Healthy Living by Willow Creek Springs
A podcast about practices to promote healthy lives featuring experts, businesses, and clients: we gather to share our stories about success, failure, exploration, and so much more. Our subscription episodes feature some personal and vulnerable, real-life stories that are sensitive to some of the general public.
Healthy Living by Willow Creek Springs
15 Minutes to Transform Your Health Journey
Something remarkable happens when we reconnect with the earth beneath our feet. As I navigate my cancer journey, I've been drawn back to the Gardens of Hope—our 2.5-acre botanical sanctuary in California—where the most profound healing often happens with dirt under my fingernails.
This episode shares the story of Todd, a Marine veteran whose body bears the scars of combat and countless injuries. After spending just days working in our gardens, he experienced what seemed impossible: "For the first time in 20 years, I'm not in pain." His transformation mirrors what I've discovered during my own healing—that therapeutic horticulture isn't just about pretty flowers, but about reconnecting with fundamental healing frequencies we've lost touch with in modern life.
When we walk barefoot on soil, touch plants directly, listen to water flowing, or simply breathe deeply outdoors, something shifts physiologically. Our bodies exchange electrons with the earth. Our attention diverts from suffering. The water within us—remember, we're mostly water—responds to these surroundings and even our thoughts, as Dr. Emoto's fascinating water crystal research suggests. These aren't mystical concepts; they're observations from someone witnessing unexpected healing firsthand.
The path toward health doesn't require abandoning your life as I temporarily did mine. It starts with just 15 minutes daily—a small commitment that often naturally expands as benefits appear. Begin by honestly assessing your current state across all pillars of health: sleep, nutrition, movement, stress, and connection. Envision where you want to be, then take one small step. Like pushing a boulder, the initial effort is hardest, but momentum builds with each push.
Whether you're facing serious health challenges or simply sensing there's a better version of yourself waiting to emerge, I invite you to join our growing community of people committed to intentional healing. Subscribe to dive deeper into these concepts, and consider what might change if you gave your health just 15 focused minutes today.
Intro for podcast
Here is the link for Sunday's 4 pm Pacific time Zoom meeting
Well, hello and welcome back to the Healthy Living Podcast. I'm your host, joe Grumbine, and today we're going to have a special episode. I've been spending a lot of time publishing subscriber episodes and you know my cancer journey has been really taking a lead in my life, so obviously it's a focal point and I don't want to take away from that. But this is not a podcast specifically about my cancer journey and before we get into the topic of today, I do want to acknowledge some people that have been very supportive and the people that have been subscribing and getting deep into the journaling of this day-to-day experience rollercoaster ride and miracles and all the things that are happening rollercoaster ride and and and miracles and all the things that are happening. You know, I just couldn't, I can't express how impactful this has been and yet, at the same time, the podcast has continued to grow. We've had some incredible guests, I'm booking some amazing guests and I'm watching the listenership increase. I'm watching the subscribership increase. I'm watching the quality of the content and the quality of the guests improving and it's really exciting, as this has always been my dream to build a community centered around healthy living and it's happening. It's happening and some of you listeners may want to get more involved and you're going to hear more and more about the Gardens of Hope. That's the nonprofit that we have a two and a half acre botanic garden out here in Paris, california garden out here in paris, california, and we open our doors for therapeutic horticulture and all sorts of healing mind, body, spirit, and I've been an integral part of it for 30 years. My wife and I built the place over the last 30 years and in the last two years this non-profit's really starting to come to life and it's turning into a wellness center on its own right and it's developing organically and beautifully and effectively. And I'm going to talk a little bit about today, about this therapeutic horticulture and the whole idea of therapeutic horticulture is just that being outside in nature, being in the open air, getting sunlight on your skin, breathing the air, being around plants, being around the soil, the animals that come just nature is therapeutic.
Speaker 1:And this week we had a veteran Marine and his name is Todd Colburn and he's becoming an active part of this organization. He's actually building our website but, more important than that, he's spent the better part of a week out here and this guy is an incredible guy. He's been through more drama and trauma in his life than probably any dozen people I know have. He hasn't done the things I've done and I haven't done the things that he's done, and we have a deep mutual respect for each other and I've always wanted to serve veterans in a way that could bring them healing and restoration, and it's a simple idea.
Speaker 1:I just think that you, you know these people have chosen a path that is unlike many and have put themselves at risk and in harm's way and in many ways in harm's way that they didn't know about or expect to serve and protect, have turned on them in many ways, and people don't believe in what they were doing, or the government is the government and doing what it's doing and done, and they get left out in the cold, they get left in a bad way in many, many cases, and every once in a while, some hope comes through and some answers and some solutions, and I believe the gardens are a big part of this. And so, while I've been dealing with this cancer battle, this journey, this, it's a journey more than a battle. It's a struggle for sure. It's a journey more than a battle. It's it's a struggle for sure, um, but I, I always find my way back to the gardens and after this last week, which has been probably the most difficult week, or last two weeks really been the most difficult two weeks of my life A couple of days ago, or yesterday in fact, I was able to get back outside and got my hands in the dirt and I got to spend some time with Todd and this guy has got years of injuries.
