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What's Happening MoCo?
An authentic, unscripted update from County Cable Montgomery highlighting items that help residents of Montgomery County. This program features interviews with elected officials, employees, public servants, and residents. It is produced by the Office of Community Engagement from the Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Services. Interviews are recorded live and presented with very few edits to ensure the integrity and authenticity of the conversations.
What's Happening MoCo?
What's Happening with Methylene Blue and Getting Over the Blues?
Groundbreaking innovation emerges from right here in Montgomery County as we speak with Jasmin El Kordi, CEO of M Blue Labs. Their patented ingredient methylene blue is revolutionizing skincare with dual benefits.
The conversation takes an enlightening turn when therapist Marilyn Spinadel joins us to share practical mental wellness techniques you can incorporate into daily life.
Both segments showcase Montgomery County as a hub for innovation - whether developing cutting-edge skincare technology or pioneering approaches to mental wellness. Subscribe to hear more inspiring local stories and practical wisdom from the people making a difference in our community.
What Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo, an authentic unscripted podcast from your Montgomery County government. Now here's your host, derek Kenney.
Speaker 2:Good day and welcome to what's Happening. Moco, we are here today with a local business, but they've been recognized nationally and we have the CEO, Yasmeen L Cordine, with M Blue. She can correct me butchered name. Correct me M Blue Labs. M Blue Labs located in Bethesda, Maryland. Wow, congratulations, Naturally recognized Montgomery County-based business.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the show, Thank you, I'm so excited to be here and you know it is really fun to be at the Montgomery County based business. Welcome to the show. Thank you, I'm so excited to be here and you know it is really fun to be at the Montgomery County Fair as well, because I learned in doing some research that where we originated, which is University of Maryland as a company, is actually really well connected to the Montgomery County Fair from back in the 1800s.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot of good things come through. What was it 4-H?
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's one of the foundations of the educational, learning and the development of agricultural skills that a lot of the young people here that you see in the parade and in the Royal Court and everything have benefited from. And over the years I guess that's been like one of the staples of the Montgomery County Echo for Fairgrounds and Fair. Yeah, yes, how cool is that Incredible.
Speaker 2:It's a very small world, small world, but a big world and a big sunny world. And so that brings us to you and your lab. And so what is it that you're so excited about? I heard there's a new product that has people have you excited but has gotten you some recognition. What's that product? Yeah, and what does your business do?
Speaker 3:So MBlue Labs and I'll just do a little quick show and tell Please do yes, We'll talk more about this.
Speaker 3:We were just awarded the patent for our ingredient, which is called methylene blue, and I'll tell you all about that methylene blue okay by the patent office um, as a nuisance green ingredient that is not only coral reef safe, but it reverses human aging, oh really, so it's like a really multifunctional product I just want to say that you know the the claims uh by people on the podcast are not necessarily uh vetted by the montgomery county government.
Speaker 2:However, it sounds like an appealing benefit to any type of uh solution or uh products. Reverse aging now, how do you? Yeah, how, what does that? What does that mean?
Speaker 3:when you say that this product helps to reverse aging, yeah, so let me tell you a little bit about the company and then I'll explain all the science behind that. So m blue labs came out of the university of maryland seven years ago. Okay, my business partner and the founder, dr sao, is a cellular biologist at the university okay, and she is a uh globally known expert in human aging okay now she was doing research on a childhood disease. It's a rapid aging disease called progerium children die in their early teens of old age.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:And Benjamin Button. Everybody's seen that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've seen that movie. That's progeria, right.
Speaker 3:So she was working on looking for a cure for this really terrible illness and in doing the research at the university she was using skin from the children and models of adult skin cells, and she found that an age old medicine called methylene blue OK.
Speaker 3:When you treat the cells with methylene blue, they become normal again in their age markers and they recover and they become healthy. So that was super exciting. She found that about eight years ago, published it in scientific reports, nature's scientific reports, and the industry started buzzing about oh, this could be something for skincare okay, it was never intended to be a beauty company okay, this was too good not to take to market and let everybody benefit yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 3:So we started the company and Blue Labs and created the brand Blue Lean. So I brought you the little show and tell. All right, I'll see if I can have that. I'll see if.
