Pivot To Find Your Joy – Ep#026 Interview With Dr. Joy Ohayia

Joy Ohayia (1s):
Welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition Podcast, where you’ll discover that when it comes to your health, you’re so much more powerful than you’ve been led to believe. And now your host, she’s a holistic nutrition and lifestyle coach, chef author, and Yogi, Christine Okezie.

Christine Okezie (24s):
Hello and welcome to the soul science nutrition podcast. I’m Christine Okezie. Thanks so much for tuning in today and on today’s special show, I have a fun and lively guest with me. My good friend and colleague Dr. Joy, Ohayia, Dr. Joy is a passionate and highly regarded advocate for holistic health and wellness. Drawing on years of experience in the fields of nutrition, personal training and competitive sports. Joy is known for her universal prescription for optimal health, which she shares on her award winning local cable television show. The Dr. Joy Show Your Prescription for Total Wellness.

Christine Okezie (1m 4s):
Dr. Joy is a sought after motivational speaker and the author of two amazing books. Don’t Let IT Get To You, an empowering health and fitness guide for women. This one published a few years ago was an uplifting resource full of detailed nutrition and exercise guidance. And on today’s show. I’m so excited to talk to her about her, just newly released. second book entitled Pivot To Find Your Joy available on Amazon. Joy wrote this during the pandemic lockdown, and it offers common sense, practical tips to help us rediscover the joy in our lives amidst these crazy unprecedented times we’re living in.

Christine Okezie (1m 48s):
It’s filled with a ton of guidance for navigating our health and wellbeing in 2020 and beyond. I love that Joyce shares her personal experiences as we dive into the power of changing our perspective, connecting with our higher power and leading an authentic life. So many gems in this book, I’ll just share a handful. Number one, “Remain proactive about your happiness, not just reactive to the situation happening around you” “The ultimate shoulder tap moment. Use your crisis to reevaluate your life pivot and make positive changes to move forward and keep it moving.”

Christine Okezie (2m 27s):
Another one: “Be still be quiet. It will do you some good.” And finally “Live with purpose each and every day, even in a time of chaos.” So I can’t wait for you to listen in on this fun and inspiring interview. And if you liked the show, please leave a star rating and review. It helps me keep the podcast growing. Thanks so much. Hey, dr. Joy, Welcome to the podcast.

Joy Ohayia (2m 56s):
Christine. Thanks for having me.

Christine Okezie (2m 59s):
Dr. Joy is always beaming beaming with a ton of positive energy and so much light. And that’s why I’m so excited to have you here to lighten this up. You know, just tell us about your journey. It’s such a fascinating path from corporate America to becoming the successful wellness entrepreneur.

Joy Ohayia (3m 16s):
Yes. Okay. So I was in corporate America. Ooh, maybe 20 years. And then in June of 2005, w w what I’ll say is that you really have to be careful about not only what you say, but even what you’re thinking. Okay. Because what you thinking may come to fruition. So I was thinking, Oh my goodness, I can’t stand my job. I need to be doing something different. And in it, 2005, guess what happened? I was called into a meeting. I had several meetings and then one meeting was interrupted and I was let, go, wow.

Joy Ohayia (4m 2s):
Now, most people that get laid off, I was like, Oh, geez. Oh, no, they start to worry. They start to panic me when they call me into the office. I said, okay, so how much time is this going to take? Maybe I can move my nail appointment up. HR looked at me like, didn’t skip a beat because yeah. She had the box of tissues there. My manager at the time looked at me. He turned the shade of an octagon stop, sign and good. So let’s get this going. So then I could get on with the rest of my life.

Christine Okezie (4m 41s):
Wow. Now, how did you feel such trust? How did you, how were you okay with that, that terrible news.

Joy Ohayia (4m 49s):
Because my husband and you know, this Christine, my, when I called my husband and I told him that I was laid off. Okay. We were in the middle of, you know, everyone has their lifestyle. We had our lifestyle, we had the three European cars, the big house, the kids in independent schools. So there’s tuition vacations. And when I called my husband and I told him, I said, Hey, guess what? I got laid off. He says, you know what, take the summer off and figure out what you want to do. Wow. And I said, Oh, okay. With a side eye looking at the phone, he says, no, seriously, take the summer off and figure out what you want to do.

