Early Detection Saved Me: Maria Menounos on Becoming the CEO of Your Health

25:03And I am a doctor, but I don't like that people do that. And I think, I think people can, you know, be more able to engage with their own wellbeing in a way that this is using tools that, that are available, that you can learn that are skills that are frameworks for thinking that address your, both your physical health and also your mental health. Cause no matter how bad things get, you know, if you can stay in touch with your higher self and you can kind of lean into that, then, then you can get through almost anything. And, and I think, you know, I've had a friend of mine who died of cancer at 45 years old, beautiful woman with breast cancer.

25:41And the way she went was just beautiful. She was, she wasn't fighting it. She, she, she went through obviously to try to heal herself, but at a point when she realized she couldn't, she surrendered and, and her mindset let her go free as opposed to screaming and yelling and fighting death at the end. And I, I've seen people do that and it's not nice. It's not good for them. Uh, but, but I think we all have that the power to kind of control our thoughts and to change our mindset and to not let the negative inner dialogue take over and to reframe things like you have life is happening for me not to me well we're being redirected sometimes like i asked a priest in greece this past summer because i was kind of like you know having a moment wtf wtf yeah and i said why so many things like i don't asked that often, but I was in a moment and he said, you know, God will redirect you when he doesn't think you're on the right path.

26:35And sometimes it hurts. And I was like, okay. And he's like, it's because he loves you so much. I was like, okay, I'll take that. Cause I was kind of thinking he hated me for a minute. Um, and, and I do see that, like, I wouldn't be here right now on this journey. I wouldn't be kind of living my purpose, like reading teleprompter wasn't living my purpose. I was doing something that was fun and exciting and all of that, but it wasn't feeding my soul. And so what I get to do every day is feeding my soul. Now, that's scary to make those shifts. And mine happened naturally. Someone told me recently, like, what you did, you know, shifting your brand was genius.

27:15I'm like, this was not anything that was planned. This was out a complete necessity for me to find answers for myself and for my mom. But I'll tell you, I think if you feed your mind good things, you can get into a better place faster. So every day, I will listen to a Carl Jung video, a Wayne Dyer video, something from Napoleon Hill, something that's going to remind me that this is happening for me and that I need to still make changes that maybe are too hard for me to make for me to really be set free and to allow my, you know, true soul's expression to be whatever the things are. Like I, I listened to all of these things to help me in the journey because the other way is someone's rubbing your shoulder and telling you you got screwed.

28:10And that's not really going to help you. It's going to like soothe you in the moment. Yeah, thanks. I got screwed. Like, you're right. I mean, listen, I was talking to my best friend the other day as I was in the hospital with vertigo, guttural crying, being like, I don't know how much more I can take. I'm a good person. I try. Like, I'm saying the same stuff and I'm sharing this so you don't think I'm trying to be holier than thou. Like, I'm saying this stuff too, but it's how long do I stay there? I get out fast I'm like no no no Maria and and the other thing is and this is why I'm not going to let my daughter watch Disney movies is these movies teach us that someone is going to come save us I used to watch Lassie and I used to beg to have a dog to come save me now my shepherd Max is a savior I love him I think that we need to remember that all we need is within us we have the answers.

29:05We just don't want to listen all the time. We have the knowing. We just don't want to hear it. And we have to be the CEO of our lives, as I wrote in my first book. And now we have to be the CEO of our health. And when you talk about how we farm our health to this system, you know, when I was there recently, I saw I know the system's broken. I know it's a business. They don't have filtered water in hospitals. You are supposed to be about taking care of people and and you want to give them contaminated water to drink, or the food is from the 80s. The food's pretty bad. It's still there from the 80s.

29:41And the big jugs, those fruit cups they give you, I swear, are still there from the 80s, Doc. It's terrible. I know I've been in the hospital, and I just flabbergasted at the food they serve. It's full of high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, all sorts of chemicals, ultra-processed garbage, and you're supposed to heal, and you're eating this inflammatory diet. it. It's quite shocking actually, but you know, you talk about how you've overcome all these things, but you also talk about this toolkit and I'd love you to kind of unpack that because, you know, whether you're just suffering from something minor or you have something more serious, you know, we need tools and we also need community, which I want to get into, which is the development of this amazing thing you created called Heal Squad.

30:27And, and I want to talk about what are the tools that you found helpful? And what can people lean on? Because as a doctor, I know that 80 % or more of health is not what the doctor will recommend or do. It's what you do for yourself. It's what you eat. It's how you move your body. It's how you navigate stress. It's your sleep. It's basically your relationships, community connection. These are things that aren't going to happen in a hospital or a doctor's office. The tools, I think it's having accountability partners in your life. So I always say that Heal Squad is your accountability partner. I'm like, so I hate self-promotion.