Speaker 2:I can get that in front of the camera there. Blue Lean comes with a nice little tube here, like you would on many other sunscreens or lotions, and it says SPF 21. Yes, and what does that mean for people that are not familiar with that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm glad you asked because you know there is this misconception that SPF 50 and 70 must be protecting you. 100% Correct, that is not true. So the FDA regulates what becomes an SPF factor. Okay, that only measures the exposure to UVB rays, and those are the ones that cause most of the cancers, not all skin cancers. Okay, so they are the really bad ones.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:But the difference between an SPF 21,. It blocks 95.2% of all. Uvb rays versus an SPF 50 at 97 point. Something. It's tiny, right, it's minuscule.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:So when people buy these high SPF sunscreens, they make the mistake to assume they're now covered for many more hours. That is really not the case and I'm glad we're having this conversation because consumers are always really making that mistake on burning and we don't want your skin to burn Of course not, Of course, and 80% of skin aging actually is attributed to exposure to the sun. Today we're out here, our UV index. The index goes from 1 to 10.
Speaker 2:What do you?
Speaker 3:think is today.
Speaker 2:It's a pretty sunny day. I would say about 6 maybe.
Speaker 3:It's an 8.
Speaker 2:8?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we are right toward the top of that scale right. So you're getting an awful lot of the sun uv exposure on a day like this even though there are clouds in the sky, right doesn't matter. So another common misconception on a cloudy day, I don't need sunscreen. Wrong, really. You really need to protect yourself. So you want to protect your skin from harmful exposure that can lead to skin cancer, but you also want to be mindful to not age quicker than you need to, and that's called photo aging.
Speaker 3:The aging introduced by the sun and what really happens in aging is whether it's from the sun or from other stress factors is that you're setting up a whole bunch of free radicals around yourselves okay and that compromises the health of that cell. So in this case it's a skin cell could be other cells in the body, but today we're talking about skin and those free radicals damage the health of your cell and all our cells turn over when they reproduce. If they're not perfect they're going to make damaged kind of replicas of themselves.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, okay so that's what you see.
Speaker 3:as people age, skin begins to lose its structure, its support, its moisture. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So we're really getting very deep into the biology of things, and we also want to highlight, though, the business of things, which is the blueness, the blueness, the in blue labs, and so let's talk more about that. You started off with a scientist looking for one thing, but she found something totally different, and that inspired a company to be born, and you were part of that birth. Yes, and let's talk about it from there. So from there, what happened?
Speaker 3:So we filed a patent with the University of Maryland on this ingredient methylene blue.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, yes.
Speaker 3:And that patent was granted about three years ago. The new one was just granted for methylene blue for sun exposure. Okay, our second patent. So it was really an interesting time seven years ago. It was before COVID, and so people were still going into retail stores, buying online, online was really beginning to take off and we were going into an environment in health and beauty that is super competitive, super crowded there are 300 new skincare brands every year that try to get into market Very, very crowded space.
Speaker 3:So we approached Tedco and got our seed funding from the state of Maryland's investment fund to start this company. Thank you, Tedco.
Speaker 3:Oh hold on and we built the company, built the brand, developed our first production run and then we decided in this very crowded space, we're just a startup company, at that point let's go to market by going on Amazon. And nobody in beauty was doing that back then. They would go into retail first, maybe Amazon someday. But we did that on purpose because on Amazon you have shoppers that are ready to buy. Right, they're keying in I'd like an anti-aging night cream, so they're ready to buy. Right, they're keying in I'd like an anti-aging night cream, so they're ready to buy that. And we could advertise to that need immediately. So we built our brand on Amazon and we grew it from there. Today we're selling in multiple channels our own, of course, booleancom on Macy's, on Amazon on various other platforms and we're selling around the globe to 42 countries.