Speaker 1:This guy's broken more bones than Evel Knievel and is a martial arts trainer and a combat fighter and just he's got a beat-up body. He's had numerous accidents and injuries that are, just, you know, guys in pain all the time. And after four days of being here and a lot of it was just walking around and he helped me work on the irrigation systems and did some, you know, not physically strenuous work, but he set up an electroculture system, which is amazing and we'll be talking more and more about that as we're getting into healthy living and the quantum side of things and how things work and and things that work. But uh, he set up these copper poles in the garden and and, uh, connected them to crystals and it sounds funky and weird, but, um, we're watching it work and it was wild because a couple of days into it he was having some issues. Because, you know, we got this neighbor that has a cow and I don't know. Either the cow just had a calf or they don't feed it right, or whatever.
Speaker 1:It was moving all night and he was having a rough night and we figured out a way to get him some peace, in spite of the cow, and the next morning he went outside and was out there working, did some, planting, did some you know, just different, different activities out here in the garden. And when I walked around with him he says you know, joe, he says I'm not in pain. For the first time in 20 years I'm not in pain. For the first time in 20 years I'm not in pain. And it's wild because I have been in pain and discomfort myself for the last several months as a result of this giant tumor sticking out of my neck. And I thought to myself you know, it's funny, i'm'm not either and all I was doing was walking around in the garden acknowledging the sights and the sounds and marveling at the bees flying around or listening to the sounds of the birds, hearing a hawk overhead, smelling a scent of a lemon tree, listening to the water splashing you know we got a little stream out here and seeing the little fishes swimming around in there, or maybe watching the chickens whatever it is picking a vegetable and eating it, um it it.
Speaker 1:I think in some ways it just takes your mind off of the suffering. You know, pain, as I'm learning about it, is as much in your head as it is in your body and we spend time thinking about it and dwelling on it and hurting, and I think it helps to cause it to continue to hurt. It's like a fire, you know. You stare at it and give it a little wood and it burns brighter, but you look away from it and you don't notice it so much. And even though it might be burning there, don't notice it so much. And even though it might be burning there, it's, it's not burning you and I think that's part of it. I think part of it. Actually, uh, touching the ground, touching plants, putting your feet on the ground, there's an actual electron exchange that happens there and I believe there's a lot of healing that happens from just connecting with the earth directly.
Speaker 1:You know we're so disconnected anymore. We, we live in concrete buildings, we wear rubber shoes, we have wi-fi signals all around us. We're in cars with rubber tires, we're not really connected to the earth, hardly at all anymore, and I think that's a big difference to how we were in years past, you know, when we had a simpler life, when buildings were not so tall and cars were not so prevalent. Even shoes were not such a big thing, you know? Um, I know I'm kind of rambling a little bit, but hell, it's my show, I can do what I want.
Speaker 1:I just want to bring back the idea and the importance that getting outside, spending some time around water Remember, we're mostly made of water. You think about what would happen if the water on this place dried up and just go look at the moon or Mars you know there's no water. Well, whatever the water that's there, we don't know where it's at and there's nothing. Everything's dust, dust and rocks. That's what this world is without water. So we think about that and you go. Well, why aren't we spending more attention with water, more time? Do we drink bottled water out of plastic bottles? We we pour hot coffee into plastic line cups and drink it, that we're consuming huge amounts of toxins in this water that we drink, and yet it doesn't have to be that way and we could take care and even just being around water.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you know about I don't remember the guy's first name, but Emoto who discovered the effect of sound and words on water and was able to photograph the water crystals and really demonstrate the effect. You know, it's pretty wild. If you are to study his work, you'll see these images where somebody would say I love you and they froze the water after those words were said and the crystals are beautiful and perfect and the very same water they took and said I hate you and other nasty things. And they took and said I hate you and other nasty things and they froze that water and the crystals were warped and twisted. And that was such a powerful experience to me that I have taken time to bless a cup and I, when I think to do it and I think to do it at least daily, many times a day sometimes, especially as I'm working at healing myself and I say I love you, I bless you, I thank you, I heal you, and then I drink the water and I I say to myself it certainly couldn't hurt and it probably helps. And if you're following along with the real details about this, you'll realize that true miracles are happening right now in this healing journey, and I have no doubt that the water plays some role in it.
Speaker 1:I know that healing is a very complicated concept and that's why I'm sort of bringing the topic of this podcast at least my personal episodes back to it, because my goal isn't to tell you how to heal yourself the way I did. My goal is to give you thought, to consider some actions. The most important thing I think about healing is identifying a problem. What are you trying to solve? What are you doing? What's the issue at hand? You know, get to know yourself. Take some time, take account, start journaling yourself. You know how do you feel, what's up, what's right, what's wrong, what would you like? What do you want to change? Take stock of yourself. You know how often do we do that. We whine and bitch and complain about things all the time, and maybe we have goals and we're achievers, but how often do we really take account of where we at do an audit? Um, I think if you are able to do that, then you create a place where you can heal yourself, because you can tell when you're healing.
