Episode 63: How Your Phone & Social Media Are Tricking You with Heather Dreske, Part 2

00;00;09;00 – 00;01;18;07
Kelly Parbs
Welcome to OnTopic with Empathia – I’m your host, Kelly Parbs. Today we’re continuing our conversation with naturopathic doctor Heather Dreske. We’ve talked about how overstimulation affects our bodies and brains, and why it’s so important to tune back into the present moment. Now we’re diving into the practical stuff – how everyday rituals like music, breath, movement, and even making a cup of tea can help us feel more human again. These are things you can try today, and they don’t require a wellness retreat or a total life overhaul. Welcome back Heather! Let’s get into it. So let’s move through these senses. What about our sense of hearing? I love the idea of sound as a healing tool. I read your article on sound baths, which really kind of brought this idea to life. Maybe you could describe sound baths and for listeners who might not have access to that. What are some simple ways to use sound or music to improve our mood, our calm and simplify our lives?

00;01;18;09 – 00;03;05;22
Heather Dreske
So sound bathing is an ancient ritual which uses gongs or tuning forks and it’s vibration. And if we think of our bodies, we are energy and vibration. And we have found that feeling, that vibration can really help calm the nervous system. So I am sure anyone has a yoga studio close by that does a sound bathing, and you normally go into a room. You have a practitioner that again will probably do more of a yoga nidra guide your body, get to a calm state, and then uses the different sound frequencies that help the body move to a more relaxed or theta state. That’s the idea, is to move our brain waves that are in the beta state, which is the everyday alertness into theta or delta, which is the deep relaxation that you often feel. And you said, if you cannot get to a class or that seems too intimidating. A very simple way to do it is to actually just hum, which I mentioned before, that humming is a vibration that we will feel in our ears and that stimulates that vagus nerve we spoke about before, which stimulates the rest and relaxation. So that’s something that we probably don’t want to do it in the middle of the office or that much, you know. But if we find often people hum and instinctually they don’t even realize they’re humming, I think it’s similar to someone whistling, which, to be honest, that’s a pet peeve of mine. And I’m going to try to be more gracious of people whistling, because maybe they’re just trying to stimulate their vagus nerve.

00;03;05;25 – 00;03;06;27
Kelly Parbs
We’ll go with that.

00;03;07;00 – 00;04;26;23
Heather Dreske
Yeah, we’ll go with that. Another simple way is music. You know, music. We often find that we go to the music of the time in our life that we were most relaxed, most happy, and often play songs on repeat. So if you’re in a stress state, you know, think, you know, I’m going to take a second and put on your favorite song or just take that time where there’s no screens on and it’s just music in the background, which used to be a part of everyday life. You didn’t have three different techs going at the exact same time. That is a very relaxing. And then often, often just by having music on, you’ll either start to sing, which again stimulates those nerves, makes you feel good, or moving your body. And you know, moving our body, we need to look at again as a luxury that we get to move. And I like to have people think of it that way versus exercise. You know, find a way you enjoy moving your body and adding music and movement together. It’s amazing. Even 1 or 2 minutes, how that can help reset our state of mind.

00;04;26;25 – 00;05;13;27
Kelly Parbs
You know, you’re reminding me I attended a training a while back on care for the caregivers, and I learned that not only is listening to music helpful, but there’s extra therapeutic value in actually singing out loud. And I’ve coached- I’ve coached many clients since then who have actually set goals in therapy of singing out loud, you know, probably when they’re alone in the car, but whenever they want to do that, and I’ve got, yeah, in the shower, wherever that might be. But that indeed there’s therapeutic value to bringing your stress down, grounding yourself and just feeling better, not only listening to music, but singing out loud.

00;05;13;29 – 00;05;52;03
Heather Dreske
Yeah, it’s a release. It really is a way to release pent up energy. You know, think of that. Energy is pent up. And if we can, like you said, listen to the music and then sing it out loud. And I often revert to childhood. You know, children do a lot of this intuitively and they do like children. You see them move, spin, dancing, all of those things because they’re naturally making them feel better. And we can learn a lot by watching them and seeing how much of that have we lost. So I agree, we can learn-

00;05;52;10 – 00;06;08;24
Kelly Parbs
We can learn a lot from kids! Yeah. And you know, we were talking about scrolling before, and I think it would be useful to think about how we can mindfully listen in place of scrolling.