Speaker 2:Around the globe. 42 countries, wow. Some businesses are just happy enough to have 42 customers. You are serving 42 countries, and so what's next? Well, before we talk about what's next for your company, let's talk about what's now. What awards have you been recently awarded? I guess distinctions, and why is it significant to you and your company?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we're now in our seventh year of operation. Last September we got a very big award from the US Chamber of Commerce to be named the Co-100. So in the 100 top US small businesses, so that's businesses under about 15 million in the whole United States so we were one of 100. That's an incredible honor.
Speaker 2:That's a lot of. Yeah, that's really big.
Speaker 3:And we got that because, in recognition of the innovation that we continue to bring to market, our agility as a business in a very competitive market.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, congratulations again. That was last September, less than a year ago, less than a year ago, still kind of fresh. And when you have a milestone that stays with you, what do you hope to achieve in the future? What can people look forward to from InBlue Labs in the future as a Montgomery County based business, which I want to tout that again Montgomery County, the economic engine of Maryland.
Speaker 3:Absolutely so we. Today. We started with one product. You know, the economic engine of Maryland? Absolutely so we. Today. We started with one product. You know, seven years ago it was a single day and night cream anti-aging, day, night cream. Today we have 11 SKUs.
Speaker 3:Okay 11 different products that cover all of the body and face skin care needs, focused on maintaining the health of your skin, reversing the age signs and preventing more aging in your skin. So the sunscreen is a very big milestone because that's now the first time methylene blue as a new ingredient has been awarded a patent, and we're looking forward to working with FDA to get that made an active ingredient for sunscreens, because sunscreens today, 70 of them use chemical ingredients like oxybenzone and they've been shown to be very harsh on coral reefs and aquatic life, very detrimental.
Speaker 3:There's some studies that show that even for humans it could be dangerous. So there's a need to have some really health promoting coral reef protecting ingredients on the market.
Speaker 2:Wow, very nice so that's that one.
Speaker 3:Everything we do comes out of our labs, which are still at the University of Maryland. Okay, so we continue to have our laboratory under Dr Sal.
Speaker 2:So you still have a lab. So this is a real test tubes and pestles and all that stuff. It is a very sophisticated lab.
Speaker 3:That focuses on the mic, the processes of cellular behavior and particularly aging, and we're very fortunate to be a university of maryland portfolio company and to have that collaboration. Yeah, so we do. Everything we do starts at the lab and it's all scientifically proven. It's not like a lot of marketing, which is what you see.
Speaker 2:You didn't find something and just you didn't have to just have upon something and then just start to market it. You actually developed a product, vetted it, got it approved and brought it to market and everything. So, wow, kudos to you.
Speaker 3:That's great, which is what we continue to do. So we have two new exciting projects in the research lab right now. To answer your question, what's next? We're going to be going into the hair growth part of the market. Wow, yes, and another product can't talk about yet. It's too early, but hair growth.
Speaker 2:You say that sounds, that sounds great.
Speaker 3:Okay, all right yeah, so we continue to innovate. Um, actually, uh, one thing I also need to give credit to national science foundation. They gave us a grant to do this research back in 2020. And so we were able, as a small company, to do this very sophisticated research to find this new application of methylene blue.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, thank you so much. That's awesome. And so that's what's happening, moco, we have M Blue Labs here. Ms Yasmin who was Yasmin long before Aladdin found his lamp Okay, so she's the originator, okay, she's, and her company found the secret to aging, anti-aging and also protecting your skin from the sun and beautification of skin, but also, and most importantly, being a very successful Montgomery County-based business. Thank you for being here, we applaud you and we look forward to more great things from Embu Labs.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you, Derek.