Joy Ohayia (5m 35s):
If you, he says, don’t worry about this. We’ve got it. Yeah. But yeah. So I said, alright fine. So I packed up my office and I go to lunch with a girlfriend at the time and she was crying and I said, don’t cry for me. I said, I’ll be fine. She says, what are you going to do? I said, Oh, I don’t know. And so from there, another friend of mine at the time said, Hey, what is it that you want to do? Really? I said, well, I’m already invested in real estate. Maybe I’ll continue that. And then she’s a serial entrepreneur. She says, Hey, would you want to buy a health club?

Joy Ohayia (6m 16s):
I said, that’s it? I said, yeah, because everybody always asks, how is it that you stay so young stay so fit? I mean, I was in my early forties, stayed so young stay so fit. What do you eat? I said, so what I can do is, is buy this health club women’s own health club and empower women to take care of themselves first. Beautiful. And my husband was like, yeah, go do that. He says, I’m a hundred percent support. So that’s what I did. And so in September of 2005, I closed on my own franchise. Ladies work out express in Freehold, and I bought it.

Joy Ohayia (6m 58s):
It was, I bought an existing club. So, you know, came on board and made some serious changes in the club. But my whole thing was about empowering women to take care of themselves. Exciting. Yeah. Hi.

Christine Okezie (7m 12s):
So that was the beginning of this mission.

Joy Ohayia (7m 14s):
That was, yeah. Yeah. That was old thing. That was the beginning. But did I know, I always get the question. So did you know, in 2005 that you were going to be Dr. Joy? And I said, no, I didn’t have a clue. Right.

Christine Okezie (7m 29s):
But you followed the breadcrumbs and you were open.

Joy Ohayia (7m 32s):
Yeah, I was, I was very open. Yeah. I had to make a lot of changes and I talk about it and I talk about it in my first book: “Don’t Let It Get To You.” And I definitely go into details in “Piivot To Find Your Joy.” Yeah. The ebbs and flows, but all worth it. No regret.

Christine Okezie (7m 49s):
Okay. So, you know, this comes back to, you know, your, something that comes through a lot in your work, which is listening to your intuition. Right. And trusting the universe, essentially trusting in the process of life. Right. How has that guided you? Where did that take you?

Joy Ohayia (8m 5s):
Well, when I finally figured out that I needed to let things go and really just open up without any boundaries, then it started to really take off. And I said, okay, what’s the worst that can happen? Is it life or death? If it’s not life or death, then I’m going to, I’m going to go with it. What’s the worst that can happen. Okay. So I fail, but see, people think that failure is bad. Actually failure is a good thing because then it’s a key learning. It’s a blessing. So then, you know, not to make that same mistake, you go in the opposite direction to take a different turn. So for me, I probably around 2000, 2005, six and seven were kind of rough in terms of, from a standpoint because my, my friend group, my support group would, was changing.

Joy Ohayia (9m 1s):
And, but I would say I was getting in my groove. I think once I achieved a PhD, I was like done. So I’m gonna, I’m just gonna open it up and just go with whatever comes I have, you know, I’ll, I’ll take a risk. Yeah, no, I love that you went back to school, you know, after that and, and, and got your PhD in holistic health and all of it. And it really kind of went from there.

Christine Okezie (9m 26s):
Right. You know, kind of, you know, put the substance and the learning and the new teachings to your core passion, which has always been actually about self-empowerment.

Joy Ohayia (9m 34s):
Right. So, yeah, wellness, self-empowerment making sure that I’m in myself an optimum health, so then I can take care of others. Yeah. So that’s, that’s a priority. And being independent as each, as each birthday comes every year

Christine Okezie (9m 60s):
And they keep coming.

Joy Ohayia (10m 4s):
look back and I’m like, wow. When people say, what’s your favorite year? I said, I don’t know what my favorite year is, but I know in my thirties it was great. Forties was, that was a pivotal point. I was still in corporate in the beginning. And then as an entrepreneur fifties, good. I mean, I’m approaching the six decades.

