Episode Details

Flashbacks During Spring Chores? Here's What's Actually Happening | Episode 488

A messy yard can be more than a weekend chore. Sometimes it’s a trigger, a mirror, and a mental health workout all at once. Justin Alan Hayes shares what happened when spring weather turned his hilltop lawn into a tall, waterlogged project and why the first mow of the year brought back anxiety, perfectionism, and memories from an earlier life.

We talk about the pressure to keep up with neighbors, the obsession over “straight lines,” and how quickly your brain can turn a simple task into a story about worth. Justin connects mowing today with past summers working at a golf course, where precision was everything and the fear of being reprimanded never fully left. That opens a deeper conversation about trauma triggers, flashbacks, and how the brain stores sensory cues, from sounds and routines to the places where hard moments happened.

The episode also gets practical about mental health medication management in daily life. Justin breaks down changing prescriptions, warnings like avoiding grapefruit, and a newer concern around hydration and salt or electrolyte levels. If you do yard work, exercise, or any physical activity that makes you sweat, you’ll hear clear takeaways on pacing, taking breaks, eating when you need to, and using electrolyte drinks to replenish what your body loses.

If you found this helpful, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find honest conversations about mental health, trauma recovery, anxiety, and real-world coping skills.

*Donate Today: LoveVoices.org, CashApp and Venmo

**Find our book here:

Amazon: https://voices-for-voices.org/3ZhJ6AW

Publisher: https://voices-for-voices.org/3LKL1uN

***Website: https://voices-for-voices.org/4byLXgb

Instagram: @voicesforvoices

TikTok: @voices_for_voices

Facebook: Voices for Voices

*Voices for Voices is a 501c3 nonprofit charity. All donations are 100% tax deductible.

Chapter Markers

• 0:00 Welcome And Community Thanks
• 1:41 Meet Lucy After Surgery
• 2:17 Rocky Weather And Tall Grass
• 6:12 Mowing In Sections On A Hill
• 10:38 Perfectionism And Neighbor Comparisons
• 14:51 Golf Course Flashbacks And Trauma
• 16:30 Med Changes And Grapefruit Warning
• 22:03 Salt Levels Hydration And Electrolytes
• 28:10 Free Ways To Support And Donations

#justiceforjustin #justiceforvoicesforvoicestiktok #VoicesforVoices #YardWork #CopingMechanisms #MentalHealthAwareness #TraumaHealing #GardeningTherapy #MindfulChores #NatureHealing #MentalWellnessTips #EmotionalResilience #SelfCareRoutine #OutdoorTherapy #HealthyCopingStrategies #TraumaRecoveryJourney #StressReliefActivities #LifeLessonsInNature #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #Episode488

Support the show