Speaker 2:You're welcome, take care Good day. Welcome to what's Happening MoCo, and we have a very special segment for this episode of what's Happening MoCo segment for this episode of what's Happening in MoCo. Our country is dealing with quite a few dynamics that may be disturbing for some, concerning for others. It may be a source for unrecognized trauma or perhaps even cause for some forms of mental unwellness. But you're in luck. Today's episode we are inviting Montgomery County-based business, authentically you Counseling LLC, with our good friend Marilyn Spinadel, who has been here before. Marilyn, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much. Thanks for inviting me, thank you for being here, and it's good to finally meet you in person.
Speaker 2:That's right to Thank you so much. Thanks for inviting me, Thank you for being here and it's good to finally meet you in person, that's right to see you in person, yay.
Speaker 2:When Marilyn was last here, she spoke with our county health officer for a dynamic episode where she shared quite a few tools and tactics to help us maintain our mental wellness, or even increase our mental wellness in some respects. Marilyn, what do you say to people that come to you for assistance that are feeling a little down or feeling a little beat up by what's all that's going on today?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so we talk about what they're focusing on. To focus on what they can control, not what they can, is huge, like you know, you could focus on what you eat. You could focus on um, exercising, getting enough sleep that's so important but you can't focus on what you see in the news and how the news affects you. You can focus on that and not being caught up in your thoughts and your feelings. You have really a lot more control over your thoughts and feelings than you think and I'll teach you some skills to help you with all that and also to kind of lean into uncertainty, which I'm learning to do and trying to teach others. How to lean into uncertainty and go with the flow is sometimes hard, but it's important for your mental health.
Speaker 2:Oh gosh, there were so many things I wanted to talk about, but now that you mentioned this lean into uncertainty. I need to hear more about that. I immediately feel like I need to understand what you mean by that, and how could that help someone that is managing things that may be troubling them?
Speaker 4:Right, so good question. So a lot of people are perfectionists. So try not to be a perfectionist. Try to just just go with the day, like have a plan, like a loose plan of what you're going to do, and have appointments of course, appointments for yourself first, by the way. Like to learn to work out. Learn to work out, learn to breathe, learn to do tapping.
Speaker 4:I can teach all about that breathing wow deep breathing, by the way, is the best things in sliced bread, I think. When you take a few deep breaths, three times an hour hour I say, like at noon, 1220, 1245, take three deep breaths, you get in touch with a sense of who you are and you let your thoughts go, because you are not your thoughts and you're not your feelings. You're not any of those. You're like the essence, the light, the great thing inside of you that can help the world and we all can be like a beacon of light and hope and about leaning into uncertainty. Like like a beacon of light and hope. And about leaning into uncertainty. Like like not expect.
Speaker 4:What I do is I expect things to go right, I expect everything to go right, but it's not going to go perfectly, the maybe the way I planned it, but just imagine you know if it's a loose plan and try not to feel you're successful. This is hard to explain. Try not to feel you're successful because things went perfect today. They don't have to go perfect and that's kind of fun and going with the flow and like dancing in the rain, that kind of all this crazy silly things.
Speaker 2:Speaking of going with the flow, those of you that are only listening to the podcast may not be able be aware of this, but we are recording this remotely and we're live at Montgomery County, at Coastal Fairgrounds, nine best days of summer. It's august, the 12th august 12th wednesday, tuesday, august the 12th, yes, and we're having a grand time here with the maryland spinadel and we're we're getting a sense of, uh, how how to use the tools that she's sharing, and the first thing she shared was, uh, be okay with letting things happen, right.
Speaker 4:Right With uncertainty. Yeah, uncertainty and things can unfold in maybe a different way than you planned Can be really healthy, and maybe one of my clients just said this to me and made me feel so good. You know, everybody thinks differently about what's happening in the world, but one of my clients said that maybe things are going backwards a little bit.
Speaker 4:if you feel that way, Kind of like a bow and arrow and we'll go forward even stronger and more positive if that can help you and you know what I mean Like if things don't have to be perfect to be, to learn from it you can learn from stuff.
Speaker 2:And we don't. We don't control everything. So, expecting to control everything is an issue. It can be very frustrating if you expect to control things outside of your management.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, you meet some wonderful people when you believe, when you least expect it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you do, you do, you do. And we have all these wonderful stickers here. Yes, I see one here. This is pray more, worry less.
