Learn the easy tips and protocols you need in order to transform your living space (home or office) into a place that supports your healing.
Indoor Air
The air inside your home is most likely more toxic than the outside air to a pretty high degree. We need to fix this so that you’re breathing high quality air that’s helping you heal instead of making you sick. I recommend getting some plants to put in the rooms where you spend the most time in your home. These can include:
Bamboo Palm: Removes formaldehyde and is also said to act as a natural humidifier.
Snake Plant: Absorbs nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde.
Areca Palm: One of the best air purifying plants for general air cleanliness.
Spider Plant: Great indoor plant for removing carbon monoxide and other toxins or impurities. Even NASA deems spider plants as one of three plants best at removing formaldehyde from the air.
Peace Lily: Peace lilies could be called the “clean-all.” They’re often placed in bathrooms or laundry rooms because they’re known for removing mold spores. They are also known to help remove formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.
Gerbera Daisy: Not only do these gorgeous flowers remove benzene from the air, they’re known to improve sleep by absorbing carbon dioxide and giving off more oxygen overnight.
What to Do: This week, your task is to buy one of the plants listed above, and put it somewhere in your house. If you’re feeling particularly motivated, buy more and put them in high-traffic areas of your house (bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, living room, etc.)
Cleaning Supplies
The amount of toxic chemicals you can find under the sinks of most American homes is probably more than most labs. These chemicals have a variety of negative health effects when inhaled, including lung damage, impaired cellular function, altered DNA expression, liver toxicity, and reduced mitochondria function. Your health and life depend on it. You are worth it. These chemicals are causing disease, and shortening your lifespan.
What to Do: Throw away all cleaning supplies (this includes anything in your bathrooms as well that you put on your skin) and seek out green, organic, and clean products that will work just as well.
Bonus: Try using essential oils (lemon and tea tree are my favorites) infused with vinegars or lemon and water for natural homemade cleaners!
Cleaning Up the Air
Now that you have plants in your house, it’s time to invest in a good air purifier. Having plants inside sometimes might not be enough. Ideally, we would live in a place where we can let outdoor air in daily. The average adult, when resting, inhales and exhales about 7 or 8 liters of air per minute. That totals about 11,000 liters of air per day. This is all being processed by your lungs. In the same way you purify the water you drink and eat organic foods, make sure you do the same for the air you breathe on a daily basis.
What to Do: Begin researching a good in-home air purifier and make the purchase or begin the process of saving up to purchase one. I personally suggest the AirDoctor, it is the one I use and I highly recommend it. You can save up to $300 on one using this link.
Feng Shui
Feng shui is a Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing everyone with the surrounding environment, and is closely linked to Taoism. The term “feng shui” literally translates as “wind-water.” It often applies to the layout of a home and that relationship to the person living in it. If your home isn’t laid out properly, it can affect your nervous system and cause unnecessary stress in your life. Clutter can be stressful. The cleaner and more streamlined your external environment is, the more your internal environment will begin to mimic it.
What to Do: Search for Feng Shui online and take 20 minutes educating yourself how to do it. Then apply those principles to your home’s unique setup. Make it your goal this week to change how the furniture of your home is laid out so it supports a place of healing.
Atmosphere
Is your home fun? Is it a place of peace, joy and laughter? If not, ask yourself why not? These are characteristics that you must cultivate within yourself in order to project them into your home. Create the internal vision, and help it manifest. You create the atmosphere you want inside yourself first, then it will be infused into the home environment. Be the change you want to see in the world.
What to Do: Take at least 5 minutes each day to meditate, release, and let go. Begin to create a calming internal environment that you can replicate in your home.
Decluttering Your Space
“What you own, ends up owning you.” Many times the amount of clutter inside a home can represent our current internal state of health. Having stacks of bills, piles of dirty clothes, and a Jenga-tower of dishes in the sink can be very stressful on your nervous system. The less you have inside your home, the freer your mind will be. The space around us (or lack thereof) impacts our consciousness in very real ways.
Remember, an item is just that: an item. Don’t attach a memory or an emotional sentiment to it. Realizing it’s “just a thing” is the first step to regaining your power to let go.
What to Do: Plan your next garage sale, or start selling things you don’t use online. What you don’t sell, donate to a local thrift shop. Also throw away anything you have that’s excessive. When you minimize the items that are now owning you, the impact on your health will be substantial.
Water & Cookware
Avoid plastic when it comes to food. Plastics contain harmful substances detrimental to your health. Bamboo or wood cutting boards are ideal. Avoid plastics when cooking, eating, drinking, or storing food.
Bottled water is harmful for the environment and is usually of poor quality following the packaging and shipping process. Bottled water companies do not have to disclose where their water comes from, or what materials are used in making the bottles themselves! Additionally, a shower water filter can also be helpful. Shower filters will remove all the chlorine from your water. Chlorine can be harmful to your skin, lungs, and hair. You will be surprised how quickly you will feel the difference in your skin and hair once you install one of these filters.
What to Do: When cooking, use glass, ceramic, cast iron (if there is no evidence of iron overload), stainless steel, and clay. Slowly opt for better cookware, as it can be a big investment. You can find out what is in your tap water by going to https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/ and plugging in your zip code. I personally use cast iron and Xtrema Cookware ceramic cookware. If you’d like to look into their products, you can check them out here and use the code INSIDEOUT at checkout.
Where to Find Herbal Formulas
Ideally, if you can find an herbalist near you that is familiar with these herbs and their purpose, that is great! You would want to make sure their herbs are organic and/or wildcrafted. I personally use formulas from a variety of companies that are third party tested for safety and potency. Many of which can be found on my dispensary through Fullscript, linked here. Again- I tend to gravitate towards whole-herb products, not ones with individual nutrients as I believe that whole plant constituents are much greater than the individual components. If you join my dispensary, you get a 10% discount on everything you order through it!
There are certain companies I will link in the order of the ones I tend to gravitate towards the most:
- Dr Morse’s Herb
- Mediherb/Standard Process
- Biocidin Botanicals
- Orthomolecular Products
- Cellcore (use code UKsTZJGS [case sensitive] when visiting www.cellcore.com – NOT available on Fullscript)
- Designs for Health
- Ora Organics
- Microbiome Labs
- Biotics Research
- Barlean’s
- Gaia Herbs
Thank you for taking the time to parse through this. If you found even one of these tips helpful over the past four weeks, it was worth it.
Have fun out there!
I’ll see you next week!
Dr. Vincent Esposito
Want More?
Whenever you’re ready, there are two ways I can help you:
- I’m excited to announce the launch of my new book: How to Get World Class Sleep! If you’ve struggled with insomnia, have trouble falling asleep, or wake up feeling sluggish, then this is for you! Fall Asleep Faster. Recover More Quickly. Wake Up Refreshed! Find it here!
- You are designed to heal. This is how Nature works. If you want a partner who is committed to helping you master your own wellness, then schedule a FREE 15-minute call with my team to apply to get your health on the right track.