00;06;08;27 – 00;07;32;07
Heather Dreske
Exactly. I think, you know, again, technology, this double edged sword, I think personally, most people really like to learn. And when we’re scrolling, I often ask myself, is this serving me? As we got back to before, how am I feeling? Am I feeling connected, disconnected? How is my body feeling? And most of the time, the answer is not a positive one. But then can I switch that and use some of the tools to listen to something interesting? You know what is what? What excites you? What what makes you want to learn more. And so there’s so many tools and I mean, we’re on a podcast. There’s there’s a million podcasts to listen to. But I think isolating your feed to what is very useful to you and brings you joy. And if you listen to someone and that makes you happy or that makes you laugh or thought, oh, I’ve learned something, that’s what our brain wants is that sense of accomplishment. And so if we can switch that, and I think sometimes listening also depends, you know, are you using your EarPods because then you can be doing multitasking, maybe cleaning or making a an activity a little bit more enjoyable.

00;07;32;09 – 00;08;30;00
Kelly Parbs
Sure. And you know, I also recently just in talking to a friend who was having a hard time, I always say to people, what has worked for you in the past in terms of techniques for feeling better? And and she said, well, I’ve been texting with my mom, my, you know, texting with my mom always helps. And later she came back and followed up and she said, you know, what I found out is that actually talking with her, which means listening, right, helps more than the texting that she had been doing. And this is kind of to the point where making listening actually listening to mom’s voice, rather than only texting with her made a difference for this particular person. So in this world of all of our communication being texts, let’s stop and remember that hearing someone’s voice, might be more beneficial to us than just texting with them.

00;08;30;02 – 00;10;04;05
Heather Dreske
Oh, I couldn’t agree more. I have. That’s been something I’ve been very conscious of, when we first started this of how – one, I’m a very good texter, which drives everyone crazy! I’m a fast- I liked I took typing in high school. Yeah, that’s what a nerd I was during the summer. So I’m a very fast texter so people cannot keep up with me. And so we’re having, if you think of it, we’re having a very disjointed conversation. And I’m sure many people have had this or they’re answering one question, someone’s asking another one, then you don’t get the tone and like you said, taking the time. And I’m really impressed with some of my closer friends. They are very good at when they call, they call with intention. And I think that is the difference. Also, when we’re texting, we’re all normally doing a million other things. We might be watching a show, we might be eating dinner, but if you actually make that phone call, it gets back to also your intention is there where that’s where your focus is. Her and setting that time apart and realize, you know what? That 15 minute phone call is far more serving on both ends than the texting throughout the day. And don’t get me wrong, texting is has wonderful pluses too. But you never want to text if it’s something, stressful because we all know that that tone can go a million different ways, and we read it the way we want to hear it too.

00;10;04;08 – 00;10;20;15
Kelly Parbs
Well, and it might just be soothing to hear someone’s voice or to feel like I’m worth that 15 minutes of their time where the focus is just all on this conversation and not all of that multitasking that I think we all do too much of.

00;10;20;17 – 00;10;42;12
Heather Dreske
Well, and that’s one of the things that the Harvard study when they looked at is what what were some of the solutions? And it was making a real connection. And some people felt that the people around them only really wanted need needed them, but really didn’t want to have that connection. They only reached out when they needed something.

00;10;42;12 – 00;11;03;12
Heather Dreske
And if we think of that and again, go back to our own responsibility, especially if we’re feeling a little disconnected, and how to simplify being the one to reach out and make that phone call or send that letter, you know, again, they don’t have to check an email. They can walk to the mailbox and hopefully pick up something.

00;11;03;12 – 00;11;11;16
Heather Dreske
And that really brightens someone’s mood and has more of a sense of connection. Like you said, when you hear someone’s voice.

00;11;11;19 – 00;11;32;01
Kelly Parbs
Well, then it’s a treasure. Now to get a letter. We never get letters anymore and I think we need to go back to that. We’ve covered two of the senses and we have a few to go. You see, just that when the urge to pick up the phone hits, maybe reach for a refreshing drink or light a candle.

00;11;32;04 – 00;11;38;02
Kelly Parbs
Things like that can really help. What’s behind those kinds of habits or rituals?

