Imagine getting up every day full of energy is

if you were in your 20s. Again, what would that be like? What

would that be worth

to you? What is your health worth to you? Think about it.

Your health isn't everything. But without it, everything else

is nothing. And yet too many of us are taking it for granted

until something goes wrong. No one wakes up hoping to be

diagnosed with a disease or chronic illness. And yet, we've

never been taught how to be proactive in our health through

our school system, or public health. As a registered health

coach and integrative health practitioner, I believe it is

time this information is made available to everyone. Combining

new knowledge around your health and the ability to do my

functional medicine lab tests in the comfort of your own home

will allow you to optimize your health for today and all your

tomorrow's don't wait for your wake up call.

Welcome back to the don't wait for your wake up call podcast. I

am your host, Melissa dealey and very excited to be sharing with

you today another special guest Janet Olmstead. Welcome, Janet.

Hi. Nice to be here.

I'm super excited to have you here. And I

just want to introduce you a little bit and then let you

share your story with the audience. But Janet is Canada's

play expert. How fun does that sound. She's also an author and

executive health coach, she is on a mission to reignite

people's passion for play to help fight lifestyle related

disease while improving their quality of life as they age.

With over 20 years of experience in the health and wellness

industry. Janet strength as a play expert lies in working with

habit based change behavior psychology, allowing individual

and corporate clients to make sustainable progress towards

optimal health. Ultimately, Janet helps her clients thrive

through a deep health methodology. Most importantly,

Janet guides people as they change their habits and have

fun. And so I love that you're looking at using Play to fight

these lifestyle related diseases. And that's why I

wanted you on the show because it aligns so beautifully with

the work that I'm doing to also fight those same lifestyle

related diseases. And so please jump in and share with the

audience what brought you into this life of play?

Well, I've always been a huge kid at heart. You

know, all all fun aside, I really am passionate about

health and wellness. And it comes from a deep sense of well,

understanding how life is short. And the reason I got became a

health coach, after years and years and years of having an

interest in health and wellness is because my body gave me a

sign in my 20s which almost took my life. It was my body was

screaming at me and I wasn't paying attention. And I nearly

died from a ruptured ovarian torsion. Six weeks before I got

married, and I made it down the aisle. And that experience made

me promise to myself, I would never take my health for

granted. I would always look after myself. And ironically,

when I wrote my book, on Play, play also stands for please look

after yourself. In my book, I have some across sticks. And

that's a huge one for me. So play is a double meaning, please

look after yourself, which I promised at 24. I would. And

also the act of you know, understanding life is short. And

we do get to take care of ourselves ourselves. We don't

have to we do get too. And I think it's really Yeah, it's

it's a it's a choice, and it's a gift. And, you know, we are so

lucky to live in an age where we have lots of options to take

care of our health. But finding the most sustainable way really

matters to me too, because I know there's a lot. There's a

lot of quick fixes and magic potions that are sold to us. But

you know, sustainable habit based change and the psychology

that goes with it making deep changes to that our behaviors

reflect our values and our, our own beliefs. That's how things

last and that's what makes you show up every day and be able to

take care of yourself the best way you can.

And as hard as it was to go through that at the

age of 24. Just before getting married, again, where we always

look back at these things with 2020 vision and we know that

things happen for us, not to us, right. And you were able to

recognize that this happened for you because you needed to learn

that lesson that it was a choice to look at After yourself, and

you wanted to step into that, and you needed to listen to your

body. And I love that, because again, it's so much about what I

teach in the work that I do. And my regular listeners will have

heard me say this many times. But at first, our body whispers

to us with a gentle touch of a feather. If we don't listen, it

might scream, some bus with a break. And if we still don't

listen, then watch out for the wrecking ball. Right. And

unfortunately, that is the reality for too many people.

Because society teaches us to suck it up and push through and

keep going. Right? Yeah,

work through the pain. Exactly. Yeah,

as opposed to our symptoms truly are our

body's way of talking to us and asking us to do something

differently.

Yeah, and you know what, it's really served my own

personal life well, outside of my, like, a my first health

scare then. But as you know, I am a mom and I have had, I have

kids that have all had their challenges. And they, they all

started from their bodies talking to them. And I was able

to say to them, you know, you have to pay attention to these

signs, because they aren't fake, they're real. And you may want

to brush them aside. But, in fact, my husband, most recently

was his body was talking weird to him. And he luckily went to

the doctor and was able to capture really serious medical

condition early and get the treatment he needed. And thank

God, he listened to his body. Like, it's really important. I

can't I don't know how much the like else just to tell people,

please look after yourself. Yeah, it really matters.