Christine Okezie (10m 28s):
So we’ll say that just keeps getting better and better. And you just published your second book. Yeah. Second one called Pivot To Find Your Joy”. Okay. Right. During this dual pandemic, during the still pandemic, and this was, you know, your quarantine, baby joy, and I would love for you to share with us, you know, where did the inspiration come to create this incredible body of work?

Joy Ohayia (10m 57s):
Okay. Christine, I have to give my husband kudos because he just kept pushing me, kept nudging. And he said in 2017, he says, you need to write another book with your advice, all of your advice, pull it in together and just publish it. 2017. I was really busy. Yeah. Mrs. Central New Jersey travel just enjoying life. So 2017 came and went here’s 2018. He kept saying it not really into it. 19 came and went on December 30, first, 2019.

Joy Ohayia (11m 43s):
He says to me, I really want you to focus in 2020 on writing the book. Oh my goodness. Can you promise me? And I said, yeah. Okay. I’ll promise. So in January I started writing. I said, you know what, I’m going to take a risk and I’m going to share my story within each element. So then that way people will know that I’m real. That I’m a real person. Cause sometimes, you know, when you see people out there, it’s like, okay, her life is perfect. No, no, no.

Christine Okezie (12m 18s):
Yeah, no. I love your personal stories and keeps it real, you know? Cause it’s, it’s, you know, this is the thing, right? We all have a lot of this information, you know, we’re, we’re kind of inundated these days with wellness and tips and strategies and how to get better, how to be healthier. But what’s the connection that we’re going to have to something that we read, you know, it’s going to be something that touches us in a story. It’s going to be something that touches like, wow, I can relate to that. Or I’ve been there. Oh, she really gets that she’s been there. Right. And that really comes through in your book, which is lovely. So, but why now, you know, I mean, we’re living in really unprecedented, challenging times, stress, fear, uncertainty, right?

Christine Okezie (13m 5s):
What was your goal? What was your mission behind putting pivot to find your joy in the world?

Joy Ohayia (13m 11s):
It’s a call to action for my readers because we all have joy. Right. And Christine, I want you to look at, and, and we’ll try to be as descriptive as possible. Right? I want you to look at the cover of the book. Yes. Yes. So, and, and do I have permission to do a shout out? Of course you do. So Joe Tartaglia is my creative art director. He did my cover and also the interior pages. Right. And if you look at the cover of the book, you see joy is very prominent in the center.

Joy Ohayia (13m 54s):
Right. And it’s in the center of every single person. Cause everybody has joy. But if you continue to look through the center, you see that it’s faded in the background. Yeah. So Pivot To Find Your Joy, I want people to read it, but recognize that their fade of joy in the background can also be pulled to the front and be prominent.

Christine Okezie (14m 21s):
Beautiful. Yeah. I can totally see that. It’s, it’s actually really brilliant, but it’s really hard to find our joy or maybe people have lost their joy in the last several months. Right? Tell us a little bit about pivoting. Like what’s what does it mean to pivot to find your joy that 2020?

Joy Ohayia (14m 38s):
Well, to me pivot means that where are you standing? If it’s not working, change it, make a change. You have options. There’s always a solution. Yes. And the pivot says, see where you are. Is it working or is it not working right. And then not working change it.

Christine Okezie (15m 4s):
And the reason we need to change it is because we need to find and recover the joy. That’s always within us. And what you’ve been doing for the past decade or so is giving us the steps to do that by highlighting the eight essential elements of health and wellbeing. Okay. So we have mental, emotional, nutritional, physical, social, intellectual, and environmental and spiritual. Right. So tell me, what’s your definition of health

Joy Ohayia (15m 36s):
Then I came up with them initially, like in the don’t let it get you my first book. Yes. Published in 2007. I only focused on two elements, physical and nutrition. Right. And I called it the perfect combination. But in actuality, Christine, it’s not just the physicality and what we eat. It’s more than that. We need to strike a balance across all the wellness elements, the best we can. And that will put us at optimum health. I love how you’re able to give us tools that we can use in our everyday.

Joy Ohayia (16m 16s):
So let’s start, let’s dive in like what, and there’s so many in the book. So I’m going to ask you to pick your most favorite. Okay. What’s your top tip for, you know, people to find more joy in their mental and wellness, mental and emotional wellness is chapter one, a stable mind is the key to total wellness. Because if our mind is right, then there’s a high probability that the rest of us will be. Right. But yes, if our mind is not right, then it is a high chance that the rest of us they’re there, the rest of our life, it won’t, it won’t be right.

