Fit As A Fiddle

How can you be the best parent in the best city in the world? Spoiler alert… there’s no right answer! It’s difficult to raise a child in urban settings with less family support, attempts to achieve work/life balance, and of course a pandemic. But we can gain something out of every situation and our guest today shows us how this is possible!

Manon Chevallerau has been a pioneer Postpartum Doula in New York City for over 22 years. On the show she talks about the ambiguity in most things baby-related. Manon discusses how every pregnancy is different and to not compare your journey to any others. She also gives us some practical tips on hot topics like swaddling, skin to skin, and soothing babies. 

During her journey, Manon has worked one-on-one with thousands of new parents with a main focus on giving them tools to tune into their newborn’s personality, help them recognize their queues, and set routines. With this guidance, her clients are set to start their own journey into parenthood with confidence. With her Dutch touch, born and raised in Amsterdam Netherlands, she helps them to tune into their instincts and have a more conscious approach into parenting.

Besides being a Newborn Care and Sleep expert, Manon gives support in lactation and feeding options, patterns and setting routines, transitions into work, and setting up a comfortable child care plan. Her many years of expertise enabled her to create her own method of gentle sleep guidance, setting healthy sleep habits, and understanding developmental stages.

Connect with her: @newparentsjourney & @b2b.journey 

One of the darkest things in the world is when infants and children are in the hospital for life-threatening situations. The people that help these kids are the real superheroes in the world. This Thanksgiving day, we are blessed to have one of these superheroes on the show!

Tony "Dancing Doc" Adkins, PA-C, MPH, MCHS, is a pediatric neurosurgery physician assistant at Children’s Hospital of Orange County and now a social media phenomenon. Tony talks to us about delivering excellent care to patients by changing your energy and responding to families appropriately. He discusses the importance of being able to check the pulse of a room and package your message to families in a way that makes them feel like your own family. He also touches on burnout for healthcare professionals and suicide prevention.

In a matter of  months Tony became well known around the world for his unique way of connecting with his young patients through music and dance.  He has appeared on Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, ABC World News Tonight, Australia Morning News, French medical show and on several other national and international news and talk shows. These media outlets have affectionately named him the “Dancing Doc” because of  his dance videos with his patients that have gone viral with millions of views.

During his many interviews he often states that he is well aware that there isn't one specific approach that is always the right one for every child.   So he uses this method with the intention of lifting his patient's spirits trying to remind them of happiness that can often leave them while in hospitals. 

Tony's training focus is in assessing and treating children with closed head injuries, brain tumors, open neural tube defects, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, and various other neurosurgical ailments.  His educational background includes a Masters in Clinic Health Sciences with a focus on physician assistant studies from University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, a Masters in Public Health in Global Health and Epidemiology from Loma Linda University, and a B.S. in Neuroscience from University of California Riverside. 

He is happily married to his lovely wife LaVeta and a father to his two beautiful daughters Chloe and Zoe.

On today’s show we have a lively conversation with Robert Yoho, a 67-year-old former physician. We discuss his research and perspectives on the broken healthcare system in the United States. We dive into how healthcare companies, pharmaceutical companies, the FDA, scientific researchers, and politicians play a role in the way our current system operates.

Robert calls himself a healthcare whistleblower. He spent three decades as a cosmetic surgeon after a career as an emergency physician. He then retired from medical practice in 2019. He has recently published two books, Butchered by Healthcare and Hormone Secrets. 

Connect with Robert at www.robertyohoauthor.com

What is sustainable happiness? It’s not relying on constantly changing external factors to feel a sense of inner peace. It’s knowing and living by the terms that there is something beyond that you can connect with. It’s not relying on events or conditions to influence your mental stability. 

Join me on this deep and thought-provoking conversation with mindfulness and meditation expert Jackie Stewart. Jackie and I chat about how we can apply mindfulness practices to our everyday lives to create harmony within ourselves. Jackie brings up the concept of negativity bias, which can often shape the way we see the world. She also dives into what gratefulness is and why gratitude can strongly improve our ability to engage with the world in a more meaningful way,

Jackie Stewart can be found in NYC teaching meditation and mentoring teacher trainees at MNDFL, online with Alo Moves, and on your smart device through the Journey LIVE app. She is the mindfulness advisor for Rose & Rex, where she regularly contributes mindful parenting articles. 

Welcome to season 5 episode 1 on Fit as A Fiddle! Are you conscious of your vibe? Do you know the type of energy you put out in the world? This episode covers my interpretation of research on first impressions and how we can make more conscious decisions on our reactions while meeting a new person. Tune in to also hear about how the pandemic has changed how we make first impressions virtually and through masks. It’s just me on this episode - no guests! Super excited for you all to hear our line up of episodes for season 5 on Fit As A Fiddle. Enjoy!

Competitive athletes are a unique breed of people, in that winning can be more important than just about everything else. Sports can set high expectations and motivate athletes to constantly perform at their peak level. But what happens when you bring empathy, humanness, and understanding to the picture? Would we be better able to live a life of quality and meaning?

Today we had a lively conversation with Erwin Benedict Valencia, the Team Physical Therapist and Wellness coach for the New York Knicks. Erwin dives into the implications that the pandemic has had in the sports world, how bringing a holistic picture of an athlete changed the game for Olympics 2021, and how wellness and wellbeing are (and should be!) at the forefront of how people should live - both within and outside of the sports world. Erwin encourages clinicians of all kinds to be multifaceted individuals who level up their consciousness to serve their communities and clients more effectively. The theme of “service” has run through every component of his life and led him to create Grasshopper Project, a non-profit mentorship program that champions the next generation of Thought Leaders and Change Makers in the Health, Wellness, and Performance industries. 

