Latest / NHA Today Podcast / Robyn Denning: From Autoimmune Diagnoses to Vital Health Through Food, Movement & Yoga | NHA Today
Transcript
- Stephan Esser: All right, and welcome to the NHA Today. I'm so excited. I'm your host, Dr. Stefan Esser And today I'm being joined by Robyn Denning, who I'm really looking forward to introduce to you and get to know myself even better. You know, once a full-time partier fueled by Diet Coke and No Sleep, Robyn Denning now teaches yoga, studies health, and navigates life as a mom of two. After facing some significant autoimmune challenges that forced her to slow down and listen, she rebuilt her life around balance, resilience, and joy. And her mission today is to feed what makes you feel alive and live well for a long time. And she's going to be joining us at the NHA National Conference, June 25th through the 28th, sharing her passion for movement with all of us. And Robyn, delighted to have you on today. Robyn Denning: Happy to be here. Thanks for having me. Stephan Esser: Absolutely, you know, I thought it'd be awesome to hear from you, of tell me your journey of health, you know, how did you come to this point when it comes to health and healthy living? Robyn Denning: ⁓ gosh, okay, where do I start? Well, I didn't really start big changes until I would say my late 30s. I I used to diet sporadically. Like I said, I used to think eating healthy was like five or one bars and diet coke, right? To get ready for an event I had coming up. ⁓ And my body always ⁓ very resilient. I eat anything, I could do anything. And I always felt great until... Stephan Esser: Right? Robyn Denning: I didn't, right? Stephan Esser: Right, think a lot of our viewers can relate to that for sure. Robyn Denning: Yeah, and changing gets a lot easier when not changing is more difficult, right? So I'd say the biggest turnaround point for me was when I met my husband, I was And when we met, I was drinking beer and eating chicken wings. he often will joke, ⁓ kind of say I him the bait and switch, right? Because shortly after we got married. We wanted to have kids and I said, well, my husband's quite a bit younger than I am. And I was like, well, if you want kids, got it like I'm no spring chicken. So we got a chop chop here. ⁓ but we ⁓ we had ⁓ I didn't having ⁓ fertility issues. I was always told by the women in my family that we were very fertile and that was never a problem. and I didn't have a problem getting pregnant, but I did have problems holding onto the pregnancy. ⁓ And we fertility specialists and we were told by multiple specialists that it just wasn't, it wasn't in the cards for me. was, I wasn't even candidate for in vitro. They wouldn't even try it with me. so we were kind wrapping head around that. And my acupuncturist was actually the one at the time that said, You know, I think you might have celiac disease and I don't know how, why she thought that or what. I I, I was like, well, okay. She's like, you should have your doctor check you for that. Cause that might be causing some of your fertility issues. And so I did, I went to my doc and I said, can you do, you check me for that? And she was like, ⁓ sure. We'll check you, but you don't have that, you know? And, but did, she checked me and it came back that I did have celiac ⁓ and, Stephan Esser: Interesting. Robyn Denning: So, you know, she at the time, she didn't really know much about it. So she Googled some stuff and kind of sent me on my way. And so I started eliminating. I mean, I eliminated gluten from my diet immediately and got pregnant a month later. And we've got two kids now. ⁓ and that was after three, three miscarriages. So that my first big eye opening ⁓ experience what one little change. Stephan Esser: Wow. Right? Robyn Denning: can impact your health, your body, your capabilities. So that was really eye-opening to me. And then fast forward a few years later. Now I was on medication for hypothyroidism and then was 40 when I had our first and it took me a long time to recover. And I thought it was just being older, having children older it was just tougher on my body. then I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's central hypothyroidism MS. ⁓ And I the MS diagnosis, the docs said, well, we caught it early. ⁓ And so we to hit hard and hit it early with meds. remembering what a difference just switching off of gluten had made, said, well, I would like to I would like to try a dietary. approach first. And he was kind of like, ⁓ fine, okay, come back for an MRI in six months, and we'll put you on meds then basically. So that's when I went all in. And I started really doing some health education. I've done some health education with Wellness Forum Health and with Center for Nutritional Studies at E. Carnell. And I really just went all in on it. ⁓ And When I went back for my MRI, they basically undiagnosed me. mean, immediately all of my symptoms went away. And plus some other things like my skin cleared up, I never got headaches anymore. I mean, all this stuff happened that I was like, wow. ⁓ got