And listen to your body, like you say, right?

And, you know, get to the bottom of it. Don't just mask it. Oh,

again, don't wait, you know, a lot of people are

scared. And often what happens to me as a coach, you know, I

will get referred to by a medical professional or another

client who's worked with me. And often because they like your

line of work in mind, they've had a wake up call, or they're

scared about something. And even if someone comes to me, and

they're kind of suffering from something, I'll say, please go

to your doctor, let's let's get this diagnosed on the one hand,

and then let's bring in all the other magic that is available to

us to help you, you know, be healthier. And yeah, it's never

too late to get the help you need. And I think it's crucial

that more people do. And

the earlier you do it, the better. Oh, yeah, it

is right. I'm always talking about the body being in balance,

right? Yeah, exactly. It's just a little out of balance. It's

just a little tweak to bring it back into balance. But when is

way out of balance over here, it's gonna, you know, take more

effort and more work and take longer. Yeah, the other thing

that I like to share with people is, you didn't just get here

overnight. So why are you expecting to be better?

Overnight? This Oh, and building in your body for weeks, months?

In some cases, years? Exactly. So if working with me, or

working with you is a six month process that's still, in most

cases, much less time than what you've already been?

For sure. And, you know, and especially in my line

of work to with habit based change, you know, the the secret

really, is you may not have paid attention to all those little

changes you were making to get that out of balance. But when

you start making little changes consistently over time. Yeah,

they're manageable. it's manageable. It's doable. It's

and like you said, it's, it will eventually come back. You just

have to give it time.

Exactly. Yeah. So I have your book here, which

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading, and I see your background there.

And I have a copy here. Yeah, and I

highly recommend people pick up this book because

it is such so much great information in it, some

worksheets etc. And what I also really love that you have in

here is your list, your list of 150 different things to get

people moving, for those watching on video 150 ways to

move more so I don't know if you want to maybe share your

favorites from this list. Just to kind of inspires some people

for some things that they haven't thought of. I certainly

know I love moving my body but yeah, what are your maybe it's

your favorites or maybe it's the easiest ones for many of your

clients to step into when you get them moving again.

Yeah, you know, I there's two things about that

list. 150 is is a kind of a double meaning 150 minutes a

week is the minimum amount of time people need to invest to

keep healthy, which is if you break it into time, it's 20

minutes A day, right? And 20 minutes a day. The magic here is

it doesn't have to all be done at once right to break it up. So

coming up with 150 ways to move. I think that's, you know,

something that comes very naturally to me. I can be

outside and look at a sidewalk crack and think, oh my gosh, I

could jump over the sidewalk crack. I could do squats on the

sidewalk crack. Like there's lots of ways we're skipping

over it as children like.

One, there's lots of wrong rhymes. Yeah, they're

really

good. And don't step on the line or your break

or father's fine. I mean, I hope in Japan, and we did that for

air you go,

there you go. So the 150 so the the 150 minutes a

week, and then 150 ways because I honestly think people deserve

the option to find what works for them. And one of the

assessments, personal assessments, I didn't want to

actually call them worksheets, because I don't want people to

think of working out as this like, negative, right when you

you get to move your you don't have to but you get to play. So

the personal assessment on what did you like to do as a kid?

Because that is still available to us. You just because you know

we Yes, we grow and age. But those things that brought us joy

as a kid are still available. And often just as good as if not

better than especially for people that don't like to go to

the gym. There. The world is your playground. So my

favorites. Well, I love skipping rope. I love hula hooping. It's,

I love to Hulu, I love to stand in line. Yeah, I love to stand

in line and balance on a leg one leg, or, you know, I love to

airbox if I'm at a stop sign, like I just think of, you know,

I actually also don't care what people think when I'm doing

public. But I want to do some functional movement, because we

all need to keep strong and functional as we age functional

is just how we move our body naturally, like getting in and

out of a chair or on and off of a toilet or in another car. All

of those movements need to be practiced so we can still do

them. So you know, in my book, I even refer to stalking a habit

that you may have, you may not want to go do squats somewhere,

but boy, you go to the bathroom, you can do five squats after

you've done gone to the bathroom very easily. And so every time

you go to the bathroom, you can add that habit on. And yeah, it

just simple ways to put more movement in your day and make it

fun and playful. And then you can get those 150 minutes pretty

easily. It's not that hard.