Speaker 4:If you pray, win yourselves to succeed and this is my favorite one never give up, never, ever give up, you know hey, my favorite, have a nice day.
Speaker 2:Have a nice day, there's a sunny, watermelon and stay true. Oh gosh, stay true, I'm gonna, I'm gonna wear that rest of the day. Stay true, stay true to yourself. Stay true, all right, yes and also can I tell you something else?
Speaker 4:yeah about three questions you can ask yourself daily about compassion. To do with compassion over COVID, a lot of families came to me I'm a mental health therapist in Rockville because they didn't get along. But if you can ask yourself three questions a day about compassion, number one what did you do today to show compassion to yourself? I came here, I'm talking to you and I'm smiling at everybody that I see that helps me to help others and help myself, and and I'm smiling at everybody that I see that helps me to help others and help myself. And the second question is that what do you do for someone else to show them compassion? Not like did you make them dinner, but like open the door for them, smile at them, you know, make them feel that they matter. Nobody can make you feel anything, but whatever you do something nice that can help them.
Speaker 2:Well, they can inspire you, they can set an environment where you can feel better, right yeah?
Speaker 4:kinder to people. And the last one is what does someone do for you?
Speaker 2:Wow, what does someone do for you, such?
Speaker 4:as you had me on the show today and I so appreciate you.
Speaker 2:You came on the show today and not only did you come on the show, you always come with such resources and you're so thoughtful about what you share and why you're sharing it, and I think, hopefully, people appreciate all that you share each time you're with us. Thank you, and this might be, I guess, a good time for me to mention that we'll have Mindful Moments with Marilyn Spindel here and there throughout other podcasts this year to help us continue to be mindful of mindfulness and how we can help ourselves be healthier in this regard.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, let me talk a little bit mindfulness. Yeah. So mindfulness, I feel, is being really present in the moment, like trying to be present and not thinking about the future or the past, cause then you can have a better relationship with something Life is so much sweeter when you're mindfully present. Teach people how to eat mindfully, like taking a raisin and taking 20 minutes. Where did the raisin come from? When you eat the raisin, how are you? Meeting the people who grew the raisin okay.
Speaker 2:So what you're saying is before you eat the raisin, yes, think about it for 20 minutes before you eat.
Speaker 4:Wow I have boxes in my office.
Speaker 2:Don't just get a box of raisins and just shove them in your mouth because they're so delicious and sweet in a small box, okay right.
Speaker 4:Enjoy it, immerse yourself in the in life in the process. Enjoy the process like I love sunsets and I love mindfully connecting to your senses. So for instance, like let me, let me. I hope you can hear this oh gosh it's called a singing bowl and you all close your eyes when you listen to this. It can make such a difference in your life, oh gosh.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's listen.
Speaker 4:Here we go, guys, one more.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, okay, it's calming right right, that is very calming.
Speaker 4:I'm not why. Why is it calming, though, like okay, it's a certain sound. I think it's a certain c or d certain frequency maybe, but more than that, it's connecting to a sense of who you are inside. That's not in your head, but it's in your body. It's in, it's your essence. And there's an eighth sense. I forgot to bring you the evaluation eighth sense is then.
Speaker 2:Typically there's seven senses right in the. I guess the seventh sense is the eighth one, and it's true.
Speaker 4:I just looked this up. It's called interoception actually hold on.
Speaker 2:There's six senses right seven, and then seven is extra sensory you know.
Speaker 4:No, the seventh is supposed to be knowing when you stop and the other person begins, or like not looking into things is seven and eight is interoception knowing where your senses are to be able to feel your feelings and feel when you're hungry.
Speaker 2:There's eight senses, I'm so lost. Okay, that's cool, all right, you heard it here first, or maybe yeah, look it up, everybody, check it out.