of my thyroid medication that I was on for eight years. So ⁓ it was, I mean, was just mind blowing. Stephan Esser: Amazing. Wow, beautiful. I was going to say, this is a powerful journey that you've been on through multiple phases of real challenges. I mean, really challenging stuff. I some of the diagnoses you shared. what I love to hear what you said there was, resonates so much to me is that, you know, you, you experienced something that was less than ideal. And then you were trying to work your way around it and figure out what was going on. And, and, and that fact that you made this change and then all of a sudden here, like you got the pregnancy. just because your body was out of a state of dis-ease and into a state of ease, right? Into a state of health and vitality where it's like, okay, this is something that's now natural and normal for me rather than attacking itself inappropriately, ⁓ which, know, so beautiful. And so, as you of made these transitions, you know, what's been the hardest part for Robyn Denning: Right. think the hardest part once was out of kind of the healing, ⁓ know, when ⁓ like said, it's easy to change when you feel awful if you don't, right? And I was feeling awful. I was having ⁓ symptoms. wasn't getting pregnant. Things that I wanted to happen weren't happening. And that's really easy to stick to something when that's case. And I think the more challenging part is honestly is now because I'm more at maintenance now. I feel pretty good. so it's challenging now to be like, to want to stick with it because I know, but not because I feel it right now, because I know if you don't stick with it, I'll start to, ⁓ know, I'll start to just, it'll sneak up on me and then eventually I'll feel bad again. so right now I think ⁓ that's challenge sometimes. When I was doing it, when I was making those changes, I think one of the biggest challenges was the social aspect. And that's one of the things I love about going to the NHA conference is when I went the first time to the NHA conference, it was like, oh, there's a whole world of people doing this and nobody's judging me for eating healthy. Nobody's giving me a hard time for not having cake. Stephan Esser: That's right, right? Robyn Denning: So that was so, it was so relaxing, you know, to be at that conference and not have to worry about the food and have conversations with other people that were going through ⁓ the same thing, because everybody's story is different and unique, but similar things, and more challenges, but the emotional attachment for me, there's a big emotional attachment. to food just because it's something that I do with people. I do it at holidays. I love going out for lunches and meals with friends and that social aspect. ⁓ And I guess I was probably a much more emotional eater than I realized I was. the transition process, that was probably the hardest. Stephan Esser: Right? You're bringing up so many relatable points here, right? Because so many people, we have this connection socially around food that then when we shift all of a sudden, for some people, They're really kind of kicked out from their social circles, right? Like you said, you kind of, you you've broken the rule, right? ⁓ not part of the club anymore. You're ⁓ than the rest of us. And that creates some level of conflict or friction, which I love to hear what you said about the conference, which is what's beautiful about that getting together is that realization that you're not some you know, strange odd bird. Here you are with a whole host of other people who share similar values. And I love what you said too, have themselves experienced radical transformation. Cause I think the majority of our viewers here, right, all know how great it is, when you're eating well and caring for themselves, they just feel better. ⁓ You you commented on that too, just saying not only do these big things improve, but all the small things that, you know, seemed very human, The facial breakouts or the headaches or the, you know, those little things, right? Robyn Denning: Yes. Right, right. It all makes a big difference. Stephan Esser: So yeah, that's so cool. So food became, it sounds like kind of a tool for you to heal, right? And to improve, reduce inflammation, stop your body from attacking itself as much. Now movement, I know is very important to you as well. Tell us more about movement. How did movement come into this whole paradigm for you? Robyn Denning: Well, gosh, movement is just, it's not just about the food, right? Food was a big, big needle mover, of course. But I mean, we all know people that eat awful and still live long, healthy lives. And I do think it's all about the balance. And I know you talk about this in one of the books, you know, Dean Ornish's book, where he's got the four quadrants, ⁓ you know, move more, eat better, manage stress and nurture your relationships, right? Stephan Esser: Right. Robyn Denning: So I think movement is such a big part of it and having those things all in balance. And there were definitely times on my journey