Solo: My Chicken Coop, Magic Mushrooms, Skin Mantras For Healing & How To Get Enough Protein

This episode delves into personal wellness tips, chicken farming, and skin care mantras, alongside insights into maintaining a balanced diet rich in proteins.

1. Embracing new hobbies like baking and chicken farming can bring joy and a sense of achievement.
2. Implementing mantra-based therapies can be a powerful tool for mental and physical health issues.
3. Reading as a nightly routine can enhance mental calmness and prepare for better sleep.
4. Adjusting diets to include high-quality meats can have significant health benefits.
5. Replacing alcohol with microdosed mushrooms might offer a healthier, more enjoyable alternative with no hangovers.

1: Introduction to the Episode

Mari introduces the episode with personal life updates and discusses her new interests and achievements.
Mari Llewellyn: "Welcome back to the show where we explore wellness and mental health."

2: Chicken Coop and Baking Ventures

Mari talks about her new chicken coop and her latest baking hobby, sharing the therapeutic effects of engaging with these activities.
Mari Llewellyn: "Baking has unlocked a new level of creativity for me, and it's been a delightful experience."

3: Mental Health and Skin Care

Mari discusses her struggles with acne and how changing her mental approach and using specific mantras have helped her manage her condition.
Mari Llewellyn: "Changing the language around our health problems can profoundly affect our mental and physical health."

4: Dietary Changes and Benefits

Focuses on the dietary adjustments Mari has made, especially incorporating more protein and less alcohol, discussing the benefits she has observed.
Mari Llewellyn: "Incorporating high-quality meat and reducing alcohol intake has been transformative for my health."

5: Conclusion and Future Plans

Mari concludes the episode with thoughts on future content and her ongoing journey in personal wellness.
Mari Llewellyn: "I'm excited to keep sharing my wellness journey with you all, and I hope you find something that resonates with you."

1. Explore hobbies that nurture your creativity and bring you joy.
2. Consider mantra-based therapies for tackling persistent health issues.
3. Incorporate reading into your nightly routine to improve sleep quality.
4. Evaluate your diet, focusing on high-quality proteins and reducing alcohol consumption.
5. Engage in community or social media discussions to share and enhance your wellness journey.

Ep. # 97 So excited to sit down and chat with you all for this week's solo episode. My chickens are arriving, I’m baking bread, reading books, and I’m excited to talk to you about it all. I'm also sharing some game-changing advice for managing acne and your overall health. Plus, I'll address your insightful voice messages, offering advice on setting healthy social media boundaries, skincare recommendations for your entire body, and fostering new connections while embracing your true self.

People

Mari Llewellyn

Companies

Clearstem Skincare

Books

Demon Copperhead

Guest Name(s):

None

Content Warnings:

None

Mari Llewellyn
This is the pursuit of Wellness podcast and I'm your host, Mari Llewelyn.

What is up, guys? Welcome back to the show. My name is Mari. If you are new here, welcome. This is such an amazing community of people who want to improve their health, their wellness, their mental wellbeing.

I'm just in love with the community we've built here at the pursuit of wellness and we've had some amazing conversations with our guests. And every Thursday we release a solo episode. So happy Thursday. If you're listening, I'm here with a solo episode today. Some personal life updates, some tips I have for manifesting health, which is a new thing for me.

And then I'm also going to be responding to some voice messages you guys have been leaving me. Hopefully I can give you some advice, answer some questions, see what you guys are saying today. I feel like the last solo episode, I didn't really give you any personal updates. It was more of a q and a. So things have been really good lately.

We've spent the last couple of weeks here in Austin. It's been really nice to be at home. We leave for LA next week for some exciting podcast interviews and other things. Greg and I actually found out that we are entrepreneur of the year finalists, which is insane to be considered as potentially entrepreneur of the year. We shall see.

If it really does happen. I'll probably faint because that is such a dream come true. It's done by region. So we are considered finalists for the Los Angeles area, which are. There are such amazing entrepreneurs in LA.