Yeah. And it comes from choosing or

recognizing it's a choice. And then as you say, just figuring

out how you can fit it in, in small different places through

the day. Yeah, so I'd love to share with you a couple of

stories. I recently bought the mirror. Are you familiar? Like

it? Oh my goodness, I cannot say how much I love my mirror

enough. Because it's right, you know, 10,000 workouts to choose

from. Right, right. It's right downstairs in the living room

kind of behind the couch. So I can do like stretching in the

evening and my husband's watching TV and I'm on the other

side of the couch. She doesn't even know I'm there doing my

stretching. So AI stretch way more, which is really important

after my days on the mountain skiing. But with 10,000

workouts, I do something on that every single day. Sometimes it's

two, sometimes it's three classes because they have five

minute classes, they have 15 minute classes, right. And I've

tried all these new things that I wasn't doing before. So I was

spending about $1,400 a year on my yoga and my gym membership.

Now I've bought this and the ROI is like within a year, and I pay

$50 A month membership for it. But for all of these different

classes now so I've tried boxing, I never did boxing

before but now I'm learning how to box write and write. I've got

cardio strength, I just found foam roller stretching the other

day, which I needed after we had 70 centimeters of snow on the

mountain last Monday and my thighs were killing me. So I've

been doing foam roller stretching. I did Tai Chi with

my kids when they were home at Christmas. We were laughing

there's kickboxing, there's bar, there's Pilates, there's yoga,

there's toning, there's sculpt, there's bar, I mean, there's so

many different workouts on there. You can do competitions

with other people. So they'll go together and for 30 seconds, you

work out as hard as you can and you get a squat. So it's super

fun. And again, it makes you union makes me feel like I'm

playing and it's really convenient.

Right? That's a big piece for people really is

because

even going to the gym is still for me I'm if I

walk, it's a 20 minute walk. And then I do an hour workout and

then it's a 20 minute walk home says a big chunk of my day. Or

if I drive it's still a five minute drive and dadadada da

right and then just to be able to go downstairs for Five

minutes and just do something for five minutes. Right? Yeah,

absolutely. So I really love that they've come out with that.

And

yeah, the pandemic really did serve us well, on

that front because it brought the option to a lot more people.

I mean, even if you don't have a mirror, there are, you know,

YouTube has 1000s and 1000s. Exactly. And, you know, peloton,

you don't have to own a peloton bike, you can use the app, you

know, they don't have to have a bike. Just, you know, I think

that's a you bring up a really important point, convenience,

fun. And if you'll use it, then you'll do it. So and there's no

right or wrong, right? You're experimenting, you're a perfect

example of you're trying stuff on and wow, I really liked that.

And who knew and it just opens up a whole world that I think as

we age, and as life evolves, we deserve that. Because why

wouldn't you try? There's no reason not to. Exactly.

And it has opened up a whole new world

because before all I did was cardio classes and stretch

strength classes at the gym, and Emily yoga classes, different

kinds of yoga classes, but I didn't have access to bar and

pilates and kickboxing, and boxing and tie all of these

other things. Right. And I certainly wasn't stretching as

much as I should share five minutes at the end of every

class, but not like I should be right. Yeah, yeah, sure. What I

also love too, is the whole family can do it. And like I

said, they have classes from five minutes to an hour from

beginner to advanced. So there's something for everyone. There's

even chair workouts, which is fabulous. And I've done some

chairs stretching, which is just as good as not doing you know,

like, it's there's all sorts of things. So doesn't matter where

you're at, you can get started.

You can also I do want to point out, you said something

really, really valuable there is that there's five minutes,

there's 10 minutes, the only reason that people think they

need an hour is because that's how trainers get paid. Right?

It's a huge fallacy to think that that is a necessity. You

don't need an hour at all. If you have an hour, awesome. Go

for an hour walk or whatever. But you know, just that all

movement matters. In the end the time you have, like you said,

it's fantastic.

And in fact, and you can correct me if I'm wrong,

but I've heard from other trainers that you're better off

actually moving multiple times through the day then doing a

whole hour long workout first thing in the morning and then

not moving all day. Right? Absolutely. If that is your

answer to those little five minute work workouts is better.

