could not exercise without feeling winded. So therefore,
I realized after I lost weight without exercise, it was a calorie restricted, mild keto kind of diet for over six months and I lost 40
pounds. That’s not exorbitant. It’s a steady weight loss, like about two pounds a week, right? But we want to take it off faster
than we put it on. It took me years to put it on and I want to get it off in two months. No. But you know, let’s say six months
later, I decided to walk outside and I walked a mile and I said let me walk a little further. I walked two miles. And then I walked
five miles, without any preparation because I was no longer toxic. My body could function. Now I wasn’t running, I was simply walking. But before I couldn’t even walk down to the end of the block. So when they tell you to just exercise harder, say, you
know, pause, Hey, hold on a second, let me find out what’s best for me. And for me, it was getting rid of the toxins and the
excess weight. And then I could exercise without feeling so winded and sick. Like I was gonna vomit. There were times where I
felt like I was gonna throw up because I was pushing myself with the toxins still in my system.
Christine Gautreaux 20:47
I love what I’m hearing you say? Which is check in with your body. Yes, your inner authority. And what is your body mean?
Correct. I, I love that. About six years ago, I did an elimination diet too. Because I was inflamed. I had all the kind of no one’s
sleeping through the night, I was up three or four times. And I was like, I gotta figure this out. Like same thing like, Oh, you just
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get to this point where you’re like, someone’s got to change, right? So I can be I can show up and be my most vibrant, engaged
self. And what worked for me, what I realized is, I can’t do gluten, that when I gave up gluten, I slept through the night for the
first time in 24 years. Like, I thought it was I blamed it on my kids, because I hadn’t really slept since I had kids. And you know,
the kids that I played on the dog didn’t blamed it on the husband. And what it was was what I was putting in my body, and my
body was trying to get rid of it. And so when I gave up processed sugar and gluten, and I just It changed my sleep patterns. And
I could sleep through the night. So now it’s the exception when I don’t sleep through the night instead of the rule.
Chantal Debrosse 22:06
Right. Excellent.
Shannon M. 22:08
Yeah, I love that it. Go ahead, I was gonna say,
Chantal Debrosse 22:12
I got tested for food allergies and sensitivities. And they showed that I had zero food allergies or sensitivities. Now there’s a
thing called sub clinical reaction where it’s not going to register in their tests. But you know what things make you feel awful. If
I eat a plate of pasta, I want to go to sleep. I thought that was normal. And everyone thinks it’s normal. But it’s not good for me.
If I eat tons of bread, I could eat bread once in the in the week, or maybe even twice, but I need time for my body to purge it
out. I can’t eat it every single day. So I had to advocate for myself and say thank you for the information. And I know that when
I eat this stuff, it’s not good for me. Or if I’m doing something that’s not good for me, I need to give myself time to purge it out
of my system.
Christine Gautreaux 23:04
Who I am that way with nightshades. So nightshades for our listeners are things like tomatoes, and potatoes and peppers and,
and being a girl originally from Texas, like that’s my salsa, right? And when I am toxic, if I have not been eating clean, I cannot
handle any of it. Now, if I have been eating clean, I can have a little bit. I just can’t have too much. Or my body’s like, nope, let’s
have an inflammation session. So getting to know ourselves and listen to our own bodies for what works and what doesn’t work,
I think is crucial because we’re the experts of our own bodies. Yeah,
Chantal Debrosse 23:44
it’s true. And these things can happen at any age, as Shannon was mentioning. I noticed that women in the middle age years
like, you know, 40 an up, we’ll have these things that happen to us and people will even your doctor will say to you, it’s because
you’re older. One time I went to a gynecologist and not. And I told him that I had like a like a stain, you know, discoloration
under my boobs he goes, lots of women with large breasts have that. Turns out it was from yeast overgrowth, because when I
stayed away from breads, it went away. When I went back, it came back. Did it again. It went away. It ate it again. It came
back. I’m like, wait a second. So there’s these things that the doctors don’t even pay attention to because there’s no medication
for it and there’s no surgery for it. So it’s no big deal. Just live with it. Women with big breasts have this. I’m like, Nah, that’s not
cool.