Speaker 4:Interoception I'm gonna take a class in it soon. All right, cool. So what else can I tell you all? Let's breathe, taking a breath, let's breathe.
Speaker 2:I thought the three breaths a day when you mentioned that. I immediately, while you were talking, took my three breaths and I did realize I am feeling a bit calmer. I would say almost right away Right, and almost right away Right, and I wonder how often it made me think. How often am I not breathing, or shallow breathing.
Speaker 4:Or shallow breathing, yeah it makes you more anxious when you shallow breathe.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Probably a lot. We all do so. Breathe in through your nose and then exhale out of your mouth like you're blowing away a feather. I do it with my eyes shut, which really helps.
Speaker 2:Do that a few times.
Speaker 4:And if you're like me and you have allergies, breathe out of that good nostril or do the best you can.
Speaker 2:And you can even be grateful for your breaths.
Speaker 4:You know it gives you life and I say do it three times an hour, taking three deep breaths at noon, 1220, 1245 can reset anxiety and everything.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 4:It calms you down.
Speaker 2:It definitely calmed me down. My last breath I yawned a bit. I don't know if that's good it is that's good or bad. I definitely was relaxed. I guess I'm in the mood to put my head down for a little bit.
Speaker 4:Yes, all right, because it's hot. It is hot here at the Montgomery County Agricultural.
Speaker 2:Fear.
Speaker 4:Grounds, but we're hot and ready to learn more about wellness. Yes, and please, please, try to change negative thoughts to positive, because negative thoughts can't help you and they can't help anyone else. We're like a stone that's rippling on water. Whatever we're feeling and thinking and saying, we can ripple out to everyone. If you start off with something positive, that can change your day and change everybody else.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful.
Speaker 4:Courage. I learned that when I had little kids.
Speaker 2:Be positive Much bigger.
Speaker 4:My kids are also therapists, by the way. Oh, wow, look at that, the apples in the tree right, okay, I think they would have been it even if they didn't have me, but I don't know, maybe, maybe.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's great that you guys are doing that. Your career path has brought you to help people. So what do you have there? You have a sheet there. Do you have some more tips for us?
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, of course, of course.
Speaker 2:We want to give. I think we want to give people tools they can use. Thank you To continue not just as you listen to the podcast, yeah, but when you go to visit Maryland or whomever might end up being your therapist. You want to have tools that you can use on a daily basis. So is there something?
Speaker 4:else. Yes, remember, psychologytodaycom is the best resource to find a therapist, and people should answer the phone. I always answer when people call me. I take insurance, but you can put your zip code in psychology today and what you're looking for if you have PTSD, trauma, sleeping problems, and you can find people in your area that take your insurance. It's not hard, I'm just saying. And if you have anyone in the family that's thinking God forbid about suicide, please, please, please call. This is numbers right here. It's a card here you can get. 988 is in Montgomery County Crisis Center. They're open 24 hours, yeah, right, so don't think twice about getting somebody help or yourself help if you're thinking bad thoughts, right, yeah. So what other things I can teach? A couple techniques.
Speaker 2:Let's go with some techniques. I believe the techniques are one of the things I enjoy the most when we talk. Okay, we don't only talk when we are on the podcast or when you're on the podcast with others. We don't only talk when we are on the podcast or when you're on the podcast with others. We don't talk quite often, so let's do a few of the exercises that you may have available for us.
Speaker 4:I know a bunch, so I'll do a few right now, just to remember. Okay, one is something called the stop technique. Let me just tell you about that S-T-O-P. If you're yelling at someone, if you're anxious, s is that you stop not to push away your feelings.
Speaker 4:T is you take those three deep breaths, Okay stop O yes stop, stop, take three deep breaths O observe what's going on inside of you. Okay, you observe and you accept it. I'm feeling this way because of this. Acknowledge your feelings. Yeah, all feelings are okay, unless they're the sad ones and hard ones for too long. Then get help right away. Right, and the P is perceive yourself and others with compassion. Stop, wow, isn't that beautiful. It's easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's nice, yeah, can you repeat that one more time, one more time.
