Welcome to Grounded Wellness, your go to podcast for
simplified and trusted information on how to live a
more non-toxic and holistic life.
We're your hosts. I'm Bethany McDaniel, founder of
Primarily Pure biohacking enthusiast and mom of three.
And I'm Courtney O'Connor, holistic esthetician with over
15 years experience in the healing power of touch and
holistic skin care rituals. If you've ever googled
biohacking, you might think some of these people are crazy.
As a self-proclaimed biohacker, I totally get why.
Biohacking can definitely take things to the extreme, but don't
write it off just yet. In today's episode, Courtney and
I cover a wide range of bio hacks.
We touch on basic and accessible bio hacks, but also dive into
some more obscure and advanced options.
Let's dig in. Hello everyone and welcome to
Grounded Wellness. Courtney and I are here at the
farm and we are talking about biohacking today.
And for anyone that isn't familiar with biohacking, Dave
Asprey who is the self-proclaimed father of
biohacking defines it as using science, biology, and self
experimentation to enhance health and life.
Courtney, did you do any biohacks this morning preparing
for this episode? You know, my morning was a
little bit shorter of routine to get out here on the farm for the
podcast, but I did do my moment of stillness and breath work
just to settle in and regulate my nervous system before filming
today. What about you?
Oh yeah, I did the hyperbaric chamber.
I went in there and reviewed some notes for today, read my
Bible a little bit, and then I actually did a rectal ozone
inflation. Wow.
Can you tell me? About that really quick before
we dive into that hard. To tell you really quick about a
rectal ozone and completion, maybe we'll just cover it when
we get to the ozone section. I might.
We might lose half our audience if I, like, dive into the deep
end. Amazingly, yeah.
We'll start a little slower. So the idea behind Bio Hacks and
why we're doing this episode is because we are up against a lot
in our modern world, like we are surrounded by more toxic
exposures than ever before in history.
And so while these are not necessarily foundational, you
know, must do's for health, they can be really helpful in
mitigating some of the the toxins that we're exposed to in
this modern world. But I also don't want to
downplay them. Like some of these things can be
really life changing and even life saving, as we'll talk about
with some of these bio hacks. A lot of these bio hacks are are
pretty cool and can make a big difference in someone's.
Life, definitely, and we're going to talk about some of the
more technologically advanced, like Bethany just mentioned, a
couple that you incorporated this morning, ones that may be a
little bit more of an investment, but a worthwhile
investment. And then more of the simpler,
accessible and more budget friendly options.
And just really encouraging all of our listeners in our
community that regardless of where you're at on your health
journey or your budget, that you can implement these biohacks and
see such a significant change and baby steps really do make
such a big difference in your health.
There's a lot of different options in the biohacking world.
You don't have to go full throttle at it.
You can kind of pick and choose what works for you.
And I think one other thing I want to bring into the
conversation is this concept of self health that we talk about a
lot primarily pure different than self-care.
This isn't about like doing the the thing that you like want to
do necessarily in the moment that's going to give you like
that boost of endorphins and feel good.
I think the self-care movement gets it wrong when it just
relies excessively on this idea of like indulgences and treat
yourself like your puppy. Chow when you're pregnant?
Yeah. And then you feel awful.
Afterwards, I told the story on a podcast episode that we just
recorded about how I had this intense craving for Muddy
Buddies, AKA Puppy Chow. I made myself a batch of it with
the cleanest ingredients I could find and felt absolutely
terrible after eating it. Sometimes our cravings and our
emotions lie to us about what we want.
And so that's kind of like where I think the self-care movement
gets it wrong of like this overly big emphasis on self
indulgence at the expense a lot of times of like your overall
well-being. Because sometimes doing the hard
thing in the moment is what's best for us.
Sometimes not giving into those cravings or we know whatever
that temptation is, is what is actually best for us long term.
Not that there's not a time and place for that, for sure.
That's self-care. Self health is more so investing
into your own health, not from a place of like narcissism or just
wanting to feel good about everything else in life, but
investing in yourself, investing in your health so that you can
better show up for your calling, your purpose in life, and the
people around you in life. And so that's, I think like how
biohacking fits into to that equation, like these little
hacks that we can implement that allow us to show up as our best
self. Yes, I love that and I think too
sometimes biohacking can feel really intimidating and
overwhelming. But really there is this
beautiful back to basics approaches.
Well and how even just simple things that we're surrounded by
a nature like grounding and earthing, the breathwork things
that we're just, we have access to on the on a daily basis.
And just yeah, reintegrating these basic habits into our self
health routine to biohack how we feel and our well-being.
I think we come from a unique approach as well 'cause I think
so often in this biohacking space and different experts or
speakers or people who are implementing these bio hacks can
come from a place almost of trying to play God and outsmart
death essentially and try to never die.
Like to be this generation that outlives everyone and can just
play God essentially. I had a friend who went to a
biohacking conference and he told me that there was a speaker
who was quite vulnerable in his presentation.
But how? Because he didn't know what was
on the other side of death. And this fear of death, this
fear of the unknown, he was trying to do everything within
his power to prevent that from happening.
And that just hit me so hard on like, because we have this
unknown of what's on the other side, we're essentially living
out of this place of fear and implementing these bio hacks
purely to prevent the unknown from happening, which is also
impossible. And so just wanting to come from
a place of the self health perspective, wanting to remain
present and show up for a purpose this side of heaven here
on earth. And I think, yeah, to us, these
bio hacks aren't to try to outlive or play God, but to
really just show up more present for a purpose and the people we
love. Yeah, this is not to be lumped
in with Brian Johnson's $2,000,000 a year quest for
immortality. Like that is not what we're
talking about. That's not what we're advocating
for. This is about just little things
that we can do, little tweaks that we can make to be healthier
while we're on this planet. Yep.
Not because we're afraid of death, but because we want to
live life to the fullest. Yeah.
For that.
Having said that, let's see it. Let's do.
All right. First, biohack.
We're starting out really tame with this one.
Red light therapy, love, this is something that both of us do.
It's recognized as being very safe, very low risk, but also
really beneficial. This works on a cellular level,
improving the health of your mitochondria, which is the
powerhouse and energy source of our cells.
And as we know, healthier cells mean a healthier self.
And so this is a really powerful one.
