How much can the environments we live in influence the way we feel?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Domonique Silva, an Environmental Health & Safety Specialist whose career has included work at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center and more than a decade in environmental and occupational health.

For Domonique, the connection between environment and health became personal as well as professional.

She shares the changes she made to her diet, products, and home while navigating allergies, eczema, psoriasis, bloating, fatigue, and depression—and the improvements she experienced along the way.

Her experience cannot tell us that any one environmental change caused those improvements. But it helped deepen her interest in a question that also sits at the heart of my work:

What role does our everyday environment play in the larger picture of health?

In this episode:

• How Domonique's work in environmental and occupational health shaped the way she sees the home

• What she learned from working in environmental health and safety

• The personal health challenges that made environmental exposures feel much more relevant to her own life

• Changes she experimented with in food, household products, and her home environment

• Why environmental health extends beyond obvious pollution or industrial exposures

• How the products, materials, air, water, and habits inside our homes can become part of the health conversation

• Why the home should be considered alongside diet, movement, sleep, stress, and other familiar pillars of well-being

• How to begin making changes without assuming that your environment explains every symptom

I like the idea of thinking about home as a pillar of health because it gives our surroundings the attention they deserve without turning the home into either the cause—or the cure—for everything.

We are shaped by many things.

Our biology. Our relationships. Our habits. Our food. Our stress. Our communities.

And also the spaces where we spend so much of our lives.

The opportunity is to notice what we can shape in return.

Go deeper:

• Listen to Domonique's Healthy Home Habits podcast

• Learn more from Domonique at EOH Explorations

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Learn the foundations of Practical Nontoxic Living™ with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series

• Explore the D-Tox Academy, Phase Two of the Ultimate Home Detox™, for ongoing guidance applying Practical Nontoxic Living™ across your home and everyday life

Podcast music by Chris Robertson.

How did the arrival of 5G change our wireless environment—and should it change the way we use technology at home?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I reconnect with Daniel DeBaun, a former telecommunications engineer, co-author of Radiation Nation, and co-founder of DefenderShield.

When Daniel first joined me in Episode 17, widespread 5G deployment was still ahead of us. In this follow-up conversation, we revisit the wireless landscape, what distinguishes newer networks from earlier generations of cellular technology, and Daniel's perspective on reducing everyday radiofrequency exposure.

In this episode:

• How 5G differs technologically from earlier cellular networks

• What changed in the wireless environment as 5G networks expanded

• Daniel's perspective as a former telecommunications engineer

• Why distance, duration, and device placement can meaningfully change personal RF exposure

• Why the bedroom can be a practical place to reduce unnecessary wireless use

• What Daniel means by creating a lower-exposure "sanctuary" at home

• How to think critically about products marketed to reduce or shield EMF exposure

• Why reducing exposure and proving a health benefit are two different questions

The health implications of long-term, everyday radiofrequency exposure remain scientifically debated, and experts do not all interpret the evidence the same way.

For me, that makes the practical question especially useful:

If a habit can reduce an exposure without meaningfully compromising convenience or connection, is it worth adopting even before every scientific question is resolved?

Sometimes the simplest strategies—more distance from a device, less unnecessary contact, and keeping technology away from the bed when you don't need it—require no specialized product at all.

Go deeper:

• Explore Ruan Living's EMF Detox resources

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures

• Learn the foundations of Practical Nontoxic Living™ with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series.

Daniel DeBaun is co-founder and CEO of DefenderShield, which sells EMF-related products discussed in this conversation.

How do the environments around us—and the rituals we create within them—shape the way we feel?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Jody Levy, an artist, entrepreneur, and creator whose work has spanned wellness, technology, community, and design.

Jody shares how her personal experiences and her interest in our inner and outer ecosystems have influenced the ventures she creates, including the LabElymental Milk Cleanse, an Ayurveda-inspired program developed around full-fat milk, supplements, and a structured period of dietary restriction.

We talk not only about the cleanse itself, but about the ideas behind it: ritual, nourishment, simplification, creativity, and what happens when we deliberately interrupt our ordinary patterns.

In this episode:

• How Jody's personal experiences shaped her interest in wellness

• What she means by our inner and outer ecosystems

• How art, entrepreneurship, and health intersect in her work

• The Ayurvedic ideas that influenced the Milk Cleanse

• Why milk became central to the program Jody developed

• The role of ritual, structure, and temporary dietary change in her approach

• How simplifying what we consume can change the way we pay attention to our bodies

• The relationship Jody sees among environment, creativity, health, and personal transformation

The LabElymental Milk Cleanse is a commercial wellness program, and claims that it can "cleanse," "balance," or medically improve the body should not be interpreted as established clinical outcomes. Restrictive diets or cleanse programs may also be inappropriate for some people, particularly those with medical conditions, allergies, intolerances, or specific nutritional needs.