00;11;38;04 – 00;16;23;02
Heather Dreske
Once again, it’s like looking at why am I reaching for the phone? And often I think it is. For some people it’s it becomes a habit. So how do we break that habit? Or is it because you’re feeling a little anxious and it just gives you something to do? Well, what’s a really easy thing you can do instead? Okay, I’m going to go get I’m going to go get something to drink, but not just get something to drink or something that you would be pleasurable either making a cup of coffee, some tea, even water. But it’s the act of then there’s a lot of physicality to that. You know, in other cultures, you know, tea is a ritual. I’m a coffee drinker, so coffee is my ritual. But there is a smell, there is a time. And then that taste is also calming. So again, it moves you away. It gives you something to do with your hands. And it’s also a benefit. So there is that reward at the end that then you just feel a little bit better if you’re just using your favorite mug. I got a wonderful mug from a, friend who teaches yoga and, for my birthday, and it’s my tea mug. And every time I grab that mug, it’s not only I grabbing that mug, that’s. Oh, a memory of a connection. So there is a lot of that that can go into that and then smell, or really just get learning more and more about that intricacy with smell and going to memories. And what’s really interesting, they find is, so something that smells good doesn’t necessarily mean that for everyone it feels good. So we can use light a candle, which again is a ritual, reminds us, let’s take a breath and we want to find that scent, or if it’s scent-less! So some people are very sensitive. So that gives us a moment and again a break. What they found is that some, you know, smells are directly linked to our memory and they often they calm a little, lock in the keys. Sometimes you can smell something you haven’t smelled in years. And that brings a memory back. So when you know that, interestingly enough, I by accident did this before our talk. I have been wearing the same odor perfume since my 20s, and I got it on a long layover when I was in France. And that smell automatically brings me my body back to a very happy time, a calming time, and I don’t consciously think of it. And I really only consciously thought of it because we were doing this podcast and isn’t that now? And I don’t like heavily scented things. And then I laugh to myself with that. Oh please, let’s not hope that in 20 years everyone’s spraying axe body spray again. To relax us! No, but, but knowing that there’s a certain smell that maybe for you personally takes you back because it does. It’s directly linked. That sense of smell, you know, we think of mammal brains is directly linked to calming and a time of memory at the same side of smell can be very triggering for some people, you know, with so but knowing what is your scent and, you know, even I’m essential oils that some people find calming, putting that in your purse and just taking that as using our sense of smell to an advantage, getting outside, smelling, you know how the world smells after a nice rain. You know, that brings a certain memory. So using that and exploring those senses and realizing, wow, that brought me more peace than the ten minutes that I would have scrolled. And recognizing the difference and then having that pause in between of what are you going to choose? Because your time, I think it’s valuing yourself. We’ve gotten away from that. Like, is this is this serving me? I only have so much time. Is this making me more interesting? Is this making me calm, or is this making me the best version of myself? And when you can do it as a reward, and again, not in a negative tone. You don’t want to be shaming yourself. You just want to be like, you know, maybe if I just delete that app, I’ll feel a little bit better. And and that’s sometimes a way to do it.

00;16;23;05 – 00;16;31;17
Kelly Parbs
There’s really something to that old saying that you’re reminding me of, you know, to stop and smell the roses. Yeah, that’s it’s a real thing.

00;16;31;19 – 00;16;35;01
Heather Dreske
It’s a real thing. It is. It is a real thing.

00;16;35;04 – 00;17;10;27
Kelly Parbs
Yeah, but it’s a it’s about being intentional and mindful about it. You reminded me of when I drink my coffee and my kids tease me about this. It’s. It’s about the taste, for sure, but it’s really about holding a warm ceramic mug. There’s something about that that makes me feel just nurtured and good. And it it doesn’t even totally matter that there’s coffee in there. It might even be hot water. But holding that mug, especially on a Wisconsin winter day, there’s something so comforting about that.

00;17;10;29 – 00;18;02;16
Heather Dreske
Yeah. It’s again, and that is the it is a ritual. And so if you get back to those rituals that are calming, and make you feel good and then substitute a little bit of those and, and recognize it, that that is a helpful feeling. And I want to do that more than what I’m doing. And, and then reminding ourselves of these, this tech and this lack of simplification. And it’s by design. That’s how they measure success by clicks, by likes, by clicking on the ad. So again, it’s really understanding it, understanding yourself and what the substitution is that’s making you feel better because it’s it’s working against us. So we have to kind of game the system a little bit!