It's also really good for skin health, really good for collagen
production, balances skin tone, soothes inflammation, really
good for tissue repair. There's one study that I was
just looking at where they compared two groups, one that
was doing red light therapy only twice a week and one that
wasn't, and it showed a significant improvement in
complexion and collagen density in the skin.
Amazing. So this really works.
It's really simple. It feels good.
There's a lot it's. Not a huge time commitment, no.
That study was just twice a week.
Yeah. Twice a week and I forget the
total duration of time, but it the total duration wasn't even
that long either. So there's so many different red
light devices on the market right now, I don't actually know
which ones or which one you have and use.
I have the Juve handheld device OK with the little dock that it
comes on. I know bond charge has a lot of
amazing. Yeah, Bond Charge is great.
I love their red light face mask.
They're a great company. They have a lot of different
options, but it's really easy to have it stuck with this one too.
Yes, you can do something else. I like laying down and listening
to a podcast like on airplane mode while I'm doing red light
therapy. I'll also do it in the middle of
the night sometimes if I wake up, my mind's like racing and I
can't go back to sleep. That's a brilliant idea.
It works. So well, and I discovered this
on accident one time when I woke up too early and I was like OK,
well I'll just do some red light.
I have nothing else to do right now and if after I did it I
noticed that within a few minutes I was like super drowsy
again and I just thought huh, that's interesting.
But I tried it a few more times and the same thing would happen
every single time. And so now it's been years and
it's like my hack for falling back asleep in the middle of.
The night, and that's amazing because I feel like often the
like typical thing to do if you wake up at 2:00 AM is to scroll
on your phone and then you're getting that blue light exposure
if you don't have the red setting on your phone.
So instead of hindering deeper sleep with the blue light with
your phone, you're doing the red light to help.
Support deeper sleep. Exactly Who's that?
Yeah. What do you do when you do red
light therapy? I'll do.
I have this app that I love. It's like this meditation prayer
app. And then I do legs up the wall
to support my nervous system. That's a good thing.
Or just lay and hold it. And I always forget to do that.
Legs up on the wall. Wow, that's a good one though.
Yes, yes, highly recommend. And yeah, like 10 minutes is
that, yeah, it's really simple to incorporate.
So easy to fit into your life, yes?
So do you typically do the face mask one?
I have that one and I have a handheld one, OK.
And so I just kind of rotate. There's not really a rhyme or
reason to it. Yeah.
And do you feel anything when you're doing it?
Like for someone who's never tried red light before, like,
what do you feel? What's the experience like?
I feel, I mean, my skin, I feel like just, it feels a little bit
more even and like I noticed like an improvement in texture
and like softness, maybe some of that I'm like imagining, but
especially like with continued use, I feel like my skin
responds really well to it. Yes.
And I don't know, it kind of calms me too.
Do you feel that way when you do it?
I do so I love doing it before bed cuz I do feel like it helps
to just relax my whole nervous system and after working on a
computer all day and writing content I feel like it helps to
mitigate that blue light from the day which I try to wear my
blue light glasses. And I noticed a difference with
my tone and with my wrinkles like especially on my forehead
like I noticed some soften when I'm really consistent with my
red light. Although I will say I am prone
to cold sores and I have found if I don't wear an SPF lip foam
it sometimes can trigger cold sores really for me.
Interesting, so you wear an SPF lip balm when you do the red
light? Therapy.
I wear ours that were testing. Oh my.
Gosh. Sneak peek for all of our
listeners, but yes. Interesting, I also think it
helps with with acne with pimples.
It does, yes. Because it's good for for easing
inflammation. And so if I have a breakout or
if I have a few pimples, I am extra committed to my red light
therapy because it really does make a difference and how long
it takes for those to go away. Truly, I'm obsessed with this
hack because I feel like it incorporates like a full body
health and skin health and you see and feel a shift so quickly.
And if you aren't able to invest in a red light device, which
some of you have, like the full panels, which are definitely
more of an investment, or they have like the smaller solar wand
type devices or the mask, but also just getting outside first
thing in the morning for sunrise or sunset, that's when there's
higher levels of red light from the sun.
And so that's a simple, easy way to also get those medicinal
benefits from red light in the sun.
Yeah. Free red light therapy free You
love that cold. Therapy don't love.
So cold therapy, the benefits include boosting immune function
and that happens because it increases your white blood cell
count. It's good for energizing the
body. It can be anti-inflammatory,
boost mental clarity. It can be also really helpful
for anxiety and depression. And different forms of cold
therapy include like full on cold plunge like automated.
You can also get portable cold therapy plunges like Amazon has
several of those options. You can set up your own your own
cold plunge, like in the bathtub.
You can take a cold shower, take a dip in a lake or a river
certain times of the year in certain places and get cold
therapy that way. So there's a lot of different
ways to incorporate cold therapy into your life.
You don't love it, why not I? Well, first of all, just because
it doesn't feel the greatest initially, but obviously all the
benefits you just mentioned you've it's the self health
thing. Like it may not feel good in the
moment, but you know, the long term effects are definitely
worth it. I think definitely in certain
phases of our cycle, like I feel like men can cold plunge anytime
all the time. Or with women, we have to be
more mindful about where we're at in our cycle and not when
we're menstruating or in our ludial phase, but when we're
ovulating or like in our follicular phase.
I think that could be great. I think the only time I've
really been down to cold plunge is after I sauna.
I feel like I can. Handle it a bit more and it
doesn't feel as intense. Yeah, that's the only time I do
it, OK. Amazing.
And how often do you do yours? I go in phases with it.
Sometimes I'm in it like multiple times a week and
sometimes I'll go weeks without doing cold therapy at all.
So it just depends. But yeah, no, I only do it after
the sauna. I mean, it feels the best to me
doing it then and it's the easiest because the cold sounds
nice after you've been in the heat for so long.
So that's the only time that I do it.
And also like you mentioned, the cycle, I'm the same way.
I won't do it right before I start my period or during my
period, but afterwards. What's the middle phase again?
Ovulatory. Ovulatory, yeah, but, but I love
cold plunging during the ovulatory phase and kind of a
little bit before or after that. Yes.
And how long do you typically stay in the cold plunge and what
temperature do you typically keep it at?
