Latest / Two Girls and a Cup of Wellness / Breast Cancer Recovery: Resilience with Christine Manko Petersen | Ep 8
Transcript
- Crissy Florio: Hello everyone and welcome back for another Two Girls in a Cup of Wellness podcast. This is Chrissy. And this is Marie. And today, as you already heard, we have the amazing Christine joining us and beyond honored to have this conversation with this gorgeous human here. ⁓ Welcome, Christine. Christine Manko Petersen: Hi everyone, thank you for the warm welcome. I'm so happy to be here and I'm so excited to what's coming up. Crissy Florio: Yeah, us too, us too. So Christine and I actually met a few years ago. I was hosting a breast cancer fundraiser ⁓ for a a local, beautiful local organization. And she came to one of ⁓ my events and super sweet. And then we re-met again at another organization or another fundraiser. for the same organization, probably about a couple, maybe a year or two after that. And Christine is just such a beautiful human, just very grounded. And when you're in her presence, you feel seen and you feel safe. And I just adore you. And when we were sitting here thinking about some of our guests coming on, you immediately came to my mind because I know some of the work that you do in not only the breast cancer world, helping mainly women, right? Mainly women kind of move through their traumas in this very grounding and real and whole way. So, you know, we mentioned that you are really focusing on this, the sense of resilience in your coaching and somatic mindfulness. Can you give us a little insight as to what got you here today to do this like so needed work in this world. Christine Manko Petersen: Yeah, I'd love to. So where do I start? ⁓ First of all, you mentioned the first time we met and that was actually you are one of my first breast connections ⁓ I had in Florida because I got diagnosed in 2020 in Germany and went through the whole thing over there. ⁓ And then I moved to Florida in Crissy Florio: Yay. Christine Manko Petersen: 2021 and just with a little bit back and forth. ⁓ And so I had to rebuild my whole network on, I mean, in general, my whole life, friends and all that, but also my network when it came to breast cancer. And I guess we didn't, ⁓ I just jumped right in here. So 2020. I was ⁓ diagnosed and at the same time, I mean, we all had ⁓ our story in 2020, know, like, however ⁓ the world affected us in our daily life, but mine was through my health. And at the same time, my employer, worked ⁓ my sweet little butt off, ⁓ got involved in a huge financial scandal and... Crissy Florio: You Christine Manko Petersen: At the same time, I literally lost trust in my own body and trust in the corporate world. And those were two major pillars of my own being. ⁓ so I just had to go through the motions, ⁓ do the things they told me to do and also the things I added on and ⁓ came through the other side. But ⁓ I also told you that before, I got a couple hits in that direction. And I always say I needed those hits in order to just finally stop and pause and really just breathe, trust and reflect. I was so busy and so driven and so planned out and... I planned my whole move, like getting married, moving to the United States from Germany. At the same time, I was supposed to bring my job with me. So I was flying around back and forth a lot. ⁓ And that just really took a toll ⁓ on me, on my health, on my body, and on literally everything. So ⁓ that was like a total upheaval. And yeah, after going through all the healing, ⁓ I realized that there was, I mean, you know, I did all the things on top like yoga, breath work, meditation, energy healing. And I didn't realize that I actually just did the same thing I did in corporate, just on another topic, right? Just I kept pushing through, I kept being busy. Crissy Florio: Mmm. Christine Manko Petersen: wanted to achieve all the milestones they were, right? Like, ⁓ I kind of treated it as a project and everyone's like, ⁓ you did so great. And you were, and I'm like, yeah, I'm very focused. doing this, you know, without really realizing that I was still not connected to my essence or connected to myself and still in my mind. So ⁓ long story short, fast forward when I ended up in Florida, I kind of like ⁓ found my ground again, built up my life from totally scratch. Like I started completely over. ⁓ I got another hit because of a reoccurrence. And I'm like, seriously, what else? What else do you want from me? Right? Like I was literally at Crissy Florio: Yeah. It's almost like that little voice was like, wait, but but wait, but wait, there's still more. There's still more. Yeah. Christine Manko Petersen: Right? And I thought, how much more can someone take or do or, you know, like, what else do I need to do was kind of like my thinking. And then I felt like I got into this space of I call it my awakening, where everything was just like I felt like I was living in a bubble. Everything was like, whatever, you know, like I saw the sunshine, I saw the squirrels outside and I just felt this pure bliss because I was like, I guess my nervous system was completely like overwhelmed. I