where making maybe not the optimal food choice was actually a better choice for me because of the stress and emotional impact of a relationship. so I think it's important for myself to remember one choice. doesn't reflect my whole dietary pattern. And it's okay if I make one choice because less stressful in that particular situation. And then it's just one choice and we can move on. that was always, that's hard. I've always been an all or nothing kind of personality. ⁓ to ⁓ my grip on a little bit and realize that if making this choice causes so stress. Stephan Esser: Mm-hmm. ⁓ Robyn Denning: then I gotta just let it go for a second and be okay with getting right back on. ⁓ Stephan Esser: did you find that exercise helped you cope with or deal with stress, Robyn Denning: exercise and movement was just, it's just huge. mean, you know, and one of the reasons I love yoga is because it checks a lot of boxes. It's not just movement, but it's that stress relief. There's that meditative aspect to it. It's the time that you have to yourself, your little rectangle that you're on is your your space for, you know, 60 minutes or whatever the length of time that you are on it, but Stephan Esser: Right? Robyn Denning: it, I like it because I like to knock out as many, ⁓ things I can with one thing ⁓ and for yoga, it stress, it gets me my movement. And it ⁓ nurtures my with myself. Stephan Esser: you're gonna be leading some yoga sessions, correct, at the conference this summer. Robyn Denning: Yes, yes, I'll be teaching Saturday and Sunday morning. And I always try for this conference, I try to make it very accessible classes so that, know, an advanced practitioner can come and feel like they're getting something out of it. A brand new practitioner can come and also feel like they're getting something out of it. And you can just come and lay on your mat. You don't even have to do anything else. Like if that's what you need, Stephan Esser: Great. Robyn Denning: And I've done it myself, because I always tell people, you can do that. You can just lay in Shavasana the whole time. That's still yoga, you know? And so I actually did it once at a class. it glorious. So I highly recommend. My favorite is Shavasana, which is our final rest, you where you're laying on your back. And I always say, ⁓ no what I do in class, I promise I will make it up to you in Shavasana. Stephan Esser: ⁓ I liked your little description. That was very visual for me, kind of like this rectangle is your area and almost for many of us, right? Our lives are so out of control or at least they feel like in their chaotic and all the rest that I like that concept that you were sharing of coming into that moment, being present there. This is my space, right? And then moving your body through that space kind of gives you such a level of awareness, presence, control almost too. You know what I mean? As you're releasing, just like, I love that. Robyn Denning: Yes. Stephan Esser: Very cool. yeah, so two, you're gonna lead a couple sessions, two, three, something like that, I think. Two, wonderful, beautiful. So for people to participate in, you know, for, I'm looking forward to it. Yes, yes. And for people struggle to kind of work movement into their day-to-day lives, what would be some tips, the top three tips you'd give them, Robyn Denning: Yeah, yeah. Two, yep, two. Saturday and Sunday morning. Now are you gonna be there? You coming? gosh, I think it has to be ⁓ lifestyle, right? And I've been lucky enough to run into some people in the fitness world that truly do live an active lifestyle. So whether that's every morning you get up and you walk your dog or you do some stretches in your bed before you get out of bed or, you setting a routine. ⁓ We to dance in the kitchen. So sometimes I'll dance in the kitchen while I'm making my kids breakfast. I mean, it's movement, it's fun. Again, making it fun. it doesn't have to be painful for it to count as exercise, right? It can be fun. I people talk about all sorts of tricks like, ⁓ do 10 squats before I get the laundry out of the dryer or, you know, there's, ⁓ you have to what resonates with you, right? And attach it maybe to ⁓ anchors throughout your life, something I do every day is brush my teeth. sometimes you just connect a movement with that. thing that you know you're going to do every day. choice architecture, right? Setting things up in your life so that they will interrupt you ⁓ and you'll like, ⁓ yeah, I got to do this thing because it's part of my routine. So trying to create ways to yourself accountable, Stephan Esser: that you're willing to do and that you perhaps enjoy and then doing it on a regular basis ⁓ and somehow tying it into the rest of your life so that what I'm hearing. ⁓ Is that correct, some of those ideas for folks? Yeah. Robyn Denning: Yeah. Well, you know, has to be fun, right? I mean, people, you know, people talk about, I got to go to the gym or I got to do this thing. taking that, did they say? You shouldn't, you shouldn't should on yourself, right? So do what you want to