52° is what we keep ours at and I'm in there anywhere from like
a minute to 3 minutes. I don't go for that long, but
oftentimes 2. I'm like a minute and a half and
then I go in the sauna for another 10 and then I get
another minute and 1/2 or two minutes.
I've heard 11 minutes per week is like the sweet.
Spot OK in total. Yeah, total amazing for the
whole week. Yeah, Yeah, I do feel really
good when I do it. Like I feel energized.
I feel amazing. I think there's also something
to this idea of like starting your day for people, that cold
plunge in the morning, like starting your day with something
really hard. Yeah.
And then overcoming that and then the other challenges that
you face throughout the day don't seem as difficult because
you've already chosen to do something really hard.
On that note, my fiance, actually, he does his Co plunges
pretty consistently because it also increases the size.
I call it MC for short because I can't remember the full name of
it in our brain. But when we do things we don't
want to do, it actually increases the size of that in
our brain, which increases our capacity and our resiliency.
And so whether it's Co plunging or another biohack or something
else for our health, when it's something we in, that's just the
beauty of discipline too. It's like, I know this is good
for me. I don't want to do it, but I'm
going to. And it actually increases our
resiliency and capacity over time.
So maybe I need to start doing my cold plunging and help that
grow a bit. And what are your tips, Bethany,
when you're doing your cold plunging to like help you stay
focused and like stay in the cold plunge?
Well, first of all, I'm really not that tough with it.
I mean, as you can tell by the amount of time I'm in there,
it's not it's not that impressive, but it's still hard.
I mean, it's still you still have to like tap in a little bit
to that that mental strength. And so I just breathe.
I just like I, I don't try not to panic.
I try to go to a place of just calm and, and focus, focus on my
breathing and just tell myself like, it's kind of like
childbirth, like this hurts, but it's OK.
Like, it's OK, you're uncomfortable, but you're OK,
you know, just kind of like. Keeping that mind, telling your
body you're safe, this is all. This is a good thing, yeah.
Because it can be quite shocking when you get into the cold
plunge. Yeah, this is something that is
fun for my kids, too. Like they, they see us doing it.
And so they like the idea of it and they'll, they're curious
about it and they'll try it, but they obviously like don't last
very long. But it's fun to see them, just
like it's fun to see how it sparks their interest and
curiosity And they're like willingness to, to do
challenging things. Amazing.
So on the opposite of cold therapy, let's talk heat therapy
as another biohack. And similarly, there are lots of
options to implement heat therapy.
One is something we've already touched on, but the infrared
saunas, which we absolutely love.
And I'm excited to talk to you about that because I know you
have one and use it regularly. And also dry saunas.
And so heat, this heat therapy essentially rises your core
temperature and it creates this hormetic stress, which is what
we've been talking about. So it's beneficial stress that
builds the resiliency within your body and within your
health. So talk to us about your
experience with saunas and the benefits that you've experienced
doing this consistently. Yeah, I love saunas.
Our infrared sauna was like the first health investment that my
husband and I made and it may still be like my favorite
biohacking tool that we have in our tool kit.
It just feels so good. Like you notice an immediate
difference and it's it's not like the cold plunge also feels
good, but it's more of like an energizing, jarring, like
alertness, good feeling the cold plunge and the sauna's just like
it's like a reset. It's so feels so therapeutic,
It's relaxing. You can do it in the morning,
you can do it before bed, and no matter what, it's going to be
beneficial. So I love the sauna.
It's so detoxifying. Like just sweating is so good
for you. It's one of the most important
ways that our body gets rid of toxins.
And I don't think most of us sweat nearly enough.
But then you don't have to. Do like a grilling workout to
like get the sweat on like you can sit in a sauna.
Yeah, amazing. It's like a shortcut.
Yeah. But I Yeah, and I can't say
enough good things about sauna. I love this study that was done
in Finland where most people sauna regularly.
So the control group for this study was actually people who
sauna once a week because that's just the norm there.
Like everyone's going in the sauna at least once a week.
So the control group were people that went in the sauna once a
week. It was a 20 year study with 2000
people and they compared the once a week sauna goers to
people that did two to three sauna sessions a week.
And then people who did four to seven sauna sessions a week.
So the people that did two to three sauna sessions a week had
a 24% lower risk of death overall.
And then the people that went in four to seven times a week had a
40% lower risk of death overall. That's a real biohack right
there. Right.
Like there's your proof. Yeah.
And those numbers are pretty crazy.
Like going in the sauna 4 to 7 * a week to have a 40% lower risk
of death. It's pretty remarkable.
Wow, I love that. And So what kind of sauna do you
prefer and what do you have? So I have a sauna, an infrared
sauna from a company called Heavenly.
Heat. And what I love about Heavenly
Heat is that they don't use chemicals to treat the wood that
they used to make the saunas. They don't use glues to make
their saunas. And the problem with using
chemicals to treat the wood and using glues is that when you're
in the sauna and obviously the temperature is really high, that
can release a lot of fumes that you will then breathe in if
there's like a bunch of chemicals and glues in there.
So I love that about Heavenly Heat.
We started with a really small model and now we have one that
all of us can fit in at the same time.
So yeah, they're a great, very great option.
And then there's more budget friendly options.
There are sauna blankets. Bond Charge has a great one.
What are your thoughts on the blankets?
Because I know I feel like we've had some questions of are they
as effective? Are they worth purchasing or
should they hold out for like the real thing?
What are your thoughts on it? It's hard to say exactly.
I think like if you're, I think the real thing is going to be
like the best option that you're that you'll probably like use
the most and get the most out of.
I think that the blankets can still be really effective
though. If that's just like way out in
the future for you, like getting a real wood sauna.
I think the blankets can be super effective and a great
option. I have lots of friends that use
them and love. Them amazing.
Love that. Yeah.
And then hot baths are one for the therapy and I think there
was a study to done where a 30 minute bath burns as many
calories as a 30 minute water. Yeah.
I've heard that and obviously won't have like the same like
benefits for your muscles and things like that, but totally.
But yeah, hot baths have a lot of their own benefits and really
effective for detoxifying. I love taking hot baths with up
with Epsom salt. Yes, at our sea.
Soak in there. Yeah, I love.
And sometimes I find that I I'm surprised by how much I will
sweat in a hot bath. Like there's super effective for
that. I also love just being in a
humid place and like walking outside for like 30 minutes.