So again, such an honor to be considered and are doing some final interviews for that in LA the week of the 13th, which is so, so crazy. We had Greg's parents, my in laws visit. I think it was last week now. And that was so fun to have family in town. We went out on the boat, we cooked, we went out to dinner, we walked.

It was really, really lovely. And that was where I started baking bagels, which has become my new hyper fixation. I got a book called, what is it called? Everything Bread by Eric Kaiser. I want to say on Amazon.

I'll link it below for you guys. I've had a lot of questions about it. It's not necessarily like healthy, it's not gluten free or dairy free or any of those things. But I really feel like making baked goods at home is just a superior option because you can use organic unbleached flour, the best eggs, like the ingredients really matter and it's just really fun for me. So it's like a weekend treat.

And I've been making these bagels, and they are slowly but surely improving every time I make them. They are tricky. Like, I had to start the dough four days beforehand because you have to make something called liquid levain, which is, like, starter, essentially. And I had to start it really early. But either way, these bagels have been bringing me so much joy, and I think everyone eating them is also experiencing joy.

So that makes me happy. I think next I might try a baguette. We shall see. But, yeah, baking has just, like, really brought out this creative side of me. And again, like, I'm really in this era of hobbies.

Oh, guys, my chickens arrived today. Today they're six weeks old. They won't start laying until they're six months. So we have some months to wait for eggs. But, like, they are looking like teenagers at this point.

And two of them are already besties, which I just think is so freaking cute. Like, best girlfriends. And, yeah, they get dropped off today at 05:00 p.m. I believe I have eleven coming. Crazy.

A mixture of breeds. We've got silkies, we've got fiber Easter eggers, we've got salmon favorellas, I think it's called. I'll have to, like, figure out all the breeds. But again, like, I'm so new to this, and I will be figuring it out as I go. If you guys want to see my chicken coop, I did a tour on my instagram at Mari Llewellyn, and I gave, like, a full rundown of my coupe and all the different features, and you guys loved it, so go check it out.

I've also been reading a lot more. I have been reading every single night. I'm reading demon copperhead right now, which is a Pulitzer Prize winner. I think a lot of people are reading it, and it's quite difficult to get into because the language is really different. But then once you get into, it gets really good.

And I also just feel like it's been a very calming way of setting the tone before bed. If you haven't listened yet, by the way, guys, I interviewed a sleep expert named Todd Anderson. We talked all things sleep. All the best advice for sleep. How to set up your night routine and optimize your sleep.

Because it's so freaking important. No matter if your goal is to lose weight, build muscle, clear skin, sleep is the core of everything. And he told me that the content you're watching is really, really important. If you're watching something like a murder mystery, that's really stressful. And violent.

Watching that before bed is quite damaging because your brain truly believes that you are a part of what you're watching. So reading has been just a much more calm way of, like, easing into my nighttime routine. So I'll have my blue light glasses on. I'll have my red light bulb next to me. Greg's already asleep.

Greg goes to sleep at, like, 845 and has his eye mask on, and I'll just read next to him. And it's been really lovely. I started reading in Turks and Caicos on our vacation because I didn't bring a book, and I just was given a random book by the lost and found at the hotel. And I read the book, like, in three days, and I was like, oh, my God, I forgot how much I love reading. And so now I've picked it up again, and I'm really excited about it.

Something else I wanted to share with you guys. So I know I talk a lot about acne, and I hope people aren't, like, tired of hearing about it, but I really feel like this advice I'm about to give could be applied to any health issue or mental issue, whether it be digestive health, a broken bone, immunity. I've been really struggling with my mental health around my skin lately, just kind of hitting a wall and feeling, like, really defeated and frustrated to go from clearing it up and then having it come back, it's like, what am I doing wrong at this point? Like, I've tried everything and also trying to conceive at the same time. It's just almost, like, too much pressure for me.

And I just reached this point where I was like, I need to change the way I'm thinking about this because clearly it's not working. And I think because I've had acne for, like, on and off for ten years now, I really identify with acne. Like, I view myself as someone that has acne. Like, I say words like my acne, or, you know, my acne is back, my acne is bad. I am someone with acne, and these are ownership words.