00;18;02;18 – 00;18;23;16
Kelly Parbs
Well, and that that brings us to the sense of touch, right? Touch is fundamental for human connection and for well-being. What are some of the ways that people can use their sense of touch to calm their nervous system and reconnect during those busy days to kind of bring it down a notch? I just gave one right? Hold a nice warm coffee mug.

00;18;23;19 – 00;22;58;08
Heather Dreske
Exactly. I read Suleika Jaouad’s book. I’m probably mispronouncing her name, ‘Between Two Kingdoms’ and she have it was called a 100 day project, which was 100 days of anything artistic, and I am. I enjoy writing, but other than that, I do not call myself an artist by any stretch, which was actually kind of the gift there, right there. And it was just to do a little something. And for myself, what I decided to do was to draw. I bought some canvases so that has a texture. And I went back to basics a pencil, a box of crayons and a thing of Sharpie markers. And I had it next to my bed in this little container. And every day. And I’m to be quite honest, I’m not a very ritualistic person. So this was this was a good challenge for me. But what I found was once I started and it some days it was a scribble, some days it was two minutes. But often what happens when you start that using? First of all, it made me use my hand. So I’m using my hands. What can’t I do? Scroll when I’m using my hands? And I found what worked for me and I started really enjoying it. And then people liked them. So I gave them some gifts. And this little one creative act today, that’s what happened. It started blossoming. Blossoming a little bit where I really looked forward to the time that I put aside. Interesting! So, you know, I think accessibility is key. I mean, if we even look at when we used to have to turn the TV on, we had to get up and turn it on. And then we got the remote control. And now we’ve moved into the in 15 seconds. Your next show will load. So if you don’t have it accessible to where you are, there’s one more step you have to do so, whether it be, you know, using your hands to either journal and again, I think the biggest thing is bite size. Because if you commit to I’m going to write one sentence. What are the odds that you’re probably going to write more than one sentence? All of a sudden you get carried away with that instead using your hands for an instrument, learning… You know, we’re really lucky now. You don’t need a grand piano anymore. There’s so many ways that you could learn to play the piano or an instrument. Something tactile in an artistic way. You know, everyone is an artist. It’s just, what is it? Maybe it’s arranging flowers. Maybe it is painting a room. You get into your space around you. So that’s one thing. And then the second way with touch is, we kind of have this idea of like, at the end of the night, oh, I have to wash my face. I have to brush my teeth. And a technique I learned years ago was, if you can change that word from have to get, I get to do this and how can I make it enjoyable? And more intentionally wash our face and enjoy the soap that we use. Hitting mid 50s I’m a big fan of face yoga and I found it very relaxing, you know? Oh, this is kind of a two for one like this is this feels good. Again. We’re using our hands. We’re taking good care of ourselves instead of pushing it to the end of the night. You know, if you have a spot in the middle of the day, you know what? I’m going to do that good oral care then and then at the end of the night, if I do a quick brush, I’m not stressed about that. So there’s so many ways throughout the day we can incorporate these things. And use that sense of touch. And then for someone else, if you have the resources, you know, schedule that massage, schedule some some body work or exercise that makes you feel good playing a game, going for a walk. And we know the research is so good with lowering stress by just taking a minute to pet a dog or your cat, and they are very good at knowing when you’re on tech. I don’t know if you have any animals, but I can get side-eye from my dog when she’s like, ‘umm, hello?’ And they live in the now, which is a really nice, nice thing too.

00;22;58;15 – 00;23;03;11
Kelly Parbs
So we can learn- We can learn from our pets as well!

00;23;03;11 – 00;23;05;09
Heather Dreske
We can.! We definitely can.

00;23;05;11 – 00;23;47;18
Kelly Parbs
You’re reminding me. I was recently onsite at a critical incident when I was working where a terrible thing had happened, and and we put coloring pages on a table for the children who might have to come to this resource center where I was staff. And what I found super interesting is it was the adults who all grabbed the coloring papers and the colored pencils and crayons and started coloring all of those sheets, and it was a reminder to me of exactly those things that you’re saying is, is that was something to do with their hands, to make them feel better in the moment?