Like last summer we did a big road trip and we spent a lot of
time in the South. We were in like Florida, South
Carolina, Georgia, and it was just so hot and muggy and humid.
And I know that that sounds horrible to a lot of people, but
I was just like, yes, no, I sign we.
Drive in that space. I like in humidity.
I thrive in the heat. Just like walking out and being
drenched in sweat. I'm like, Oh yes, I love it.
Yes, we're like describing some people's worst nights.
Absolutely. I think I grew up in Michigan as
well where we're under snow for like 9 months out of the year.
So I think I'm like, I'm, I'm past my cold phase of life and
I'm like, give me all the heat. Yeah, yeah.
I grew up mostly in California, and so traveling to those places
in the past, like initially it was kind of shocking to me and
and it was like really pervasive and overwhelming.
But as I've gotten older, I've just grown to really love it.
OK, next topic, Grounding. This is a favorite of
Courtney's. Courtney's been grounding before
this was being widely talked about before it was accepted by
the masses. I don't know if it's fully been
accepted by the masses yet, but I think it's it's going in that
direction. What do you love about
grounding? This is a biohack, which it's so
incredible that we can even call this a biohack.
It shouldn't be a biohack really.
Like it's this is foundational. Yes.
Like I know at the beginning we said these aren't foundational.
This one is though. Absolutely.
And it is free, like fully free being barefoot on the earth,
which is what we're doing here. And I have found this to be the
most immediately grounding experience, like truly the way
that it just allows me to exhale more deeply and regain
perspective. And it's incredible to know like
you feel the immediate shifts in your nervous system, in your
mindset, just lowering stress levels very quickly.
And then on a very scientific level, looking at scans of the
body, it actually lowers inflammation immediately.
Like inflammation cannot be happening when we are connecting
to the Earth in this way. And so I love it because I also
just think like this is how God created the earth, like as
medicine to help to heal us. This is one of the most healing
things we can do for our body and mind and nervous system.
And it's super simple. You just slip off your shoes and
just enjoy the earth. Yeah, it's really amazing.
And like you said, there are literally scans that show the
before and after and within seconds of grounding.
Like you can see in these scans, the inflammation just radically
decreases, like red inflamed areas, once they're grounded,
become shades of green and blue in these scans that show like
inflammation and measure inflammation in the body.
And the reason this works is because the earth has an
abundance of free electrons. And so when we're inflamed, when
any part of our body is inflamed, free radicals will
steal electrons from the nearest possible molecule.
But when we're grounded, the free electrons flood the body
and go towards the area of the body or areas of the body that
need to be repaired and just flood that area with an
abundance of free electrons. So there's real science behind
this. It sounds simple, it sounds woo
woo, but it's not. There's legitimate, legitimate
benefits to grounding. We had Clint Ober on the show
recently. He is known as the grandfather
of the grounding movement. And I love this quote from him.
He said that the rubber soled shoe was single handedly the
most deadly invention of all time, like so powerful.
And the reason for that is because it separates us from the
earth. When we were wearing, you know,
leather shoes, shoes made with natural materials, we were
always connected to the earth. And since the invention of the
rubber sold shoe, we have lost that connection to the earth at
our expense. Yeah, definitely.
And so even practicing grounding, if you don't have
access to be barefoot on the earth, like if you are buried in
a bunch of snow or you live in a city, there are other ways.
Like even if you're walking barefoot on concrete or gravel
that's not sealed, that's effective.
Walking late on lakes, rivers, I think to even like moist earth
helps to accentuate and enhance the more.
Conductive. And there's incredible companies
like Clint Overs called Earthing and some other amazing shoes
like Earthrunner or Rome that you can actually, what is that
one called? Bahe Bahe, you can purchase
grounding shoes. So even if you don't have access
to earthing or you don't feel comfortable walking barefoot all
around, like at the beach, it's very socially acceptable for me
to walk barefoot everywhere. There's you walk barefoot
everywhere, Period. Whether or not it's socially
acceptable, that's true. That's true.
And even sleeping mats for grounding, that's something I've
invested in and I've had on my bed now for about a year.
And I truly remember when I first put it on my bed, waking
up the next morning, I was like, I have not slept that deeply in
SO. Long, I feel the same way.
We've had ours for a few months now.
Yeah, it's a game changer. And I felt like that was the
best investment piece because I'm like, what's like the
longest I can be connected to get the benefits of grounding
and it's when I'm sleeping in my bed.
And there's also patches that you can purchase.
And I actually was such a cool story with one of my dear
friends. And Clint has done some studies
with his products, too, that have shown similar results.
But she had a lump on her breast, and she put the
grounding patch on the lump and within a few months it was gone.
And Clint said he did a study up in, I think, Marion County in
Northern California, where there was countless breast cancer
cases in a really condensed area.
And so they brought their grounding products up and did
this test with these women and told them to put the patch on
the breast until the tumor was gone.
Just keep it on. And he said some of those tumors
were gone in three days. What profound.
That's insane. Crazy and he has like all these
studies on his website and can look deeper into it.
Yeah, earthing.com is a great place to start if you're
interested in grounding products and and Clint Ober's book as
well. And we like to do some of our
facials on the farm sometimes where I'm grounding.
And he's talked about as well that even if you're earthing and
you touch somebody else, they get the impact and the benefit
of earthing as well. So even I love being barefoot on
the earth doing facial treatments, because then there's
the added benefit of being grounded during your facial for
even deeper parasympathetic support and lower inflammation
levels. Yeah, there's nothing like a
grounded facial at the farm. I've had one of them and it was
the best. So good.
Let's talk about ozone therapy. I know we both have a little bit
of experience with ozone. I have an ozone generator at
home. Shout out to Simply O3.
They make amazing ozone generators.
Ozone has a lot of benefits. It is O3, so oxygen is O2.
Ozone is O3 and it's oxygen with an extra molecule.
And what that extra molecule does is it attaches itself to
pathogens in the body and pathogens can't live in an
oxygen rich environment. So it's really effective at
eliminating pathogens from the body in different capacities.
It can be infused into water that you can drink.
It can be infused into oil that you can use on the skin.
You can use the gas in your ear canals which is good for the
brain and eliminating pathogenic bacteria in the brain.
You can also do rectal ozone insufflations with the gas.
Now we're going to talk about it.