don't know what to do anymore, but that I just needed that deep connection. And that's when I felt this true essence of me, my connection to the universe, like this whole, I can't do it anymore kind of thing, you know, like, I realized. That was the part when I completely let go and I surrendered. Before I always thought like, oh yeah, surrendering, I'm not liking that word that sounds like giving up. And then someone told me, no, surrender is actually not giving up. Surrendering is doing your best and then trusting the universe to do the rest for you, right? Like you do whatever you can is in your power. And I like that even better. And I'm like, all right, I'll do my best. Like I'm doing it again, right? Like I'm pushing through again. Crissy Florio: Hmm. Christine Manko Petersen: And at that point I'm like, right, I gave my best and here I am again. So I don't know what to do anymore. So that's when I felt like this peace, like this deep sense of peace and connection where I was like, that's what I had to learn. Right? Like that's, there is no controlling. is no trying to figure things out or pushing things through. It's just. being in the moment, just acknowledging what's there right in front of you because everything else is scary or you don't even know how to grasp it or you don't even know where to start again. So yeah, all that just ⁓ gave me so much, like such a deep insight of who we truly are. And then again, sure, my curious and ambitious mind kicked in and I'm like, okay, what are we gonna do with that? Like, and I thought like, I just want to share that with the world. I just want to share with women out there who are going through the same or who are like having this like massive fears. Like I can't even tell you how fearful and afraid I was, you know, like ⁓ that there's, and I just listened to one of your podcasts, you said hope, you don't like the word hope. So I'm not. Crissy Florio: Yeah Yeah. Well, you know, I think there's a time and place for it, right? Like you were just talking about even with surrender that literally came into my head was you don't like the word surrender. And I was like, I could see where that could feel hopeless sometimes just, and it literally was going in my mind, just like I think with hope, ⁓ but you know, it just in the right time and place for these words. Christine Manko Petersen: I'm not saying it. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, for sure. it was just like that. thought, you know what, this like, there is so much essence in just like trusting, just trusting the universe and letting go. I know it sounds so corny and it sounds so, yeah, it would be that easy, right? But there is a way to get to that inner peace. And ⁓ so I just made it my journey to help others to really, yeah. Crissy Florio: Yeah. Christine Manko Petersen: get to that. Crissy Florio: It's interesting because, like you said, it seems so simple, right? It seems so easy. And I think it is simple, but it's not easy. There's a huge difference between those two words, right? Things could be simple, right? Think about a simple recipe. There could be five ingredients, but it might not be easy for some people to cook it still, right? I'm going to say that in Marie's terms because... You and Christina Marie both are phenomenal cooks too, by the way, which we can talk about that as well. But I think understanding that a lot of things in healing are simple, but they're not easy because we're so programmed in our ways of doing life. you know, it sounds like you went from doing go, go, go, do, do, do into that surrender of just being. Right. And just acceptance and of being, which is so needed in a lot of traumatic situations, whether it is breast cancer or another diagnosis or a loss of a loved one. Right. It's this, the sense of we have to accept what is, and we have to move into the, the being to let our bodies kind of get to that level of healing. So then try to figure out, okay, what are our next steps and doing it from a, not a frenetic. Christine Manko Petersen: Yeah. Crissy Florio: space, know, taking our next steps from a more grounded, calm place rather than just like, Oh my God, I have to get everything done right now. That's the type of world we live in, right? Yeah. Like everything you're saying, Christine, the success, the go, the get to the end, get to the finish line, but don't joy. You don't enjoy the run on the way, right? You don't look at the mountains and the flowers, but do you see that most of the people that you work with actually crash and burn before they come to you? Christine Manko Petersen: So. Yeah. yes. ⁓ but I'm, always cautious with the word burn, burn out because, I always say like back when, when I was like in that, ⁓ hamster wheel, my dad used to say like, ⁓ yeah, I can see you're very stressed and I'm like, I'm not stressed. Like, don't tell me I'm stressed. I have it all together, right? It's just like this, like, I'm trying to hold it together, but don't tell me that I'm just barely holding it together. Crissy Florio: Okay. Christine Manko Petersen: So yes, mainly the women I work with, they are