31:02I hate all of it. Like it's so awkward for me. So I'm not telling people, I can do it for you. I can do it for you. Like listen to my show because I want more downloads. No, I really think that we are your squad. We are your accountability partner to continuously every day. Remember that you need to be the CEO of your health and that this is the kind of thing, the content you want to feed yourself, the vibration you want to be in, the betterment that you want for yourself. And so I think it's finding things like that, because a lot of people who are on the journey to get better feel very lonely.

31:39And I have felt super lonely at times. And I'm like, where are my people? And first of all, one of the things I always do is I always pray at night and I say, Lord, please continue to flow an abundance of amazing people, collaborators, and helpers to help me in this journey in all ways. And it's crazy, but it's always working. It's always working. People are always flowing into my life at the right time when I need them for whatever the reason is. So you need that. And then, like I said, the toolkit also for me is, what am I listening to? So I don't watch anything negative. I don't watch any dark movies.

32:20I don't watch anything scary anymore. I used to love all that stuff. I used to watch every prison show under the sun. MSNBC lockup was my favorite thing on the planet. So I don't watch anything like that. I am constantly feeding my mind with things that are going to expand it, that are going to get me to question, that are going to get me to feel better, that are going to give me the inspiration to get through the next challenge because I want to be prepared ahead of time. quotes the life is happening for me not to me now can you apply that in every circumstance there are some things i've heard doc you cannot apply that oh my god what people have gone through sometimes it's just not applicable however i think it's a great tool and i think that when you're going through something challenging thinking about it like i said how would you want to write this inspirational movie of you going through this journey.

33:14And I think that is like, and by the way, you can after. There's so many great books and movies and podcasts based on these things. So think about it like that. I think community is a big thing. It's a big thing I didn't have. And I've heard you talk about it. I've heard Dan Butler talk about it a lot. But I was so busy working my whole career that I never really had community. And I thought it was just an L.A. thing because we were so spread out. And that was a big deal. Yes. It was really sad because whenever I had free time, no one else had free time. And you couldn't plan anything because you knew your schedule wasn't your own.

33:55You could fly for the Today Show somewhere here now, the nightly news over there, Access Hollywood over here. My schedule wasn't my own. So now I do a Wednesday happy hour for oysters because I know oysters are really good for me to help with more sunlight. I know it sounds silly, but it's something that's really helping me because I know I have something fun that's not work related. That's in my calendar every Wednesday. And and so I'm doing that. And you're doing that with friends. Yeah. Friends and family. I just tell everyone, here's where I am every Wednesday night. You want to join? Let's go.

34:28And it's been really fun. And so community is really important. And I really do try to, I eat well. I just this week was like, I'm going to kind of abandon a lot of this for a minute and see what happens. Because I think sometimes we get so hyper focused, especially as type A-ers, like undoing the infrareds and the red lights and the this is and the that's. And I'm just going to give it up for a minute and just see what happens. Give myself a break from all of it because sometimes it's like your inner world that needs a little more attention than just the outer. And so I'm going to go inward for a little bit and see what happens.

35:10That's amazing. You know, there's two themes you hit on there that are so, so important. One is, is, you know, most of us are consuming not just junk food, but junk food for the brain, whether it's social media or the news or television or, you know, things that are, are not elevating us. And, and it, it, it basically kind of writes the story in our head, even though we're not aware of it. And I think, I think cutting out all that is, is really important and, and being able to actually be in relationships with something that's elevating you. And when I was in the hospital, uh, about eight or nine months ago, I was just, just completely, you know, broken.

35:53I mean, I had, I'd lost 20 pounds. I couldn't get out of bed. I was so weak and, and I had, it was an extreme agony and from back pain. And, and every day I would put on these headphones in the hospital and I would listen to this guy, Michael Singer, who I kind of hit upon, who's kind of a spiritual teacher. wrote a book called The Surrender Experiment. And it was all about how our minds work and the beliefs we have. And I probably listened to hundreds of hours of his talks. And it's kind of what got me through instead of going down into a dark hole. So I can really relate to that. And I think finding things that inspire you, that elevate you, you mentioned a few that elevate you.

36:31There's lots of things out there that are elevating and help inspire you and actually make you feel empowered around your own life and health and help you navigate the dark, narrow spaces that often we have to go through. The other thing you said that's really important I want to double down on is this idea of community and the idea of not doing it alone and of being in connection. I did a big faith-based wellness program with Rick Warren, who's the pastor of Saddleback Church with 30 ,000 people. And we had 15 ,000 people sign up to be part of something called the Daniel Plan, where people worked together to get healthy.

