Utilizing Nature in the Home · © 2018. All rights reserved. 1 Utilizing Nature in the Home Guest:...

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© 2018. All rights reserved. 1 Utilizing Nature in the Home Guest: Razi Berry The contents of this presentation are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This presentation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Ryan Sternagel: Welcome back, everyone, to the Toxic Home Transformation. I am Ryan Sternagel of the SternMethod.com, the Integrative Answers to Cancer podcast, and the creator of Navigating Childhood Cancer, an integrative coaching program. And we have with us Razi Berry who is the founder and publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News and Review, NDNR.com, and Natural Path, TheNatPath.com. She has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized the support of the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. And self-proclaimed health food junkie and mother of two, she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees, which is not easy in Phoenix—I don’t think it’s easy up here in Utah either. I’m going to try my best though when we get into our new house—laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy. And yes, that is her real name. Razi, good to see your face. How are you? And thanks for coming on the Toxic Home Transformation. Razi Berry: Hi, Ryan. It’s great to be here. I haven’t heard that bio in awhile.

Transcript of Utilizing Nature in the Home · © 2018. All rights reserved. 1 Utilizing Nature in the Home Guest:...

Page 1: Utilizing Nature in the Home · © 2018. All rights reserved. 1 Utilizing Nature in the Home Guest: Razi Berry

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Utilizing Nature in the Home Guest: Razi Berry

The contents of this presentation are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This presentation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Ryan Sternagel: Welcome back, everyone, to the Toxic Home Transformation. I am Ryan Sternagel of the SternMethod.com, the Integrative Answers to Cancer podcast, and the creator of Navigating Childhood Cancer, an integrative coaching program. And we have with us Razi Berry who is the founder and publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News and Review, NDNR.com, and Natural Path, TheNatPath.com. She has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized the support of the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. And self-proclaimed health food junkie and mother of two, she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees, which is not easy in Phoenix—I don’t think it’s easy up here in Utah either. I’m going to try my best though when we get into our new house—laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy. And yes, that is her real name. Razi, good to see your face. How are you? And thanks for coming on the Toxic Home Transformation. Razi Berry: Hi, Ryan. It’s great to be here. I haven’t heard that bio in awhile.

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Ryan: That’s the one I was presented with. Razi: That’s great. I love that. That’s my favorite. It’s the most real. And that’s what we’re going to do today, get real. Ryan: Get very real. Get very real. Do you still grow fruit trees? Razi: I do. I do. I belong to this—Listen to this. It’s crazy. So I’m in Arizona. And I belong to the Arizona chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers Society. Ryan: No way. Razi: And it’s just a bunch of crazy people that like to try to grow tropical and subtropical fruit trees in the desert. So many of them fail. But the fun part is trying. And I do have a lot of trees on my not-really-large property. I lost my lichen trees this year. I was really sad about that. Ryan: Uh-oh. Yeah, no. Well, I’ll have to get some tips on you. And I’ll try to one up you by growing fruit trees not only in the desert but in the high mountain desert up here in Park City. So that should be interesting. I don’t know. Do they do well in—we’re building a log house. And it has that classic, great wall of windows right on the front. Razi: Ah, beautiful! Ryan: I was thinking about just seeing if I could get away with some fruit trees right in front of that. I don’t know. What do you think? Razi: Well, I’m sure you can grow apples and pears and cherries and things like that, I’m imagining, depending on how cold it gets. But citrus and all that stuff does great here. But I try to grow things like mangos and papaya, avocados, which really actually the problem here in Phoenix isn’t what you’d think. It’s not the heat. It’s that in those other subtropical and tropical climates it doesn't get as cold as it does here. And then for other, like stone fruits, it doesn't get cold enough because you need so many chill hours. So we are in this no man’s land. Outside of most citrus, it’s really hard. But I do have beautiful pomegranate and fig and every kind of citrus you can imagine, kumquat, limequat, key lime lime, pink grapefruit, yellow grapefruit, blood orange, Cara Cara orange. Those are easy to grow. But I’ve got some apple trees, a cherry that doesn't bear very much fruit, plum, mulberry. Lots.

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Ryan: Yeah, all right. Well, you’re probably going to be hearing more than you want from me when we get a new house. We have a greenhouse that’s waiting to be built. A Geodesic Grow Dome, it’s called. So you can actually grow—it’s made for the mountains, so you can grow year round. And it’s heated by a pool inside. So it’ll be pretty neat. But enough talking about growing fruit trees in the desert. Before we get into this, do you just want to give everyone—we just read your bio—but just a little better flavor of anything you’d like to add to what it is you would say you do, Razi? Razi: So aside from publishing pretty much the industry trade publication, Naturopathic Doctor News and Review. This is our 14th year of print. It’s case studies. And every year we dedicate an entire issue to mind-body medicine which is always our June issue. And it really aligns with the principles of naturopathy. And then I also publish the International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine which has been accepted into three indices where taking those steps, it takes a few years to get into PubMed. I have my own love project that I’ve been doing called Love Is Medicine. And I’m currently writing a book on that topic. And it’s really the convergence of love and relationships and health and how it’s biodynamic and interdependent. And our relationships with ourselves, the environment around us which is a lot of what you’re talking about in this wonderful summit, and with each other impact our biology, our physiology, our psychology, and our consciousness. So that’s where I’m geeking out right now. In addition, I also coach some physicians in my Master Mind, a business strategy. So I wear a lot of hats. And I’m having fun with all of them. Ryan: So I’m in your Love Is Medicine Facebook group. I didn’t know you are writing a book called Love Is Medicine. Razi: I don’t know if I’m going to call it Love Is Medicine, or if the publisher will let me. Ryan: That’s a good name. And you post just the most beautiful stuff in there, for lack of a more eloquent term. A little bit of a curveball for you. But just anything offhand, do you have in the spirit of increasing the love in the home from maybe a practical level—I imagine I’m going to ask you that question,