Joy Ohayia (17m 1s):
So, so if I start with my favorite tip, like what’s something that you do in your everyday or like, what’s your go to? Cause you know, I’m breathing. Okay. And, and as you know this on a dr. Joyce show, I start with three deep breaths. All right. So you start, you’ve been doing it for a long time, right? Yeah. Yeah. Deep breathing is, I would say is my go to another one? This one is good. And, and you know what, you’re going to crack up because you’re going to, you’re going to know why I’m saying this one become more patient now.

Joy Ohayia (17m 43s):
How do we do that? How do we be? Just become more patient? Be still be okay.

Christine Okezie (17m 51s):
Yeah. That means close your mouth. Close your mouth. Listen, stop moving. Not moving. Stop doing. Be in the present, being in the present moment. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

Joy Ohayia (18m 5s):
So hard. And that was a hard one for me early on in my life be patient because my middle name wasn’t patient.

Christine Okezie (18m 14s):
Yeah. No, it’s get it done. Get it down yesterday.

Joy Ohayia (18m 17s):
Get it done yesterday. Why is it taking so long? What happened? Yeah. And that’s, and that’s part of the advice that, you know, I wrote to my younger self, you will see it be patient, be patient, be patient. After every seventh line, it was like be patient. So I would say that. And also,

Christine Okezie (18m 37s):
So when we’re more patient, do you mean more patient with others and we’re patient with ourselves? What, how did that unfold for you to be such an important wellness tip? Well,

Joy Ohayia (18m 46s):
If you’re a patient with yourself first, then you will be able to share that with others. Yes. So I was very impatient with myself. Why is this happening? This is it. And I don’t know if it’s because of a sprinter’s mentality that the gun goes off and running as fast as we can to make the block stop. I don’t know, but I was very impatient. I’m like, okay, well it’s going to happen when it’s supposed to.

Christine Okezie (19m 16s):
Wow. That’s a game changer. That’s a game changer being patient, you know, we always hear, you know, and, and you do as well, you know, be compassionate with yourself, you know, be more present, but be patient. And you’re right in the last chapter of your book, which I love, you know, one of the questions I always ask my listeners is if you could look back at your younger self, what would you like them to know? Well, you have a whole chapter dedicated to talking to your 20, 30, 40 year old self. And you’re right after every piece of guidance it’s beeping.

Joy Ohayia (19m 46s):
Yeah. Cause I wasn’t patient Christine. Oh please. And anyone that’s listening to knows me. That really knows me. There was a year now. She,

Christine Okezie (19m 58s):
That’s not the first word that would come to mind.

Joy Ohayia (20m 1s):
She wasn’t patient. She had to get it done. It’s like already have,

Christine Okezie (20m 6s):
Well, you know, okay. So let’s bring it down, you know, to where we are right now, again, we’re in the middle of this, you know, these global pandemics and a lot of us were doing that monkey mind thing. We’re saying, well, when am I going to, when are things going to get back to normal? No,

Joy Ohayia (20m 18s):
There was no, no. First of all, we’re not going back where we’re present, we’re standing in present and

Christine Okezie (20m 28s):
Normal is going to be a new, normal, not old, normal

Joy Ohayia (20m 34s):
Backwards. It’s almost like when you’re driving a car, You know, we have the side mirrors and then we have the rear view. Yeah. You want to look in the rear view to make sure that, you know, someone’s not behind us too close, but where are we focusing? We’re focusing, looking forward.

Christine Okezie (20m 53s):
We’re looking forward. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And, and where is our joy? It’s inside, right?

Joy Ohayia (21m 3s):
Inside. You can’t, you have to have your own joy, not rely on someone else to give it to you. And that’s why on the cover. Joy is in the background because we all have it, but it’s up to us to find a way to pull it,

Christine Okezie (21m 24s):
It out, pull it out to rim. And how do we remember that? It’s always there. Right? And I think that’s where you get to your tips is they’re little reminders. They’re kind of like nudges to give us an experience of the joy.