Shannon M. 24:46
It’s not cool. And again, what I think is interesting because when people think about psychology, or what I’ve seen is that when
people think about psychology degrees, a lot of times they just think About therapist, right. But it’s also it should be based in
research. And so in research, we know that one thing, one thing cannot prove causation, you are not. Second, as far as science
is concerned, and medicine, which is what we’re talking about supposed to say, age caused this, it might be a factor. Of course,
you know, the size of a younger girls breast might not be as big as the size of a older woman’s breast. So it may be more likely
if the skin is laying together that maybe it doubles the amount of yeast and the pH of the skin itself. That makes sense. But it’s
also not going to be the only thing because it was the age, the size of the breast. And it was the gluten in the bread. It was the
yeast in the bread. So for me things like that are just minimizing what somebody is saying. So here we go with women
connected in wisdom, because this is why with a chronic illnesses, people get sick, I’m asking for help. And you’re not listening
to what I’m saying and taking the time to do the research. But also, that’s how our medical system is built right now. It’s not
built on. Make sure that you take zinc and magnesium and vitamin C and get your Vitamin D from the sun drink water. And
then yes, be consistent on your prescriptions. Right and your your nutrition this that’s not how it was based off of. So that’s why we have to have these conversations.
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Chantal Debrosse 26:24
Absolutely. And it’s not that I’m saying be anti medical Rice, rice, sometimes you need those more natural and women’s wisdom things to support the medicine so that you’re not increasing your dosage, you’re actually getting a dosage that might work for you because you’re also doing things that are supporting your body.
Christine Gautreaux 26:48
Well, I think about it in regards to when we think about the eight dimensions of wellness, right? Used to people would just think
oh, you just you know, just exercise eat right. And everything we’re and we know, like there’s many layers to wellness. And I
think the same thing, when we talk about physical wellness, there’s many layers to physical wellness, right? There’s sleep like
you’re talking about there’s toxicity in our bodies, there’s, are we moving our bodies, we don’t call it exercise like are we able to move, like I have noticed in especially during the pandemic, I have this fun game that I play my youngest daughter who’s in
college at Agnes Scott introduced me to it and it’s called Pickman bloom. It’s a Nintendo game that’s on our computer. I love it.
I said to one of my colleagues the other day, hey, do you do you? Do you play video games? And she was like I did when I was a
kid? Well, I still do cuz like, there’s some that are cool. So the premise of this game is they you so flowers as you walk around
the Earth. So like when you walk, you collect flowers, and it’s fun, y’all check it out, I’ll put a link to it in our show notes. I like
that idea, though. What it does is it tracks your movement, right? And so I work from home. And if I am not conscious, or if I’m
not teaching an interplay class on a day, I literally can go a day where I only have like 200 steps or 400 steps. And it’s like, what, like, you think you’ve worked more? You think you’ve moved more? And it’s like, you didn’t move out of that office chair. Right? So it’s like, who and I think, you know, they, they they, I mean research shows different things. But I think 7500 is what
I’ve read lately, about the sweet spot. A lot of people aim for 10,000 on steps. But I think research has has said about 7500 is
the if you’re intentional and wanting to lose weight, or if you’re wanting to increase your fitness, that that’s the number of
steps. Well 200 steps is a long way from 75.
Shannon M. 28:57
And there’s a lot of days that you would have to add up together to get that so we’re supposed to be multiplying and be like
slowly increasing,
Christine Gautreaux 29:04
oh, being intentional about it and finding ways to engage. Like my daughter just made this because she she needed to engage
at college and have so it’s so cute y’all because we can also send postcards to each other. So like when you walk around
different spots, like if there’s a mural there, a lot of times it’ll pop up and you get a postcard that you walked by it, and then I
can send it to her. So like I was traveling last weekend and Asheville and I took a couple of walks. And then I sent her postcards
from Asheville electronically. Just super fun. Like it’s I think I knew what to do it to engage a lot of fun wellness. Yeah, yeah.
premise of sewing flowers and beauty were just as part of my values too. So that totally goes in.