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and you’re going to have something that comes to mind. Yeah, might be an interesting way to start it. Razi: Yeah, love in the home. Well, I’m really into this idea of embodiment because we spend so much time in our heads. Even in relationships when challenges come up with our children, with our partner, we do a lot of thinking, ruminating, and also trying to analyze. “Is she saying this because she’s on her period? Is he doing this because of how his father treated him? Are my kids not getting along because their father and I got divorced?” So we spend a lot of time in our heads and not really in our body. And where we love and where we live is in our bodies. All of these chemicals of attachment, whether it’s infant and maternal attachment or attachment between two adult partners, we think of that as being in our head or being in our heart. But all of those molecules of emotion are really produced more in our gut and in our heart than they are in our brain. I call it our three hearts—the heart here, the heart here, and the heart at our solar plexus. And so it is when you stay present, not in your mind, not mindfulness, but in your body. So for instance, how am I feeling right now? Let’s say you walk into your room. And your child’s room is a mess. And you notice your chest tightening up. And you’re like, “Arcadia!” And you can just feel. It’s always great to stay in your body when you’re communicating with people that you love because if you feel tightness somewhere or you feel an unease, it’s a good gauge that you’re not taking that communication or that dialogue in the right direction. So I think that using your body as a compass for how you interact with each other is probably the best way to take the temperature of a situation. If your body is feeling relaxed, if you’re feeling warm, if you’re feeling at ease, then chances are you are going to make the right decisions and communicate in healthy ways. That’s not to say that uncomfortable emotions won’t come up. But you have to really listen in, engage what that feels like in your body. It also is a telltale sign in relationships maybe we shouldn’t be in if you have a partner in your life that you always feel stressed or nervous around or self conscious. That’s your whole body, meaning all of your emotions, all of these perceptive senses from our enteric nervous system and our central nervous system from the memories in our limbic brain—those all are coming together to communicate something.

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And so once again, even in these situations or a business situation—let’s say you have a job that you just are constantly feeling not yourself, not easy, there are things you can do to transform relationships. But you only have control of yourself. So I have learned to always use my body as a guide. And hindsight is 20/20. And I think sometimes I didn’t listen to that and wish that I had. Ryan: Yeah, no. That’s really cool. And yeah, I’ve been trying to be more and more thoughtful about that sort of thing myself. I’ll even set myself reminders, just even on my phone, to stop whatever I’m doing for a minute and check in and see how, am I tensed up about something? Or is there something that keeps repeating in my mind that I probably should just let go or deal with or whatever? And then once you start doing that, then you get more of a sense, now that I’ve been setting the reminders for myself for awhile, now I’m more tuned in to myself and don’t even need the reminders as much. I can just think about how I’m doing more. Razi: That’s a handy tip. Ryan: Yeah. Yeah, I also heard—you could do the same thing. But someone talked about—it was like making a good impression when you walk into room. You do the doorway drill in your house. When you walk through, you straighten up, put your head back, that sort of thing. And you can even put a little sticky note on the door of your house to remind yourself to do that. So you don’t have a sticky note when you’re out in public. But I was thinking you could even do that with what we were just talking about, just have a little sticky note. And then every time you walk through a doorway or pass through the sticky note or whatever, then you can check in with yourself and see how you’re doing. Razi: I remember last time we talked we went off on a lot of tangents, too. So I hope it’s okay if I take us on another quick one. But with regard to bringing more love into the home, we just don’t touch people that much anymore. We just don’t touch. And there have been a lot of studies with regard to touch. Under our skin, we have these little membranes called Pacinian corpuscles. And they connect directly to the vagus nerve that runs from the center of our brain down through our heart. It really is the master of our central nervous system.

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And so when we are touched or when we touch another person, it releases a lot of hormones such as oxytocin and vasopressin which helps with regulating blood pressure. And hugging has been clinically proven to reduce pain post surgery, during labor, even people who have undergone traumatic car accidents. What’s interesting is that if the person that is touching them is empathetic, the pain relieving quality doubles. So if it’s just a person in your life that doesn't have a lot of empathy for you but they’re trying to help, it’s still helpful. But if it’s someone you’re in a very empathetic relationship with, a very caring relationship, somehow your body knows that. So we are really disconnected. We’re afraid because of the legal society we live in. I used to have teachers that hugged me. And I know they can’t do that anymore. And I understand there are things that happen. But the people in your life that you see that you have affection for, I think it’s really important to show that affection because we’ve disconnected from that. Ryan: I am going to give my kids and wife a big hug right when we’re done with this interview. Razi: I love it. Ryan: My brain is too practical. I just thought of reminding myself to hug my kids. But that’d be pretty sad if I needed a reminder for that. I hug my kids quite a bit. Razi: We get busy. We’ve been untrained. So I think that’s beautiful if you set reminders for yourself. We’ve been untrained to hug people. Everybody fist bumps now. Ryan: My kids are pretty good at that, too. Let’s get back on track, Razi, because you did have some really cool stuff that I’m excited to talk about, to round out what we’ve been talking about in the summit that has not really been talked about yet. And that’s all very exciting to me as well. So let’s start with naturopathic living. And is it năturopathic or nāturopathic? I think I asked you this last time. Razi: It’s both. It’s like tom-ā-to and tom-ah-to. Ryan: There we go.