Joy Ohayia (21m 39s):
It’s a mindset Christine. Yes. Cause we wake up every day. We have choices. We can wake up every day and say a mantra. That’s gonna, that’s, that’s a positive mantra. That’s gonna guide us through the day. Or we can wake up and say, Oh my goodness, it’s a bad day.

Christine Okezie (21m 59s):
Right. Right. So please share with us your favorite mantra. I think it’s really powerful.

Joy Ohayia (22m 5s):
Okay. I am who I am and it’s great to be me. I asked my readers to repeat it because when they feel great about themselves, then that means they accept themselves in totality. It can be better towards others.

Christine Okezie (22m 24s):
Yes. Such a great mantra. Right. I am who I am and it’s great to be me. Yeah.

Joy Ohayia (22m 31s):
Or who you are because everyone else has taken. Yeah.

Christine Okezie (22m 34s):
So you might as well do you, right? Yes. That’s beautiful. Beautiful. So again, you know, mental, emotional mindset, really key. That’s what gives us the perspective to stay present. Yes. What’s working. What’s not pivot. And remember that we have to move forward. Right. Okay. So you met, you talk about, you know, intellectual. I want to come back to intellectual wellness. So tell me about why is it important for us to be, you know, kind of strengthening our intellectual capacity? Like how does that fit into finding our joy? Well,

Joy Ohayia (23m 11s):
Because it expands our knowledge because we’re here on earth to grow.

Christine Okezie (23m 16s):
Oh, right. Yeah. So

Joy Ohayia (23m 18s):
We should be growing until our higher power calls us. So when we stopped breathing, we stopped growing. So intellectual wellness dovetails into growth.

Christine Okezie (23m 31s):
Okay. And that’s the whole thing is what if life is all about learning and growth? Yeah. How can we, and if that’s the case, then that kind of takes out what you were talking about before, which is the pushing, the retrieving, the sprinting life, right. Where we’re here to grow, we here to gather information and, and, and, and take it and, and help us evolve. Right. That’s a lot different than sprinting through life.

Joy Ohayia (23m 55s):
Read books. Yeah. Read books, journals, magazines on anything online. I mean, you can, you can do that. You could debate, you can debate with a friend. I would say, be careful, religion, religion, and politics in, you know, but you know what, if you debate with a friend and you set the premise and state that there is a no judgment zone and we can agree to disagree, then I think it should be okay because you’ll learn something from that person and they’ll learn something from you.

Christine Okezie (24m 36s):
Well, I think it’s beautiful because it’s, you know, intellectual also speaks to your point again, which is, it’s all about mindset. So if we value intellectual health and intellectual wellness, it means we are in a growth mindset. We’re in an we’re in, and a mindset that’s open to learning and not being judgmental or stuck in belief systems that you know, are rigid. Right. We’re we’re open. Right? Yeah. I love that. Okay. So I let’s dive into, there’s so many wonderful tips. Let’s just let, let’s talk about spiritual. So as you mentioned before, you were talking about, you know, higher power, creative consciousness, whatever resonates with someone, their higher self, maybe.

Christine Okezie (25m 21s):
Right. So talk to us, about spiritual wellness, how can people, why is that a component of finding your joy in your life?

Joy Ohayia (25m 28s):
Oh boy. Okay. So spiritual wellness is chapter eight and that’s the, that’s the last chapter before I give my, you know, my talk about my advice to my younger self and Christine, the tip that I put in there actually changed my life. Yeah. So at age 45, it was a long time ago. I met a friend and she’s mentioned in the book and she said, now at age 45, we were going through the recession. So it was like 2000. Yeah. It was 2007, 2008, nine.

Joy Ohayia (26m 10s):
Okay. And so a lot of people were feeling a little sad, depressed, and you know, it’s like, why me? Well, why not you? And my friend said, Hey, you know what? I got a challenge for you challenge, but suggestion. And I said, what? She says, I want you to count 46 days, 45 days before your 46th birthday. And I want you to write down in a journal every day. I am grateful to, and the blank is your higher power and put why.