Chantal Debrosse 29:49
You know, it’s got to be fun, because that’s the only way to make it sustainable. When we were children. We didn’t do things
that made us feel lousy you wait to go outside and play, and actually go and pick flowers or throw rocks or you know, stick and
hoop, I know that this is the 21st century. But when you run with a hoop with a stick and you try to keep it from falling over,
you didn’t need much, you know, stick ball make up stuff. In hopscotch, I mean, look at all the things that we did red light,
green light, 123. Well, that’s all about running. And then at some point in our lives, they tell you walk, don’t run. It never comes
back to run or go run again.
Christine Gautreaux 30:41
ultramarathoner like,
Shannon M. 30:46
right, and and what I’ve realized, too, like, we especially in college, right, there’s a whole conversation of where you are in your
development, you’re at the house for the first time, usually, for most people that are in college, right? And it’s the idea of now
we get to relax, and especially after college now, there’s no more learning, like, wait a minute, who said there was an age on
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development? Like, why did you think you if you stop, you’re probably going to start going backwards because their moat, you
know, you’re in motion, no matter if you’re intentional about it or not? Well, our
Christine Gautreaux 31:18
listeners who have been longtime listeners have already had heard my co author Sheila Kay Collins speak, she was one of our
first guests. But Sheila is in her 80s and dances almost every day. And her theory is like, we keep dancing, and you keep moving. And when you would meet her, you’d be like, what, like, I mean, she out dances me. I mean, she is an incredible
human being. And I think about that, like pick your movement. What it doesn’t have to be fast. It doesn’t have to be harsh, like, what do you love to do that moves your body and brings you joy?
Chantal Debrosse 31:55
Yes, things like Qi Gong and Tai Chi. You can also do slow aerobics, you can lift your weights slowly, because the key I’m going
to tell you, the key is to maintain range of motion. And there’s a thing called hormesis, which is stressing your body so that when it breaks something down, it rebuilds. If you’re not breaking something down, then you’re going to have some decrepit
thing that’s going to last a little longer, but not at the same level of novelty as a brand new self. So people who are
bodybuilding and you see them have those muscles just because muscle fibers fibers have broken down, and it’s during sleep
that they get built up. So you need both the activity and the rest.
Christine Gautreaux 32:53
I know that to be true. I know that to be true. It was when I was turning 40 I decided I was going to run my first triathlon. And I
grew up as an athlete, my dad was a coach in Texas, like it’s just how I grew up. And then when I went to college, I just took a
break. And then I realized how much my body missed it. Like it meant I used to be a long distance runner and all these things.
So prepping for my 40th birthday, I decided I was going to run my first triathlon. And getting back into that rhythm when you
are training for something or when you are building up, you have to allow for more sleep. Like when I am training for an event, I
have to build in the sleep as part of my schedule that it is just as important as my cycling workouts that my as my swimming workouts as my run the sleep part and and it increases which you know, is a big deal when your schedules already tight.
Shannon M. 33:57
So can we talk more about that Chantal? I know that’s what I was interested in hearing is how you go a little deeper than I would as somebody who might not know all the research behind sleep on how it benefits your level of physical wellness.
Chantal Debrosse 34:13
Well, sleep actually helps to rest the body and it allows for neurological shifts to occur. For example, they just recently
discovered I think back in 2012, the glymphatic system, which is the central server cerebrospinal fluid that is around your brain.
It also washes through your brain in rhythmic patterns to clean things out. And they believe that when people don’t get enough
rest that’s what is causing the amyloid plaque to build up in your brain which has been shown to be in predominance with
people with Alzheimer’s. Also people with Parkinson’s have difficulty sleeping sleeping and people with Alzheimer’s have
difficulty sleeping. And they don’t know whether it’s the lack of sleep that causes it, or the disease that causes the lack of sleep,
I say, yes, it’s both, you can’t sleep. So the pattern starts happening, or you have the disease and you can’t sleep. So therefore
you have the disease and you can’t sleep, you know, it just keeps feeding on itself. So that’s an important thing, washing out
your brain, it also helps you to build your immune system so that with proper rest, you’re able to protect yourself from infection
three times more than somebody who’s exhausted and is having all the supplements and eating properly, but has no no, no
rest pattern in their life, it helps to regulate your appetite as well. Now, if you go to bed hungry, I mean, that’s a tough thing. But most of us don’t have that problem, we end up eating too late, and we’re not eating the right things. So therefore
everything gets thrown off, your metabolic system starts to work better, so that you have less of an issue with obesity when
you have proper sleep. So you’ll see people fall asleep easily when they have excess weight on them, because they haven’t
rested properly. Again, with the sleep apnea, that’s probably keeping them from getting enough oxygen into their system and
in their brain. And it also helps you with your emotional response when you’re well rested. So it’s something that keeps people
from from just falling apart. There. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of cultures, like the Hawaiian cultures or other cultures, where they just kind of lived according to the cycles of the earth, and they didn’t knock themselves out when they finished, you
know, harvesting the wheat or that were or rice or whatever, they would just stop moving. So they’d work five hours in a day,
and then they just relax, because that’s all that was needed. And the sun was too hot or whatever. And so those people had more peace in their lives. But then when the Westerners would come along and be like, Oh, no, we can do twice as much or
three times as much, you know?