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Razi: Depends how aristocratic you are, I suppose. So naturopathic living. In naturopathic medicine, there are these guiding principles and paradigms. And they’re usually expressed in Latin. Vis medicatrix naturae which translates to “the healing power of nature.” So this is an oath that the naturopathic physician takes that they really understand the body’s innate ability to heal, that it’s part of a person’s nature and the way the interact with the world and their environment. With naturopathic living, I just translate that to the lay person to say that we have a responsibility to ourselves to honor that connection to nature. And another principle is find the cause, tolle causam. And a subset of that is to remove the obstacles to cure. So what that means, if you think about that—remove the obstacle to cure—it means your body or your life, whether we’re talking emotional or physical, is always moving towards healing unless we put something in its way. And this summit is an example of many, many things that we put in the way of our body or our lives. And so you go to a naturopathic doctor, and their thought process is going to be, “Remove the obstacle to cure.” But for me, naturopathic living is first to live our lives that way, to be getting rid of the things that are causing a resistance to healing, whether that be physical or emotional. Tolle totem means treat the whole person. And what I like about this summit as the way it applies to naturopathic living is it’s really treat your whole life, your home. Your home is where you live. We spent 80-90% of our time indoors which is not healthy because indoor air, as we’ll talk a little bit about and I’m sure you’ve talked about this a lot on this summit, is quite toxic. Two million people die each year because of the adverse effects of indoor air. That blew my mind when I read that. Ryan: Nobody has given us that statistic yet. Wow! Razi: They actually did a sample of airborne pathogens in a subway. And there were 1800 airborne negative pathogens, or illness-causing pathogens, including anthrax. We talked off camera about energy always moving. And so in nature, water is always moving. Air is always moving. Plants are growing and taking in carbon monoxide and giving off oxygen. And so it’s a very unnatural situation we have, living in these homes that are completely self contained. And so it does create an unnatural diversity of pathogens.

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And I guess we could get right into some of the ways that we can deal with that. And then we can talk about more of those principles. Ryan: Yeah, yeah. By all means, fire away. Razi: Okay, so one of the ways that people try to deal with that is through air fresheners—I’m sure you’ve talked about those—scented candles, perfumes, and things like that. One way to keep air quality clean indoors is through burning of beeswax candles. I always have beeswax candles lit in my home. Beeswax is naturally ionizing. It releases negative ions. And most pathogens and dust and mold have a positive charge. And so the negative ions actually attach to these pathogens and mites and things like that. And so it’s not just covering up dirty air. It’s actually cleansing the air. And it has been used throughout history. What’s so fascinating to me is that it was even until recent history that churches, like the Catholic church for instance, the only types of candles that were allowed to be used in ceremonies inside the church were pure beeswax. And it’s just interesting how we have some of these traditions in ancient medicine and ancient religion where these natural materials were used. And it was before we had a scientific basis. And I think we understood nature better. And we didn’t need to have a double blind, placebo controlled study because we were just more in tune. So beeswax, I love the smell. It has a very sensual scent. It smells slightly of honey. And it’s hard to stay away once you’ve gone beeswax. You’ll never go back. So honey itself, when it comes in contact with the skin, has a lot of healing properties as well. So I’m not surprised that beeswax is so healthy. But it contains natural peroxides and peroxidases to help heal wounds and such. So there’s a lot. That’s for another time, though. So another way, of course, is through plants. And I have some examples of plants. And I have notes because, Ryan, I live my life this way. But I can’t remember everything. Ryan: No, I know the gist of where you’re going with this. And it’s all great stuff that has not been talked about. And by the way, I’m glad that you brought up the candles because my interview with Alexx Stuart. I think she had just mentioned candles offhand.

