Events this past weekend confirmed for me, in a very moving way, how critically important it is for us in the health & wellness field to both understand the role environmental toxins play in our health, but how to share this information with clients – you know, the ones who don’t live in the uber healthy bubble that we live in!
Last Friday, I got up at 4:30 in the morning to shower, dress, and catch a flight to New York City, my former home, for two full days of filming for an upcoming documentary film called 1 in 3. This film, created by my client, colleague, and now friend, Anna Anderson follows four New Yorkers living with various types and stages of cancer as they adopt an organic, plant based diet, and transition to non-toxic products in their home. Anna invited me to be the authoritative voice on where environmental toxins are present in these people’s homes – to literally walk through their spaces and guide each of them towards making changes that will, at the very least, no longer overburden their already compromised systems.
Each of the four participants in the film were dramatically different, but they did have one thing in common: They’d never given a thought to whether the products they were using were safe or not.
Why? Because no one taught them to question them. No one told them that lurking inside so many of the things we bring into our homes are chemicals linked directly to cancer – the very thing they’re battling. Each one of them responded with wide eyes, and pauses of disbelief.
While I emphasized that no one product was what caused their cancer, and that it would be impossible to assign blame to any specific chemical, I also pointed out that these products and the chemicals in them could easily have played a role in setting the stage for cancer to develop.
Because cancer isn’t something you “catch”. It’s something that develops, and it develops because of a cascade of events or a “climate” within the body exists that allows cancer to flourish. Some of this is genetic, some of it is lifestyle (one participant in the film still smokes), some of it is environmental.
This experience of having me sweep through their homes was just as eye opening to them as it was to me. Because in doing this, I saw very clearly how much of a bubble I live in… that we live in. As health coaches we eat, breath, and sleep healthy mindsets, healthy practices, healthy food, healthy everything.
Most Of The Rest Of The Population Doesn’t Live Like Us. They just don’t. Inside these homes were things that are in millions of homes – old margarine tubs used a “free” tupperware, oven cleaners, drain cleaners, carpet cleaners. Make up from the corner pharmacy, scented candles, perfume, and department store lotions and creams. Scratched non-stick cookware, plastic drinking cups, travel mugs, cooking utensils.
All sources of chemical toxins. All sources of exposure to carcinogens.
Each participant in the film thanked me for helping them to clear out these chemicals from their homes, but sitting on my flight home, reflecting over this experience left me feeling grateful for them. Because through meeting them, hearing their stories, and helping them “detox” their homes, I was reminded just how important this work is and how critical it is for more and more people to be informed.
The conversation about environmental toxicity should not be one that’s had only with sick people, but with all people.
Will swapping out your scented dish-soap for a non-toxic type prevent cancer? No. But it’s one step in many that all aim to turn down the dial on how many of these cancer causing, hormone disrupting, neurotoxic chemicals we encounter.
This experience has absolutely reignited my drive to share what I know with as many health & wellness practitioners as possible, so that together, we can help “detox” the homes and lives of thousands and thousands more!
Let’s break out of our “healthy bubble” with our green juices and hemp seeds… with our yoga, lulumelon, and meditation practices, and remember that we’re here to help others and support them in making the healthiest choices possible!
If you’ve not worked with me before, here’s the best place to start!