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Shannon M. 37:14
Yeah. Yes, yes. Last week, we were talking about Black History Month and books that we’re reading and resources that are
available and I was talking about the lies my teacher told me is still a book I’m listening to. And that’s exactly what it was
talking about is the the idea of productivity and growth always being a good thing you know, just like this, you can’t you
shouldn’t work out every single day. The rest is just as important. You’re not getting to the goal that you want and probably
doing damage by working that way. Like allow yourself to rest and that was really interesting when I when I heard that, you
know cultures have siestas and things that they do throughout the day. Again naturally before the light bulb was perfected. We
stayed on there are circadian rhythm which is the rhythm of the sleep in your body stayed connected to the rhythm of the sun.
You weren’t driving home by highway lights at 3am You know there were no highways there were no cars we were asleep
because that’s what we needed to do. Yeah, so that’s that’s really interesting to hear all the different benefits that sleep has
you say that
Christine Gautreaux 38:23
Shannon it makes me think of I read and I can’t remember where I read it. I’d have to look it up. But if you are having trouble
sleeping and you may know that Chantal if you are having trouble sleeping if you go camping, and I think it’s for two nights or
something like that, it will reset your system. Got it because it’s about getting unplugged and away from the lights and away
from the noise and getting back to the rhythms of the earth. Yes,
Shannon M. 38:52
I love that and I’ve wanted to go camping since I was little get that and fishing or like on the list of things I want to do. I want to
sleep extra. We got we got to have a good sleeping bag. Okay.
Christine Gautreaux 39:04
And you’re young enough you could just do it with a sleeping bag now I’m gonna blow up mattress now trade on the ground on
a sleeping bag. But as I have aged so has my camping equipment because camping in a tent,
Shannon M. 39:22
but there’s your for the wisdom, okay. There’s some accommodations you like now,
Chantal Debrosse 39:29
you don’t have to sleep in a sleeping bag if you don’t want to. But I do recommend that whenever you can to stand on the
ground without shoes on. Even that bringing that energy through your body makes a big difference going through running
bodies of water like oh, if you’ve ever been near Niagara Falls, there’s such energy but you don’t have to go to Niagara Falls.
You could just go by a river and the ions that are in the air from just the water, this electrical activity that happens through
Mother Nature really feeds us and most of us are stuck indoors with artificial light, artificial air, meaning whatever is in theirs
has been circulating the whole time you don’t open your windows, and even in the middle of winter, open your windows, get
some new air in and breathe that in, get that electrical connection going. And you’ll feel so much more charged. Without having
to do anything that is super weird. You don’t have to go out naked, eating twigs.
Christine Gautreaux 40:33
So your jam no judgement zone here. But I want to ask you before we get away from this segment, Niagara Falls, do you know
about sky valleys hidden waterfall, no North Georgia waterfall, I’m not going to be a secret. I got my wisdom listeners. It isn’t on
one of the top 10 hidden waterfalls in Georgia. And it is in sky Valley, Georgia. So it’s right up there where Georgia and North
Carolina like you will go on the road. And you’ll be weaving in and out of Georgia, North Carolina and sky Valley used to be a ski
resort before climate change. And so now if they don’t get snow up there anymore, so now it is a Golf Resort and the back you
follow the streets to the back. And there is one of the top 10 hidden waterfalls. It’s gorgeous. And there is it is one of my
favorite locations because there’s this giant tree. And she has her giant roots around this rock. And so you can literally crawl up
and sit on this rock and be nurtured by this tree. While the waterfall just the ions come off the waterfall. And it is stunning. And
it is it is they they welcome people to come in. They have made there’s a couple of picnic tables. And there’s also they have the
last time I was there, they had about a mile long hike through the woods where they had labeled the different trees. But usually when I go at the most, there’s one or two other families there and a lot of times that I go there’s nobody there. So
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Shannon M. 42:12
I’m gonna have to go somewhere. This isn’t the GPS, right? Yeah,
Christine Gautreaux 42:17
we always do is we take a picnic lunch if we can, and just really spend some time there because it is a stunning waterfall. Yeah.