on that edge where they're like, all right, I'm just juggling it all, but nothing can happen now or I can't just handle just one more thing, right? Like it's always like that fine line of burn out and I'm not. Crissy Florio: like the tipping point. Yeah, almost like they're on a a I'm thinking a cliff or or what are those? Right? What are those? ⁓ yeah, like a tightrope tightrope. There you go. Almost like on a tightrope. You add one more thing and you're just gonna fall off. Yeah. Christine Manko Petersen: Yeah, it's the tipping point, right? Mm-hmm. Yep. Exactly. that always goes with that ⁓ because I'm not saying that it's because of less capacity, because they're not capable of doing all the things. A lot of times it's because they're misaligned. They're doing all the things because someone else wants it or because they think... Crissy Florio: they should, quote unquote, should or have to. Yeah. Right. Christine Manko Petersen: people like they should, or they have to, or ⁓ they juggle their families and they try to meet all their needs, even though maybe some ⁓ of their family members didn't even ask for it, right? Like always that misalignment of like what's really truly needed and what do I think ⁓ I have to do and prove to others or... to myself. So that's usually the point where they are like very on edge ⁓ in autopilot, over-functioning, over-performing, and also just not their self, like trying to fit into something or molding into something which isn't their true essence. And that's where I a lot of times see that it goes sideways. Crissy Florio: Yeah. There is, ⁓ when I went to your website, I was, I loved your website. It was so beautiful, so calming. And there was one thing that really stood out for me was your usage of the word resilience. And think about how many times we say, ⁓ kids are so resilient, right? But when do we really stop and pause and really think about what resilience is and Christine Manko Petersen: Mm-hmm. Crissy Florio: You have the definition on there. And I just want to share this with everybody because I thought it was so beautiful and so powerful. Resilience is the definition of resilience is your capacity to maintain your core purpose and integrity in the phase of a dramatically changed circumstance. Your capacity to maintain your core purpose and integrity in the phase of a dramatically changed circumstance. And that circumstance could be anything. in life, right? It could be a diagnosis. It could be a loss. I mean, we keep saying these things over and over again, because I feel that we're all healing through something, right? Something in life, whether it's something from our childhood or something that's going on right now, obviously, there's a lot going on in our world, too, right? A lot of negative, a lot of hate in our world as well. And that could put ⁓ a, you know, a focus on this. But We are resilient people, but we have to be conscious first. We have to be aware of how can we show up in the world becoming more resilient and really stepping into our integrity and still showing up the beautiful humans that we are. So I love that. I love that you keep bringing that up. ⁓ we also talk about, also saw that you talked about like the importance of grieving, a version of you which is lost and accepting the void. when the new version hasn't fully blossomed yet. Can you kind of talk to that a little bit? So beautiful. Christine Manko Petersen: Yeah, and I'm just saying that through lived experience because I, it's, I don't know, I feel like in the business owner world, they would talk about the messy middle, but in the breast cancer world or not even just like, it didn't have to have like a major health crisis. It could also be someone who just lost like a loved one or even the birth of your child, like a life-changing experience, which kind of like reminded you to who we really are, you know, like humans. ⁓ that's where, and I guess I just lost my train of thought. What was your question? I'm like. Crissy Florio: It happens, believe me, I do it all the time. just about coming back to talking about like the old version and the new version and this grieving the old version of ourselves. Christine Manko Petersen: Here we go. Yes, so we have this life-changing experience or this aha moment, yeah, it could also just be a simple aha moment, and you realize, okay, I have, like, there is something which wants to evolve or I have evolved, but there is someone I have to leave behind or I was forced to leave behind because of circumstances. And then there is also that new version, that future self version of you, right? Like, and you're just like in the middle that like, okay, I feel like I can't keep doing what I'm doing, or I've kind of like, can't do the same old same old anymore. ⁓ Versus like, but what am I gonna do with all this, you know, with all this learned experience? And ⁓ that's the void I like to talk about. ⁓ It's just that that place where you lost the version of your former self and then you're in this void, not knowing who you are after blossoming, right? And just being able to sit with that and not to try to force any