Joy Ohayia (26m 58s):
Okay. So I did. And you know what happens when you do something for 28 days straight, right? Yes. Okay. So I have it not only, yeah, not only did I do it for 28 days straight, I am up to what, 4,000 I would have to go and get my calculator. No, I mean, yeah. Cause I just wrote in it, I think it’s 43, 43 something. I mean, I can go, I can run and go get it. But it’s a lot, 4,300 and I think it’s 4,377 days. Amazing. Yeah. And some people say, Oh, I can’t journal.

Joy Ohayia (27m 39s):
Well, don’t think of it as journal. Don’t think of it as like a task. Think of it as, Ooh. I gotta write down what happened today. Okay. And what was good about it? So you found a parking spot that was close. The sun came up and came up, you remembered your umbrella. So, and you just got your hair done and you remember Joe umbrella. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. It could be any, anything, no matter how small or how big or whatever’s in between. And remember you are grateful to your higher power. It’s your thing, not your sister’s thing, that your brother’s thing, that your momma’s thing, that your daddy’s thing, not your friend’s thing, it’s yours, they’re your reasons.

Joy Ohayia (28m 30s):
Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And when you’re, and when you have a spirit of gratitude, the sense of calmness that comes over, you remember I told you I wasn’t patient. Yes. This started, I think this started me on realizing that you need to sit still and be patient and be grateful for what you have. Wow. That’s beautiful. Yeah. It’s such a powerful practice. It doesn’t have to be super complicated or super, you know, ritualistic. Just what are you grateful for one time every day? How long does it take you to do that? During the course of the day? Right? It doesn’t. And, and when, so when do I?

Joy Ohayia (29m 12s):
Right. Cause people would ask, so Dr. Joy, when do you write in your journal? Well, it depends because I might wake up in the morning and start writing, you know, I always start with, I am grateful to, and I say, God, that’s my power. I am grateful to God for awakening healthy. Right. And then I might add, you know, that I slept, you know, slept peacefully. I might’ve been next to my husband or maybe I the bed to myself because he was away, whatever it is. Like I write, like I include that first sentence and then I may leave it. And then in the evening I come back and scribe what, you know, what I was grateful for for that particular day.

Christine Okezie (29m 58s):
So beautiful. Yeah. What we put where we put our attention is so important. And I think that’s such a important guidance that comes through in all your, in all your guidance tips is that it brings us back to, you know, the ability to choose how we want to move and how we want to experience what’s going on around us. Right? Yes. That is correct. I love that. So environmental, very interesting that you included that in the book. Very interesting. Especially again, you know, really relevant for taking in where we are in 2020 environmental wellness. How did that come to be for you?

Joy Ohayia (30m 35s):
Where are we Christine? We’re on earth, right?

Christine Okezie (30m 39s):
It’s a lot going on with planet earth. Mother earth. Yeah.

Joy Ohayia (30m 42s):
Yeah. There’s a lot going on, but we have to start with our own individual environment. You can make a difference. Okay. So when I talk about environmental wellness, I talk about it from the personal side, like your own environment, whether it’s your office space could be your class. It could be your bedroom, your let’s do this a declutter. Again, most people can really resonate with the clutter,

Christine Okezie (31m 10s):
Right? Yeah.

Joy Ohayia (31m 12s):
Space is de-cluttered then you’re more free. You’re able to move around. You’re able to see what’s there. What’s not.

Christine Okezie (31m 23s):
Now when we talk about mother earth, if a person has a mindset, well, I won’t recycle. It’s just me. Imagine if everybody thought that way you as an individual and making a difference to take care of, Right? Yes. Yeah. And you, and again, it’s the same ripple effect, right? If you are more patient with yourself, you’re more patient with others. If you are taking care of yourself, you’re more able to serve, you know, be of service and be a value to others. So all your wisdom coming back to inside of ourselves, our joy, which is our inside, right? Yes. Yes. So what’s working for you these days from a nutritional standpoint

Joy Ohayia (32m 5s):
I have to drink a lot of water.

Christine Okezie (32m 7s):
Okay.

Joy Ohayia (32m 8s):
It’s my number one tip with regards to nutrition. We are comprised of over 72% water. We lose it every day. So if we continue to lose it and we don’t replenish it, then what’s going to happen.

