Have you been feeling sluggish lately? Brain fog? Imbalanced digestion? Skin issues? You probably need a reset! I am thrilled to announce that Cat Elumba & I are hosting a Spring Vitality Seasonal Reset May 8 -12 2023. Join us for a 5-day virtual group coaching program where we implement simple, seasonal, sustainable solutions to manage your health and wellness from the comfort of your own home. Come recharge & refuel your body each season together in community. Our programs are des...

Research shows that 75% of our eating habits are emotionally driven (Cleveland Clinic, 2021). My guest today is Kiki Athanas, who helps people conquer emotional eating and practice healthy, balanced eating with consistency and ease - even in the face of life’s challenges. She created The Gut Brain Integration method to help people take control of their cravings and hunger, so eating no longer feels like an internal battle. She makes being healthy fun & doable. Our body craves variety ...

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped endocrine gland located in your neck that is key for supporting every system in the body. It helps to regulate your metabolism, mood, digestion, circadian rhythm, bone maintenance, and body temperature. My guest today is Divya Gupta who is Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition. She shines light on thyroid health and ignites flames of inspiration through sharing her journey in both becoming a Holistic Nutrition practitioner and transitioning to a healthier li...

Gut health is foundational to our overall health. You are not what you eat, you are what you digest. My guest today is Morgan Lewis, a Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant, Yoga Teacher, and believer in wellness. She utilizes holistic nutrition and lifestyle support for women experiencing IBS and digestive issues. Morgan shares how she navigated chronic gut issues, bloating, an IBS diagnosis, and a recent Lyme diagnosis. Morgan shares her expertise on digestive wellness so we can underst...

A recent study showed that only 6.8% of Americans are metabolically healthy (Ohern et al., 2022). The latest statistics from the CDC report that 70% of Americans are overweight and 40% are obese. 1 in 3 has prediabetes. What is the commonality between all of these issues? Poor metabolic health. Your metabolism is the process by which your body takes the food and beverages we put in and converts it to energy for fuel. Poor metabolic health is associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, ...

This podcast is called Go Play in the Dirt, but it should be called Go Play in the Soil. The health of our soil, the health of humans and the health of the planet are all intricately connected. Do you know how critical soil is to our very existence on earth? A study published in Earth’s Future shows that since farmers began tilling the land in the Midwest 160 years ago, 57.6 billion metric tons of topsoil have eroded. This is the result of soil degradation which is caused by pollution and c...

Movement & hydration are two major components of overall health that you can begin to incorporate into your daily routine today. My guest today is Michele Riechman, a certified personal trainer, yoga teacher, and health coach with a doctorate in physical therapy. She helps women who have put themself on the back burner finally get in shape, fit back into their clothes, and optimize their metabolism without dieting, so they can increase their energy & feel confident in their bodies. ...

Brain fog? Missed periods? Fatigue? Feeling tired and wired? These can all be symptoms of hormone imbalance. Hormones are a hot topic. These little chemical messengers are involved in almost every bodily process and are a crucial piece of overall health. Reestablishing healthy hormone levels in the body is key. Anastasiia De La Cruz, certified holistic nutritionist & infertility survivor, joins me in this episode to discuss hormones, their many functions, and simple ways to nourish and...

What’s my favorite word? MICROBIOME! Your microbiome is one of the most complex ecosystems on earth made up of different bacteria, fungi and viruses. The microbiome is all about balance #balancingyourbiome and a healthy microbiome is foundational to your overall health. As Aristotle said, "temperance or balance is a virtue," we should constantly take the center course. In this episode, Ellen Roufs joins me for a deep dive into gut health. We chat about simple ways to balance the microbiome ...

I am here to tell you to forget your New Year's Resolutions. What are your New Year's Intentions? A resolution ties you to the future with no clear path forward while an intention grounds you in the present. Intention is something we aim to do. It supports grace, forgiveness, and time. If you want to reclaim your power, start by being intentional. My New Year's Intention is to call in powerful collaborations. In this episode I reflect on the year that is about to end and also announce a maj...