outcomes. I mean, if we get shook like that, it's just like you really start reflecting. everything you've done, like every life choice, life decision, what could have, would have, should have, you know. ⁓ And then you just start creating new like stepping stones. And ⁓ again, as everything you just try and try to figure out and see what comes next. Sometimes you have to go back and just sit there and wait. And that was the hardest part for me just to ⁓ Surrender and trust and wait and see what's coming, you ⁓ But I feel like that's where the magic happens that that's where you just remember ⁓ Why you're here what you're supposed to bring out in the world and ⁓ What you want to do with the rest of your life, you know, like it's you get this this Yeah, how shall I say like this wake up call where you're like, okay, you get reminded that we are not, we all have an expiry date. Like, but our society, we live like, we live forever, right? We don't even want to go there. But as soon as we get remembered that there's so much more out there and that there is an expiry date, we start thinking about what's truly valuable to us. What matters, what matters most and how do I want to spend the next? Crissy Florio: important matters. Christine Manko Petersen: ⁓ couple years of my life, you know, like ⁓ and I heard one that was a podcast it wasn't even about the cancer world but that person said like he was just thinking about like how his parents are aging and ⁓ if he's lucky he has like 10 more years with his mom I mean she had a good age but so he was starting to break it down like okay it's 10 more Christmas ⁓ like 10 more summers, maybe if I skip a Christmas because I live at the other side of the world, it's just five more Christmases, you know, like when you start thinking about like what truly matters to you, you get to be very picky and choosy, like how you want to spend that time. And that's where people change their careers or where they just decide to retire early or... Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. On your time, Christine Manko Petersen: Yeah, whatever it is that they feel like that's what brings them joy and that's how they want to go live their life. Crissy Florio: So what's the main trauma that you see with your clients? Is it mainly breast cancer or cancers in general? Or do you work with any childhood trauma? Christine Manko Petersen: ⁓ Yeah, I mean, it's surely through my own story that ⁓ people I attract, but there is also a lot of childhood ⁓ trauma, just like the patterns of not being enough, trying to ⁓ like being super perfectionistic, trying to ⁓ take care of everyone and everything, right? Like people pleasing. ⁓ That's like a big pattern. Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Christine Manko Petersen: But also, yeah, typical fighter flight, like go, go, go. ⁓ Very ambitious, very eager, identifying through productivity. ⁓ And the traumas are not necessarily always big T traumas, I call them. Sometimes they don't even know what it is. And that is the juicy part about my somatic inquiry work, because ⁓ we're not talking about it. like with the mind because that's what you do in therapy, right? You revisit and you talk about certain things, but with somatic mindfulness, just go into the body and see what comes up. that's sense and sense and a, a, a, and say, what's going on? A sensation or a memory and, or a thought like, Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. Christine Manko Petersen: not all of us are able to switch their heads off completely. And then we just look at the color, the shape, the temperature, what the word is it's bringing up, right? We're not necessarily bringing up the whole story because a lot of things we can't even remember. We don't know that that's the thing which is bothering us or keeping us. So, yes, and just by... Crissy Florio: ⁓ Right. It's subconscious, so we don't know it, but it's coming up and it's showing up in our actions. Christine Manko Petersen: Exactly. And just by acknowledging those feelings in the body or sensations or sometimes it's just like an itchy throat, you know, ⁓ the energy starts moving because it's stuck energy which ⁓ wasn't processed before due to the traumatic event. The body wasn't able ⁓ to process it as it should have been. So just by acknowledging that there is something there. at the time we talk about it or we bring up a topic which might have been a little bit challenging. ⁓ We can see the body releasing through yawning, through burping. Sometimes I burp or yawn for the client. That's when I know like, okay, here is really stuff like moving. ⁓ afterwards you just feel lighter. your head is clearer, sometimes you get the light bulb moments just a couple of days later. But ⁓ what I'm trying to say is, it's not like people not necessarily have to tell me what their trauma is. Also, I ⁓ underline I'm not a therapist, but the work I'm doing is trauma informed. So I'm very aware of where we're going when we slowly titrate into Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. Christine Manko Petersen: those areas which could be a little re-traumatizing