37:03And they had small groups that they already had in the church to live better lives as Christians, but we just put the curriculum of healthy living into those groups. And it was amazing what happened. I mean, Rick said, everybody needs a buddy. And I think that's a great line. I also say community is medicine, and junk as food is medicine. And also, you know, we talked about having an accountability. So I think these things are really important. And Paul Farmer, whose work inspired me greatly, he was like a Mother Teresa and medicine, honestly. He was an extraordinary man. I got to know him during the Haiti earthquake.

37:38And he was able to help solve, you know, really intractable problems of AIDS and TB in Haiti, not through better drugs or surgery or better medicine, but through the power of community. And he basically trained thousands of community health workers, neighbors helping neighbors. And we know this is sort of from data around the world that, you know, if you are connected and if you belong and if you have somebody who's there, that your whole biology shifts into a state of healing and well-being. And that's something that most people don't invest in. Like you said, you were running your career. You were doing the Nightly News.

38:13You were doing Today Show. You were advancing and all these things. But what you left behind was the things that, you know, when you come to the end of your life, you couldn't remember. You're not going to remember the Today Show. You're going to remember those times you spent with your friends or the people who you love or your family. And I think the more we kind of think about that in not only for sick, but just in terms of one of the essential ingredients, people are taking all kinds of vitamins, supplements, peptides, this, that, you know, infarasonous, whatever. Invest in your friends, invest in your community.

38:42Cultivate that. Even if it's just one or two or three people. And I'm, you know, I think the more community you can have, the more your life is enriched and the more actually biological healing occurs. There's this whole framework that I thought of when I was down in Haiti and understanding that, you know, just as disease was, chronic disease, you know, was something that wasn't just happening randomly, that your basically behavior is determined by the people around you and your closest friends. So if all your friends are eating junk food and, you know, drinking lots of soda and not exercising, you're going to probably turn out one way.

39:21But if your friends are all drinking green juices and going to yoga, then you're probably going to turn a different way. And this is evidenced by Nicholas Christox's work at Harvard, who found that if you're more likely, about 170 % more likely to be overweight if your friends are overweight than if your family's overweight, which is kind of shocking. But it's not the genetics that determine your destiny. It's your social relationships. It's the social connections. And that's something that in society we often miss. And I think your heel squad is just a perfect example of what that is. So I would love for you to talk about the inception of that, what it is and how people can learn more about it and actually join as a way of beginning these connected relationships.

40:05So I started with a SiriusXM show and I was interviewing celebrities and then my mom got sick and I slowly started shifting my guests to people that I was desperate to learn from for her. And, you know, they weren't really, you know, it didn't really matter, I guess they weren't really paying attention. So I was like bringing in all these healers and stuff like that. And so, so the show started kind of morphing. And then I created a Friday podcast called, I think it was called Conversations with Maria, shifted into there. Then I changed it to Better Together because I was like, okay, we're better together.

40:43then so many people change their title to better together and then funny enough i go into sephora duncan donuts all these brands and they literally were even using my same font they're like we're better together that's amazing so i was flattered but i was like okay i'm changing that and it was like we're the heel squad so it was born from like i said desperation and needing answers for my mom and then myself and then realizing that it's definitely hard to do alone. You don't want to do all of this alone and we are better together. And so I figured what was going to help me was going to help somebody else.

41:22And everything I've done in my life that I've ever been proud of, whether it's my books or my work on the nightly news and today's show, is always about helping people and sharing information. And so that's what Heal Squad is. I'm trying to bring in the best of the best to help us on this crazy journey called life and be a squad together. And I just did my first heel squad retreat in Lenox, Mass., your old stomping grounds at the Canyon Ranch. That's right. That's right. And it was incredible. We brought in 35 people from all over to join us in this journey. And it was incredibly inspiring to see people that want to be better.

42:03Like at the end, I just started crying. I was like, I can't believe we were so blessed to have such great people. I literally loved every single one of them because they're my people. They want to be better. And they're willing to invest in themselves. And they all were saying like, this is the first time I treated myself and I did something for me. because I keep asking, like, when is it going to be about you? Like, this morning I listened to this Carl Jung video. They really said, like, you have to choose you. And that's what I was saying about the Disney movies before. Like, Cinderella, everybody's waiting for someone to rescue them.

42:42You have to rescue you. When are you going to matter enough that you're going to prioritize yourself instead of prioritizing everyone else? And so that's not being selfish. That is oxygen mask first on the plane. And so I think that, you know, I don't know where this is all going. I don't have any grand plan. I just try to, I always pray and I have my whole life. And this is why I know it will always work for me because it has worked so far. I always say, God, I'll be a good person. Take me where I'm supposed to go. Show me the way. I'll do whatever I'm supposed to do. So I never really know where I'm going.