What stays with me from this conversation is broader than the particular cleanse.

Jody was thinking about inner and outer ecosystems—the idea that what surrounds us, what we consume, what we practice, and what we pay attention to can all influence our experience of ourselves.

That feels especially relevant to the questions I continue to explore today:

What is shaping us? Which influences can we change? And which rituals help us notice ourselves more clearly?

Go deeper:

• Learn more about Jody Levy

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures

• Learn the foundations of Practical Nontoxic Living™ with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series

The wellness practices discussed in this episode are presented as Jody Levy's approach and experience, not as medical advice or established treatment for disease.

Podcast music by Chris Robertson.

What do endocrine-disrupting chemicals in everyday products mean for fertility—and how much can we realistically control?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Sara Jensen, co-founder of Hugh & Grace, about the personal fertility journey that led her and her husband to start paying much closer attention to environmental exposures and consumer products.

After years of unexplained infertility and fertility treatment, Sara began learning about endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs)—chemicals that can interfere with hormone signaling and that researchers are studying in relation to reproductive health, development, and other outcomes.

Her experience became part of the motivation for creating Hugh & Grace, a personal-care company focused on ingredient choices and reducing certain exposures.

In this episode:

• Sara's experience with unexplained infertility and IVF

• How learning about endocrine-disrupting chemicals changed the way she thought about everyday products

• What EDCs are and why researchers study them in relation to reproductive health

• Why timing, dose, developmental stage, and chemical mixtures can complicate the traditional idea that only "high doses" matter

• Why finding a chemical in a product does not automatically tell us how much exposure—or health risk—it creates

• How marketing terms such as "clean" and "natural" can make product evaluation confusing

• The questions Sara wishes she had known to ask earlier about fertility, children's products, and personal care

• Practical ways she now prioritizes lower-exposure choices

• Sara's three suggestions for making nontoxic living more manageable

Sara's story is personal. Unexplained infertility can have many causes, and her experience does not establish that environmental chemicals caused her fertility challenges. At the same time, a growing body of research is examining how certain environmental exposures may contribute to reproductive health alongside age, genetics, underlying medical conditions, lifestyle, and many other factors.

That distinction matters to me.

Practical Nontoxic Living™ isn't about deciding that every exposure is dangerous—or that changing products guarantees a particular health outcome.

It's about understanding where the evidence is strongest, recognizing uncertainty, and asking: Which recurring exposures can I reasonably reduce without making everyday life harder than it needs to be?

Go deeper:

• Learn more about Hugh & Grace

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures

• Learn the foundations of Practical Nontoxic Living™ with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series.

Sara Jensen is a co-founder of Hugh & Grace, whose products are discussed in this conversation. This episode is for educational purposes and is not medical advice.

What are flower essences—and why do some people use them as part of a ritual for reflection, emotional well-being, or personal growth?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Katie Hess, author of Flowerevolution and founder of LOTUSWEI, about the world of flower essences and the philosophy behind her work.

Katie describes flower essences as preparations intended to capture the energetic qualities of flowers and support emotional or energetic shifts. These ideas come from alternative and vibrational healing traditions rather than established biomedical science, so I think of this conversation as an exploration of Katie's framework and personal practice—not as evidence that flower essences can diagnose, treat, or cure health conditions.

In this episode:

• What flower essences are and how Katie describes the way they are made

• How flower essences differ from essential oils and herbal preparations

• Why Katie became interested in flowers as a tool for self-reflection and well-being

• How she incorporates flower essences into everyday rituals

• What she believes people can learn by paying closer attention to flowers and the natural world

• Her thoughts on health, healing, creativity, and entrepreneurship

• What she wishes more people understood about building a mission-driven business

• Katie's top Practical Nontoxic Living™ tip

What interests me most here is not whether a flower essence has a measurable medicinal effect.

It's the larger question of what helps us slow down, pay attention, and become more aware of our internal state.

A ritual can have meaning without needing to become a medical treatment. Time in nature, sensory cues, intention, reflection, and expectation can all influence how an experience feels—even when the mechanism behind a particular wellness claim remains uncertain.

That distinction allows us to stay curious without confusing personal experience with scientific evidence.

Go deeper:

• Watch the original conversation and read the podcast transcript

• Learn more about Katie Hess and LOTUSWEI

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Learn the foundations of Practical Nontoxic Living™ with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series

The flower-essence practices discussed in this episode reflect Katie Hess's approach and should not be interpreted as established medical treatment.

Podcast music by Chris Robertson.