or which could be a little agitating and dysregulating, I make sure that I'm the one who stays regulated and we co-regulate in that session. So yeah, it doesn't always have to be. Crissy Florio: Yeah, because it's like that whole body response, right? So I don't know if you read much about my background, but I've been an eminence practitioner. I've been in medicine for a while. So I always knew that this conventional medicine stuff drove me nuts because I look at the body as a whole. When I was in London this time last year, I was at a functional medicine course. And they were talking about when you intake a patient and you're to start right from the beginning of birth. And I'm thinking in my head, are you kidding me? Christine Manko Petersen: you Crissy Florio: I've got to ask them, were they cesarean? Were they a vaginal birth? Did the mother breastfeed? Was there an event in their life at three or four or five because it affects your entire body and they can hold on to that for years? And I just, I thought it was fascinating. You know, with gut health and all that kind of stuff. So. I mean, really from zero to seven is really when the brain is like. Christine Manko Petersen: I told you believe in Mm-hmm. Crissy Florio: the brain itself is starting to absorb really majorly from zero to seven. It's always changing. I our brain is still changing now. So that's beautiful work that they just found out not too long ago that we really can still change the makeshift of our brains and learn more and change. ⁓ But from zero to seven, that is a very highlighted time in our lives. that we still absorb a lot of the things that happen to us. And I don't think a lot of people realize that. So when looking at trauma and looking at how we show up in the world and in our days and in our relationships and everything, a lot of it actually is influenced by some of our subconscious, not some of it, mean, 80 % of our actions are driven by our subconscious and only 20 % by our conscious mind. Is that right? I'm hearing Freud right now. The super id and the ego and the oral fixation. I hated studying that stuff. But you we don't know. Yeah, we don't know. And we don't realize what's going on behind the scenes. So what are some of the, ⁓ what are some of the practical modalities that you do work with your clients? And do you work with your clients both in person and online? Christine Manko Petersen: Yeah. And that's Yes, so the the coachings I do, I do them mainly online, because I have my ⁓ whole big network in Germany still, I work with a company in the UK. So that's all online, but Locally, I do workshops and yoga classes. ⁓ mean, my restorative and somatic classes. ⁓ There, I don't talk much about the nervous system, but I just like let everything just like flow into that or I pour everything into that class. ⁓ And we mainly work on just coming into really deep, relaxed states. ⁓ And yeah, but I do if ⁓ if there is someone locally, ⁓ I do have ⁓ options to meet them also ⁓ in person, which I love because I guess we outgrew that purely remote online phase now and ⁓ I love just connecting in person again. And the modalities, yes, it's the one-in-one. ⁓ It's either the one-in-one coachings ⁓ in containers, ⁓ Crissy Florio: Hmm. Yeah. Christine Manko Petersen: of ⁓ three months or just like three sessions when we just do literally just do the somatic mindfulness inquiries where we just go into the body those are just like single sessions ⁓ and ⁓ yeah through workshops and also the retreats where ⁓ the two of us work together ⁓ with a lovely ⁓ organization called imagery born They offer weekend retreats for breast cancer for women after a breast cancer treatment, whether there's fresh out of treatment or still in treatment. They get together for a weekend and that's where we just pamper them, pour all the love we have into them and provide them with. massages, spa services, also grief circles and medical Q &A's. that's also how Chrissy and I got to work together now. ⁓ Crissy Florio: Yes. That's awesome. She asked me, she called me in to see if I would be interested in doing that with her. I did, I led a yoga practice with some of the ladies there and it was beautiful and we're gonna get to do it again this year. it's just such a beautiful experience because, know, here's the thing, two things with this. Number one, when we go through something, it gives us an opportunity to turn our pain into purpose, right? So whether it's somebody that We loved and we saw them go through something and then it makes us change and shift and say, wow, I wish I could do that. Or us ourselves have gone through a diagnosis and, for me writing the book and doing the yoga and, and, you know, working with people and for you, Christine, and all the beautiful work that you do with the somatic stuff. And then you Marie with all of your amazing cooking and offerings and the. functional medicine and your just knowledge, we take these things and this is how it starts to navigate our world. And we put that out into the world because now it's a huge ⁓ passion of ours. So that's like turning your pain into purpose