do. What do you want to do? What kind of movement? You know, I, when I was doing health coaching, I have a list of all these different movements, you know? And which one of these things do you enjoy? Pick that one. Don't pick the one that you think you should be doing. Pick the one you enjoy, just like with food, right? Here's all the food that's considered good, healthy food. Which one do you like? You know, I love potatoes. We'll eat potatoes. You can make potatoes in so many different ways, you know? So it's the same type of thing. Find what you like. Don't force yourself to try and do something that you don't like. Find something you enjoy. I think that makes a huge difference. Stephan Esser: Ha ha ha. Well, I heard a little bit in there from you about the should or have to. And I saw a meme, that makes me think of a meme I saw the other day that said, why are you talking so negatively essentially about like you should or you have to and you don't want to, as far as moving your body was the example, when really it is such an honor and a blessing to have a body that's able to move. And when you think about the people with spinal cord injuries or significant injuries or disabilities and you go, wow, I'm blessed that I can rotate my shoulder like. Robyn Denning: ⁓ my gosh, yes. Stephan Esser: I'm blessed that I can move my knee like this and all too often I think we fail to recognize that blessing because we're in a state of kind of somewhat of negativity complaining and comparison whatever ⁓ Instead of recognizing what a blessing that I'm able to move this right and then saying how can I continue to maintain and maximize this function and ability? It's like I just feel like all that gratitude, you know Then just feeds off of itself and saying what a blessing rather than really I have to move my body ⁓ Robyn Denning: Right, right. Exactly. Well, and gratitude, that's a big, you know, big thing we talk about in the yoga world is focusing on what you are grateful for, rather than what you are upset about. Right. And we talk about the kids all the time. I have a nine year old and a 10 year old, and we talk about that a lot. What are you grateful for? Like, because it is, it also just helps with your overall state of mind and Stephan Esser: You know. Right. Hmm. Robyn Denning: keeping right neural pathways clear, you know, because ⁓ more grateful you are, the easier it is to be grateful. So sometimes you have to just take time and do it intentionally, and then ⁓ just becomes who you are rather than who you're trying to be, ⁓ Stephan Esser: Absolutely. I love it. And do you ever encourage people? do you encourage people, I should say, to bring that gratitude to the mat? What are some things you might say on a regular basis or encourage or dialogue with people as they're getting out there? Robyn Denning: ⁓ gosh, in my classes, I usually like to have some sort of a theme. And a lot of times it centers around gratitude. But it always changes. I just like to have something that people can latch onto so they don't feel pressure of, ⁓ what's my mantra going to be today? Or what's, you know, what's resonating with me? Cause that can feel kind of, you don't want people to feel too much pressure on the yoga mat. But I'll usually provide something that they can latch onto, whether it's gratitude or one of the things I'll say a lot in yoga classes, we use the poses to get into the body, not the body to get into the poses. So it's really not about what the poses look like. It's about connecting to yourself through those poses, right? And kind of letting go of the expectations, taking the ambition out of your practice and allowing yourself to just receive whatever you're meant to receive on the mat. And you may come in with idea of what do ⁓ want to get, and by the end of class, it can become something completely different, right? But I think that's all part of it is coming to your yoga mat without a lot of expectations and just that sense of gratitude and ready to receive whatever it is you're meant to receive that day, and trusting that everything will unfold as it should, you know? Stephan Esser: a lot of openness I'm hearing there, and ⁓ as you're kind seeking out and searching. But I think that's certainly what we're about people coming to the conference with, an openness of their hearts and an openness to their minds to learn, right? And then to fellowship together and grow together in health. Because I... Robyn Denning: So. Yeah! Stephan Esser: What I love visually in my mind, I'm thinking I'm visualizing you leading people, It's kind of like each of us have our social circles, our social networks, our areas of influence. know, everybody listening today, You have certain people in your life that you can influence for good, just like, you know, Robyn has these people who come and train and work with her, do lifestyle counseling with her, et cetera, that impact them for good. And I just want everybody to be thinking about as you leave this podcast today, what are ways that I can enter into my daily existence