43:19I have all these ideas and all these dreams and all these thoughts and feelings. But I just kind of I go where I'm kind of taken. And this is where I've been taken at this point. And it's been great. And if people want to be a part of these retreats, I don't know what the next one's going to look like yet. I'm still waiting for it to come together in my brain. But we have a waiting list on my Instagram. You can look at the videos from the most recent event. And so that's kind of where I'm at. But I have to say, as the ever the interviewer, I'm curious. I didn't know about your struggle eight months ago.

43:53Yeah, yeah, yeah. And was it all back related that you were in so much pain? Yeah, when I was, thanks for asking. I mean, I'll share a little bit about, I've shared it before, but I was 32 when I first ruptured a disc and it was a bad one. It wasn't just a little herniation and I had emergency surgery and ended up having kind of permanent nerve damage and limping for the last 30 years. And that led to all kinds of biomechanical stresses that just led to degeneration up the chain. And I've had five back surgeries. And yeah, it was, but I kind of navigate through it. I still exercise. I still ride my bike.

44:29I was still ran for most of my life. Well, you're overpowering and outwilling. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, you know, I, I, I want to say to myself, pain is, is two parts, right? It's, it's the physical sensation and then it's the meaning you give to that. Right. So So if you allow yourself to feel fear or anxiety, you know, that's what you'll feel. But if you understand it's just a sensation and it's not killing you, then you can learn to kind of live with it. And it's not what I wanted to do, but I ended up, long story short, really needing a massive back procedure in order to fix all the generation.

45:05And I developed an infection and I got really sick and I lost a ton of weight. And in that process, I really have learned how powerful the mind is, number one, and how my mindset was really what took me out of that dark tunnel. And two, you know, at 65, I was not sure if I could recover. I wasn't sure. And I built back 25 pounds of muscle. I've been probably spent over 300 hours in the gym. And last weekend I was in Aspen and I rode my bike straight up a mountain, uh, about 3000 feet of elevation that I climbed and to 9 ,600 feet of elevation and 11 miles and then zoomed down the hill. And it was like a, it was like nine months later, like having a baby and I was like, I'm back.

45:50It taught me a lot about, you know, resilience and the power, uh, to create health, even after a really catastrophic problems. And, you know, people probably should look at you, Maria, you look super healthy, you're glowing, you're light, you're happy, your energy's good. And you've been through so much. You've had so many diseases and so many autoimmune issues and cancer and brain tumors and more than anybody should have to deal with in a lifetime. You know, you found a way to navigate through it just like I did that allows you to be, you know, empowered and not a victim. And I think a lot of people don't know where to go.

46:22They don't know the tools. They don't know how to navigate those things. and I think your work and your inspirational story and the heel squad is really all about coming together to learn how to do that together and to take back your health and to be the CEO of your own health. So I think that's what I learned I had to do. I mean, it wasn't my doctors that told me how to recover. They did the surgery, but then I had to figure out what to do for myself. And I, you know, I've been through the same thing as you. Like, why is this happening? Like, oh my God, do I have to deal with another thing and another problem and another health issue?

46:53and it's just made me better. It's just made me smarter, stronger. It's made me a better doctor.

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48:49And how did it make you better? I'm curious, because I can imagine like even just chatting with your team before, like you are everywhere. You're so busy of so many companies. When someone like you gets taken out, you're not just taken out. It's everyone now is in jeopardy. A whole structure is, you know, hanging in the balance. So that's a lot of pressure on you. how did you deal with that pressure and not let it not let it get the best of you and then how did it make you better what what's changed in you since great questions well i think you know and for many months i was just out of commission and thank god i have a great team and i've i've been doing this for 30 years and so there's tons of content so they just kind of repurposed all podcasts and repurposed content and kept the the the energy going in terms of my teachings and communication.

49:43I mean, I mean, I listened to Alan Watts. He's been dead for a long time and I still inspired by him. So there's a lot of stuff out there. And so that was kind of what happened. I wasn't engaged at all. And then, you know, slowly I was able to get back to work and get back engaged. And I think for me, uh, and I think it's the same for you, you, you've been guided on this mission to, to tell your story, to, to invite people into that journey with you, to help inspire them to change the way they think about their life and their health. And the same thing for me. I mean, this is my life and I really am advocating for a world in which people can take back their health, can be the seal of their own health, can be engaged in a way that actually learns how to create health.

50:27And the tools are there, the knowledge is there. It's not like the science isn't there. I mean, that's what I do with functional medicine is essentially the science in creating health rather than treating disease. And sometimes, yes, you need to treat disease. I needed surgery. You need pancreatic surgery. I mean, you need that. And that's, thank God we have that. I mean, thank God. But the other side of it is, you know, when you're done with the surgery, what do you do? They send you home, right? How do you recover? What do you need to do to take care of yourself? How do you build back your health?