I'm basically identifying myself as someone that has acne rather than the acne. It's separate from who I am, and I really want to start changing my language in the way I think about it. And I actually had a really lovely conversation with Sammie Clark, who many of you probably know. She's a fitness influencer in the space, and she has struggled with acne, too. And I was basically just telling her how much I've been struggling with it on a mental level, and she recommended something called, you guys are going to die dick therapy.

Now, before you jump to conclusions, it's not what you think. It actually stands for a mantra, and I'm gonna read it to you. Direct, instruct, command, compel, and condition. I will link this video in the description box below of this podcast because I listened to this woman explain this mindset shift this morning. I had my eyes closed in front of my red light, and she basically was talking about needing to change the language around our health problems.

Stopping negative language around health and acne can change the outcome. And I was thinking about it, and since my weight loss journey, I have identified myself as someone who can lose weight when they want to. So, like, I don't talk to myself in a way where I'm like, I can never lose weight. I find it hard to lose weight. I hold on to weight.

Like, I don't talk to myself that way. And I was thinking, like, that's interesting because I feel like I don't struggle in terms of body positivity. If I decide I want to gain muscle, then I do. If I decide I want to lose weight, then I do. But with acne, I have decided that I'm someone who will forever have acne.

So she was basically saying, I'm in turn manifesting to make my acne worse, because every day I'm waking up and saying, I have acne, I will have acne. I am acne. So I really want to be intentional about changing the language because I've tried everything from supplements to diet to lifestyle. But have I really tried to change my internal language around it? Not really.

And I've had long conversations with my therapist about this. And I think after having my brain scanned with doctor amen, I discovered that I have somewhat of OCD patterns in my brain. And OCD is very genetic, and I see it in my family as well. And my OCD has definitely manifested in my skin. I'm constantly checking my skin.

I struggle with skin picking. I struggle with, um, obsessive, like, research around acne and obsessive ordering new supplements to try. And it is something that I truly have grown obsessive around, I think. And I think that's made it really difficult for me to heal because I'm constantly hyper fixated on the problem. So this dick therapy, d I C C is something that you say to yourself when you're in the shower, when you're getting ready, every time you have a compulsion to look at your skin or you, you know, this could apply to a Digestive problem or Immunity.

If you're someone that says, wow, I get Sick every time I go out, I get Sick every time I travel, then you will get Sick. But if you say to yourself, I am healthy, I will not get Sick, you are manifesting better health for yourself. So, for example, for me, what I will say, and what I've already said to myself about ten times today is I direct, I instruct, I command, I compel and condition my skin to work perfectly and properly and powerfully because I know that it can. And I'm going to say that to myself over and over and over, all day, every time I feel like my mind is slipping back into the negative, which will happen inevitably all day because I tend to think about my skin all day, I will bring this mantra back up and I'm gonna try this, guys. Like, I'm on, like, day one right now.

I'm gonna keep doing this and report back. But I just wanted to offer that knowledge to anyone who is struggling with a health problem or, you know, any. It could be anything. Just fill in the blank, you know, for your own issue.

I have really struggled to find skincare that I trust over the years. Struggling with acne, having super sensitive skin. And that's why I'm obsessed with. Obsessed with Clearstem. You guys have heard me talk about them.

I post about them. I was using it far before I even worked with them. And it's such an honor to work with people who have experience to acne themselves. Kayleigh and Danielle are amazing founders, and they created clear Stem, which is the first skincare line that combines all three categories, anti aging, anti acne, and clean, meaning free of hormone disruptors and pore clogging ingredients. So not only do I use their skincare, but I use their sunscreen, I use their body lotion, and now I use their new hair care, which is really, really hard to find.

Hair care that is safe for skin. And as you guys know, when you're showering, it does end up getting all over your face. So it is really important, and I have to say, it is so fresh feeling. I'm obsessed with both of the products, and I feel like my hair also feels really, really soft and shiny. I also love their acne lab test, which is helping thousands of people get to the root cause of their acne through comprehensive lab testing and lifestyle based recommendations.