What can sound, vibration, light, and immersive sensory experiences change about the way we feel?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Elian of WOOM Center, recorded inside WOOM's former multisensory studio in New York City, surrounded by visual art and the kinds of sensory experiences that were central to its approach.

Elian shares how sound and vibration practices became meaningful in her own life and how WOOM combined sound, movement, meditation, vibration, and visual elements to create immersive experiences intended to help people slow down, shift attention, and connect more deeply with themselves.

In this episode:

• Elian's personal path into sound and vibration practices

• How WOOM approached multisensory experiences

• Why sound can have such a powerful subjective effect on mood, attention, and perception

• How vibration was incorporated into the studio experience

• The role of music, movement, meditation, and visual surroundings

• Why ritual and sensory environment can influence how an experience feels

• The difference between feeling relaxed or restored and establishing that a practice medically "heals" the body

Sound and music can influence emotion, arousal, attention, and relaxation. But broader claims around "sound healing" or "vibrational therapy" vary widely, and many proposed therapeutic mechanisms remain unproven.

What interests me most about this conversation now is the larger question underneath it:

How much are we shaped by what our senses are taking in?

Sound. Light. Color. Movement. Space. Rhythm.

Our environment isn't only chemical or physical exposure in the traditional environmental-health sense. It is also the sensory world our nervous system is constantly interpreting.

That makes this conversation feel surprisingly connected to where Practical Nontoxic Living™ has evolved: noticing what shapes us—and what we can shape in return.

A note from the archive: WOOM Center has since closed. This episode captures Elian's perspective and the multisensory approach the studio was exploring at the time.

Go deeper:

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures

• Learn the foundations of Practical Nontoxic Living™ with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series

The sound- and vibration-based practices discussed in this episode should not be interpreted as established medical treatments.

How much of the way we move through life is being shaped by patterns we haven't consciously chosen?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Jozi Radus, creator of the Unconscious Mapping System (UMS), about the beliefs, expectations, and automatic patterns that can influence our relationships, work, decisions, and sense of ourselves.

Jozi developed UMS as a method for helping people explore patterns she describes as unconscious and bring greater awareness to the choices that follow from them.

The method is Jozi's own framework rather than an established psychological or medical treatment, so I think of this conversation as an exploration of self-awareness and personal meaning—not as a clinically validated way to diagnose or heal psychological conditions.

In this episode:

• What Jozi means by the unconscious mind

• How automatic beliefs and expectations may influence the way we interpret experiences

• Why patterns in relationships, work, and self-perception can repeat without our consciously choosing them

• How greater awareness can sometimes create more room for a different response

• The origins of Jozi's Unconscious Mapping System

• The influence of her mentor, Margaret Fields Kean, on the development of the method

• Jozi's ideas about intuition, the body, and unconscious information

• The distinction between noticing a pattern and assuming that our thoughts create external reality

• How curiosity about our own assumptions can expand the choices available to us

What stays with me from this conversation is a question that has become increasingly important in my work:

What is shaping us that we haven't thought to examine?

For years, Practical Nontoxic Living™ focused primarily on what surrounds us—chemicals, heavy metals, materials, technologies, and the environments we inhabit.

But our expectations, beliefs, habits, relationships, and stories can shape us too.

Becoming aware of an unconscious pattern doesn't mean we can control everything that happens to us. But awareness may give us more choice in how we respond.

And sometimes that is where change begins.

Go deeper:

• Read the original podcast show notes

• Learn more from Jozi Radus

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Learn the foundations of Practical Nontoxic Living™ with the free Ultimate Home Detox Kickstart email series

The Unconscious Mapping System discussed in this episode is Jozi Radus's personal-development framework and should not be interpreted as established psychological or medical treatment.

What can our reproductive health tell us about our overall health, and what role might environmental chemicals play?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Shanna H. Swan, PhD, one of the world's leading environmental and reproductive epidemiologists and Professor of Environmental Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

For decades, Dr. Swan has studied how environmental exposures, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenols, may influence reproductive development and health. She has led major pregnancy-cohort research, studied reproductive outcomes in men, women, and children, and is best known for her work on declining sperm counts. She is co-author, with award-winning writer Stacey Colino, of Count Down.

We talk about what research has found about EDC exposure in relation to fertility, IVF, and pregnancy outcomes—where findings are more consistent, where they are mixed, and what observational research of this kind can and cannot establish. Dr. Swan describes where these chemicals can turn up in ordinary life, from plastic food containers to canned foods, and the practical steps she recommends for reducing exposure.

We also discuss her framing of reproductive health as a "sixth vital sign"—and what fertility and reproductive function may reveal about our broader health, including health later in life.

Originally published in 2021.