Yeah, that’s wonderful.
Chantal Debrosse 42:27
And that makes me think of what they do in Japan, forest bathing. Mm hmm. Go to the forest. And that’s just the energies of the
trees actually help to change your vibration. And that they have a name for it. I forgot the Japanese name, but it translates to
forest bathing. There’s so many things that we can do to support our existence on earth to bring us back to a more centered
spirit. And none of it is weird. It’s just stuff that we’ve tossed aside.
Christine Gautreaux 43:03
It’s very valuable. And a lot of our grandmothers and great grandmothers knew like, you know, they knew about this like, yeah,
and go ahead, chin.
Shannon M. 43:16
No, I’m sorry, you were talking? What were you gonna say? No, I
Christine Gautreaux 43:19
was just like, if they didn’t, if they lost it, somebody else in your circle knows about it. So that’s about us being connected, like what are the tips and tricks? What are the things that work? I wanted? I had a quick question, Chantal before I forgot, when you were talking about the fluids around our brains? How does that what came up for me and it may be a different therapy is
cranial sacral therapy, like, does that affect the fluids? Or is that something else? Do you know I don’t
Chantal Debrosse 43:50
know about cranial sacral therapy. I think that’s much more the muscles on the skull. Okay. But what what happens when you
get massaged you get into a state. So I think that it could be connected. And I would love to look up information to see how that
is connected because there are times where you just get into like a Delta State where you are completely gone when you get a massage. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it impacts it.
Christine Gautreaux 44:24
I think about that with sound therapy too. Because years ago I was trained as a sound therapist and I will still do it occasionally
and I’ll do it for myself. And then when you do
Shannon M. 44:35
wait a minute, what what is that? Yes, all these certifications this one I have a podcast with her. She’s amazing. When we did
the sound therapy at your house you did not say anything about being certified as a sound therapist.
Christine Gautreaux 44:47
It was years ago I had a friend that was here from Germany. She has since moved back from Germany. And we did a
certification on singing bowls and sound therapy because in Germany They use them with folks who are paralyzed, or her in
nursing homes, and they were doing a lot of work. And this was years ago, they were ahead of us in the States about the power
of sound therapy. And I know it to be true in my own life, like when you it’s a technique where you put the singing bowls on
you, and you play them and it vibrates through your whole body. And it what the whole premise is, is that it relaxes you into a
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hole that when you were saying it, Chantal like that, I’ve had that feeling and that feeling has come from being on a
practitioners table and just being so relaxed that I went to another space. And in that is what sound therapy does for me is like
how, how, how it just works. It relaxes a so fully. I’ll try to find that study Shannon and put in our show notes because it’s
powerful about what it does for paralysis. If I haven’t told you that I probably haven’t haven’t told you the dog story have I
Shannon M. 45:59
know but listen, this is yours. I’m with you. Okay, you don’t have to rush the stories. Just know that I want to know them.
Christine Gautreaux 46:07
Remind me. Well, I’ve got to tell y’all this story right now because it is hysterical. And it is kind of along the lines of what we’re
talking about, about listening to inner wisdom. I had this was years ago. My dog Marlon was a Maltese. I think that’s what he was. He was a little white fluffy dog. He was a rescue dog. And he was really old. And he was coming to the end of his life. And we had one of those plans with the vet where if something was wrong, you could you only paid something a month, because
you knew you were going to be at the vet a lot because of his age. Well, we went in and he he had been up for 24 hours, and he was having trouble. He had a blockage and wasn’t being able to pee. And so I took him to the vet because I knew something major was wrong. And they did an ultrasound, and they said he had a blockage. They said it was going to be $4,000 and that he might not even survive the surgery. And well, y’all, I’m a Texas farm girl, and I love my animals. But I’m also a social worker,
and my thought goes to $4,000 can feed a lot of families. Like, I’m not gonna spend that on a 14 year old dog who is coming.
