Episode #46 - Unhinged: Mystery Wellness Expert

I have had the privilege of sitting down with naturopathic physicians, Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors, functional diagnostic nutritionists, and integrative health leaders on this podcast. And I mean it with my whole heart when I say that one of the most genuinely wise conversations I have had all season came from an eight-year-old named Livia.

Yes. You read that correctly.

Livia joined me and our co-host Dr. Desiree on The Eversio Experience to share her professional expertise in, among other things, swing set endurance, monkey bar performance, and recess resilience. What followed was 35 minutes of pure, unfiltered wisdom that had both of us scribbling notes and questioning everything we thought we knew about adult health.

I am not being dramatic. Keep reading.

"Just be calm, never give up, and do some candle breathing. That is how you heal your body, mind, and soul." - Livia, age 8

Chapter 1: The Root of All Adult Problems (It Is Simpler Than You Think)

We opened by asking Livia what she thought adults were getting most wrong with their health. Without missing a beat, she said: stop eating junk food. And if they could just get that one thing, it would change their lives.

She is right. We know she is right. And yet.

What I loved about her answer was not just the content, it was the delivery. No qualifying, no hedging, no "it's complicated." Just the plainest truth, said plainly. She followed it up by recommending smoothie bowls loaded with "good stuff," hot broccoli, hot carrots, and a cold salad on the side. Which honestly sounds like a pretty solid plate to me.

The older we get, the more we complicate our relationship with food. We outsource our instincts to apps and macros and trending diets. Meanwhile, an eight-year-old is telling us to eat our vegetables and stop overthinking it.

Message received, Livia.

Chapter 2: Stress Management in Three Words

When we asked Livia about stress management, she paused for a moment and then said: just don't give up. You persevere.

That was her answer. In full.

She went on to mention Terry Fox, the Canadian hero who ran across the country on a prosthetic leg while battling cancer. This section did end up being edited out (because it was a long one) but worth mentioning here as Terry is a forever hero in my eyes, too. Livia's school runs the Terry Fox Run every year, and she spoke about him with such quiet reverence. She said she always wishes he were still here. That she still wants to see him run around the whole world.

"I think he is still running in our hearts," I told her.

"Probably," she said.

I think about that exchange a lot. Because we talk endlessly about stress management on this podcast. About adaptogens and nervous system regulation and cortisol and all of it. And here is a child distilling it to its most honest form: when you want to give up, change the thought. Don't give up. Just like Terry Fox.

"Normally when I just don't want to do something, I will give up. But then I tell myself don't give up. And I just persevere." - Livia

Chapter 3: Burnout, Bedtime, and the Blue Light Problem

Livia's take on burnout was genuinely moving. She described it as being tired but kept going anyway, and then she added something that stopped me cold: "Even though they do a lot for us, we should do a lot for them back."

She described how when her dad got sick, she and her mom made him breakfast in bed. Lemon water, eggs with spinach, toast, a little ketchup. "That is the cure for burnout," I joked.

"Probably," she said.

On the topic of sleep, Livia was characteristically direct. Sleep is necessary. Your body has a limit. And blue light at night? She is firmly against it. "Your eyes are getting tired and you say I don't want to go to sleep, even though you should."

She described her own internal energy scale: a little square with a green zone for fully happy, a medium zone for sort of happy, and a red zone for really, really mad. Her sleep goal is to stay out of the red. Simple system. Effective framing.

She also shared that at sleepovers, instead of watching her iPad, she plays dolls, looks at glow stars on the ceiling, thinks about tomorrow, and plays rock paper scissors.

Imagine if more of us spent our evenings doing that.

Chapter 4: On Mushrooms, Movement, and Morning Routines

At some point in the conversation, I reminded Livia that I co-own a company that sells mushroom supplements. I was curious to get her take.

First, she told us what she thinks mushrooms would complain about: they all look different, but they want to be the same. And then, gently but firmly, she told us that is okay. It is okay how you look. You should be grateful for that. 

She was talking about mushrooms. But she was really talking about all of us.

In rapid-fire questions, she chose Reishi over screaming into a pillow. She chose a mushroom latte over chocolate milk before bed. Her mushroom latte recipe, if you are curious: frozen bananas, frozen blueberries, milk, blend it together. 