Have you heard

of non exercise Activity Thermogenesis? It's

called neat. I have not. Okay, so neat is exactly what you're

talking about. It's a fancier word. But neat stands for non

exercise Activity Thermogenesis which means you are doing

yourself a disservice by doing your workout and sitting for the

rest of the day you almost cancel out the benefits. Versus

Yes, please still keep up your strength in your cardio on those

things. But be intentional about how you're moving throughout the

day set timers to get up. You absolutely that movement is as

good as if not better than a full long workout. All that's

why all movement matters. And that's why Yeah, it throughout

the day. It's everything. It's kind of the thing that people

don't talk about, but really everybody should know.

And for me, I live in a two storey home. So

after each call that I do with my clients, I'm always up and

down the stairs, right just on purpose, I need more tea or

something else. And then I sit on a ball. And I love my this is

I can wiggle right. And I'm just always moving. You

got things going on there, girl. I love it.

I love all of this. And what I do want to say

too, about the mirror that I really loved is they give you a

30 day money back guarantee. Right? You can't lose. You can

buy it and try it. And if it's really not for you, you can

return it. But I bought it and I tried it and I just loved it. So

four months later, I'm still rocking my mirror.

Again, find something you love to do, and you'll stick

with it. Exactly. And if it doesn't work, there are 1000s of

other ways to move your body 100% And get outside. Yeah,

something else that I also want to share with

you. You were talking about, you know, what did you do when you

were a kid? Right? Yeah. So I recently did some training and I

did NLP and timeline therapy and hypnotherapy training. And we're

tapping into the unconscious mind. And I know you're all very

familiar with that with habit change. I'm actually reading

atomic habits right now to Oh, what a great well, a lot so

aligned here. But you know, understanding that our

unconscious mind is a toddler, right? It just wants to play and

have fun and it only communicates in signs and you

know, numbers and single words because it's a toddler. So I

went out for a walk during the day that we were doing

hypnotherapy and it was just a beautiful sunny day, and I just

let my phone just start playing music and I just wanted to dance

and I'm on the valley trail I live in Whistler, so Oh, no one

was around me at the point of that point. And when music comes

on, I just have to move my body dancing across the bridge across

the waterfall and eyes are closed, and I'm twirling, and

I'm thinking, I'm just like a little kid and I start skipping,

and it takes me back to being seven years old. I can't

remember my skips, right. And then I see a man walking up the

path the other way. And I'm like, he probably thinks I'm a

nutcase. But I don't care, maybe he'll just see my pure joy. And

maybe that was it for today. I kept on skipping past and

enjoying my music. And I literally felt like I was seven

years old again. And it was amazing. But so often we create

ourselves back, right? Because we think, Well, an adult can't

behave like that.

Yes, we can. Why not? I know, you know, it's true.

We all get so serious.

Well, there's, that's the thing, becoming an adult

does take on a level of seriousness that also sheds the

light on the fact that, you know, we think these playful

moments aren't available to us anymore. I mean, imagine if

your, your spouse or your friend said, Hey, let's go play in the

woods. Or instead of going to the gym, it's so much easier to

say, Okay, I'm just gonna have to play for a while I'll be

right back, then I have to go do this serious thing, because I

know why it's good for me, but I actually hate it. And it's

really bothering me. And, you know, those kinds of things.

Being, being giving yourself permission to getting back to

being a kid feels way more fun and achievable, then, you know,

not it's, it's a state of mind, really, Melissa, you know, plays

a state of mind and exercise is playing. And that, that

that is the state of mind, I totally agree.

Yeah, if people can switch the, their thinking and

understand that, you know, play is exercise, exercise is play,

then their whole world can open up

100%. And I love what you said about let's go

play in the woods, because I know, you've mentioned that play

is nature's therapy. Oh, it is nature's therapy

on so many levels. And you know, the mind body

connection is so powerful and you really can feel it. Big time

when you're outside in nature. You know, the the mental and

physical benefits of being outside is, is really next

level. And again, it doesn't take a lot of time. But it does

take and I also like to say there's no bad weather. There's

only bad cooling down here. Yeah, I'm gonna guide leader I

know about what to do. Where I got it from, I was never a Girl

Guide leader. But you know, i No matter the weather, play is

still available to us. Yes. Yeah. As long as you're safe, of

course. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And because it boosts your mood, it

improves your memory. It helps fight disease. You know, there's

chronic diseases that are preventable. If you spend more

time moving your body and enjoying nature. That's why it's

nature's therapy.