00;23;47;21 – 00;26;34;08
Heather Dreske
It’s so true. And it’s also the simplicity again, of it, of you really. You don’t need anything specific. You know, one box of crayolas and a blank piece of paper. That’s it. But again, having it near you and also not looking at it as something foolish, I think that’s the one thing that technology has tricked us into thinking we are accomplishing something. For some reason, sitting there staring out a window and breathing, we feel like are we are wasting our time, but looking at a screen and going back to that doom scroll, our brains have been tricked that we’re actually accomplishing something. So I think that’s a shift in perspective that getting back to these simple techniques, we are really actually accomplishing something, especially if we, as the term often goes, habit stack. If we keep doing those little habits every day and something we hadn’t really talked about is that reward part of technology will lists, and checking off lists is just one of the most basic things that help us realize, oh, we did accomplish that. So maybe that whatever for the sensitives you did the 20 2020 with the eyes. Write that down. And then at night check it off. Oh, I did that. And that gives us that reward feeling that we might not have felt if we just did it in the moment. We sure we did the task, but what part are we missing? We’re missing that reward. So if you can find a way and then, oh, if I do this small habit for five days and maybe ten, give yourself a little reward. You know, maybe something you were saving up for. Link it to these habit changes because we all, our bodies and our minds want that reward. We want to feel good about that. You know? That’s why it helped when our teacher put a little gold star on a smiley face on our page, we got that little oh, wow. You know, that was better than the number. So I really encourage people to reward themselves for these tiny little changes that they’re doing. And a way to do that is to, you know, dry erase board. I had a friend whose mom she had that she was a big post-it note fan, and she put all the little things in these tiny post-it notes on the counter. And when she did it, she’d rip the post-it and throw it away. And I thought that was remembered, that from a kid like that. And I would be like, do you mind? Can I pull the post? And she’s like, oh, sure you can.

00;26;34;08 – 00;26;36;22
Kelly Parbs
But that was her little dopamine, she had to like-

00;26;36;22 – 00;26;40;15
Heather Dreske
That was her little dopamine! Yeah. And it’s tactile!

00;26;40;17 – 00;26;55;13
Kelly Parbs
Right. We tried to get those on social media, right? Those little dopamine hits from people liking our pictures. And and the point here is there’s other ways to get those dopamine hits without being so addicted to screen time.

00;26;55;16 – 00;27;54;21
Heather Dreske
Yes. And it just takes an understanding of how the technology works and understanding of ourselves, and then a curiosity to change, and then reward ourselves with those changes, because we do need that kind of pat, proverbial pat on the back. That is nothing to be ashamed of. That’s, you know, that’s human nature to want to be rewarded or say, well done. And if you can do it in a community setting, you know, that’s that’s even the better. If you talk to a friend or a family member and you do it together, then now you’re creating a sense of community like, you know what for? We’re going to all do this together. And so that’s hitting numerous aspects of working on that loneliness, being more connected. And then at the same time kind of realizing that that habit isn’t that important. You prefer the one you replaced it with.

00;27;54;24 – 00;28;49;13
Kelly Parbs
Again, really connecting with what really matters in our lives. And I think we lose sight of that. I am noticing the time and there’s a a topic that I wanted to touch on, but we’ll have to be quick about it. And that’s the idea of kindness. I think when, when life gets hectic, kindness, especially to ourselves, can get lost. And maybe I think I have to do a whole podcast on this topic. But in your writings, you did share some fascinating insights into how kindness can really impact brain chemistry. And I actually like this topic so much. Like I said, I should do a whole podcast on it, but can you talk just a little bit about dopamine and serotonin and endorphins and yes, and all of those chemicals and how they can impact our wellness.