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And I was talking about how I, just even from a proper biological lighting standpoint, had been thinking about incorporating candles into our home existence. And so I asked her what kind the best kind of candle was. And she said pure beeswax with a cotton wick. Razi: Cotton wick, yeah. There’s a big push towards soy because soy byproducts are so cheap. But soy is not really safe. Neither is paraffin, of course. So even if some candles are unscented and people assume they’re safe, they’re not. I also don’t really like even pure beeswax scented candles because even though essential oils are lovely and natural, we shouldn’t probably be burning them because they’re so highly concentrated. And you have to remember essential oils are therapeutic. And when things come in contact with fire in such a concentrated way, I don’t think it’d be good to breathe that in every day. So my vote is for pure beeswax, unscented candles. And if you wanted to add some scent to your home, to your life, then put some essential oils on your body. Or even better yet, bring cut flowers into the house. I think it’s the most lovely way to bring scent into your home. Ryan: Oh, man. I’m going to also go outside and pick some flowers. Or cut some flowers after this interview. Razi: So the toxins that we have in our indoor air are numerous. And they’re dangerous. And one of them is formaldehyde. And that’s in carpeting and upholstery. It’s in paint and glue. So it’s in paint on your walls or furniture, and just a lot of consumer products—wood that has been treated with formaldehyde to help it dry faster or even to keep it from catching fire. And of course pressed woods have formaldehyde. Benzene is in nail polish and nail polish removers. It’s in all sorts of plastics, dyes, and detergents. And these are all things, even if you’re not opening a bottle of benzene or formaldehyde and sprinkling it around you, remember what off-gassing is. So nothing is ever totally at rest. Molecules are always moving around. And these non stable compounds are off-gassing. And that’s what’s creating this environment, this toxic microenvironment inside our homes. Another one is trichloroethylene. It’s in a lot of cleaning supplies, inks, and paints. It’s also in printers if you have a printer in your home. Toluene and xylene are both in household products and gasoline, paint thinners, and also leather processes—so leather shoes or leather couches, things like that.

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Carbon monoxide, of course, is everywhere. It displaces oxygen in our blood. And we breathe it in numerous ways. So plants can actually remove these toxins. A study was done—I have a copy of it somewhere—by NASA. So they were studying how they were going to build these habitats for us to live on the moon someday or have astronauts be in enclosed spaces for a long period of time. And everything in their environment is synthetic and chemical. And so they did a study in 1989 and found that certain plants could really remove or scrub the air of these toxic chemicals. I have a couple of my favorite. This one—I don’t know if you can see— Ryan: Yeah. Razi: Is called Peace Lily. And it’s so pretty. Ryan: Peace Lily. Razi: And I made this part of my kids’ homeschooling because I knew we had plants. And I knew they were good for the air. But I made them label the plants. Ryan: Very nice. Razi: So this one helps remove ammonia from the air. And the rule of thumb is you want to have one plant minimum per 100 sq. ft. of your home. Ryan: Alright. Razi: All plants are good. This one is really funny. It’s sometimes called Snake Plant. But my other favorite name for it is Mother-in-Law’s Tongue. Ryan: Mother-in-Law’s Tongue! Razi: It has a sharp tongue. I think it’s so cute. Ryan: Yeah, I know the Snake Plant. I haven’t heard Mother-in-Law’s Tongue. That’s good. Razi: So it removes the trichloroethylene and benzenes very well. So it’s really known for that.

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I have an orchid here. It also removes ammonia and benzene. And with flowering plants, you need a little bit more of them. I don’t really understand the science of why. But flowering plants move the toxins a little bit more slowly. But they also give off a lovely fragrance. And so what’s so fascinating to me is that we’ve designed really powerful air filters. But nothing can match the design of a plant. When I stop to think about it, I’m just in awe, Ryan. I’m sure that I’m a little bit of a geek when it comes to this stuff. Another one is the Chinese evergreen which you can find everywhere. You could go to Home Depot and easily find these plants. And this removes carbon monoxide, benzene, and formaldehyde. Ryan: No way. Razi: Yeah. Ryan: Yeah, that’s really cool that you actually have done the research into what toxins specifically each one—and it makes it more real, too, because I think we’ve had someone mention offhand that plants can detoxify the atmosphere. But actually hearing these specific chemicals, this is awesome. Razi: Well, good. Well, this one is the Gerbera daisy. And this is one of the top rated ones by NASA. And it removed the benzenes. So imagine if hair salons and spas and hospitals that all have a lot of benzene in the environment because of solvents had these. It would be great. I can show you a few more plants. But another important thing is plants also give off negative ions in the air, which is how most, really, of the good, expensive air purifiers work. They’re ionization. And so plants do that naturally. So again, rule of thumb, you want to have one plant per 100 sq. ft. And it’s easy to do. I have plants all around my house. But because I did this, I thought it’d be fun to get smaller plants. So I’m always looking for an excuse. I was able to buy new plants. Ryan: Glad we could help you out. Razi: And so behind me, right there, is an English ivy. And it was the number one plant in many studies to remove toxins. It’s really hard to kill. It’s easy to grow if you don’t have a green thumb. And you can hang it, and it grows like a

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vine. And it doesn't need a lot of light. It doesn't need a whole lot of water. So if you want to have an easy one that removes the top six toxins—that ivy. And then this one is called an Elizabeth fern. Or sometimes, it’s called a Melissa fern. It’s also impossible to kill. And our animals like to eat them. So that’s why I keep it up a little bit higher. So I could bore you— Ryan: That would be a way to kill it, right? Razi: Yeah! I could bore you with a bunch more plants. So as far as just ambient air, this one’s fun. This one’s called a Dracaena or a Dragon Tree. And again, they all are just amazing to look at. They’re forms of art. And it can really transcend a space, not just through clearing these toxins in our environment but just giving a sense of wellbeing. They’re living. So one definition of something having consciousness means it interacts with its environment, and it grows. So if we think that humans and animals are the only living things that have a consciousness, it’s something to think about because plants respond to their environment. They respond to light and dark, sunlight, rain, moisture. Some of these take more moisture from the air than they give. Other plants give more moisture to the air than they take back. And they grow. So maybe that’s one of the reasons why it feels good to be surrounded by plants, because they have a sort of consciousness. Our universe was designed with a lot of love. So this is one example of that. So that is one way that plants purify our environment. But there’s also another way. And it is through the use of medicinal smoke. And I’m not talking about marijuana. Don’t worry. Ryan: Sounded like where you were going. And by all means. Razi: So throughout the ages, even predating Native American culture, so ancient Mesopotamia for instance, herbs and plants were used as fumigation, as smoke to heal different ailments and also to clean the air. And so I have some examples I’ll show you. But there are three main ways that smoke was used. So one was inhalation. And so certain types of smoke were inhaled to cure lung—and if that sounds counterintuitive because we think of smoking as bad for our lungs, that’s because cigarette smokes and other types of smoke are habitual. And it’s every day. This type of medicine, people didn’t smoke it every day. It was if somebody had a lung affliction or central nervous or neurological.