So. But I don’t know about y’all. If you ever go to the vet and they tell you something, and you decline it, it makes me feel like
two inches high. Like there’s something so shameful about like saying no, here, take $4,000 And like I just I don’t know. So I got
into the car. I was boohoo and I was crying. I was feeling really small. I’m driving down the road. And I always call it the voice in
the backseat. All sudden, I get this little voice that says hey, you know, alternative medicine. And I was like, huh, like, you
know, alternative medicine. What do you got? And I was like, oh, yeah, what do I got? Okay, I’ve got my singing bowls. So I went home. And I sat down and I kind of did it. I was thinking it was going to be a ceremony like it was either going to be my
goodbye to Ireland, or it might work. It might not. I don’t know, you know, I got the certification. But who knows? It’s a dog. Right. So I set it up. I wish I would have videoed this because he’d been up for hours, I’d been up 24 hours, I hold him in my
arms. And I start playing the bowls where they said the blockage was and I just start playing the bowls. And I’m kind of singing
to him playing the bowls. And he got so relaxed, a little doggy head. He started leaving back and snoring can go. It was the
cutest thing. Well, we did this for about 30 minutes. And then I said some prayers. And I just and I put him down for the night. And I thought well, you know, we’ll see what’s about to happen. The next morning I got up, he had completely cleared the
blockage. There was he was it was completely clear. And he had I don’t know, I don’t know. But it was clear. About two days
later, the vet called to check in and give me consultancies. And I’m like, yeah, he’s great. We’ll be back next. Yeah, I mean, I
think inner listening to our inner wisdom, listening, all the tools we have in our tool belt and trying different things, right. Yeah, I
think what really comes up for me in this conversation. Yesterday was yesterday Eastern medicine. Yes. To the right. Let’s bring
it all what do we get to
Shannon M. 49:33
the wisdom? Yes. To the women connected? Yeah.
Chantal Debrosse 49:36
Yeah. Just you know, listen to your heart. Love is really a powerful thing. And it I think the reason why it heals is because love is willing to try one more thing. You know, that just doesn’t give up and say that. I think the reason why I love heals is because
love is always willing to try one More thing it doesn’t give
Christine Gautreaux 50:01
up. Mm hmm. Okay, that is a good place for us to end y’all because
Shannon M. 50:07
I don’t know, I don’t know what else to say like I had some more, but I feel like it should. It’ll wait.
Christine Gautreaux 50:12
Good. Alright, so we should do our wisdom and action. What we like to do here, before we go Chantal is to when you think
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Good. Alright, so we should do our wisdom and action. What we like to do here, before we go Chantal is to when you think
about our conversation today, when you think about physical wellness, if you had to hashtag it for our listeners, and do a
hashtag wisdom and action, what would you say? Hmm,
Chantal Debrosse 50:35
I would say, listen, to me, not me, Chantal, but for everyone to say to themselves, listen to me.
Christine Gautreaux 50:48
I love that. I think my hashtag for this would be along the same lines, it would be listened to your body wisdom and your inner
authority, you know, when something’s wrong, or when something’s right, and to advocate for yourself?
Shannon M. 51:06
Yes, yes, mine is. And I have a list of hashtags from today. But I like find what’s best for you. You know, this weekend, I was
going to have to work and I had requested off. And I was scheduled. And I was like, Ooh, I don’t know about this, y’all. I gotta
come here with a good attitude. And she asked me what I needed. And I knew what I needed. And I told her, we didn’t get to
finish the conversation. I didn’t know if it was going to get fixed. Thankfully, I’m off. And I can listen to myself and rest because
that’s what I need to do. And that’s what I was talking about going to get some sleep after the podcast and find what’s best for
you. So we can continue on the journey and rest as we balanced the activity. Yes, yes.
Christine Gautreaux 51:53
I love this so much, Chantal, where can folks where can our listeners find you?