Read the full transcript.

Special thanks to Chris Robertson, Practical Nontoxic Living podcast producer.

The book link is an affiliate link; purchases may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

How can the rituals we repeat every day shape the way we experience our health, our bodies, and our lives?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Shiva Rose, author of Whole Beauty and founder of Shiva Rose Beauty, about the health challenges she faced as a young woman and the practices she gradually incorporated into her life as she searched for ways to feel better.

Shiva shares her experience of being diagnosed with autoimmune conditions in her twenties and receiving a frightening prognosis. Over time, she explored changes in food, personal care, stress, movement, connection with nature, and daily ritual alongside the medical care and other factors influencing her health.

Her story is personal and cannot establish that any particular ritual or lifestyle change treated her autoimmune disease. What interested me was how profoundly the experience changed the way she approached everyday life.

In this episode:

• Shiva's experience of developing serious health problems in her twenties

• How illness changed her relationship with her body and her priorities

• Why she began reconsidering the products she used on her skin and in her home

• The role food, nature, movement, rest, and ritual came to play in her life

• Shiva's morning and evening routines

• How she thinks about beauty as something connected to overall well-being rather than appearance alone

• Why simple repeated practices can become anchors during periods of uncertainty

• What resilience and recovery have meant in her own life

What stays with me from Shiva's story isn't the idea that there is a particular collection of rituals everyone should adopt.

It's the question underneath them:

What do the things we repeat every day reinforce in us?

A morning routine. The products we reach for. The food we prepare. Time outside. The way we transition into sleep.

Individually, these choices may seem small. Together, they can help create the rhythms of a life.

That idea feels increasingly central to Practical Nontoxic Living™: we are shaped not only by dramatic exposures or major decisions, but by the patterns we repeat—and the ones we choose to change.

Go deeper:

• Learn more from Shiva Rose

• Read Whole Beauty: Daily Rituals and Natural Recipes for Lifelong Beauty and Wellness

• Read the original podcast show notes

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Explore the D-Tox Academy, Phase Two of the Ultimate Home Detox™, for ongoing guidance applying Practical Nontoxic Living™ across your home and everyday life

Shiva's experience reflects her individual health journey and should not be interpreted as evidence that lifestyle practices can treat or cure autoimmune disease.

Special thanks to The Detox Market for hosting this conversation and to Chris Robertson, Practical Nontoxic Living podcast producer.

What happens when you start questioning the products you use every day—and begin with just one?

In this episode of Practical Nontoxic Living™, I speak with Bethany McDaniel, founder of Primally Pure, about the personal experiments with food and skincare that eventually led her to build a personal-care company.

Bethany shares how she began reconsidering her facial moisturizer and other products while trying to improve her own skin. She experimented with simpler formulations and ingredients she already had at home, and those experiences eventually contributed to the creation of Primally Pure in 2015.

Her story is personal: changes in her skin cannot establish that particular ingredients or dietary changes caused the improvements she experienced. But I love the way her journey illustrates something much more broadly useful—you don't have to overhaul everything at once to start making more intentional choices.

In this episode:

• How Bethany first became interested in changing her skincare routine

• The personal skin changes she noticed as she experimented with products and diet

• How those experiences eventually led to Primally Pure

• What Bethany looks for when choosing ingredients for personal-care products

• Why marketing terms such as "clean," "natural," and "nontoxic" don't by themselves establish that a product is safer or better

• Simple skincare options using ingredients you may already have at home

• Bethany's favorite kitchen staples and family meals

• Her morning and evening self-care routines

• How she balances entrepreneurship, motherhood, and health-conscious living

• Bethany's three priorities for Practical Nontoxic Living™

One thing Bethany said has stayed with me:

"There's so much that people can do with ingredients that they have in their pantry if they aren't ready to … buy all the products."

That captures something I value deeply about Practical Nontoxic Living™.

A lower-exposure lifestyle doesn't have to begin with shopping.

Sometimes it starts by using less, simplifying, noticing what already works, and changing one recurring product at a time.

Real life is hectic, messy, and nonlinear. Our approach to healthier living should be able to accommodate that.

Go deeper:

• Learn more about Primally Pure

• Read the original podcast show notes

• Explore the Practical Nontoxic Living™ framework

• Explore the D-Tox Academy, Phase Two of the Ultimate Home Detox™, for ongoing guidance applying Practical Nontoxic Living™ across personal care, the home, and everyday life

• Read A to Z of D-Toxing: The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Our Toxic Exposures

Bethany's experience reflects her individual skincare and health journey and should not be interpreted as evidence that particular products or dietary changes treat skin conditions.

Special thanks to Chris Robertson, Practical Nontoxic Living podcast producer.