We’ve talked about many facets of holistic wellness on Go Play in the Dirt. But one thing we haven’t discussed yet—which is an aspect as important as the others—is our financial health. How do we maintain our physical and mental health if we are not prioritizing building our financial health, too? Like it or not, one of life’s biggest stressors is money. Financial stress affects everyone. In this episode I brought on one of my favorite people to talk about financial fitness, Chi...

Biodiversity is a word used to describe the vast variety of life on earth. This podcast celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion and is a safe space to elevate diverse voices. These conversations can support developing biodiversity in our own hearts to see each other as humans and encourage ways we can listen to, relate to and support one another. True to the podcast’s mission, we chat with Shalonda Ingram, a placemaker, strategist, and producer, who will walk us through the depths of...

Let’s get more junior chefs in the kitchen! In this episode we discover how the quality of a child's diet impacts their overall health and some simple ways to get kiddos involved in the cooking process. This episode is a fun one. I worked with my brother and we created a remix of the holiday classic The 12 Days of Christmas - I present to you, for the holiday season of 2022, The 12 Days of Kids Cooking. ‘Tis the season for some big kid energy. “On the first day of kids cooking, a junio...

“The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter.” Remember this line from our all-time favorite Harry Potter? There are many lores about the wand to explore; for one, the wand picking its person is a combination of the wood and core and the personality of its holder—meaning, the wand is not a one-size-fits-all kind of instrument. It’s personalized—distinct to every wizard. Similarly, our body functions the same way. How our body heals and maintains our health is different for each person - the con...

Recent statistics show that the average American consumes about 70 pounds of added sugar a year. Sugar is everywhere! Sugar can be seen as a comfort food. Some of these foods even take us back to our core memory of childhood: moments of freedom and happiness. But while sugar is a huge part of our society today, it can also jeopardize our health in a multitude of ways. In this episode, Netta Gorman, a self-confessed sweet tooth and dessert queen, recounts how she finally realized that th...

Have you ever had a gut feeling? Butterflies in your stomach? An immediate instinct? The way our bodies give us clues is truly a work of art. The gut-brain connection explains where your gut feelings come from. The gut and the brain are in constant communication with each other and the gut is home to the enteric nervous system aka “the second brain.” Our brain sends signals to every part of our body and where it is usually physically manifested is in your gut. This is why when we’re emotional...

The world has put such pressure on women regarding the way we look, we walk, we talk, we dress, we act, and carry ourselves. The standards of beauty are skewed and society pushes many products on people (botox, fillers, serums) that actually contain toxins, accelerate the aging process and can negatively affect your overall health. Jessica Rose, a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Licensed Cosmetologist, and Beauty Expert, educates us on ways to get glowing, vibrant skin from within by using...

Dr. Ed Bauman has been at the forefront of the holistic health and nutrition renaissance for the past 50 years. Dr. B literally learned nutrition from the ground up by starting in the soil as an organic farmer. In our conversation, Dr. B discusses how compromised our food systems have become and why there is such a great need to go back and play in the dirt, produce and eat local, community-based food. We dive deep into ways to be well by using the 5 Wellness Practices: Eating for Health, J...

Numbers do not lie. According to the CDC prior to the pandemic, 51.8% of all US adults have at least 1 pre-existing chronic disease. 30% of all us adults have 2 or more chronic diseases. Today, one out of three Americans is clinically obese which is twice as many as three decades ago. Quite alarming, isn’t it? And this is due to the fact that our modern lives now equate to an unhealthy lifestyle. Processed food. Poor lifestyle habits. There are so many things that we enjoy but don’t ne...

Storyteller, podcaster, and psychotherapist Kimberly Jane Nasrul, or KJ as her friends and family call her, is a believer of the arts and creativity as means to maintain mental wellness. This incorporation of the arts to explore mental health is exactly how I view biodiversity—the understanding that we all co-exist and everything is interconnected. Every choice we make is felt in our bodies, our lives, and our surroundings. As a holistic nutritionist, I believe in the need to also prioritize ...