I think if you're struggling with acne, the first thing you should do is get lab tested because it can reveal so many underlying issues. And that really is the core of healing. Visit clearstemskincare.com and use code PoW Pow at checkout for 20% off your first purchase. Again, that's code pow for 20% off your first purchase@clearstemskincare.com. You guys know that Greg and I are obsessed with optimizing our sleep routine.

I feel like we have it down to a science, and at this point, I'm sure you've heard of eight sleep. It is a buzz worthy sleep technology called the pod. It can be added to your existing mattress like a fitted sheet to automatically cool down or warm up your side of the bed and in turn, improve your sleep quality dramatically. Greg and I have been using the eight sleep for, I think, two years now, and it is a non negotiable in our routine. We cool it down every night to optimize sleep.

I can see through tracking my sleep how much it has improved my hrv, how much deeper I'm sleeping, and I can tell in my energy levels. Today I want to share some exciting news, because pod just got an upgrade. Eight Sleep has launched their newest generation of the pod, the pod four ultra. It cools, it heats, and now it elevates automatically. It also clinically is proven to give you up to 1 hour more of quality sleep every night, which is absolutely incredible.

Plus, with pod four ultra, you can leave your wearables on the nightstand. It is integrated into the pod. You can track your sleep times, sleep phases, hrv and heart rate with 99% accuracy. You can just easily add it onto any bed. I feel like this has been such a life changer for us.

We recommend it to all our friends, and I highly recommend you guys check it out, too. Head to eightsleep.com pow. And use code pow to get $350 off pod four ultra. They currently ship to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe and Australia.

Now I think we're going to hop into some voice messages. I can't wait to hear what you guys have been leaving. Hello, my girls. Happy day. My question for you is about skincare.

Lily
I'm wondering what you do for your body's skincare. I'm obviously pretty up on my skincare for my face, but I'm looking to share love with my body. And I feel like the problem I'm having is that there's a lot more surface to cover. So I'm wondering, what oils do you use? Creams do you use, what routines are we doing?

Are we doing like dry scrubbing? Exfoliating? If so, how often do we body contour? Are we oiling and then creaming give me the goods. I'm here for all of the advice.

Is it like at night before we go to bed every night we're doing it. What areas do you find need more love? Give me all the advice because I'm looking to give my skincare, my body a little bit of attention, and I'm here for all the tips. Thanks, my girls. Hope you have a great week.

Love the podcast and everything you're doing, and I'll talk soon. Bye. Hi, Lily. Thank you for the question. So, I have personally never struggled with body acne, and I'm not sure if you have.

Mari Llewellyn
I think you're just saying you want to, like, put more love and care into it. I've never had body acne, only face acne, which is crazy. But I understand the struggle because I was really having a hard time finding products that weren't clogging my pores and I could take care of my body skin. So in the shower, I actually use Zuma body wash. It is an all organic, all natural, no artificial colors or scents, and it is a body wash that I use, and it's like perfect non pore clogging.

Really, really love it. In terms of lotion, I've been loving the clear stem body lotion. It's very moisturizing. It's like, thin and soaks in quickly. I use that every single time I shower because I spray tan so frequently.

I want to keep my skin moisturized, and it helps the tan last longer. I don't do any oils or anything crazy just because of how sensitive my face skin is, and I want to be really cognizant of that. My husband Greg uses a tallow all over his body every night, which I'm so happy for him. It looks amazing. He's glowing, but I get frustrated because I want to lay on him, and I'm like, your tallow is getting in my face pores.

So do that. Do with that what you will. Hi, Mari, and maybe fi. This is Emily. I am a fellow austenite and just wanted to say I love that you guys are here now and exploring the city.

Emily
It's been just so much fun to watch as a fellow transplant. Anyways, I wanted to ask, I'm starting to introduce more meat into my diet, potentially a more carnivore based lifestyle, and just kind of getting started with it. So wanted to ask, in your move to Texas, what it's been like to incorporate that into your routine, what resources you have found most beneficial for access to things like beef or any recommendations, and just overall, things that you have noticed since you've made that a priority in your nutrition plan, I would love to hear any updates and any thoughts on just kind of how that practice works best for you. Love you guys. Oh, thanks, Emily.