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Taking something in through your lungs is a very quick way. It’s absorbed into your bloodstream and can often pass the blood-brain barrier, depending on what type of plant it is. So inhalation is one really powerful way that smoke was used. Another way was just directly under the skin. So moxibustion or just burning an herb and holding it directly over or cupping it over a rash or a burn. It released the healing properties to the skin. And that was another way. The other way is ambient smoke. You often hear that herbs like sage (this is white sage) or cedar are used to clear negative energy. And so I’m not going to debate today if that’s true or not. I’ll let you decide that for yourself. However, it has been shown in studies in the Journal of Ethnobotanical Research to clear as much as 94% of airborne pathogens after only 60 minutes of burning. And up to three days later, many of these pathogens remain cleared. So in some countries, smudging is used to even clear what they call hospital theaters in India and such. And so I’m going to show you an example of how to smudge just in case someone doesn't know how. So this is white sage. And there are a lot of antibacterial and antiviral properties in sage and in cedar. And so you just burn the herbs. This came pre-packed. But people would grow their own herbs. And then you blow it out. And then the fire alarm goes off. And you just walk it through the home. So I’m going to read something to you from this Vedic book, this book about ayurveda. So it says, “The use of dry plant material for fumigations has been a common practice in Vedic rituals.” And so they had three methods to kill these toxic agents or what they called spirits that caused disease, which we now call germs. So it was the sun, fire, and this is called [inaudible] karma. So it was burning plants that were given to us by the gods or by God to clear the air of these evil spirits that cause disease. I’m going to set this over here and let it do its work. Ryan: I’ve got to say, it still looked like you lit and were holding a big doobie. Razi: So I’m going to get some food now, some snacks. Ryan: Healthy food, though. Razi: Right, healthy food. No. So another way that this is done is by sprinkling dried herbs or powdered dried herbs into the fire or over smoke or over a plate of coals and taking it into what is called the sick room or the sick tent. So it

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would be taken into the lungs as ambient air, not as directly smoking, or just to fill the room. And so as the sick person was healing, they’re breathing in cleaner air, breathing out germs for lack of a modern word. And it was used to keep the air clean. I think it’s just fascinating that it has been used through so many different cultures. And so today, it’s trendy again. And it’s primarily used for people to be so spiritual gangster. But who’s to say? I love the way a room feels. One of my really closest friends just bought a new house. And I bought her some sage for her to use in her home, just setting the stage for something new. So I hope I don’t get any hate mail that I’m satanic or something because I’m not. But it really has been studied to remove pathogens from the air. So I think that’s really exciting. Ryan: Yeah. Yeah, no. We’re already thousands and thousands of dollars over budget on our house. But like you said, I now have to find a way to run out and spend another several hundred dollars on this whole array of plants because we have a few. But you just got me really excited for getting a whole lot of them. Razi: Just have a plant housewarming party. And say, “We’ll order some gluten-free pizza. And you bring a plant.” Ryan: Love it! You’re invited, Razi. Razi: I can’t wait. I would love to see you guys. So a study for any naysayers, it’s the December 3, 2007 Journal of Ethnopharmacology. And medicinal smoke by burning a mixture of herbs or single herbs had a 94% reduction of bacterial counts within 60 minutes. And the ability for the smoke to purify or disinfect the air remained up to 24 hours in a closed room and up to 30 days in an open room. Ryan: Wow! Razi: So that’s a pretty powerful reason to smudge. Ryan: And there aren’t a whole lot of terms that I have not come across at this point. But smudging—did you ever define where the word smudging came from? I don’t think I remember that.

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Razi: I think smudging comes from the fact that it doesn't stay on fire. As you smudge it out, it keeps smoking. And it’s the smoke itself, not the fire, that’s releasing the compounds. I’m guessing. That’s my scientific guess. So there’s also Palo Santo wood that has terpenes in it. So that’s one of the properties that essential oils are studied for. It smells so good. Palo Santo means “holy wood.” And it’s used to clear the air. And also it has some medicinal uses in some cultures to breathe in to heal for upper respiratory infections and colds and things like that. Ryan: And you’re also getting the smoke from that one, too? Razi: Yes. Yes, so you can burn it the same way. Here, I’m going to set it on fire. Ryan: Let’s do it. Razi: Do you want to do live here? This one smells so good. It takes a little bit more to get it going. Ryan: There it is. Razi: There it is. Whoo! And then it just burns for a little while and makes everything smell really nice. Ryan: Where does one go about getting Palo Santo wood? Razi: So usually bookstores carry them. I have found bookstores. And now on the natural markets—so organic, Whole Foods, Sprouts, wherever you live. Natural grocery stores have them. Or you can find them online also. And then this is frankincense. So I think you know about frankincense. So you can use the essential oil, or you can burn the little resin. And you can just put it in a little glass or glass dish and set it on fire. And I have some myrrh which has been used—where’d my myrrh go? Here’s some myrrh. And these all just have different properties in them. But they’re all antimicrobial. Ryan: Could we get a close up of the myrrh? Razi: Yeah, myrrh.