You can do vaginal ozone insufflations with the gas, so
it can be administered in a lot of different ways.
It can be used in IV form to purify the blood, and so I've
done several of these at home with my ozone generator.
So I'll unpack the rectal ozone insufflations a little bit.
Rectal ozone insufflations are a really good way to get ozone gas
into your bloodstream without using IV ozone, which I
obviously I'm not able to do that at home with my generator.
I would need to go into a clinic or a doctor's office that has
that type of ozone set up. Rectal ozone insufflations are
like the next best way to really get that hit of ozone into your
system. I've noticed personally that it
really helps with mental clarity.
Like I was doing a lot more of this when we were dealing with
mold and trying to detox from molds.
This is a really effective way to eliminate those pathogenic
bacteria from the whole body. It has a systemic effect.
So it it, yeah, you administer it rectally, but it really has
like a an effect on your whole system infinitely.
I did a lot of ozone gas in my ear canals also when we were
recovering from the mold stuff. And I always have ozonated olive
oil at home. I haven't actually made this
myself with my generator, but I get it from pure O3.
So my generator's from simply O3, but I get the ozonated oil
from pure O3 and I know you have experience with the oil as well.
Yes, so I mentioned previously with the red light, I am very
prone to cold sores, sun exposure, stress, sickness even
in my cycle before I start my menstrual cycle and I've tried
every possible cold sore cure on the planet.
I feel like and for like it'll work once and then it will stop
being effective. Ozonated bones are the first
thing I have found that consistently like cut my cold
sore healing time in half and so I just stab it on as soon as I
start to feel that little tingle and within a few days it's gone,
which is a godsend for me. That's amazing.
And what company do you get yours?
From Taylor, social media manager told me about a brand
from Canada called Living Libations and she's based in
Canada. So she sent me a sample to try,
which I was like, I'm forever indebted to you for this.
So it's an ozonated ball that they create.
I've used the ozonated olive oil on breakouts also and it's
really effective. Yeah, it does have an
interesting aroma to it. It's ozone.
People say it smells like rain. Oh.
Which makes sense because our atmosphere has an ozone layer
and some of that comes down after a rain.
I. Love that.
Yeah. I have a question on all these
different forms of administering ozone.
How were you guided by somebody? How did you learn about this?
And are there like specific protocols that you have to
follow? If you Google Ozone, probably a
lot of what you'll see is that this is unsafe and dangerous and
that you shouldn't do it. But ozone is widely used in
medical settings in several other countries, and it's
really, really safe if you dose it appropriately.
And so it can be unsafe if you don't have the right dose.
But Simply O3 has amazing guides and instruction manuals on how
to dose each type of ozone that you can do based on like what
you can do with the machine and the setup that you have.
And so those were really helpful for me.
I also just did so much research on my own before I started doing
anything with ozone and I'm in touch with a local those on
expert here in Menifee not too far away who has like been
really helpful and kind of like guiding us on how to use it
appropriately. But it's super, super safe if
you get the right dose. You don't want to overdo ozone.
You definitely want to research it before you just dive in and
ideally like find someone to work with and, and, and ask
questions too. But this can be a really
beneficial biohack, especially for anyone who has a high viral
load or parasitic overgrowth or has dealt with mold illness.
Ozone can be life changing. Wow.
Which I feel like we all need that then like I feel like we
all kind of can be exposed to those or how those in our
bodies. Yeah, things are.
Here's the place for it. Yeah, there's another biohack
that I feel like it's kind of in the same vein, like maybe new to
a lot of our listeners and may feel a bit intimidating.
So Bethany talked to us about hyperbaric oxygen chambers, what
they are and why you love them and why you have one.
Yeah, hyperbaric oxygen, it sounds kind of wild, but it's
actually it's a really like safe and pretty tame biohack, I would
say. We have a hard shell hyperbaric
chamber in our home. This was like a recent
investment that we made. Some people invest in Bitcoin,
we invest in health devices. Love it.
But basically what it does is it floods your body with
pressurized oxygen. So you you go go into this
chamber. There's different sizes.
Ours is the decent size where like I can fit in it with my
husband. I can fit in it with one of my
kids. So it doesn't feel
claustrophobic for me. But you go inside, you shut the
gate, and then you start pressurizing the chamber while
you're breathing in pure oxygen in a tube through your mouth.
And the pressurization process takes like 10 minutes.
You want to get it to a decent pressure.
So you're in this pressurized chamber breathing the oxygen,
and it just floods your body with oxygen and it floods your
blood, your tissues, oxygenates your whole system.
And so as you can probably imagine, this is just good for
like almost anything. It's really good for longevity.
There was a study done in Israel where they showed that
hyperbaric oxygen therapy increased telomere length.
And so telomere length is a biomarker of longevity, like our
telomeres shorten as we age. And so I think this might be the
only thing that has ever been shown to actually increase the
length of our telomeres and our telomeres are a part of our DNA.
So really good for that. It's been approved for like I
want to say 10/12/14 like medical quote uses where a
doctor can actually prescribe hyperbaric oxygen therapy for
something. I think some of those things are
like sports injuries, crushing accidents.
So like if you're let's say your foot is crushed in an accident,
a doctor can prescribe like literally write a prescription
for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. When I broke my heel and I had
to go to my wound care center, there was a huge hyperbaric
oxygen chamber section. And I knew at that point that
you would, like, started doing this practice.
And I was like, Oh my gosh, it's at the hospital.
That's yeah. Yeah.
Oh, did you do it at? All they didn't prescribe.
It to me I wonder if you asked I was right next.
Door should have, yeah. I did do red light therapy
though. That's something I meant to say.
So for injuries and healing, near infrared light.
Yeah, I mean, it should be prescribed for so many more
things than what it's like been approved for.
Head injuries are another thing like a lot of NFL athletes that
have these debilitating head injuries have gotten better with
hyperbaric oxygen therapy. With brain scans, you'll have a
scan showing parts of the brain that are like not functioning
and essentially just like dark and after hyperbaric oxygen
therapy, like come back to life really and start working again.
So it's really cool how. Frequently do you do it.
Would you? I try to do it twice a week
because it takes some time. Like to get it pressurized
alone, it takes about 10, 10 to 15 minutes.
And then you have to be in there for an hour and then to
depressurize, it's like another, it's like 10 minutes to
depressurize. So it's a bit of a commitment.