50:52How do you get strong again? How do you become vibrant? These are all things that are not something you're going to learn in a doctor's office, unless you come to see me. And I'll help you with that. But there's other doctors out there, of course, who do this kind of work. But for me, it's really made me... realize how resilient we are and how much our mindset plays a role. Because when I was sick, I mean, I was on antibiotics for three months. I was on high dose of narcotics. I was taking all kinds of drugs and my hormones were in the toilet. I was just physiologically depressed. I was really neurotransmitters were not working.

51:29I had to kind of reach in and deep to my soul and my higher self and go, okay, like, no matter how bad I feel, no matter how difficult this is, I have to get up every morning and do the little things, like putting like one pebble at a time on to build a giant wall. You know, it's like, that's kind of how it went. And it, and I did the math the other day and I think I spent over 300 hours in the gym, you know, just working on building myself back up and, and it paid off. And I, I was in the gym with my trainer yesterday and they were, they were, We were just commenting on how the things that he had me doing early on, I could barely do.

52:06And now I can do them with ease. And now he's adding more heavier weights and all kinds of stuff. So it just taught me how that if you just make little investments, little steps every day in your health with the basic building blocks of what you eat and sleep and exercise and managing and navigating stress and obviously community and the heel squad, I think is a great example of that. that, that, that we can come back from really bad situations. Um, and, and, and it's just, you know, it's, it's inspired me to just keep wanting to tell the story and to go out there and to empower other people. That's why I co-founded Function Health was I think our healthcare system is so broken and we need to empower people with their own health data, their own information with education, knowledge and skills and tools and resources to actually take back their health.

52:53So that's kind of, I'm the same as you, like, you know, we could have been kind of whining, complaining, you know, just at home getting care and, you know, checking out. But I think for whatever reason, you and I both have taken our hardships and we've turned it into something good, right? It's like you take, you take, you know, something like a diamond, you know, it's like, it's only, it's only becomes this incredibly beautiful, valuable thing under incredible pressure and long stresses of, you know, under a lot of force. And, and that, that's kind of a miracle. And, and, you know, I think people can recover in ways that allow them to move forward in their life and have a sense of empowerment, engagement, and then give back.

53:34I mean, I, I, I want to give back. That's kind of my whole life. And I think that's what you're doing. I mean, you, you, you know, the, the Hollywood culture, you, you, you kind of got into a minute for a minute, but you realize that it was, it wasn't feeding your soul. And now you're in, you're in a place in your life where you're in service and just as I am. And that ultimately is, is I think what is the most powerful tool for healing is stop thinking about yourself. I heard Tony Robbins, who I know inspires you. He said that the other day, I heard him say, the minute you start thinking about yourself, you're getting in trouble.

54:04When you start thinking about others and you start serving, it's life becomes more meaningful, more connected, more alive, and you get out of your own way. Yes. Oh my God. You get out of your own way. We're so in our own way sometimes, times but like i'm hearing you talk and i kept thinking like okay so you're the doctor for everybody else who's your doctor like who helps you when because all i kept thinking of you're on all these narcotics and all these things like a lot of times when i'm in that vulnerable situation i'm like i wish there was a me for me right now i wish because like i help people all the time i always call myself a fake doctor because i'll always help people in the ways that i can and and i'm like where is the me to help me right now to like pay attention to you know yeah the drug interactions like is this going to interact with this like am i you have to pay attention to these things because in a hospital unfortunately sometimes they're just too overwhelmed and they don't so were you ever nervous i was actually it was one night where i was at home i got discharged from the hospital i was still on maximal narcotics i had one surgery didn't work and they were they were saying I was inoperable and basically left me for dead, which was crazy when I think about that.

55:18And I had a home health aide who was not really well trained and I had to take pain medicine around the clock. And I was supposed to take like four milligrams of this very strong narcotic and it's called dilaudid. And he thought I was supposed to take four pills. So it was like two in the morning and he gave me the medicine and I was groggy and I was about to take it. And I was like, wait, like four pills, that's going to kill me. Literally, it's going to make me die of an overdose if I took those. So you have to kind of be alert, even if you're in the system. I think the question of who's taking care of me, for most of my life, I'm embarrassed to say I've been sort of navigating my own health because I didn't really feel like there was anybody out there who I could trust and help guide me.

56:05But thank God I have a really good friend who I've known for a long time, who's a brilliant physician, Jordan Schlain, and he runs something called Private Medical. And he called me actually. He said, I heard you're sick. What's going on? I don't know what's happening. Can I help? And I was in the ICU at the time. And I told him, and he says, oh, let me help you. I'm going to get you to get a second opinion. I'm going to get you to see someone who's the best in the world and let's see what we can do. And, you know, he wasn't doing it as a doctor, he was doing it as a friend. And then he kept helping, helping, helping.