Well, and because we know that nature

helps us drop out of our chronic stress state and into our rest

and digest parasympathetic nervous system. And in our

world, today, too many of us are living stuck in that chronic

stress, state, fight or flight. We're in that fight or flight

right in order for the body to be producing the cortisol, the

adrenaline that it thinks we need in order for us to get away

from the lion or tiger that it thinks is chasing us. It shuts

down other systems, one of which is our immune system, because

the immune system takes energy. And right now the brain thinks

we need all the energy we can to get to safety. And so that's why

it's so therapeutic. And I mean, I'm so fortunate I live in

Whistler, I've got nature all around me. It was a choice to

live here. I only ever came for one season. And two years later,

I'm still here you are at 22 Somehow I knew to make that

choice. But I remember just a couple summers ago, I went to

Vancouver for the day, right? So driving around in the city and I

was doing appointments and things and so that can be

stressful when you don't do it all the time. Right?

And on the way home and all those cars on the road.

Exactly.

Where's your money going? Where am I going to

find a parking spot right? And why is it so grounded in this

line because I have five minutes to get to my next appointment

anyway. So I'm driving home and I stopped in at Alice Lake one

of our camping sites in Squamish where my sister and her family

were camping for the week and it was my niece's birthday and I

pulled into their spot and I parked and I needed to go to the

washroom so I walked over to the little outhouse there. And as I

walked back towards their sight, like I had not been there two

minutes, and I physically felt the stress just leave my body

Yeah. And it was just again, another reminder of I'm fully

aware of the benefits of this, but to feel it so. You know, I

don't know viscerally. I guess in my body, I'm just that Aha of

Gee, I did kind of had a stressful day to day for it to

leave my body like that. Within two minutes of being back in

nature. Love it, right. So by an outhouse. Wow, that's a lot.

There's a lot of relief happening. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So

talk to me more about, I know, there's studies that show the

benefit of, you know, nature and the benefit to the brain, at

cetera, et cetera, and benefit to health. So share a little bit

more of these studies with me?

Well, sure, you know, there is a recent study found

that moderate physical activity thickened parts of the brain in

beneficial ways to that led 60 year olds who had been sedentary

scoring as though they were 20 years younger, which is kind of

phenomenal onyx, with executive function, which is the ability

to pay attention and organize and achieve goals. So you know,

that in itself, the having that happen, but also, you know, the

other medicinal benefits of play are, it can help manage

arthritis. In fact, it can improve arthritis symptoms by up

to 40%. And even that 150 minutes a week, the moderate

physical activity can reduce your risk of developing type two

diabetes by 26%. And that's huge in today's world. 26%. Yeah,

with moderate intensity, right. And that's what people have to

really understand that one in four adults globally, do not get

150 minutes a week of exercise, because there's this stop gap

between what they think they need to do to get in shape

versus really what's available to them. And that's where I'm,

you know, bringing this whole play message back to is that,

that 150 minutes, is seriously easy to get, when you give

yourself more permission to be playful, and find the things

that you'd like to do. Right.

And you've got a whole list of 150 things to

start sparking ideas.

Oh, that and, you know, also, I didn't want to write my

book, too, I didn't want to write another exercise book, I

didn't want to write a book that says, This is what you have to

do. And this is the way you have to do it. Right? I come in at

this as truly, as a coach, here are some tools you can use to

start understanding how much time you're moving every day,

the kinds of things you'd like to do your vision of what being

healthy as you age looks like, you know, having a I even

actually did a vision board specifically for this book,

which I have as a screensaver on my computer. And you know, it's

literally it's fresh fruits and vegetables and playing in the

woods and being in nature and those things, they really speak

to me and still to this day. And also things in my book, you

know, really what you value and believe. And really, you know,

what you're willing, able and able to do all helps paint the

right picture, as an individual to find the way to move a little

more and play every day.

And I love that you made a vision board around

it and just to create that future plan for yourself.

