What does it mean to be healthy?

Pick up any magazine, tune into any morning show, or just scroll social media – everyone is trying to tell you how to be healthy. Hell, this website and podcast attempt to do just that every week through our guests.

For my entire life, I always thought of health through scientific measures. Blood pressure, weight, strength, etc. All the quantifiable measures. When I was growing up, I was told when making goals you need to make them measurable. I even wrote about it in my book.

In the last couple of years, the definition of healthy has become more nuanced. I use to see all the aspects of being healthy as individual pillars all in a row. You had healthy eating and exercise, and honestly, that was about it. Mindfulness, self-care, community, relationships, and sexual health were all over somewhere on the side. They didn’t have a place.

Through a series of encounters and a heart awakening or maybe just getting older, the two-part system of health just is not the case anymore. Today, I see it much differently. I know healthy not as a series of pillars in which to divide time but in a more holistic approach and a pie chart like below. Although the percentages often shift and change.

With nearly 100 podcast episodes recorded and countless hours of reading and working with mentors, I see the whole system differently. I know Dirt in Your Skirt differently. I know myself differently.

Dirt in Your Skirt started as just my vehicle to document and track my training and racing. Then it became my public diary and physical outlet to express myself. At some point, it morphed into an industry resource or just resource for many. It went through a tough time when I didn’t know what it was anymore and didn’t know where it fit into my life. Hell, at certain times it felt like it was dying a slow death and I didn’t know what to do with it. Then I decided to start the podcast.

During the turbulent time before the podcast, I started to see “healthy” differently. It took feeling on top of the world, then feeling dragged through the mud to revaluate what healthy means beyond lifting weights and medals. The podcast brought Dirt in Your Skirt back to life.

It allowed me a platform to start to really explore all the topics I was mulling around in my head for years. The podcast has allowed me to help shape Dirt in Your Skirt into what I had always been hinting at just beyond the surface.

Obstacle Racing back in 2010 and 2011 was the catalyst to get out and get moving again not only the blood flowing but also the brain. It was a key to start to unlock a treasure trove of ideas and a whole new world of thinking. I had always had passions skirting the health and wellness world, but it was not until Dirt in Your Skirt that I felt I had a place to bring it all together.

Back in 2012, I asked the community that had formed around Dirt in Your Skirt to help create a tagline for the website and a t-shirt. I had a ton of entries, but the one that stood out was:

EXPLORE. CONQUER. INSPIRE.

It was like an alarm went off in my head when it was submitted. Yes, all the yes! From that, I built out the mission of Dirt in Your Skirt of exploring new topics, conquering old fears, and inspiring those around with actions. While it has taken years to start to build on this ethos and is still a work in progress. Dirt in Your Skirt is after seven years embodying that mission.

What does this have to do with reimagining the meaning of healthy?

For a while Dirt in Your Skirt wasn’t fully healthy. It focused on the surface with moments of more profound thought. Today, the website has morphed into something a little more holistic. It continues to dive deeper daily as my journey goes deeper.

The topics investigated on the podcast, posts, and other ramblings are looking at the idea of what makes us healthy – mind, body, and soul. It is about pushing new limits and bringing guests to the podcast and website who are on the cutting edge or on the fringe.

Shining the light on various things and ways we can be healthier in our life. This is through movement, nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, self-care, sexual health, physical health, community, relationships, and spirituality that we are fully human.

My promise to you, reader, podcast listener, or however you got here. Dirt in Your Skirt will continue to explore what it means to be healthy. We will together conquer old fears, preconceived notions, and hopefully will inspire you to look at your own life holistically and figure out how to be the healthiest version of yourself, looking at the whole pie, not just your favorite slice or two.

What does Your Pie Look Like?