for sure. But also too, being in group, being in connection with others who have experienced the same thing. I had this conversation last week. when we were at a conference, cancer conference, and just being in a room or at a table or just at a quick little meeting of people who have gone through what you have gone through, it does bring a sense of just you can drop your shoulders, you can really show up as your most authentic self, you could say whatever you want to say, you can cry if you want to cry, where sometimes we may not always show that side of us to our loved ones. If we're having a rough day or maybe memories are flooding because we have to go get ready to do another scan or something like that, you know, we don't want to necessarily show all of our emotions to our spouses or to our kids. We want to retract a little bit. We want to, you know, suppress it a little bit. But when you are in community with other people who have experienced what you've experienced, it is a little bit more just like, Yeah. I can be me. And that's what those retreats really do. And I'm sure there's different types of retreats for everything and gatherings and support groups and healing circles and all of the things. So if our listeners are going through something in life, whether it's a diagnosis or something traumatic, look in your area or online for healing circles or groups that may offer Christine Manko Petersen: in. Crissy Florio: ⁓ healing for that specific type of traumatic situation because it's really huge in the healing world. really is. And it's not to say that our spouses and loved ones don't want to know when we're feeling down or sad or what have you, but we also don't want to make them feel bad. We don't need to be fixed necessarily. Sometimes we just have to feel. yeah. Christine Manko Petersen: Yeah, yeah, I love that one. Crissy Florio: But ⁓ let's talk about your current program. What is the current program? Is it the becoming that you are offering to your clients? is it, what is that? Christine Manko Petersen: Yes, so ⁓ I love that you asked that because ⁓ what we talked before, like that void you are in where when you know that you can't go back to your former self, but you also don't know where else to go from here. That's exactly what ⁓ I work on with women in the becoming. It's literally just like taking a step back and reflecting on what was ⁓ regulating the nervous system, seeing like ⁓ whether it's regulating what just led to this or regulating because of that, of the diagnosis or whatever traumatic event happened. ⁓ And then also just releasing what's not longer serving us, also ⁓ grieving. the version ⁓ which we're letting go. ⁓ There is just so much with that. on the retreats, it always shows that the grieving circle is so important, acknowledging what was, acknowledging the emotions, feeling the emotions. ⁓ So ⁓ all the reflect and release. And then we were built by ⁓ turning inwards and ⁓ really looking inside how is it that I want to spend my life ⁓ the next couple years or what is it that I want to bring out into this world or what is it that I always felt called but thought it was a silly idea right like there is I feel like you can ask everyone everyone has that like one little thing in the back of their head like ⁓ yeah if if I would or if I when I retire or ⁓ when I win the lottery, then, you know, like these hidden wishes and dreams. ⁓ And then we reclaim what we were ⁓ actually always having inside of us and then rise to that new future version, that blossoming and blooming you were longing for. That's the Regulate. Crissy Florio: That's beautiful. What was the first one? Okay. Regulate and then reflect, rebuild, ⁓ release and then rebuild. ⁓ so beautiful. ⁓ Yeah, that's amazing. That's amazing. Such a beautiful offering because there is such a moment of the in-between, right, of releasing who you were and stepping into who you're becoming. Christine Manko Petersen: Reflect. Release. Release. Rebuild. Reclaim. And thrive. Yeah. Crissy Florio: just having the choice, having that opportunity to slow down. And we can only do that in the being. We can't overly think our way of how we want to see our life. We have to be it, right? So slowing down and allowing yourself to surrender and be in the moment to really just see and feel, where do I want my life to go? because we always have the choice to change. And it doesn't have to take a traumatic situation for us to change, but just unfortunately it does. Unfortunately, something happens that makes you think, huh, well, I don't want to be like that, or I don't want that ever happened to me. We just actually released an episode where it was one woman's wake up call, right? Something happened to somebody that made her open up her eyes and... take her life into her own hands. so that's really, I think the mission of this podcast is getting all of this information out there, making this a platform that allows all of our listeners to feel empowered and to just stop, pause for a moment, take a look at their life, and then make little changes every day. every day. That's just how we have to show up. So if