Mari Llewellyn
Okay, so meat. Let's talk meat. Before my true healing journey, I always prioritized protein, but I was definitely getting most of my protein from, like, chicken. I was eating salmon every day, tuna every day. And then after discovering that I had heavy metals in my system, which I think many, many, many of us do, I kind of tried to limit the amount of fish I was eating.

I eat wild caught salmon probably one to two times a week. And then other than that, I mostly eat grass. Grass fed pasta, raised red meat, whether it be ground beef fillet, rib eye, sirloin, lamb chops, sometimes kind of depends. I personally feel absolutely incredible eating red meat. I feel like my energy levels are fantastic.

I feel satiated. I feel full. I feel strong. I am quite tall, so I have to eat a good amount of protein. It's recommended you eat a gram per pound of lean body mass.

I think for us women, it's really important to eat a lot of protein at the beginning of the day. I've even heard that it's recommended to eat 40 grams of protein for breakfast because you're starting on the right foot. And I don't know the scientific language around this, but overnight, your body is basically going through protein synthesis, and you want to, like, reload your body with protein. So it's a big priority for me in terms of resources. I always recommend that you guys go to your local farmers market, look for that grass fed meat.

You really want to be careful about that because the grain that they feed cows in America is really, really concerning. And you don't want to be consuming meat that's been eating that inflammatory type diet. So, grass fed, I love, and my husband and I order from white oak pastures all the time. We get big boxes of frozen meat, and whenever we want something, we just defrost it. For example, I had the.

They call it tips and tails, but it's just like tips of sirloin for breakfast this morning. They have amazing filet, amazing options. We also love maui nui venison. They sponsor the show, but we ordered it before that regardless, because it is, like, the highest quality venison you can get. It's harvested in Hawaii naturally.

So highly recommend you guys check that out as well. Also, like, meat is amazing for hormones. So many benefits. If you want to listen to my episode with Doctor Gabrielle Lyon. She speaks a ton about that.

Hi, Mari. I enjoy listening to your podcast so, so much. I was just curious how you're preparing for, I guess, mentally, especially the changes that your body goes to during pregnancy. I had a baby a year and a half ago, and prior to that, I had lost, like, 70 pounds. And then when I got pregnant, I gained, like, 70 pounds.

Katie
And a year and a half later, I've lost mostly all of it except ten pounds, but my body's definitely changed. So just curious how you're preparing to kind of navigate the changes that come with pregnancy, if at all. Thank you. Love you. Bye.

Mari Llewellyn
Hi, Katie. Thank you for the question. I have to be so honest. Like, I don't think that I've mentally gone there yet, because I've. I'm just so excited and ready to be pregnant.

Like, I think I'm so focused on actually getting there now that I'm not even really thinking about the weight gain. I mean, I feel so mentally different than I did in the past when I gained a lot of weight. I feel so much healthier and stronger mentally and physically. And I feel like I will be so grateful to be pregnant that I can't imagine that I'll be too concerned. But that's obviously naive.

I don't even know what I'm getting myself into. I feel like I have a great support system around me and the excitement will be so prevalent that the body part won't affect me as much. But we'll see. Like, maybe I'll have to rediscover that side of myself where I need to tap into the mental strength again to get through it. But I will obviously bring you guys along the journey and keep you updated.

I am quite passionate about diet during pregnancy. I've heard a lot of advice in terms of eating, like, salmon roe for the baby's brain development and blueberries. I'm really obsessed with that kind of thing and optimizing nutrition in order to help the fetus. So we'll keep you guys updated on that as well.

I am obsessed with wild grain. I make croissants from my husband, Greg every single weekend, and it's so, so easy. We actually just had his parents visit, and I made sourdough. I also made the croissants, and they just come out so fluffy and gorgeous and, like, so good. Plus, I love the fact that the ingredients are, like, whole good ingredients, like real butter, real flour.

Our personal favorite has to be croissant. It takes 20 minutes. You just pop it in the oven and they come out super fresh. If you're hosting, this is the ultimate hack. Everyone will think you like handmade these croissants, and they just come out so perfect.