56:38And I'm like, this is your job. I said, let me hire you as my doctor. And it was the first time I really hired somebody and trusted them and then have helped build a team to guide me on what I need to do. Like I had to taper off of really high doses of narcotics and I had to taper off other drugs. And And so I didn't know how to do that. And I think, you know, I got help and, um, and I, I, I surrendered to actually getting help from people and yeah, I still, you know, I'm an advocate for myself and I still, you know, am in a dialogue with him a lot about what to do or not to do. And, you know, we kind of debate and have different opinions, but, you know, I, at least I know someone's there watching out for me and it's, uh, it's amazing.

57:17So I think everybody, you know, should try to find some doctor who they can work with, who they can have a relationship with, who, who at least is, is, is in a partnership with them and is not dismissive of things that they want to do. That was a first for me and I've surrendered. I'm like, okay, if I'm treating myself, I have an idiot for a patient. Yeah. Well, no, I think it's really important. I tell people all the time, you need a good health collaborator. And sometimes it's just somebody who's really smart that's going to challenge your ideas, challenge your thoughts, and help you to have a better line of thinking.

57:53Like sometimes we have something in our head. And so I like to have different health collaborators that I can call on and be like, what do you think about this? This is my gut feeling because I go a lot off of my gut and my instincts. And I think, OK, well, and I'm always investigating. and so and the hard thing with me is it's like a lot of whack-a-mole going on because there's like well these generally side effects are the same for everything it's like oh you're on this well here are the side effects dizziness nausea fatigue whatever so you can apply it to anything um so a good health collaborator is always i think important um because you know even if we're advocating to be the CEO of your health, you're still like, I always look at it like you're the coach of the New England Patriots, right?

58:43So Belichick knows who he's going to use in each instance. He knows he's not going to put his kicker in offense. He knows he's not going to put his quarterback on defense. So like, you know who you're using at what point and you make it a collaboration. It takes a village team. It does. Well, I'm glad you're better. That's like so Thank God. Yeah, it was scary. It was scary, but thank you. I want to ask you about your routine and your tools that you use at home. Like what are the practices and habits that keep you grounded, that help you be resilient, that support your health? Like after all these health challenges, and it's a lot, I mean, it's more than most people should ever have to have in a lifetime.

59:20What have you found are the things that are your non-negotiables and your go-tos every day or on a weekly basis that you lean into to help you stay healthy and thrive? At different times, I have different non-negotiables, to be honest. I feel like my routine will shift and change depending on where I am, what's happening. And as I'm sitting here realizing the only thing that never changes is my faith and my prayer. I always pray every morning. I thank God for the ability to be able to get up out of bed, to be able to walk, to be able to go hug my baby, to be able to like all the fresh air. And I say thank you for a beautiful night's rest, even if it wasn't, because, you know, I'm just going to be grateful for what I got.

1:00:07And so I start with that. And then I definitely end my night with my prayers, thanking God for the strength. I pray for continued strength and continued resilience. I pray for my family. I pray for the world. I pray for everybody. But I think I've never thought about it till right now. But that's the only thing that's always been consistent. And I'll tell you, the gift of that is that I've built such a strong connection that I ask for messages and I receive them. I ask for things and I get them. And sometimes I don't even realize I've gotten them until I've been praying again. And I'm like, oh, my God, I'm asking for the same shit.

1:00:45and I already got it. Oh my gosh. Or like I'll wish for something. And I'm like, oh, I already have that. Okay. Wow. God just continues to bless me. So I focus on the blessings and, and I think that's why I'm able to, like you said, smile through it. You know, my mom, when she was interviewed about me back in the day when I first started in LA and I was on entertainment tonight they said you know what was maria like as a kid and they said maria was always smiling and people see that all the time they're like um someone just punched you in the face and you're still smiling i don't know how else to be i like to smile i like to be happy um and so i think that's the only thing that's super non-negotiable now are there other tools in the kit.

1:01:38I love to do, um, I love to use my, uh, trampoline at least for a minute a day. Now I've been in and out of that cycle, but I do that. Um, I love my, uh, infrared sauna and my red light. Um, I do love, um, walking and exercising. Um, I do, you know, two or three times a week, some, some resistance training and stuff. I'm sure there's a few other things that I'm forgetting right now. I take my supplements. I make sure I'm hydrated. But like I said, I realized that sometimes, oh, and I get an abundance of sun, sun, sun, sun, sun, sun. I really have omitted as much blue light as possible, except for when I do this stuff.

1:02:25And so I wear my blue light glasses. I'm outside in nature. I'm grounding all the time to the point where my daughter now is let's ground. She's two. She does her yoga poses, her fascia poses with me. She grounds. We get our hands in the dirt and we're getting our sun. And so I'm doing all those things. But like I said, I think I'm realizing now that there's a shift that needs to happen. And I'm in the very, very beginning, like two days in where I'm like, you know what? I think I have to see what my body is like off supplements for a minute. Because, you know, if you study Ayurvedic medicine, they say you're only supposed to take things for a short time and your body's supposed to recalibrate.

