Why Living Indoors Is Making You Sick, Tired, and Burned Out | Dr. John La Puma - EP 776

**John R. Miles** (0:00)
Coming up next on Passion Struck.

**Dr. John La Puma** (0:02)
In the last couple of generations, we've moved inside as a species and never left. We spend as ninety three percent of our time inside in buildings or in vehicles eighty six and seven if you're doing the math, and that means we spend our time in the office or in a classroom.
We are commute is in a vehicle of some type. Almost always our wind down rituals at night. What are those? Those are screens For the most part, we're watching TV, We're doing something at a tablet or a computer, We're on our phone. For us, the environment made a choice for us to be inside before we knew that there was a choice.

**John R. Miles** (0:47)
To be made. Welcome to Passion Struck. I'm your host, John Miles.

**John R. Miles** (0:52)
This is the show where we explore the art of human flourishing and what truly means to live like it matters.
Each week I sit with change makers, creators, scientists, and everyday heroes to decode the human experience and uncover the tools that help us lead with meaning, heal with hurts, and pursue the fullest expression of who we're capable of becoming. Whether you're designing your future, developing as a leader, or seeking deeper alignment.

**John R. Miles** (1:18)
In your life.

**John R. Miles** (1:19)
This show is your invitation to grow with purpose and act with intention, because the secret to a life of deep purpose, connection, and impact is choosing to live like you matter.
Hello, friends, and welcome back to episode seven hundred and seventy six of Passion Struck. Earlier this week, we launched our brand new series, The Connection Crisis, with entrepreneur and best selling author Eric Reese. Together, we explored how institutions lose trust when they drift away from the people they were created to serve, and why the erosion of trust contributes the growing sense of disconnection that many people feel today. Today, we're examining a different dimension of the same problem. When we think about connection, we usually think about relationships. We think about family, friendships, community, and belonging. There's another form of connection that often goes unnoticed because it operates quietly in the background of our daily lives. It's our connection to the environments that shape us.
For most of human history, our lives were spent outdoors. Our days were shaped by natural light, movement, changing seasons, fresh air, and regular contact with the natural world.

**John R. Miles** (2:31)
These weren't lifestyle.

**John R. Miles** (2:32)
Choices, they were simply the conditions under which human beings evolve. Today, many of us spend the overwhelming majority of our lives indoors. We wake up indoors, commute indoors, work indoors, exercise indoors, shop indoors, and relax indoors. We move through highly engineered environments that offer comfort and convenience, but often separate us from many of the biological conditions that help shape human health for thousands of years.
At the same time, rates of burnout, anxiety, sleep disruption, metabolic disease, and chronic stress continue to rise. We often search for explanations and productivity systems, supplements, apps, and optimization strategies. Yet a growing body of evidence suggests we may be overlooking something far more fundamental. What if many of the symptoms we associate with modern life are also symptoms of environmental disconnection.
What if the places where we spend our time are quietly influencing our energy, attention, mood, resilience, and overall well being in ways we barely recognize. My guest today is doctor John Lepuma, physician, best selling author, and a leading voice in lifestyle medicine. His work explores what he calls the indoor epidemic and examines how modern life may be pulling us further away from the conditions that support human flourishing. In our conversation, we discuss nature, movement, sunlight, longevity, mental health, chronic disease, and why reconnecting with the natural world may be one of the most overlooked opportunities for improving our health and well being. This is ultimately a conversation about alignment, whether the environments we've created are supporting the biology we've inherited. I think you'll find it both eye opening and deeply practical. Before we dive in, if this show has helped you feel less alone or given you language for your unseen battles, I'd be grateful if you share this episode with one person who's in the middle of their own messy transition.
You can find us on YouTube and taking sixty seconds to leave rating a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts makes a huge difference. And if you want the accompanying workbook for today's episode to help you map these ideas into your own life, you can grab it at the ignitedlife dot net.

**John R. Miles** (4:41)