Erwin is a Clinician, Coach, & Change Agent. He is the first Filipino raised and educated in the Philippines to be on the medical staff of both the NBA and MLB. Erwin combines manual and movement therapy skills,  mindfulness and mental conditioning coaching, and sports science for a truly "whole-listic" approach to Athlete Care and Wellness. 

Connect with him:

@erwinbvalencia

www.erwinvalencia.com

www.grasshopperproject.org

About 50 million Americans experience chronic pain. The number 1 disability in the world is chronic low back pain. And 30% of Americans have chronic neck pain. Chronic pain is complex. We can’t really address it in its entirety in a single podcast episode. But what we can do is open you up to different ideas and a different perspective of what chronic pain is and how we can manage it, both as clinicians and patients who live with it. 

Today we have my best friend Dr. Maria Muto on the show. Dr. Muto graduated from Columbia University Physical Therapy Program and currently runs her own PT department at Integrative Chiropractic & Physical Therapy. Her main goal as a DPT is to help optimize movement, heal and prevent injuries by providing the most comprehensive and individualized care.

She strives to achieve results and differentiate her practice by offering 1:1 time with her patients and honing in on patient specific rehabilitation goals. Her methods of practice stem from the belief that movement is medicine and chronic pain is a battle between the mind and the physical. She strives to educate her patients on techniques to calm and restore the central nervous system for pain relief and to improve movement. This is the base of what she truly believes in and the foundation of how she helps her patients create individualized plans of care.

Within her scope of practice, Dr. Muto incorporates mindfulness and breath work to address our mental senses and provides recommendations on supplements that fight inflammation and enhance recovery. She believes that this approach to care is all inclusive and provides long lasting effects.

Furthermore, Dr. Muto has experience treating various conditions within the adult orthopedic and pediatric outpatient populations. She loves to work with the sports and athletic populations but treats all walks of life! Overall, Dr. Muto hopes to heal with emphasis on mind + body connection and that health is multifactorial.

Connect with her @drmuto_pt or @icc_ofpa

Chinese medicine, while portrayed in the media as primarily equating to acupuncture, has a plethora of knowledge on the pregnant and postpartum body. Guasha, cupping, and herbal medicine are few of the many modalities that can be safe throughout the majority of your childbearing journey, whether you are at preconception or are choosing an assisted reproductive technology (ART) such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). 

Today we have Sara Forlich, a licensed acupuncturist, help us break down the effects and uses of Chinese medicine for this population. These could include nausea, sinus problems, sciatica, stress, inflammation, anxiety, milk supply, and more!

Sara has a special focus on fertility and is dedicated to helping her patients conceive using acupuncture and herbal medicine alone or in conjunction with IVF or other ART. Every treatment is focused on the specific patterns for each individual. Sara strives to create a healthy balance of Eastern and Western practices for her patient’s lives. She is also trained as a labor doula and enjoys working with women throughout their pregnancies as well as postpartum. 

Sara is nationally certified in acupuncture and herbal medicine (NCCAOM). She received her Masters of Science from the Pacific College in New York, and completed post-graduate studies in China. She has treated patients at St.Vincent’s Cancer Center and the Initiative for Women with Disabilities at the Hospital for Joint Diseases.

Connect with her on Instagram: @Juniper_wellness

On today’s show, we learn how to overcome obstacles to achieve the type of life we want to truly live. Greg Todd is a Father, Physical Therapist, Entrepreneur, Mentor and Business Coach. He has founded several businesses and is a physical therapy clinic owner. Greg has helped hundreds of healthcare professionals achieve their dream careers through his coaching, seminars, and leadership skills. Here, Greg talks about his journey from making a fraction of minimum wage to being a celebrity physical therapist and business owner. While this conversation is primarily to help aspiring students enter the field of physical therapy, Greg’s message is universal across careers and across the lifespan.

This talk was originally intended for a seminar held through the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Physical Therapy International Service Foundation (PTIS), founded by our host Dr. Sneha Gazi. One of the programs that PTIS offers is free professional advocacy workshops to students in underserved communities. The workshops serve to promote healthcare fields and assist students in entering graduate programs for further studies. 

Connect with Greg at www.gregtoddtv.com

Connect with PTIS at www.ptisfoundation.org

What’s the first word you think of when you think “Yoga”? 

Yoga is a way of life, codified in one way (through Ashtanga Yoga) by Patanjali’s 8 Limbs. Of the 8 limbs, only ONE limb refers to Asanas, or “yoga poses,” that you might have heard of like child’s pose or downward dog. For a true yogi, rolling out a yoga mat is a small aspect of the multifold process in their life’s journey. However, in the Western world, the term yoga itself has been watered down to refer to exercises and stretches, which is why many of you probably thought of this first when asked earlier. 

Today, we have a very special guest, Divya Bala, a member of my extended family who is revolutionizing the gate-kept yoga industry in the West to include the cultural nuances and spiritual impact of the land now known as India, where yoga originated from. She breaks misconceptions and misinformation. Through her work, she offers a new perspective that everyone can benefit from!

As a Tamil-American yoga teacher brought up around the world, Divya's cross-cultural identity is inextricable from her approach to teaching wellness practices and advocating for social justice. Seeing her culture manipulated for the western market stirred her to use art and yoga to reclaim ancestral wisdom. Her classes incorporate philosophical teachings, martial techniques, prānāyāma (breath work), āsana (movement) and much more. Divya is fiercely passionate about celebrating diversity and uplifting BIPOC voices in all that she does.

Connect with her:

IG: @divyabala

Youtube: youtube.com/DivyaBala

Website: www.hidivya.com