1:03:13I haven't given my body a chance to see if it could recalibrate on its own. So many things have happened, but I'm realizing I need to go inward. So part of the toolkit, too, is like addressing your emotional and spiritual needs. What are you not facing that you need to face? What are the traumas that you haven't dealt with yet? Like I remember doing a lot of that work when my mom was ill and then after she passed and then I got to a good place and I was like, I don't want to feel bad anymore. I need to ride the good for a minute. So I rode the good and now I think it's time to to go deep again.

1:03:49So I'm doing a little EMDR and I'm going to start kind of focusing on the inward part because my husband says to me a lot of the time, he's like, Murray, you can do all the green juices and all this shit you want. He's like, if you don't deal with what's inside that's hurting you, you're never going to get better. So I think I'm going to finally listen to him. No, I'm kidding. That's good, Marie. I mean, the truth is that the most powerful pharmacy in the world is between your ears. And it's incredible what can happen if you get your mind straight. Yeah. And a lot of people focus on what's wrong instead of what's right.

1:04:23what I heard you say is you're non-negotiable is you're you're actually I don't know if you realize this but you're you're doing a prayer that is essentially a buddhist prayer of loving kindness that wants goodness and health and well-being for all sentient beings right it's it's actually a it's called the loving kindness meditation and it's it's it's kind of putting back out into the world um love and beauty and healing and forgiveness and you know that's an incredible thing for everybody to kind of glom onto. I think if nothing else from this podcast that you get, the idea that focusing on yourself only is a good idea, it's just not.

1:05:06And focusing on others and what you can do, not to your detriment, but in terms of how you kind of think about your life. And I think that anchor every day that you have a prayer, and it can come in many different forms. It can be meditation, it can be prayer, it can be, you know, any kind of forgiveness. It's beautiful. There's the, the Haponopono prayer from the, from Hawaiian wines, which is beautiful, which is more or less something like, I, I'm sorry. I love you. Please forgive me. Like I'm saying, like, I, and it's like, it's just this beautiful, it's this beautiful way of actually framing your life.

1:05:41And, uh, and, and I think that to me, you know, you can eat whatever and I'll actually, all that's great. And you have to do all that, but it's really this mindset. And that's, I think what you said before is really key that the traumas and the things that we have, whether it's like the big T trauma that Gabor Mate talks about, which is, you know, things like incest or little traumas, which is maybe your parents neglected you, or, you know, we're just, you were a latchkey child or whatever. Those little traumas or big traumas shape our thinking. They shape our beliefs. They shape our way we see the world.

1:06:09They shape the lenses. They shape our behaviors. They shape our relationships. And, and the fact that you're doing something like EMDR. EMDR is a technique that helps you repattern your brain to help relive and then release the traumas. It's a very cool technique that people with trauma should look at. But when we look at disease and we look at illness, what happens in your mind is so important. There's a questionnaire that people go online and check. It's called the ACE questionnaire, Adverse Childhood Events. And that is more predictive than almost anything of your risk of all sorts of things, from obesity to diabetes to cancer to heart disease to mortality, early mortality.

1:06:49And these are things that happen to us when we're kids that get imprinted on us. So I really love that you're talking about how to set a next step in your journey is to even dig deeper because it never ends. I mean, I'm still at 65, still uncovering things about now my fathers and my stepfather and my father and how they shaped how I interact with the world and think about the world. And I want to become more sovereign and not have those things govern how I think and act and believe and behave. So I think this message is so beautiful. And it's kind of funny that both of us have had these many, many health challenges.

1:07:24And yet we've come out, you know, on the other side, understanding that the way through is through, yes, taking care of ourselves, but also being in service and helping others. So your work is really incredible. I want people to know more about how they can join Health Squad. Tell us a little bit more about it, where they can find it, and what it would do for you. Because I think this is important. Because people are out there listening, and they're maybe isolated. They don't have a community. They don't have a connection. But there's something you're offering that's really powerful that I want people to know about.

1:07:55Yeah, thank you. It's called Health Squad. You can get it wherever podcasts are, whether it's Spotify or Apple. and then we do have our monthly group meetings where we get together and it could be a cooking class it could be a healer it could be a psychic it could be anything in the patreon so if you become a member of heal squad on apple podcast or spotify in the description you can join the patreon it's like ten dollars a month or something um but i think the biggest thing that you should know is that i always say like god loves me because people are like how are you still here I'm like, God loves me.