Christine Okezie (32m 27s):
Body doesn’t work so well. Yeah. The body doesn’t work so well,

Joy Ohayia (32m 30s):
Christine, I will tell you that if I don’t drink my recommended amount of water every day, And I, I try to do a tree pose in yoga. I will wobble. That’s how I will know that. All right. I didn’t drink enough water for the last day or two.

Christine Okezie (32m 51s):
Yes. Yes.

Joy Ohayia (32m 53s):
It’s a test for me. So, but my bad it’s all about the water? Cause I sweat a lot when I work out. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, golf walking, bike riding

Christine Okezie (33m 5s):
So fundamental. So fundamental, you know, we always take it for granted and it helps with so many things. Right. Digestion, cravings, our mood, you know, so yeah. Not only are you physically balanced, but you’re mentally and emotionally more balanced. Right.

Joy Ohayia (33m 18s):
And we like the way we, we like how we look because we’re eating right with drinking the water, it’s flushing out the toxins and we just feel like,

Christine Okezie (33m 29s):
Hmm. So you’re very active these days. Yeah.

Joy Ohayia (33m 35s):
I was always active except for when I had the back surgery. Which again, I think you knew about, and I talk about that in the book as well, but yeah. I try to remain active. Yeah. As active as I can be because I want to be independent in my golden years.

Christine Okezie (33m 53s):
That’s a really important goal. Can you tell us about that? You know, what is that motivation to, you know, everybody has to find their own motivation, you know? And I think we have to go a lot deeper these days than, you know, fitting into my skinny jeans or looking at the, you know, right. Yeah. Cause that’s the sense that I think you, you talk about is you gotta find what really motivates you, you know, once you get that, right. Once you’re clear on like, you know, what does being healthy mean to you then, then, then it becomes easier. So much easier.

Joy Ohayia (34m 23s):
I was an athlete since five, since age five competitive athletes since age five, up until I ran my last competitive race at age 45. Okay. In the year that I turned 46. So it was like the same year. And it’s, It’s kind of like ingrained. Then you got to keep moving, Moving and doing new things. I didn’t play pickle ball when, before I just picked that up, like back in July, someone introduced me to it in June and then I kind of liked it. I’m like, Oh good.

Joy Ohayia (35m 3s):
I can run. Even though I’m not supposed to be running on the, on the track or the treadmill or whatever, because of the back. Right. I can actually run to get the ball over the net. So this is good. I love that game. So it’s new.

Christine Okezie (35m 16s):
That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Tried something new, always growing, learning, changing, right. Intellectual wellness. Yeah. It’s funny how all those things overlap. Right. Because I mean, that’s the sense, isn’t that kind of what the lifestyle is, is when you start noticing, if you are, if you can sit and go through all those categories, you know, how am I feeling? How am I thriving emotionally, mentally, intellectually, spiritually, right?

Joy Ohayia (35m 44s):
Yes. They all dovetail. They’re all interconnected.

Christine Okezie (35m 48s):
If you could have a billboard, what would it say? Dr. Joy says,

Joy Ohayia (35m 54s):
Except who you are. So that’s accepting all the good, the bad and the not so good. The ugly, right? Accepting that. Because, because if something is not good, well let’s just say it’s bad or it’s ugly. There’s if you allow yourself to grow from that, right. Dig deep. Maybe not at the time that it’s happening, but you know, you reflect and you’re like, Oh, okay. What are the key learnings from that, that bad or that not so good. Right? So you accept yourself. And that helps you move in a direction of being authentic and not being ashamed because you can’t do something or you don’t know, okay.

Joy Ohayia (36m 43s):
Someone wants to judge you that’s on them. You can’t control what someone else does.

Christine Okezie (36m 48s):
Right. Lack of self acceptance. Again, gets in the way of us connecting to that internal source of joy and another big obstacle there. Yes. So who inspires you these days?

Joy Ohayia (37m 6s):
Who inspires me? Well, my mother is 88 and she’s independent and she inspires me to be independent. She has me. Yes. She’ll say, Hey, did you do so she’ll say you played pickleball. I will tell her what I do. I learned because she also plays and she says, okay. She says, so did you weigh your knee supports? Because you’re probably playing on a hardcore. No mom, I don’t need those. Well, you should. So here’s me. Oh. And I say, Oh, I want to, when people say, who do you want to be when you grow up? I mean, I want to be myself, but I look at my mother because she’s independent at 88 intellectually sharp.

