Live Well, Thrive Well June Program Resources

June: Avoiding Toxins

Panelists Mona Lisa McEachin, Bethany Golden, and Jordon Frank, Shared strategies for avoiding toxins for better health and recovery.

Some Key Takeaways

• Recovery happens in community. Healing isn’t meant to happen alone. Connection, belonging, and support are powerful antidotes to isolation.
• Replace toxins with hope. Toxins aren’t only chemicals or substances, they can also include shame, stigma, trauma, loneliness, and hopelessness. Recovery begins by replacing those with hope, purpose, and connection.
• Progress over perfection. Healing isn’t linear. Celebrate every positive step, no matter how small, because every step forward matters.
• Know your personal triggers. Identify situations, places, or habits that increase unhealthy behaviors, and make one intentional change at a time to support your well-being.
• Stay hydrated. Water supports brain function, heart health, digestion, and overall wellness. Try swapping one sugary, alcoholic, or energy drink each day for a glass of water.
• Practice harm reduction. Harm reduction is about reducing risk, not demanding perfection. Whether it’s eating before drinking alcohol, staying hydrated, carrying naloxone, or never using alone, small strategies can save lives.
• Choose environments that support your goals. Recovery looks different for everyone. Set boundaries and spend time in places and with people that bring you peace instead of temptation.
• Ground yourself during difficult moments. Simple mindfulness tools, like the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise, deep breathing, sensory items, or stepping into nature—can help regulate stress and reduce cravings.
• Carry hope for others. Sometimes the greatest gift you can offer is believing in someone until they can believe in themselves.
• Don’t assume your water is clean because it looks clear. Many contaminants are invisible, odorless, and tasteless, making testing the only way to truly know what’s in your water.
• Test your water before treating it. Every home is different. Professional water testing helps identify contaminants so you can choose the most effective filtration solution instead of guessing.
• Understand long-term exposure. Many contaminants, including lead, PFAS (“forever chemicals”), nitrates, arsenic, and microplastics, may not cause immediate symptoms but can impact health over years of repeated exposure.
• Consider improving your drinking water. Reverse osmosis systems can significantly reduce many common contaminants, including lead, PFAS, nitrates, chromium-6, and other impurities.
• Ask for help early. Whether you’re navigating recovery, supporting a loved one, or have questions about your water quality, reaching out is a sign of strength, not weakness.
• Small actions create lasting change. Reducing toxins doesn’t require changing everything overnight. Start with one healthier habit, one supportive conversation, or one proactive step today, and build from there.