1:08:31And it's not that he doesn't love the people that are gone because everyone has a different mission. I would just say, God loves me, but he loves you too. So just connect and talk and whatever it sounds like. My prayer is I've just formed on my own. I don't know how other people pray. I just say, but one of the key things that I do love is continue to flow is a very key thing. I would say, God, continue to flow an abundance of miraculous healing, love, safety, wealth for me, my family, and my loved ones continue to flow amazing people to help me on this journey, to help my family on this journey.

1:09:09And then on the other part at the end, when I pray for everyone else, and I'm just giving you a roadmap to help. You can say, God, please help the homeless, the hungry, the trafficked, the kids who are held against their will, the elderly who are alone in hospitals or in their homes who don't have love and support. Send them someone to help them, to heal them, to feed them, to house them. Send them love, send them endurance, and send them strength and resilience to get through this intense journey. You can say whatever it is, but I do think, I didn't think about it like you said, but it is important to pray for other people.

1:09:46And I have usually a laundry list of the ill people that I pray for. Some people, they don't even know I'm praying for them, but I pray to our healing saint, St. Nectarios to heal them. So yeah, I thank you for that little thing because it's just going to make me feel even better when I'm doing it at night because I never thought about it like that. But it is. It's bigger than just us. We're all connected. We're all one and we all are here to help each other. And that's why my show, your show, we're helping people, but everyone's helping us back too. Every time I give, I get so much more back.

1:10:22Every time I help someone with their health, with the things that I've learned along the way. Generally, Doc, it's a message I needed to hear in that moment myself. I don't know if you'd found that, but I'm always shocked. Absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, I studied Buddhism in college and there's something called the meta meditation, which is the loving kindness meditation. It's really about warmth, friendliness, compassion, and goodwill toward yourself and toward others. And it's something that is a pretty good anchor for life. And if you can stay in that mindset, I think your biology response.

1:10:57So I always say your thoughts are things. They get translated into biological signals that control your immune system, your microbiome. Pretty much everything in your body is regulated or controlled by your thoughts. And your thoughts then generate feelings and emotions, but it all starts with your thinking. And I think challenging your thinking is important, challenging your beliefs is important, and actually having that as a sort of an anchor where you're kind of starting is important, because you can do the right thing with the wrong intent and not get the benefit. And there's an amazing story that I'll close with, which is from Rosetta, Pennsylvania, where a group of Italian immigrants came, this whole town from Italy just came almost en masse, but they had all varying levels of income and wealth and...

1:11:49But they all actually had a deep sense of connection and community. And they were at each other's birthdays and weddings and celebrations and holidays. And they adopted the American way of life. I mean, they adopted the crappy American diet. But they didn't have the same rates of heart disease or diabetes or cancer as the rest of Americans. And, you know, the take-home message is that it was because they had this deep sense of connection and community and belonging. And I think that's just a beautiful, beautiful framework. So I encourage everybody to check out Heal Squad. Thank you. And check out Maria's work.

1:12:20Where can they find you and how do they learn more about what you're doing? You can just go to my Instagram at Maria Menounos. My friend in elementary school helped me spell that out easily for people. It's me noun OS. Oh, me noun OS. Yeah, that's good. That's good. And you can check out my WWE work on YouTube. I definitely am proud of my 4-0 record and my WrestleMania appearance at WrestleMania 28 is a highlight of life for sure. Yeah, well, thank you, Maria. Thanks for being on the show. Thank you. Good luck with all you're doing. And we get to connect and hang out more. Keep doing what you're doing because it's inspiring so many.

1:12:55And that's what the world needs right now. A little more love, a little more inspiration. Thank you. Same to you. And a little more connection. What an episode. I'd love to hear from you. What's one step you're inspired to take to become the CEO of your health? Share with me in the comments below. If you love this podcast, please share it with someone else you think would also enjoy it. You can find me on all social media channels at Dr. Mark Hyman. Please reach out. I'd love to hear your comments and questions. Don't forget to rate review and subscribe to the Dr. Hyman show wherever you get your podcasts And don't forget to check out my youtube channel at dr.

1:13:25Mark Hyman for video versions of this podcast and more Thank you so much again for tuning in. We'll see you next time on the dr. Hyman show This podcast is separate from my clinical practice at the ultra wellness center My work at Cleveland Clinic and function health where I am chief medical officer This podcast represents my opinions and my guests opinions neither myself nor the podcast endorses the views or statements of my guests This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This podcast is provided with the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services.

1:13:59If you're looking for help in your journey, please seek out a qualified medical practitioner. And if you're looking for a functional medicine practitioner, visit my clinic, the Ultra Wellness Center at ultrawellnesscenter.com and request to become a patient. It's important to have someone in your corner who is a trained, licensed healthcare practitioner and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health. This podcast is free as part of my mission to bring practical ways of improving health to the public. So I'd like to express gratitude to sponsors that made today's podcast possible.

1:14:29Thanks so much again for listening.