Joy Ohayia (37m 55s):
And I talk about that in the book about how she can recite chemistry formulations when we’re making or baking. So having such a sharp mind. Yeah. I want to be like my mother when I grow up,

Christine Okezie (38m 13s):
I think you’re well on your way with following you’re on your own advice. You’re well, on your way, for sure.

Joy Ohayia (38m 18s):
Yeah. So she inspires me.

Christine Okezie (38m 20s):
Thank you. Are there any resources that have really helped you in your journey? Like, you know, since you’re always active and reading and learning and growing, you know, what are the resources that have really kind of supported you in yor journey.

Joy Ohayia (38m 35s):
A friend of mine gave this to me at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. She gave me the book, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz – it’s a quick read very quick. And you can go back to it. Anytime you feel that you’re falling short on those Four Agreements, right. Be impeccable with your word. Always do your best. Always do your best though. Christine, I translated it when I was a kid and I talked about this when I did my Ted X talk – that “always do your best”

Joy Ohayia (39m 19s):
I heard that from my parents, but somewhere in between my two ears, I got it. Twisted “always be perfect”. So that was that. Wasn’t good. Not good. That’s not what they said. They said, do your best. And Don Miguel says, you know, always do your best. And once you do your best, that’s it. Right.

Christine Okezie (39m 44s):
And your best can be, is going to differ, right? Like you said, your best will be different when you wake up feeling a certain way, your best on the golf course is going to be different than someone else’s best on the golf course.

Joy Ohayia (39m 55s):
Right. Which says that you don’t compare because comparison is there is, is, is the root of what unhappiness

Christine Okezie (40m 6s):
Comparison I think is what steals your joy. Yes, it does in a big, big way or at least covers it up.

Joy Ohayia (40m 12s):
It covers it up. Yeah. But if you pull back those layers and you listen to your internal dialogue, cause you can tell internally if you’re comparing yourself to others, right. You have to, you have to move, you have to move away from those thoughts, pivot away from those thoughts.

Christine Okezie (40m 32s):
Yes. Again, you know, pivot, you know, the power is within you, you know, you’re always able to make a choice and that’s the whole idea of all these tips basically puts you in the moment so that you are aware enough that you are cut off from your joy and what to do next. I love that. That’s true.

Joy Ohayia (40m 51s):
I love, yeah. So good.

Christine Okezie (40m 54s):
If, if you could step into my shoes, is there anything that you would have asked yourself maybe that I didn’t

Joy Ohayia (41m 1s):
What’s next?

Christine Okezie (41m 3s):
Yeah. What are you most curious about when it comes to, you know, health and wellness going forward or the world when it comes to health and wellness?

Joy Ohayia (41m 11s):
Oh boy. Well, I would like to see things change and that we become “One” in terms of like the world, you know? And, and, and we, we, prior to us taping, we talked about, they were in a dual pandemic. So yeah, we have virus. I don’t know when that’s, when we’re going to get a vaccine for that. We don’t know. We just wait when the time is right. It will be released. Right. Then we have the, the racial injustice. It would be nice to see that go away.

Joy Ohayia (41m 52s):
I know it’s not going to happen like a light switch, but at least trend that we’re working together to kind of kabash that. Yeah, yeah,

Christine Okezie (42m 6s):
Yeah. Yeah. And, and again, that’s why I think if we can embody so many of these practical tips that reinforced that, you know, if we are committed to finding Joy In our life. within ourselves, then I think that’s the key. Thank you so much. So Dr. Joy, where can people find you more online? You can get your book right on Amazon?

Joy Ohayia (42m 32s):
Yes. amazon.com. Yeah. And online, I have an Instagram @drjoyohayia all one word I’m on Twitter. and then Facebook at two Facebook pages and also LinkedIn.

Christine Okezie (42m 49s):
Beautiful. Beautiful. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and all this incredible practical, sensible tips for how to stay healthy in 2020.

Joy Ohayia (43m 1s):
Yes. Christine, thank you for having me as again,

Christine Okezie (43m 4s):
Be well, all right.

Joy Ohayia (43m 5s):
You do the same.