00;28;49;16 – 00;32;24;24
Heather Dreske
Like like you said, Kelly, almost every single one of these topics could be someone’s dissertation. And so, ironically, we’re trying to simplify with very big topics, but bring them down to usable levels. So our mammal brain is we are programmed for we have dopamine which that’s the feel good hormone. And when and that’s when we get that reward. That’s what we’re in getting that hit from oxytocin is that’s where you feel trust in that comfort level that. And then we have serotonin. And that’s when we’ve accomplished something. We have a little bit of social power. If we go back to the the mammal brain and then endorphins which help with pain, pain reduction. And so we have all these chemicals. And if we go way back, they were supposed to be in little bursts. And what’s happened is we’re almost we have this, you know, the term can be toxic positivity that we’re expected to be at these high levels of feeling good all the time. And that’s just not really reality. So the first step is just to be a little bit kinder to ourselves, and that we’re not always supposed to feel happy all the time. I mean, that would be pretty irritating if everyone walked around like that, to be quite honest. And so Doctor Loretta Breuning, she says that happiness also must be practiced. And what is the what we really do find with empathy is we feel good when we make someone else happy, but that is a learned behavior and when, for example, when we got back to the letter writing, you know, I know some people that are in nursing homes right now and I can’t physically get to them. So what is a really easy thing to do for me to send them a letter and that makes, you know, selfishly makes me feel good. And I’m I’m happy to do it. But that does promote a good mood. So if you can think and it’s even as simple as complimenting someone at the grocery store, and I don’t mean a full compliment. I mean, when you see someone and like, oh, I really like their skirt, or she has a nice haircut, I wonder where she gets it. And having that type of interaction, that little burst is a mutual connection. You just help someone else feel better and rarely. I mean, do you think that someone’s going to lash out and if they lash out, there’s some bizarre reason that is not about you. And we take a moment and feel and you feel a little bit sad for that person because obviously there’s something going on with them and not to take it so personally. But there are things throughout the day that you can do to spread kindness. And the I think the article you were talking about, I had a beloved dog for 16 years, and, I took her for a little short walk, and she was aging and we couldn’t walk far, and we came across a little bench in our park and it was, you know, donated by family, which all the benches are in my local park, which is always nice to see. And I always stop and look at that. And I thought, well, isn’t that sweet? And here I have my lovely dog, and I put her on the bench and I took a picture. And here that family had no, you know, no expectation that that little moment would bring me such happiness.

00;32;24;26 – 00;32;45;29
Kelly Parbs
I love that thank you for sharing that story. Her well, Heather, I’m very aware of the time and this has been such a rich conversation, full of wisdom and simple tools. And if you could leave our listeners with just three practical, doable actions to simplify their lives starting today, what would those be?

00;32;46;02 – 00;34;57;05
Heather Dreske
I think number one is your breath. That is the easiest thing you can do throughout the day. And it has exponential benefits. And so in a moment of crisis or just even throughout the day, like we said, checking that email, ask yourself, find my breath. You can’t sleep at night. Find my breath. That’s number one. Number two is to get back into your body, take a notice of what is uncomfortable, and then what can you do to help decrease that uncomfortableness? You know, where are you holding that tension. And the number three is what does something that brings you a lot of joy that you’re not incorporating. Did you used to like to play tennis? Did you used to like you said, sing? Did you used to like to dance? Like, have you removed something from your life? Do you know what? I need to take that first little step back, to get back into that. And it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to dive into the deep end just a little bit into your way back into something that you really brings you some satisfaction and meaning to. And that is part of what the Harvard study talked about. People sometimes felt that they weren’t adding meaning to the world. And that can be to yourself, to your loved one speaking a little bit more kindly to them, checking in. Those are easy things we can just do that really are just getting back to the basics. I mean, really goes back to the golden rule, as we learned in kids and treat others how you’d like to be treated. And in this very high times, fast world, sometimes we just don’t do that. And it’s we’re not that’s not on purpose. We don’t mean to maybe snip or lash out, but if really it starts with us. I think that’s the biggest takeaway, is it starts with changing your own behavior. And what you’re going to notice is the people around you may react differently, and then they might say, well, what are what are you doing? And being able to teach them. Be like, you know what, I just started trying to find my breath a few times a day. I don’t like those are great.

00;34;57;12 – 00;35;26;05
Kelly Parbs
Yes, great tips! Great tips, Heather! Thank you for that. And if there’s one thing to remember today, it’s that simplifying life isn’t about doing less. It’s about tuning in to more to our bodies, our senses, and the moments that bring us back to ourselves. Notice what is good. That’s what resilient people do. Thank you so much, Heather. It’s been a pleasure talking with you today.

00;35;26;07 – 00;35;27;29
Heather Dreske
Thank you so much.

00;35;28;01 – 00;36;18;23
Kelly Parbs
Small rituals, sensory pauses, moments of kindness. These things don’t just feel good. They support your nervous system, boost your mood, and help you live more intentionally in a world that moves too fast. Simplifying your life doesn’t mean giving everything up. It means choosing what serves you and creating space for what matters most. You may not be able to reset everything overnight, but a few small changes can make a meaningful difference. To hear more episodes of OnTopic with Empathia, visit our website, www.empathia.com. Follow us on social media @Empathia, and subscribe so you don’t miss new conversations when they go live. I’m Kelly Parbs – thank you for listening to OnTopic with Empathia!