Speaker 1:I think we don't pay attention so much of what we do in our life. You know we live these lives and routines. How's it going today? Oh, same old, same old. You know I went to work. I woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. You know everybody's got their routine and to what end. Right, you go to bed, you're tired, you're frustrated, maybe you don't sleep good. How many people sleep good? I think that's one of the most important things. We talk about sleep. We'll continue talking about sleep. But really I think if we can assess ourselves and determine what's good and what's not, then we can begin to chart a path.
Speaker 1:And I can tell you from this cancer journey and the layers that are involved that are accomplishing the healing that I am seeing. It is intricate and detailed and it has taken every ounce of my awareness for the past six months to be able to accomplish what I've done. And I've had to sacrifice my business. I've lost, basically, my company. I had to move back home. I don't have really much of an income source right now. As a result, I've had to let it go. I had to let go all the people that were surrounding myself and all the life of activism and all the things I've done. I let go of most of that and in its place has come this beautiful community that each member has offered some element that I've been able to weave into my healing. And that's not all, clearly, that's. That's just a piece of it. There's been a lot of hard work and research and studying and effort and trial and error and all of those things, but that's when my life was at stake and I didn't have a choice, or my choice wasn't a good one anyways.
Speaker 1:I can only imagine what it's like raising kids, running a business, going to work, dealing with whatever relationship, chaos, sports, hobbies, addictions, you know it goes on and on and on Right. And how do you find any time to find your health in that world? To find your health in that world and I would propose this If you can take 15 minutes a day, just 15 minutes a day, and dedicate to your health and say maybe 15 minutes turns into an hour. I mean, I'm one of these guys that when I get into something, 15 minutes turns into three hours, just like that. You know, pretend it's a video game or whatever, or something that you're totally into. And if you could just start that with 15 minutes and say, I'm going to begin a journey to health and maybe establish a you are here on the map and maybe establish a destination when do you want to be? Maybe it has to do with your weight, maybe it has to do with your cholesterol, your A1C, your whatever, whatever the thing that you are working on, your strength, your physique, your, whatever, it doesn't matter. It's your body, your desire, your dream, your health. But if you could establish a starting point and a destination and commit to giving yourself 15 minutes a day.
Speaker 1:Now, if you go back and look, I've done numerous podcast episodes with a guy named Richard McKeown and his Biohack40 program and I went on a journey of doing a thousand push-ups in a day and it started with one. And it's the same principle where you can take one thing, so start with one. I'm going to take 15 minutes, one block of time, about five minutes, if you need to One minute, start with one. I'm going to take 15 minutes, one block of time, five minutes. If you need to One minute, start with one, and tomorrow give it two and add a little something to it every day and you will find that in no time you will have moved the needle and you will have moved the needle in a place that you'll notice. And when you notice the needle moving, you'll be inspired to move it more, and I can tell you this with certainty.
Speaker 1:I've done this in numerous ways in numerous facets in my life. Looking back on things that have worked in my life, and every time I got the ball moving and I kept it moving. And you know there's some law of dynamics that say objects in motion want to stay in motion and objects at rest want to stay at rest, and I believe there's definitely truth to that, and so I think that's going to be that the focus of this episode is. I I really want.
Speaker 1:I feel that this podcast has always been purposeful and with a goal of creating a community, and we've got 50, 60 guests that have been on the show. They're wide ranging, from all different types of people and all different types of expertises, but really through it all, the central theme has been to build a community around healing and healthy living. Build a community around healing and healthy living, and I've realized that this experience I'm going through has given me a tool that's bringing inspiration to people, and I have more and more people reaching out to me saying hey, I listened to your podcast. I feel inspired to do something and I said, wow, then let's use it. Feel inspired to do something and I said, wow, then let's use it. And I believe that that can happen here, and there's so many people that have similar situations, and there's better speakers than me and better podcasts or whatever. It doesn't matter. The point is, there's so many people that need so much help that you can take this experience and you can take that first step and make a decision.
Speaker 1:I have literally stared death in the eye and I had a decision to make.
Speaker 1:What was I going to do?
Speaker 1:And I made a decision at that moment.
Speaker 1:You're probably not in that place and you have all the power to make all the decisions, so I'm going to hope that at least somebody that's listening to this decides today to say I'm going to decide to make my life better today and I'm going to take the time.
Speaker 1:I'm going to decide to give myself 15 minutes a day, and maybe more, to just dedicate to my health, and I'm going to start by evaluating where I am, what I like about myself, what I don't. I'm going to look at everything, lay it all out, all the pillars of health, sleep and diet and exercise and stress and all the others. I'm just going to say this is where I am and then I'm going to look at where do I want to be and then I'm going to begin crafting a strategy to get there. So I'm super grateful to everybody who has participated and I'm just thankful for all the supporters, all the subscribers, all the listeners, all the guests, everybody behind the scenes that's been helping make this happen, and I encourage you to let's get out there and live All right. Thank you, we'll talk to you next time.