I put them in a little basket, put them on the table, and everyone's happy. Wild grain is the first ever baked from frozen subscription box for sourdough breads, fresh pasta, and artisanal pastries. Every item bakes from frozen in 25 minutes or less. No thawing required. And you can now fully customize your wild grain box.

So you can choose from any combination of breads, pastas, and pastries. You can even build a box of only breads, only pastas, or only pastries if you'd like. I also recommend trying the cookies. They are absolutely insane. For a limited time, you can get $30 off the first box plus free croissants in every box when you go to wildgrain.com pow to start your subscription.

You heard me. Free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.com pow. That's wildgrain.com pow. Or you can use promo code Pow at checkout.

Hi. I've been loving your podcast. I had a question. You talked about mushrooms in chocolate and fun, active mushrooms. I'm really starting to see that I don't tolerate alcohol as much anymore.

Lily
So I was wondering about that. I don't know if you mentioned it anywhere or if there's a link. Thank you. So if you guys didn't hear, in a couple solo episodes ago, I told a story about my house manager accidentally taking our mushroom chocolates because she thought it was real chocolate, which was one of the funniest things that's ever happened. But then after that, I got tons of messages asking me for the mushroom company, and I don't know if legally I should say I don't want to, like, be a drug dealer.

Mari Llewellyn
You know what I mean? I don't want to be, like, a secondhand drug dealer. But if you just do a little bit of research, guys, you will find it, like, it has a big Instagram page. It's out of Canada. That's all I'll say.

And, you know, I was, like, really hesitant to tell the story because I was like, oh, my God. Like, this is kind of, like a vulnerable thing to share that I partake in. But, I mean, I've already said it. I might as well just continue at this point. Like, I feel like a lot of people my age are trying microdosing or the mushroom chocolates.

It's such a. Depending on the type you get, I find that I laugh more, I get more childlike. I am in the moment. Like, I completely forget about my phone. It encourages play and socializing and connection, and I have no hangover from it.

I will say I don't sleep as well, and I'm being careful about it because I'm trying to conceive. So I'm, like, limiting the amount that I'm doing, for sure. Like, if anything. But I personally think it's a great alternative. I don't want to get in trouble, though, so that's where I'll leave it.

Hey, Mari. My name is Molly. I'm from Minnesota. I've been following you since 2018, starting with your PDF gym guides. Just want to say congratulations on your crazy journey of life and success in your business.

But I have two questions regarding social media and just kind of your relationship with it. Now, if you feel that if you could go back in time, would you still make the decision to have your success be built off social media, and do you think it would be possible without social media? And then my second question is, with regards to you having kids in the future, how you're going to handle their relationship and experience exposure to social media and with social media, and if you feel that you would not want them to have careers based off social media, et cetera, and how you're going to handle that. Thanks for all you do. Bye.

Mari Llewellyn
Whoa. Thank you, Molly. Oh, my God. That's a lot to think about. So, yeah, it's like a discussion that I've had a bunch of times with Greg about our kids, but I'll start with myself.

I don't regret starting a business on social media. I just think that's the reality of the day and age we're in. I think any successful company kind of needs to have a social media presence. Community. It's just the way businesses run now.

And I feel really grateful that I have the community I have here on the podcast on Instagram. It was a very magical experience, and I feel like I'm got firsthand knowledge about my customer through speaking to them on social media and seeing what they were responding to. And I think it was honestly, like, a really fantastic way of starting a company rather than going into it. Like, I just want to make a bunch of money. It wasn't that.

It was like, I'm connected with these people who can relate to me, and I relate to them, and we are both wanting a product that I want to make so I don't regret it. I just think as I evolve and mature, my relationship is changing in terms of having boundaries and prioritizing my mental health a bit more. I think there's seasons for everything. I think for many years, I was in a season of hustle and grind and building my dream life, and I think that was needed then, and I'm not as much in that moment now. So while social media is such.