Yeah. And with ours, you're not
supposed to bring phones in or computer because what could
potentially happen is like the battery could explode under the
pressure, which would be very, very bad and deadly.
So we just steer clear of that. I think with some chambers,
people do bring devices and we just don't do it.
And it's kind of like kind of protects the space as well.
It's like a place that you just go to read or like for me, I'll,
I'll look over podcast notes and prepare sometimes for these
mornings. Yeah.
So I try like twice a week. Oh good wow.
For those listening that might be interested in pursuing this
biohack, do you have any resources or recommendations on
where to go? How to start implementing it?
Yeah, If you can't, if you don't have a condition that warrants a
prescription for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and if you do,
you'll probably have to ask for it.
Like most doctors won't just prescribe that.
So it's something that you would have to like, advocate for and
really push for. But aside from that, there are
lots of like these stand alone like clinics that have them
available. They can be quite expensive even
just for a session though, but but that's an option.
There are a lot of like these health centers that have them
now, is there? Like a range of a rate that it
would cost to. Yeah, I think so.
And it probably depends on like whether it's soft shell or hard
shell. The hard shell ones are more
effective but also more expensive.
If this is something though that like you think for anyone
listening, if you like you think that you would really benefit
from this or a family member in some capacity.
Like I would recommend pooling together with a few friends or
family members and maybe investing in one that that can
be shared amongst like a group. Of people.
I love that idea. Yeah, I feel that way with the
sauna too. Yeah.
Get the neighborhood together. Get a neighborhood sauna.
Right. It's like, it's like health
insurance, like community health insurance.
OK breath work. This is such a simple 1.
I feel like it would be easy to overlook, but it's super
powerful. How do you incorporate breath
work into your day? This is the one I did this
morning and similar to grounding the immediate effects that I
feel by really tuning into my breath and really being mindful
and prioritizing that, it immediately shifts your nervous
system. Like when we incorporate breath
work, it activates our vagus nerve and our vagus nerve is the
longest cranial nerve in our body.
It actually contains 3/4 of the tissue in our parasympathetic
nervous system. And so our breath is a direct
link to our nervous system. It's like our bodies chill out
button essentially. And so especially with just
living in just chronic stress a lot of the times and living in
our fight or flight phase and in the sympathetic state, breath
work is something that we always have access to and we can always
take a moment and just slow down.
It's another free one. It's another free one that we
always have with us. And a breath, a breathing
practice that I really love, is the extended exhale.
And so breathing in for four, holding for four, and then
exhaling for 8:00. I think often times if you think
about it like if we're afraid or stressed or scared, we do this
like short little gasp of an inhale.
But then when we're like settling in and we feel safe and
we feel relaxed, we let out this like sigh.
And so I'm really kind of honing in into that sigh.
And that exhale helps to trigger that parasympathetic nervous
system and. That's another trick that helps
me go to sleep. Exhale.
In particular, do you follow a certain pattern or do you just?
I do this thing and I don't even know where I got this, but it's
like 6 seconds or no. I'll start with like 3 like 3
seconds and hold for three seconds, 3 second exhale, and
then I'll go up to like 10 and then like back down to three,
like 333-4445. And then.
So I don't know where that came from, but I started doing that a
while ago. Yeah.
And I'll do Wim Hof like during the day usually.
How is the Wim Hof breathing I. Like it, I feel like some people
say it's too intense. I don't feel like it's that
intense. Like I love the breath hold.
I feel like that is a great way to like oxygenate the body of
the deprivation hold. And then like the the hold at
the top of the breath, I don't know, does something.
I like it. I almost feel it.
Can you lead us in that? Can you do it?
Like right now, yeah. I mean, I feel it would take a
long time, 'cause I would have to do, yeah, I'd have to do the
30 minute, the 30 breaths in and out.
Oh, OK. And then you and then you like
like after the last one you breathe out and then you hold
and it's like a hold for like a minute.
OK, OK. And then take a deep breath in
and when I'm like, the more I do it, the more the longer I can go
well. So sometimes I'll be able to do
like a 2 minute plus like breath hold.
Wow. How do you feel after that?
Really good. Wow.
Centered. Yeah, wow.
Energized, but not like, jittery or like, yeah, I think some
people think that it's just like, like too intense, but I
don't know. I like it.
Oh my gosh, I haven't tried Imhoff, which is I was like, can
you lead us? But that's like a good
description of like, what it entails.
Yeah. And I just feel like I really
love the self help practices in the bio hacks that really
support our parasympathetic nervous system 'cause that's
when our bodies can regenerate and heal and repair.
And I feel like our breath is one of the most powerful ways to
support that and to regulate our nervous system.
And when we're regulated, that has an effect on the people
around us and we can actually Co regulate others.
So even like, I don't know, do you ever do this with your kids
where you like breathe with them?
If they're ever like really heightened or really having a
moment? Yeah.
How do you have you seen that be beneficial with them parenting?
It's so hard for them when they're so caught up in the
moment and their emotions to like, pause and breathe.
It's like we're still kind of working on that.
But yeah, it's super powerful if they can take a minute and like,
just, it really helps to calm them.
Yeah. Mouth taping too.
I wanted to touch on with this as a way to help breathing
because there's a lot of information around mouth
breathing versus nose breathing. And so even mouth taping to
support breath and breathing and getting that just proper oxygen
through the nose and doing that while we sleep can have a big
effect on do you do it sleep quality.
I love it. Similarly with the grounding
mat, the red light before bed, the mouth taping.
Best sleep of my life, definitely.
When I go to sleep now, yeah, there's just so many things when
I travel and I like have to put all the stuff together to go
somewhere. I'm like, this is crazy.
But it's like I don't bring my grounding mat actually.
But at home it's like the grounding mat.
It's the sleep mask to like get rid of any, any bit of light at
night. It's the earplugs, the mouth
tape. It's like so many little things.
Sleep is the number one. Biohack, I feel yeah, like that
is so important to optimize. So all these are supporting
deeper sleep. It's worth it.
And I think even the breath fit going back to like your cold
plunging, like what it what's helping you maintain your time
in the cold plunge is your breath.
And so even like helping to manage pain and get through
stressful situations, like it's a really, really powerful tool
that we always have access to. Yeah, and birth.