we can leave our listeners with three things that you feel that they can start to do right now to either release, rebuild, reawaken, or to just take their life into their own hands, what three things, three suggestions would you provide? Christine Manko Petersen: Um, very good question. So three things. First of all, nature, always, always, always connect with nature. And that doesn't have to be the beach. can be just like a walk outside. I don't know, in your neighborhood, watching birds, smelling the flowers, you know, just like really connecting with nature because I know we are Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. Christine Manko Petersen: We are nature, we are ⁓ part of this whole one. So that's where you always, always, always ⁓ will recharge. Whether you feel it or not, or whether your mind says that's nonsense, or it doesn't do anything, it does, you know, like all that. Crissy Florio: I love that. Me and my mom went to the nursery today to pick up some plants and when we got home she said, that's like a therapy session. Just walking around. Yeah. Christine Manko Petersen: I love the nursery. I love flowers. They just bring me so much joy. They're just miracles. Crissy Florio: Yeah. In the Japanese healthcare system, they actually prescribe time like force walking. Can you imagine if I said to a patient, I mean, I will. you will. Yes, you will. But if I try to build the insurance company, I prescribe nature walking. ⁓ Christine Manko Petersen: No. I mean. Perfect, I love that. I think Sweden, didn't they just do prescribed travel? I'm like, I want travel prescribed. Crissy Florio: ⁓ I'm moving there then. ⁓ that's amazing. They prescribe travel. So important. that. Yeah. Amazing. I'm going to look that one up. Yeah. ⁓ that's amazing. Okay, so nature. Christine Manko Petersen: So, number two is ⁓ finding what brings you joy. Just and yeah, that can be like the simple things or usually it's the simple things ⁓ and do that more often, like those little glimmers of the day. third, ⁓ connect with Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. Christine Manko Petersen: your favorite people. Like, and if you think you just did it, do it again. Like that, I think connection and your social network is just healing. Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. I love that. Yeah. Absolutely. It fills your heart. know, fills your heart. All three of those, I feel like, also hit that reset button. And I hear Blue Zones and all three of those too. Yeah. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. Me too. Christine Manko Petersen: it does. I love the Blue Zones. I mean, just watching that show and knowing that all of this is available, you know, we like to overthink and complicate things and ⁓ always think there is a hurdle to get to those things. But no, it's what we said in the beginning. It's so simple and it's not easy, but it is so simple. And as soon as you get that, like, Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. simplicity. Christine Manko Petersen: that it doesn't have to be hard. It's ⁓ so relieving. So, yeah. Crissy Florio: Mm-hmm. Yeah. What's interesting is ⁓ I remember when I was going through chemo and on my days where I just wasn't feeling my best, I would go sit out on my patio almost the whole day. And I found myself also just stopping and pausing and looking at the birds and the squirrels and then the trees moving and then listen to the sounds of the trees moving. And ever since then, I catch myself doing it every day. And I love it, right? Even when I'm going out for walks with friends, I go through, I could see every little animal under the sun. like, ⁓ my God, they're so cute. But what's interesting is that I also catch my husband doing it now. So even though he might not be the most grounded, conscious person, he is, but you know, I mean, we could all be a little bit better at things, but I find him, he's like, ⁓ well, look at those trees. Look at those flowers on those trees now. ⁓ Chris, look at this bird. Look at that, you know, and he's it's bringing him into the present moment because that's really what it's doing. You're thinking about all of the beauty that our earth has to have that has to offer. And you're not thinking about your to do list and your stressors and situations and conversations that you had to have or have to have or whatever. You're bringing yourself into the present moment because your brain is literally focusing on that one thing. And it's so beautiful. So, beautiful. yeah, those things are simple. It's just not easy. Thank you so much, Christine. This is wonderful. Christine Manko Petersen: Now, thank you too. I really enjoyed it. Crissy Florio: Yes, it was so beautiful. And I think that ⁓ you have a lot to offer all of our listeners and all of your information will be listed in the show notes below. So if you guys want to reach out to Christine, we'll have all the ways that you can. And we so appreciate you coming on and trusting us with your story. Thank you. All right, guys, until next time. Thank you so much. Christine Manko Petersen: Thank you, thanks for having me.