Such a powerful tool, and I've made amazing connections through it, like, deleting it on the weekend has been the most fantastic thing for me, because I feel like I just have the self awareness that I fall into comparison or negative thinking oftentimes when I'm on social media. So it's more of a personal relationship than a business one. In terms of kids, I take a lot of advice, or I look at the way my friends who are parents, parent, and I'm just thinking of my friend Camille here in Austin, and her kids are not on social media, and they're like preteens, I think. And I think if you can keep them off for as long as possible, that's helpful. When their brains are developing and they're really sensitive to comparison and things like that.

I cannot imagine as a young girl, if I had been on social media, that would have been really, really hard. So I feel like as long as I can keep them off, I will, but at the same time, teaching them about the power of it, and I feel like something that's helped me with social media is, like, really treating it as a business rather than my whole life and as a job. And I think it would be a disservice to not teach them about it and keep them completely hidden from it, because the reality is, that's our world, and that's how things work now. So I'd rather come from it from, like, an educational standpoint. But we shall see.

You know, I'm just sort of, like, observing right now and seeing, like, what. What feels good to me.

Sam
Hey, guys, it's Sam. I have a question about making new friends that align with your new goals. So, over the past few years, I've had some health issues, and now I'm trying to avoid drinking when going out and really just be more mindful when I'm going out with friends. And I'm curious how you guys recommend making new friends that align with your new goals. A lot of my old friends, unfortunately, still want to go out and drink and party till late at night, and that's not really what I want to do anymore.

So just wondering how you would make friends when you're looking for kind of a new life and a new, better life. Thank you. Hi, Sam. Great, great question. I think a lot of people will relate to this.

Mari Llewellyn
Just looking back at my life in 2017, I definitely went through a period of time where I had to let go of a lot of friendships and also embrace being alone. I think that's a kind of important piece here. It's like friendship takes time, especially as adults, and embracing, like, being comfortable with your relationship with yourself and just knowing that it's for the greater good. I'm not saying to completely cut your friends out necessarily, but, like, I got way more comfortable being independent and alone because I was like, you know, currently not many of my friends want to do the things I'm doing, so I need to embrace doing them by myself and learning to clap for myself and celebrate the moments that I feel proud of. I also think just being honest and saying, hey, like, this is where I'm at for my mental health and my well being.

Like, I can't go out and drink anymore, but if you would want to go on a walk with me, I would love that. Or if you would want to go get coffee with me, I would love that. Or if you want to come over and we can cook together, I would love that. I wish I had been maybe a little more vocal about that and express myself in that way. And I think also that time you spend alone, curating exactly what your life, what you want your life to look like, you have a better understanding of what you want.

So when you do make those friends, whether it's like at the gym or at a coffee shop, in the places where you find those like minded individuals, you already know what you enjoy and what you're looking for in terms of values so you can show up as that version of you. I also think there's far more, like, events happening now. Like, we were just at an event here in Austin for our friends that was like a fitness event. Tons of like minded girls kind of putting yourself out there and showing up on community walks or, you know, dming someone that's in your area that's into health and fitness. Like, I do think a lot of people who are in health and fitness want to connect on that level.

Like, every time I meet a girl who's down to go do a workout with me, I get so excited. So put yourself out there, stay true to you, and don't be afraid to express your values. I think with that, we're going to end this episode here. I really hope you guys enjoyed it. Just a reminder, please please please subscribe or follow if you haven't yet.

So many of you listen but you're not necessarily subscribed, which means you will not get a notification every time I post. And it really helps us continue to grow the show. And if you could leave a review, it would mean the absolute world. I love you guys so much. Don't forget, I'll put the links to everything I reference in this episode below and I'll see you in the next one.

Bye. Thanks for joining us on the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. To support this show, please rate and review and share with your loved ones. If you want to be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast or video player. You can sign up for my newsletter to receive my favourites@marinoellen.com dot.

It will be linked in the show notes. This is a wellness out loud production produced by Drake Peterson, Fiona Attucks and Kelly Kyle. This show is edited by Mike Fry and our video is recorded by Luis Vargas. You can also watch the full video of each episode on our YouTube channel at Mario Fitness. Love you, pow girls and Pow Boys.

See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and does not constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor or health team.