And birth. So that too, yeah.
It's not like the the old school like, like I think women that
were doing that a lot in like the 90s maybe.
And it's like, not the right move.
Right when my sister was in labor and I was there by her
side to help support her. And I knew nothing about birth
at that time. I mean, I still don't know that
much, but I went up to her ear to help guide her breathing and
that's what I did. And she was like, that is not
helpful. So stop breathing in my it's.
Like what we always saw in the movies Growing.
I was like, this is what I've seen.
All right, last biohack we're going to touch on is fasting.
So also, in my opinion, something that is like
foundational to being human and has always been a part of being
human, whether by choice or out of necessity, I think that our
bodies are capable of going for periods of time without food.
This is something that I've gotten into a lot over the last
several years and I have found there to be really profound
physical, mental and spiritual benefits to fasting.
My favorite physical benefit of fasting is just the autophagy
and the cellular cleanup that happens when you're in a fasted
state. So when your body's not focused
on digesting and putting all of its energy into breaking down
food and extracting energy out of the food, this cool cellular
repair mechanism called autophagy is activated where old
and broken down cells are recycled and better functioning
cells are made. And so the best way to activate
this is when you're in a fasted state.
And I actually like when I first got into fasting, I really like
felt the benefits of this, Like I felt more clear and clean and
like it just I could feel like the cleanup that was happening
in my. Body like how long I was into
your fast? Did you start to feel these?
Even just with intermittent fasting, like and for me that's
like a 16-8 fasting eating window.
So fasting for 16 hours and then eating within an, an 8 hour
period during the day, which I don't do all the time now.
But when I started out, I, I wasn't diving into like multi
day fasts right away. I started with intermittent
fasting. And even with that, I felt a lot
of those benefits. And then especially when I
started doing extended fasts, I really experienced those
benefits and the mental clarity that was another one that was
huge. I will say like before I get
into all of this, like I do a lot less fasting now.
I feel like my body was really beneficial in the beginning,
having gone a lifetime of like eating, snacking, always
throughout the day from like when I would wake up to when I
would go to sleep. So in the beginning, I really
reaped the benefits of going for periods of time without food.
And now I feel like I don't have to do it as often.
And I kind of do it intuitively based on like when I feel like
my body needs it. And more like a reset.
Yeah, yeah, I think you can definitely overdo it with
fasting. It can be detrimental if you do
too much of it, like any of these bio hacks, you know?
But I also don't really agree with people who say that like,
women should never fast and that fasting is not a good idea at
all and it's not healthy. Like totally disagree with that
notion. I've also found it to be so
beneficial kind of like with cold punching in terms of just
the mental discipline of doing something that's hard and kind
of like the rewards and the transformation that can come
from doing hard things. And then spiritually as well,
like for me, like as a Christian, the Bible says like
the Bible doesn't talk about fasting in the sense of if you
decide to fast. It talks about in a sense of
like when you fast. So I believe like as a follower
of Jesus, it's something that we are called to do and incorporate
into our lives and, and really like commit ourselves to praying
for certain things and accompanying that with fasting.
And so I've seen the benefits of that personally.
And, and going forward, honestly, like now fasting is
more of that for me. Like when I do engage in it,
it's more of a a mental spiritual thing and less of a
physical thing. Yeah, that's so beautiful.
Thanks. Love that, can you What are some
resources you would recommend if people are new to fasting and
wanting to start incorporating it?
Yeah, Doctor Jason Fung has a great book called The Complete
Guide to Fasting. Will Cole also has a book on
fasting that I read. That one was really good.
And then I wrote, I've written a few blog posts about fasting
that I think are really helpful where I explained like exactly
how I started the process because like I mentioned, I was
someone that was like snacking or eating from the time I wake
up, from the time I went to bed all of my life.
And so initially the idea of fasting just seemed really scary
and honestly kind of impossible. Totally.
But I really break down these blog posts like exactly how I
went about it in a gentle way that wasn't like too much of A
shock to my system. And it and it started with
intermittent fasting just shortening my eating window
throughout the day and then kind of shortening that more and more
and more. Not every single day.
There was still some days where I would eat breakfast, lunch,
dinner, normal. But yeah, it was kind of a
gradual progression starting with intermittent fasting and
then getting into like my first 24 hour fast and then my first
72 hour fast. And the longest one I did is was
a six day fast. And I have a blog post on and
purelife.com all about that. The comments section has been
going off on your fasting loaded and everyone's sharing their own
experiences and their journey. That's actually.
A really good place to like to start and to hear other people's
experiences on fasting too. Yep, definitely yeah.
And we'll link those blog posts and book recommendations in the
show notes, too. So as we wrap up our favorite
bio hacks, there are several others that we haven't talked
about, either because we haven't tried them yet or we have tried
them and we hate them. So let's just let's quickly go
through a few that we haven't really talked in depth about and
why that's the case. Yeah, let's do it.
NAD plus IV therapy. Do you have thoughts?
The only thoughts I have is that I was seeing an endocrinologist
a few years back who takes a very holistic approach.
Like her whole emphasis was on balanced nutrition and stress
reduction and supplementation and we weren't really getting
very far and she recommended this for me.
I never did it but it was on her recommendation and I truly
trusted her and her approach and her holistic mindedness and so I
was open to it. But then I didn't actually
pursue it. So doesn't really answer the
question, but it was on my rater for a little bit.
Yeah, would you do it if you were presented with the option?
I think I would purely because it was almost as if she had
prescribed it to me. And like I think this would be
really beneficial after taking all my labs and knowing me
intimately for like 2 years because I trusted her.
But I honestly haven't done my own personal research even on
what it is or what the effects are, but purely because I was
working with her I would. I know it's good for longevity.
That's really all I know about it.
But I think it's been like well studied and and I think that
there are probably a lot of benefits to it.
But what I don't like about this one is that it takes so long.
It I've heard it makes you feel like you are like crawling in
your skin, like it jacks you up like how people describe it is
what I would imagine it feels like to be on speed.
Wow. I know.
And so that's a bit of a turn off for me.
Yep. And then the IV, because you
have to, because it does have that effect.
Like it you have to go so slow with it that I've heard it can
take like four or five hours. In terms of the cost benefit
analysis, like this one, the cost for me just feels like it
might be too high. Yeah.