with more openness in my heart? ⁓ You know, what are where areas in which I can be more open to change in my life to help me move in the direction of greater health? And then, are ways that I can continue to be open to learning more? Right? Because I know, Robyn talked about her own discoveries and her process, you know, and you shared a little about some of the academic stuff like the T. Colin Campbell Institute and, you E. Cornell, etc. And so I'm Robyn Denning: now. Stephan Esser: guess is you're probably still learning every day. ⁓ you agree with that kind of about health and yeah, right. Robyn Denning: ⁓ my gosh, never ending. Yeah, it's never ending. And I love it. I love, I mean, that is one of my favorite things about life is learning. So and it is there's, it's never over. So I enjoy that. But yeah, I, you know, one of the things I like to, I usually end my classes with is how are you feeding your happiness? And there are so many things that go into, go into that. Stephan Esser: Mmm. Robyn Denning: what things are bringing you joy, what food are you eating that's feeding your happiness? What interactions are you having with people that's feeding your happiness? And if it's not, then why are you doing that? Because what's the point if we can't experience joy and ⁓ And so sometimes that's just that gratitude, right? Having the gratitude for just being there. You made it to your mat, you showed up. That's enough right there to be grateful for, yeah. Stephan Esser: Beautiful. Love it. Well, that's true, isn't it? I the idea is people are loving themselves with movement that loves them back. And the same idea, eating food that loves you back, but really, doesn't harm the body. You know, it's not an abusive relationship, but rather it's one of true love and compassion, on every aspect of the nutritional approaches that we advocate for here at the NHA. So awesome. any other final thoughts you'd like to the audience with today, Robyn? Robyn Denning: Yeah. Well, we're also doing the music night again. Yeah, so I actually wasn't, we just moved to Canada last year, so I wasn't able to make the conference last year. And I really missed it because it's a great reset. And it kind of keeps you motivated. So I really missed not having that touch point last year. And I missed not doing the music. I mean, you talk about feeding your happiness. That's one of the things that for me really feeds my happiness is doing music and connecting with Stephan Esser: ⁓ tell us, tell us. Robyn Denning: other people that have passion around music. I'm excited about doing that. ⁓ ⁓ to the other musicians right now, trying to get a set list together. We've got some fun ⁓ people are going to be doing some repeat songs from a couple of years ago. But I was what song you want to sing this year. ⁓ Stephan Esser: Gosh, I don't know, I'm gonna have to get back to the books and take a look. I know we always have ⁓ Frank Sabatino, right? Dr. Sabatino is jamming out always on the harmonica, right? And some singing and... Robyn Denning: Yeah? Yep, yep. Yes, and he's great. He brings great energy to the stage. you know, there's a saying in music, people listen with ⁓ eyes. So he's fun to watch. He gets into it. He's usually working up a sweat and just having a blast. And then ⁓ Epstein is going to be playing his sax. I mean, he's so talented and so fun. we're making a point to get some songs in there that have some good solo parts for him. ⁓ Stephan Esser: ⁓ yeah. Nice sax, nice. I, are there, if we have any of our viewers who are passionate musicians, should they reach out in advance? Okay. Robyn Denning: Yes. Yes, reach out to me. If you have a song you want to sing or something you want to do, please reach out. I mean, the more the merrier. I'm always looking to get people up there if it's just, I do have a cowbell part that I need somebody for. ⁓ and you know, we've got all sorts of percussion instruments. People can get involved back up singing or just dancing or just up there and having fun. Really that's how to solve it. Stephan Esser: Love it. Let's go. Well, I mean, I remember we had a number of participants from the audience who were quite good musicians, happened to bring their guitars or other things. So any of you listening out there who are passionate musicians and want to share your love and your joy and your music, we'd love to have you join the party. So please reach out so that we can help plan things out and have everybody ready to indulge with the beauty of the music and the fun, the party atmosphere. So. Robyn Denning: Yes. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah, that would be great. For sure. Love that. Love that. Stephan Esser: That's awesome. Well, I enjoyed having you on today, Robyn, and thank you for sharing your passion with us. I'm excited to see you at the conference and join some of your yoga programming. Thank you again for joining. Robyn Denning: Yeah, you too. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. We'll see you in June. Okay, bye. Stephan Esser: Sounds good, bye.