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Ryan: Alright, there it is. Yeah, frankincense and myrrh are certainly a staple for essential oils for us. And I know people do use the resins. But I never really just thought about how or why I would use them. Razi: Yeah, I think you burn them. Ryan: You’re running me deeper and deeper into debt here, Razi. Razi: Oh! So something else about smudging is that it has this amazing ability to relax children. So if my kids are getting really just wild or I can’t get them to calm down, I’ll get a smudge stick and light it. And I don’t know if it’s just that it’s calming to the nervous system, which a few studies have shown, or just that it smells so good. But there is something calming about it. And I notice the same thing for candles. When my kids seem like they’re amped up and aren’t ready to go to bed, I’ll just light some candles. And it really seems to set the stage, adds a little serenity to the environment. So there’s no science behind that. But there’s a reverence about a pure beeswax candle or fire. There’s something that, I think as humans, we’re in awe of. And so that’s just a little tip I use for those parents out there. Ryan: I like it. I like it. Razi: So the earth gives us so many beautiful medicines and food to heal our bodies. So we’ve talked about some plants. And I know I’m sure you have many people talking about essential oils. But something I also like to talk about is rocks and minerals. And crystals are one. I just really am in love with crystals. And some people, Ryan, are afraid of crystals because they think it’s some sort of magic or maybe something spiritual or against God. Ryan: God made them. Razi: Yes, that’s true. And so I have some crystals here. I have a few that are way too big for me to bring in here. But this one is rose quartz. And quartz is used in so many forms of technology—in microchips, computers, all sorts of applications with regard to technology and electronics. And we really wouldn’t have technology that we have today without the use of quartz. And quartz is really mostly based from silica. And it has this property called piezoelectricity. And basically, if you put it together with mechanical friction or action, it produces an electric charge and also holds an electric charge. And our bodies run on electricity in many ways. It’s the way cells divide and replicate, the way our heart beats. And so it’s naïve to think that the rocks

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and crystals in the earth that are created for us don’t have some sort of effect on the human body. So rose quartz is one of my favorites. Traditionally, it represents unconditional love. And I just feel really good around it. So I’m always giving rose quartz as gifts to people that I love. I always have one. I have one in the bedroom. It just feels good. And even if there is no science behind it, there’s a lot of science that explains placebo effect. And so placebo effect in multiple, numerous studies shows a physiological effect on your body. So if someone is given a sugar pill and told that it’s an antibiotic and their body gets well, that’s not in their head, is it? If the infection clears, that’s not in your head. So bringing some beauty into your home that’s from the earth, that’s from nature, I think there’s nothing bad about it. So rose quartz and then just good old quartz crystal. The way the light bounces through these crystals is so lovely. And it just feels good. I noticed the cat and the dog like to look at—they aren’t fixated on it. But they’ll run by. And they’ll just look at it for a minute. And there’s something so mesmerizing. And I think that just even the way a vase of cut flowers can transform the energy of a room, I feel crystals do the same thing. But there is one crystal that I’m really excited about. And there’s some research. And then there are a lot of naysayers about the research. But this is about shungite. Are you familiar with shungite, Ryan? Ryan: Shungite. I think—what was it? For our anniversary, my wife was tense about something. I don’t know where I even got the idea. But there was some crystal mineral store down in Salt Lake. And I popped in there. And I believe shungite was one of my selections [inaudible], yeah. Razi: Okay. So shungite has a property in it called fullerene. And I don’t exactly understand. The more I read about fullerene, the less I understand. But it’s basically a powerful antioxidant. And someone won a Nobel Prize about fullerene sometime in the 80s. And it’s a form of carbon, like diamonds and graphite. But it’s different. It’s really resistant to change. And when they look at it molecularly, it’s like a vacuum. And so they say it goes against this idea that a vacuum doesn't exist in nature. And what some scientists and researchers are saying is this protects against electromagnetic fields, so against radiation.