Chantal Debrosse 51:59
Well, you can find me at in on Instagram at at Chantal bros, and the bros coaching, calm my website. And we will
Christine Gautreaux 52:08
put that in our show notes. So if you are listening while you’re at work, or you’re listening while you’re driving, that you can go
to women in wisdom podcast.com. And you can find all our show notes and get connected, because that’s what we’re all about
is having resources and ways that we can support each other and our wellness. We don’t have to do this by ourselves, y’all. So, Chantal, thank you so much for being here today. This was a lovely conversation. So delighted to be a community with you.
Chantal Debrosse 52:40
Thank you. I appreciate being here. Thank you for having me as a guest
Christine Gautreaux 52:44 more to my friend. Yes. Oh, my goodness, that was a rich and full conversation,
Shannon M. 52:50
wasn’t it? We talked about the article about sleep and everything else. And I think we offered enough like we offered a lot.
Information.
53:02
I’ve been for another couple of hours about it. That’s what I’m saying.
Shannon M. 53:06
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Shannon M. 53:06
A second episode. That’s how I feel about
Christine Gautreaux 53:10
her back for sure. Because I’m so rich, and just so needed to have these authentic and real conversations about what is wellness looks like for each of us in and what are the resources that we can access.
Shannon M. 53:25
And I was watching this show, and it was about cooking. And this woman lived in a culture that didn’t and doesn’t honor the
second female child, right? Because she said that girls are a burden. And I realize that’s what it is, you know, instead of us
feeling like we’re assets were seen and felt, we I can say we feel like burden sometimes because of the way that we’re treated.
So that’s what the message that we internalize, and I don’t know if I would have said it like that. But that was beautiful, you
know, so the story that she had was about wanting to rest from cooking every day because that’s what I’m watching a cooking
show. She has amazing food and her husband went to her to cook and she asked for rest and unfortunately that husband didn’t
hear her it was an unhealthy response and that’s how we’re taught to think about rest you know, like we have to ask for
permission for we might not get it or maybe we’ve been in situations where it wasn’t received so that’s what we do to ourselves
you know, if I sleep in a little bit later on a day I don’t have to get up oh, I should have woke up earlier I could have got three more hours of productivity done you knows no shading, you can rest like rest as necessary to you know, so to flip the
conversation around wellness is what I’m most excited about for our podcasts and our ladies.
Christine Gautreaux 54:43
I love it well and that whole premise of listening to our inner wisdom and what works for you may not work for me it my like if we talk about it, and also the we don’t know what we don’t know, right? Like so that’s what I love about all these guests. In our
conversations with each other, it’s like, what have you been reading? What do you heard about wellness lately? Right?
Shannon M. 55:06
I’ve been working on my time schedule, How does sleep benefit? You? Let me write this down. Right? And you know, yes, well, I
know what I’m working towards.
Christine Gautreaux 55:13
And we do this with each other with manifesting Mondays, our mastermind, but you know, that accountability piece, too, to
have a good friend or a good buddy that says, Wait a second. You hadn’t been sleeping UK? Or what support do you need? Or,
you know,
Shannon M. 55:31
what about the doctor’s appointment that you were supposed to schedule? How is that going? Yeah,
Christine Gautreaux 55:36
absolutely. To that we don’t have to do this by ourselves, you know, that we can do self care in order to sustain community
care. And we can we can be in it together. So Right.
Shannon M. 55:49
And our community care, improves our self care. That’s the beautiful thing when it’s healthy like this,
Christine Gautreaux 55:55
right? That I love it, my friend. I love it. Anything else that you need to say before we wrap the show for today? No,
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Shannon M. 56:03
I think I’m ready to wrap the sixth season because the next episode is our recap. So I’m ready. I think today was great. And I’m
ready to get some sleep.
56:13
Yeah. You’re talking about you need it my friend.
Shannon M. 56:18
Yes, it’s gonna be great. As always, thank you for joining us live at five. And don’t forget, be well be wise, and the whole we’ll
see you next week.
56:29
Next week.
56:35
Thanks for listening. This has been the women connected and wisdom podcast on air live on Wednesdays at 5pm. Eastern via
Facebook and YouTube. Be sure to like, share and subscribe be part of the conversation and get connected at women
connected in wisdom.com.
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