Yeah, well, you know, we deserve some inspiration. And

we all imagine, you know, it's this is not about getting cut

for competition, you know, play, it's not about, you know, always

building and, and goal achieving and those type of things. And

it's it's also not about fitting in a dress from when you were

15. This is about like achieving manageable, sustainable change,

and movement. Play is the most positive catalyst for change.

Once you start moving more, you feel better. Once you feel

better, you'll probably sleep better, because you're a little

more tired. Like your body's working for you, not against

you. When you're sleeping better, you actually eat better.

Those all those ways to manage our health, as we age are

available. And I believe the lowest barrier to entry and the

most fun way to do it is playing 100%

I totally agree with you there. I totally agree

with you. And you also mentioned just there we all need a little

inspiration. And so I just want to let the audience know that if

you're tuning into this episode for the first time that this is

coming out in my theme of play for the month of May 2022. But

my April episodes were all about inspirations So if you're also

looking for inspiration in your life go check out those episodes

as well. So I agree that the lowest barrier to entry is play

like there's almost no barrier at all. And we can just walk

outside our front door and find ways to play when we open our

mind too that something again I'm grateful for through this

pandemic is I bought a paddleboard because I figured,

well, if I can't travel anywhere, I'm going to be home

more, and I absolutely love my paddleboard. In fact, last year,

April 16, was my first day on my paddleboard, Oh, I did it for

seven days in a row because we had this sudden week of gorgeous

blue skies, sunny weather. Yeah, I won't be on my paddleboard

this year on April 17 16th. Because a the mountain is still

open for the first few years is usually open but the last two

years it closed early. But secondly, we still have a lot of

snow this year, and the weather isn't as warm. So I will keep

skiing. And then in May, I will I'm looking forward to getting

my paddleboard out. But the other thing that I started was

backcountry hiking with my oldest daughter, nice, and we

have absolutely loved getting out into nature, you know,

hiking up taking everything with us, exploring different

dehydrated food options, et cetera, et cetera, you know,

having our tent. And we're again planning this summer, more

backcountry camping trips, because we just enjoy the time

together the memories, where we're taking devices, but we

can't really use them, we're having them for one more like on

the way back and forth, et cetera. But we're out of self

range, right? So we're leaving the world behind. Love that just

getting into nature.

You know what I love about that. And I use the I

share this a lot with my clients in that, that in itself, what

you're doing is a wonderful role modeling opportunity to help you

know you, I know you're a guided health professional, but you

truly are guiding your own child and helping them explore and

understand those wonderful ways that nature can really

decompress us, and really help us tune into our world. I think

it's great, you know, there's a lot of people that struggle with

their kids on devices, or their grandchildren, or it's a real

issue. But having the opportunity to be in a role

model position to introduce other people that we love to

other ways of getting outside and moving. It's wonderful. So I

applaud you for that.

Well, thank you. And we both really love it. And

in fact, it was she that last October. Before we went, she

looked up the time of sunrise, and she made me get up at 430 in

the morning, because I think I think Sunrise was at five, but

we wanted to see all the beautiful change of the colors

in the sky. Right? I hope we have to first get out when it's

pitch black.

Yeah, did you take pictures?

We took a lot of pictures. Out there in complete

silence, we found an empty platform that we just went lay

on in our sleeping bags and looked up at the sky. And then

when it started getting lighter, we actually sat up and took tons

of pictures. And it was just magically we barely talked we

didn't need to talk. We were so in awe.

Of what how and wonder. Yeah, no, we all deserve more

awe and wonder. And it again, like nature, it's available to

us. You have to be intentional. Be exactly and when your

intention matches what you really desire. That's, I'm so

glad you had that experience together. That's wonderful.

Yeah, it was it was super, super fun. And I

absolutely love what you're doing. And not only bringing

this to individuals, but also into the corporate workplace.

Because that's often where we can feel like we have to be

serious, we're being paid to do a job, right. And, you know,

that is a little bit bred into us in terms of society,

especially in the corporate world. I know from my experience

in my past life, being in the corporate world, that it's

serious. And I think

the industrial revolution really set the tone

for that, that, you know, productivity over fun. And I

believe that it doesn't have to be like that. In fact, when I

talk to corporate groups, my the favorite topic I talk about is

how to add more play into your workday. And people are often

surprised by that. But it's it's not that hard. You just have to

find a way and again, role modeling as leaders. I think

it's important that leaders take the time to model that behavior

to their employees, because because you can you know, you

can It's simple. It's not easy, but it's simple.