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And I wasn’t sure what to think about this. But I ran into this at a bookstore. And I love the way it felt in my hands. It’s just hard to put down. And so for that reason enough, I love having shungite in my home. And I love to give it as gifts. We have electromagnetic energy around us. And of course, we turn off our wi-fi at night. I try to use Ethernet when possible. I have a landline phone that I use for the most part. But it’s still all around us. So even if it just makes me feel better, that’s not a bad thing, the placebo effect. But shungite is being used in applications to filter water. And people are charging water with pieces of shungite as well. And it’s supposed to be really wonderful. So I do sometimes put crystals in my water. But I can’t make a claim that it purifies the water. But it feels good. And I like it. Ryan: I was just thinking while you were talking. Now, I don’t know if that was—I think that was one of the things I got my wife. Razi: I bet it was this. I bet it was black tourmaline. Black tourmaline is said to eliminate negative energy and negative emotions and help clear them or help them come— Ryan: That’s funny. It was actually black tourmaline. Shungite—I got a water structuring unit awhile back. And if you want to hear more about water structuring, for everyone listening, Ben Greenfield talked about it a lot on this episode. But it has to run through this series of—it could be anything. But they use shungite stones in it, the one that I got. So that’s funny. Razi: I like that. That’s really cool. Another one that I like is—this is so pretty. And it’s really inexpensive. It’s called optical quartz. And it’s rutilated. It has just these little threads throughout. And historically, it’s said to help really intensify positive feelings. And I love—I have this in almost every room of my house. And it just feels good to have it there. So again, I can make no claims scientifically. But these rocks are in the earth. There’s a study I found, actually this morning before getting ready for this, that some Japanese researchers think that maybe what’s at the very center of the earth helping regulate the magnetic field is quartz. Ryan: Quartz!

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Razi: So they’ve done some studies. Of course, they didn’t go to the center of the earth. But they did some other studies using lasers and carbon and silica. And they feel that that’s very plausible. It makes our watches tick. It helps our computers run. And it feels really great to have around the home, too. Ryan: Nice. Where and how do you like to get your crystals and gems and such, Razi? Razi: Crystals. I get that question a lot. And so there’s a saying that people that love crystals like I do that, “Crystals find you.” So I find them in just—I haven’t been lucky enough. I don’t have any great story that I was walking in the desert and suddenly… But I just find them at bookstores, gift shops. There’s the gem show that comes to Tucson every year. So I always get a couple there when I go. But I don’t know. There are people who are sellers online who get them from Madagascar and Brazil. I have gotten a few on Ebay. That doesn't sound very exciting. But I know what I like. Sometimes, I’m just out running errands, and I’ll be somewhere. And there’s a lovely crystal that I have to have. So just I think, “What you seek is seeking you,” says Rumi. So if you want more crystals in your world, that’s all you have to do. And you’ll find them. Ryan: Or you have a plant and crystal house warming party. Razi: Yeah, that is so cool. I wish I would have done that for my birthday this year. Ryan: It’s done. Before we wrap up, was there anything else on rocks and crystals and everything? Razi: No, I don’t want to overwhelm everyone. I’ve got a bunch of crystals. But I think that just getting started with just bringing them into your world. And I think it really can just make your home just a calmer, more relaxed place—just bringing nature indoors any way that you can. Ryan: Yeah. Yeah, no. That’s really big. And we’re a little ways there on the plants ourselves. And now, I’ve got to go hunt down some crystals somewhere, too.

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Just in terms of we talked about bringing negative ions in, the crystals raising the—I don’t even know what—I hate using the word “raising the vibrations.” But it’s just what always comes to mind. But just the overall positive energy of the home, is there anything else that comes to mind that you want to throw out before we wrap up? Razi: Yes, so I think it’s really important to keep your home as free from negativity as possible. It’s already this enclosed space. It’s already really an unnatural environment if we really think about it. And so as I was saying to you before we got started, whenever I reprimand my children or have a difficult conversation with someone, I always take it outside which is funny because you think of that, “Let’s take this outside.” But I do. I take it outside. I usually go in the front patio or sometimes the backyard and have important or even difficult conversations there. I just intuitively think it feels better. It’s out there free in the world, free in the universe. And you’re surrounded by birds and bees and plants. And just nature is there supporting you. And I think not to get that negativity trapped between walls and windows. So I think that’s something that I have done always. And I didn’t really think about it until we were talking earlier. I didn’t really think about how it does improve the environment. So having those important and difficult conversations outside your home I think can help keep your home feeling safer. And also I’m not very versed in the art or science of Feng Shui, although I have been to Hong Kong. And I know business owners who take it very seriously with great success. I don’t know that. But I do often change my furniture around. I’m constantly rearranging furniture. When I say “constantly,” I don’t mean weekly, but definitely a couple times a year. And I feel like it’s really good to shift the space. And my thought behind that is, again, in nature things are always in flow. Wind is always blowing. Animals are moving around. Birds are flying. Water is flowing. It’s even moving in a lake or a body of water. It’s always in flow. And rocks might not be. But they do conduct energy or electricity. And so that’s energy moving through them. Our home environments are different. There’s a lot of stagnation. And there are a lot of unnatural materials. And so I think to open windows and move furniture around helps shift that energy. And it always feels really good. So I think that’s something I intuitively do.