On movement: Livia does backflips and front handsprings on the trampoline, high kicks and low kicks for soccer, monkey bars at the park, and kid weights in the family gym. After watching a Whitecaps game, she visualized their energy during her own soccer match and got an assist. She also does piano, which she counts as keeping her hands moving.

Her morning routine is not complicated. Move your body. Eat protein. Get outside. See the sun. She reminded us that adults could technically come on the monkey bars too, but we might need to build up to it.

"It is okay how you look. You should be grateful for that." - Livia, on mushrooms (and, really, everything)

Chapter 5: Inner Peace, Glow, and What Entrepreneurs Are Getting Wrong

We asked Livia what inner peace looks like. "Being calm, not frustrated, reading a chapter book. Having a little spa day. Put some cucumbers on your eyes, have some lemon water, be nice and cozy."

Honestly? That sounds like the best Saturday I can imagine.

For glowing from the inside out, she recommended working out (not too much, not bodybuilder strong, just strong), drinking lemon water, eating healthy food, and yes, putting cucumbers on your face. She was delighted to learn that some of us have just been eating all the cucumbers without ever putting any near our eyes.

For entrepreneurs who are struggling, she had a clear prescription: drink a lot of water, eat a healthy dinner with corn and hot vegetables and steak (juicy, the way her dad makes it), and when work gets overwhelming, take a break. Watch a movie. Come back to it. Finish the work. Feel proud of yourself.

"When I am done," she told us, "I am like, yay, all done! Finally I can rest."

That feeling of completion, of pride after hard work, and of genuinely resting after? That is something a lot of us have lost. Livia has not lost it. She takes her rest seriously. She earns it. And then she makes her lunch for the next day before she goes to bed.

Chapter 6: Naps, Time-Outs, and Grownup Accountability

Livia thinks adults could use more naps. Not because we are weak, but because we stay up too late and then wake up disoriented and grumpy. "You wake up and feel like it is the next morning, but you are just like: where am I? This is not my bed."

I feel deeply seen by an eight-year-old.

She also weighed in on adult accountability. When we asked if grownups should have a time-out corner for making bad choices, she said no. They should not go to the corner. They should think about what they did. When they think about it, they will be sorry. They will learn their lesson. They will not do it again.

"Your brain thinks what to do," she told us. "So you go downstairs, get some paper, colour. Or do math. I know multiplication. I know times tables. I know sometimes algebra. Just do math. That will fix you right up."

Or reading. She is also very pro reading.

Chapter 7: Candle Breathing and the Simplest Health Advice You Will Ever Hear

I saved the best for last.

At the close of the episode, I asked Livia: in one sentence, how can someone heal their body, mind, and soul?

She thought for a moment. Then she said: "Just be calm. Never give up. And if you just breathe, or do candle breathing, it will just heal your body up."

Candle breathing, she explained, is where you hold up your five fingers like little candles. As you trace up each finger you breathe in, and as you trace down you breathe out. It tickles her hand a little, she told us, and that is why she likes it. It makes her calm.

I tried it during the recording. I got through two fingers and told her it already felt like a miracle. She seemed pleased.

This is what we sometimes overcomplicate. Breathwork, nervous system regulation, parasympathetic activation. But Livia calls it candle breathing and does it when she needs to feel calm. No app required. No subscription. No special gear.

Just five fingers and your breath.

"Just be calm. Never give up. And if you do candle breathing, it will just heal your body up." - Livia's prescription for healing

What Livia Reminded Me

Every now and then, a conversation comes along that cuts through all the noise and lands somewhere true.

This was that conversation.

Livia reminded me that healing does not have to be expensive or complicated or trendy. It is eating real food. Moving your body. Going to sleep when your body tells you to. Staying off your screen at night. Taking naps when you need them. Persevering when you want to quit. Being grateful for how you look. Taking a break mid-workday. Making yourself a good lunch the night before.

It is also, sometimes, putting cucumbers on your eyes and drinking lemon water and just being still for a moment.

And it is, always, choosing not to give up.

Just like Terry Fox.

If this episode made you smile, made you think, or made you want to find a set of monkey bars, please share it with someone who needs a little reminder that the best health advice is usually the simplest.