Exactly. And I was, I heard a stat, I don't

remember the exact stat recently, but I know, you know,

employee engagements are at all time lows, right? Like, like 80%

disengagement, right. But when they see the CEO or the

leadership step into caring for themselves, so this was more

about encouraging CEOs to look after their health, looking

after everybody else's, and then they're not looking after their

own. But what they saw was when the CEO started looking after

their health, then everybody else started doing it too,

because it gave them permission to do that. So maybe if the CEO

went for a walk at lunchtime, will Oh, he if he can do that, I

can do that. Right. But if he's in his office working all

through lunch, then the rest of the employees think that that's

what they have to do to

Yeah, it comes back to that role modeling, whether you

are a CEO, being intentional with leading your healthy

behaviors and your healthy habits around others that see

it, it makes a huge, huge difference on how people will

show up for you, as a parent, or as a leader, for sure. Well,

parents are leaders. So let's just put that all in the same

category.

And the reality is, is when we're playing, we

are getting out of that stress state. And so ultimately, you

might be thinking you're taking time away from doing something

to play. But yes, actually get more done. Because when you get

out of that stress state, your frontal lobe will function

better. And you will be able to be more focused, when you come

back to your work. And your mind just won't be in this overwhelm

of ping, ping, ping, ping, ping getting nothing.

And not to mention, all that play time, adds up to

reducing the other big, big thing that's come out of this

pandemic, which is anxiety and depression, you know, getting

people to understand those movement habits, the play habit,

can reduce their help to reduce it. Absolutely. There's a whole

I mean, I speak to Dr. John Ratey, and my book who is like

the preeminent psychiatrist on movement, and play, and, you

know, just it can be as good as not necessarily replace

medication, but as good as taking medication. Not that

anybody should ever stop taking their medication with their

doctor. But those regular exercise can work wonders for

your mental health, and, therefore also lead to

productivity at the office. So

100% agree. Well, I've totally love laughing

with you throughout this episode. Because it's been fun,

and we've been playing. So I always love to ask my episode

guests. What does? Now I can't even say it. What does don't

wait for your wake up call mean to you?

Oh, yeah. You know, the wait, don't wait for a wake up

call means be as proactive about your health as you can. You are

the CEO of your health, you are the person in charge. And

having, you know, stuff happens in life. But the more prepared

we are and the better we take care of ourselves proactively.

When those Wake Up Calls happen, like we talked about at the

beginning. They're way less scary, because you have things

in place to help you through, manage through and come out the

other side, on the positive end. Because Wake Up Calls will

happen to everybody. They just do at some point. So the more

prepared like a girl guy, the more prepared you are, the

better off you'll be, because health through health as well.

Exactly. I love that. And I'm so happy to hear

that your husband has just experienced exactly that. So and

that he's doing really well. So that's awesome. So if people are

interested in learning more about you, your work your book,

how can they find you and reach out to

you. So everything anybody needs to reach out to me

is on my website, which is Janet Olmstead. So no l no, H O M S, T

E, D homestead.com. And over there, you'll find links to find

my book, I have free downloads. Those assessment sheets, we were

talking about the free first chapter of my book, if you'd

like to get a preview, and also, you know, speaking or coaching,

it's all there. So perfect Instagram, I'm on Instagram, I'm

on LinkedIn, and I think those notes will be in.

Yes. So I will make sure all of that is in the

show notes for the listeners. And yes, thank you very much for

the gift to the audience as well of the first chapter of your

book because I know when people read that they will definitely

want more. And as we finish up, what is one tip that you would

like to leave with the audience so they can listen to this and

then go out and just start playing today? The tip

of this moment, I would say is, the mindset is, I get to

play, I don't have to work out, I get to play. And when you

change your mindset, it will make a big difference to how you

show up. And I'd love to hear how you're playing. So let me

know if you found something fun. Reach out to me, because it'd be

great to know how you determine that.

I love that. So yes, start playing and email

Janet and let her know what you have started doing in your life.

Well, thank you again for joining us here today. Janet.

It's been so much fun. And thank you to my audience for tuning in

every week. And we will be here again next week. So have a

wonderful week out there everyone.

Bye. Thanks so much. Bye. Thank you for investing this time with

me on the don't wait for your wake up call Podcast. I'm so

glad you joined in. If you can take two minutes to share this

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