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Ryan: Beautiful! Something I will do now, myself. Razi, this has been incredibly informative and a great way to round out everything we’ve been talking about on the summit. Is there anything else you wanted to throw out? Oh, actually, if you have time, I have one more question. Razi: Oh, sure. Ryan: Just going back to, do you have any kind of practical—I don’t know—just how-to tips on having a bunch of plants in the house? Is it as simple as just watering them every once in a while? Is there anything else special you do to supercharge the plants or whatever? Just any plant owner tips. Razi: Are you trying to find out if I talk to my plants? The answer is yes. Ryan: Oh my gosh! No, I hadn’t even thought of that. But yeah. Razi: The answer is yes. Ryan: Yes, of course you talk to your plants, yeah. Razi: I don’t have full-on conversations with them. But I do say, “Hello.” And, “Here’s some water.” And, “Aren’t you beautiful?” And you have to be careful with babies and some pets. Certain plants aren’t good for pets. So you want to be cognizant of that. Most plants you just don’t want to overwater. That’s how most people kill plants, actually from overwatering instead of underwatering. A couple of these plants today remove mold spores. And I forgot to tell you that. And so it’s another good thing that plants can do. They can’t remediate a big mold incident. But they can help keep the air free of mold. But back to that, overwatering is the biggest problem with plants. And then I like to rotate plants, too, so they get different light, different moisture levels in the air. So I sometimes move my plants around and just rearrange some. And it seems to keep them healthy. Ryan: Nice! Nice. I’ve seen mold in the potting soil of houseplants. Has that ever happened with you? Razi: It hasn’t happened with me. But it’s probably because I live in Phoenix which is so dry. Ryan: Oh, yes.

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Razi: And I’m careful not to overwater. So I always let my plants go almost completely dry before I water them again. Ryan: And you’re just looking at the soil there? Razi: Mm-hm. Just feeling the soil. I don’t let it get hard and crunchy. But I just let it get just barely dry and then water them again. And then a couple times a year, I’ll soak them in a sink, fully soak them through. And also prune off all the dead leaves. Pruning is just a law of nature. And we need to do that in our lives, too. Prune our fruit trees. Always prune the extraneous things. Say no to things you don’t have time for. Get rid of things you don’t have room for. Make room for new. Get rid of things that aren’t serving your greatest purpose. And prune the little dried leaves off your plants. Cut the dead ends off your hair, according to the phases of the moon. Ryan: I won’t even ask you to elaborate on that one. Razi: Well, that’s in the Farmer’s Almanac. Don’t blame me. It’s in the Farmer’s Almanac, what days to cut your hair for thickness and what days to cut your hair for length. Ryan: No way! Razi: Yeah. Ryan: No way. Alright. Well, I get haircuts at home. So that falls into the purview of the Toxic Home Transformation here. Razi: That’s right. I always appreciate that you let me go a little bit woo-woo. So to the audience, if everyone else was very scientific, I apologize. Ryan: No, this is exactly what I wanted this to be. We had plenty of people talking about all the science behind the toxins and stuff. And this is always what I had in mind for this summit—the full picture of literally everything you could do at home. Razi: That’s so good. Ryan: So yeah, and I knew you were going to provide a whole bunch of gems on that note. So awesome! Razi, do you have any final, parting word or thought on this whole what we just talked about that you wanted to impart on everyone before we get out of here?

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Razi: Well, we can’t separate ourselves from our environment. So just yesterday I said this to my children. I said, “Would you like to be the drum that is the instrument that is used to make a sound? Or would you like to be the hand that strikes the drum? Or would you like to be the sound that emanates from the instrument when someone strikes the drum? Or would you like to be the person that hears the sound? Or would you like to be the one who’s dancing to the rhythm of the sound that’s coming from the instrument that somebody’s hand strikes? And if you were to choose, which of these would be greater?” And I don’t think there’s a right answer. It’s all necessary. It’s all connected. So looking at our home environment, this is critically important because we can’t separate ourselves from our environment. We can’t separate our thoughts from our body. We can’t separate our words from who we are. We can’t separate those we love from our health. We can’t separate our work from our real life. Those are all false dualities. And so I just think this is a really important conversation that you’re starting. And it’s very provocative think about what we can do in our home. And people will often say—and you probably hear this, too, Ryan—that, “Oh, everything causes cancer.” And to me, the answer is then, “You need to do everything that you can do.” You need to do everything that you can do. There are enough things that we don’t have control of. But we have a fair amount of control over our home, over the people we’re in relationship with, over the actions we take, over the words we speak. We have a h*** of a lot of control over our lives if we think about it. And so we have to make all these choices very, very carefully. Ryan: Yeah. Yeah, and that’s what we always try to get across. Yeah, there are a lot of things that cause cancer. But where do you spend the majority of your time? You should spend way more of it than you probably do out in the woods or something. But we spend a lot of time in our houses. And we do have really good control there. Yeah, and that’s a great way to look at it. You can’t separate yourself from the environment you live in. We’re one and the same. Razi Berry, always a pleasure. Do you want to let everyone know one more time where to find all things Razi? Razi: Oh, thank you.

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Ryan: Yeah, everything you’re working on that you want to let people know about. Razi: Yeah, I’m new to Instagram. You can find me at Razi.Berry on Instagram. And on Facebook you can find me at Razi Berry. But I have a really fun group called Love Is Medicine, if you’re so inclined to learn along with me and talk about the ways that love and our relationships affect our health. And if you’d rather be on the science side of it, there’s a lot of great science at Naturopathic Doctor News and Review. That’s NDNR.com. And I appreciate you letting me bring those up. Thank you. And hello to Teddy. Ryan: She actually told me to say hi to you as well. And just for everyone listening, or watching I should say, Razi and I just got a little woo-woo if you want to call it that. But you are the science nerd as well. So that’s what I love about you. Razi: Yes, I am. I just love to have the opportunity to be this way. And I appreciate that. Ryan: All right, Razi.