And I'm not interested. OK.
And it's really expensive. OK.
I think actually that was one of the reasons I was like, maybe
I'll pause on this because they did look it up at a local clinic
and it was quite expensive. Yeah, yeah, not worth it in my.
Opinion I like to stay calm so if that makes me feel like I'm
being numb mate. And maybe it doesn't.
If anyone's tried it, please let me know what it.
I know it would give me like. A solid description of what it
feels like, but it doesn't sound fun based on what I've heard.
Yeah. OK, coffee enemas.
This is 1 I just can't get behind, pun intended.
But I have tried it twice and I just it just it just can't do it
on a regular basis. What didn't you like about it?
I think everything she's like. Everything it, I think it just
feels like slightly invasive. And like you, were violated.
A bit and like having to lay on the bathroom floor and then go
to the bathroom feeling like I was just in India for six weeks,
like I'm not here for that. I get that, I get that.
I did coffee enemas regularly for a really long time.
And then I stopped when I got pregnant with with my son.
And, you know, that was, you know, two years ago.
He's 2, he's 2 now. And I always thought like, I'll
get back into it. I'll get back into it.
And I just haven't like felt, haven't felt peace about like
diving back into the coffee enemas for whatever reason.
I think it is like a bit of a process too.
And then the cleaning, like the brewing coffee, the cleaning,
another one that just kind of, it feels like a big
inconvenience. And I know, like, I've done it
regularly. Like when you get in the habit
of it, it's fine. But yeah, it just hasn't been
something that I've been eager to like, dive back into.
Have you ever done water enemas or purely coffee?
No, I've never done a water enema.
I've only done coffee. Cuz actually I did the water
once. I have never done a coffee, but
it was water that I did. I do love the feeling
afterwards, like you do feel really clear headed and good,
but I feel that way from doing ozone insufflations, rectal
insufflations and that's a lot less of a headache.
I also do colonics. I do colonics once a month.
I think I would prefer to do that, just have someone else,
yeah. Exactly, take care of it exactly
and you don't have to deal with any of it, any of the mess or
any of the like pre or post stuff.
But I do like my monthly colonics.
Is it a similar experience like how you feel after with the
coffee enema and the colonics? Yeah, because she flushes me
with water several times and then she does a coffee flush at
the end. So you still get that boost in
glutathione and like the mental clarity and all of that.
So amazing. It's like so much salt that you
just float on the surface. And I think what people say
about this is that it's super relaxing.
I know at the place that I went to, they were saying that a lot
of a lot of veterans would come in and it would like it was.
It was the only place that they were able to really relax and
sleep. Like some people would come in
and sleep in the float tank like overnight, so I could see there
being a place for it. It's not something that I would
like spend time on or pay to do. I didn't.
I just didn't get that much out of it personally.
Did you feel claustrophobic in it?
No. Or like okay.
No, I just didn't like it. It was just kind of like that
was just floated for an hour. I did float in the Dead Sea and
thought it was a cool experience.
Well, that would be. Really.
But not like out in the open in nature and like an enclosed
like. That's an experience for sure,
yes. This was like trying to emulate
that, but kind of missing the mark in my opinion, yeah.
What about wearables? The aura ring, the whoop
bracelet? Like these things are so popular
right now so. Popular.
Would you ever get any of those or try any of those?
I feel like I have an unpopular opinion, but I do not love them.
I feel like sometimes it can just feel a little like, I think
if you had a very intentional purpose for it and you're
tracking something that's like vital to your health and you're
trying to see balanced and it can help you reach those goals
in a very specific way. But I feel like it could easily
just become like a little bit obsessive with like tracking all
this data and all these numbers. And I, I just, it just feels
like too much. And unless I'm really using the
data to make, like if you're using the data to make changes
in your health, but just to track it, just to track it feels
like. An extra variable that you maybe
don't need. Yes, and I don't love having
something attached to me at all times so.
Yeah, I I agree. I think they can be valuable,
just depending on what your goals are.
I was interested, I was really interested in getting the aura
ring several years ago, but this was when my son was little.
And I'm like, I'm being woken up multiple times a night.
Like I have all these things outside of my control.
I don't want a device telling me like you've you slept horrible
last night. Like, OK, I know I did.
Yeah. There's nothing I can do to
change that. So in the beginning, I'm like,
I, I don't want to deal with that.
Like a stress of having something tell me that I'm not
doing well when there's nothing I can do to change it.
Yeah. But now I kind of almost still
feel the same way. Like if I make a choice that is
going to impact my sleep or my heart rate variability or
whatever, it's like most of the time I try my best.
And if I don't, it's because I'm intentionally choosing to like
sacrifice this health marker for this other thing.
And it's, it is what it is and I'm choosing to do it.
And I know it's like, I just, I don't know, I feel like if you
have an awareness of these things already, yes, maybe it
isn't as necessary. But that's just my two cents.
Yeah. Same.
Some people love them and yeah and get a lot out of.
Them yes, which is fun when I have facial guests who wear
their aura ring and then they look back at that day it they
took a nap during that hour of their facial like that's how
deeply relaxed they were is their ring thought it was cool.
It's interesting like. Totally.
It's interesting. Place in life where you can take
it all like as information and not and not let it impact you
too much or like stress you out too much.
But it can be helpful. What about rebounding?
Oh, love. Yeah.
Love. That was an easy one.
Yeah. Yeah.
Have one. Love it.
It's just a simple, simple, fun way to get your lymphatic system
going, which is so vital for health.
And it makes you feel like a little kid again.
And you really only need like. I mean, you can do it however
long you want, but even just like 3 minutes in the afternoon
can provide such a benefit. That's a good bang for your
buck. Great bang for your.
Buck Biohack, OK, I think that was a good one to end on, good
positive light one to finish up with.
Yes, Bethany, I love your bio hacks.
They're so inspiring, hiring and just seeing how you implement
these. As a mother of three running a
business, it's like it is possible to take care of your
health and it's so vital to show up with the purpose that you
feel called to follow this side of heaven.
And so thanks for sharing all of your insights today.
So grateful. Thanks.
And I love your simple approach to all of it.
Like you don't have to have all the things.
Sometimes they can be helpful and beneficial, but there's also
a lot you can do on your own with just the earth and your own
breath work and just O many different things that all of us
have access to. Yes.