Speaker 4:Okay, s-t-o-p. Put this on your refrigerator, if you want. So S is stop going on, just stop before you blow up. Okay, then you take three deep breaths. That's the t, okay, oh, observe what's going on inside of you, take a breath in and feel your feelings. Some people can't do that by the way feel your feelings.
Speaker 2:That's hard that is hard, I would say, as a guy, you know sometimes you don't want to feel feelings. Yes, you know, but you can't help it, you know they're there, by the way.
Speaker 4:That's why they're called feelings isn. Isn't that huge, isn't that mind-blowing?
Speaker 2:That is. I guess they are called feelings, because it's not conscious, you're not thinking about it. I want to feel. It just happens, all right.
Speaker 4:And then the last thing is perception, or perceive yourself and others with compassion. So S-T-O-P. And then this I made this cheat sheet kind of thing. This is nice. So 24-7, we have thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and if it's all positive, then you're feeling good and good about life. If any one of them is negative a negative thought, feeling or behavior that's toxic then they all can become toxic Anytime you change one of them. It can help with the whole thing. It can make it all much better. It's like a continuous loop.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and anytime one of those becomes goes negative, it can uh make the entire thing negative, yeah even sleep that's something, yeah, a lot of people come to me.
Speaker 4:They say they're depressed, but they're just not getting enough sleep you know, and it's sometimes it's hard to sleep.
Speaker 2:I will say I I definitely understand that. I definitely understand that. I can understand that.
Speaker 4:Yeah okay, and then we'll do. I keep talking, keep on clapping technique you clap your hands.
Speaker 2:This is magic. You're one of my clients. Clap your hands.
Speaker 4:Okay, close your eyes. It's really important. Rub your hands together and put your hands over your heart, take a nice deep breath in and you're showing yourself a lot of compassion oh wow, all right, all right, self, you're welcome, right? You need to. Everyone needs to love themselves first, by the way, and have a picture nearby. Yeah, all right have a picture nearby of internal resources. I talk about not a cup half full or half empty, yeah, but have a picture of things that you can do to lift yourself up.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 4:That you always know right. And one more thing Internal locus of control. There's so many things I want to teach. It should be like that. Yeah, internal locus of control means that you know you're in charge of your thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 4:External means you let other people control your feelings and thoughts.
Speaker 2:Like like the news, or if you get fired or something bad happens to your health, god forbid, yeah, god forbid.
Speaker 4:No, no nothing bad's gonna happen to anybody.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's right. We don't want those things to happen.
Speaker 4:No, yeah okay, see what I'm saying, but have an internal locus of control means that you're in charge of all those things you don't have to bring. Don't let anybody bring you down. I'm trying to say that's.
Speaker 2:That's a nice full circle from not focusing too much on the things we can't control all the way through to be assured that the things you can't control, you can't control, yeah yeah.
Speaker 4:And change your perception.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 4:Right, so I hope you all are doing okay out there and can love yourself and others and and have a really good support system is so important right now. People who are isolated, you know, don't do well mentally and physically usually as well as when people aren't isolated and your thoughts can make you have better health, I think we have more control over your health than you realize.
Speaker 2:All right, and that's what's happening. Moco, you have more control over your health than you realize. And we're here with our good friend Marilyn Spinadel, thank you. And we're here with our good friend Marilyn Spinadel, thank you. She is a psychotherapist located in a turf in a Montgomery County business owner.
Speaker 4:And I was born in Maryland, born in Maryland.
Speaker 2:Maryland to Maryland. So that's what's happening, moco. Thank you for having me. Good luck everybody. All the best to everybody.
Speaker 1:All right bye, Yay. Thanks for listening to what's Happening, MoCo. Please subscribe via your favorite podcasting platform and follow us on Facebook. This podcast is brought to you by County Cable Montgomery, your source for news and information from the Montgomery County Government. Connect with us via cable, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube by searching for County Cable MoCo.