Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Illness to Strength: You Are More Powerful Than You Realize
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Illness to Strength: You Are More Powerful Than You Realize
Let's Meet Renee Excelbert, PhD
So many people are trained to dismiss fear, outrun pain, dismiss illness, and “stay strong” when life is asking them to listen. But the body keeps the score. It also holds the wisdom.
I’m speaking with Dr. Renee Exelbert about what happens when adversity interrupts our identity, and how movement, mindset, and the mind-body connection can help us rise again, not as the old self, but as a more powerful and truthful one.
The body as a source of truth. A conversation about adversity, illness, identity, movement, visualization, and how entrepreneurs can build resilience without simply “powering through.”
Renee is a licensed psychologist, certified elite personal trainer, body-building competitor, two-time breast cancer survivor, author of Chemo Muscles, founder of The Metamorphosis Center, and creator of Visual Emotional Kinetics, keynoter, and TEDx speaker, blending positive thought, visualization, and movement to reclaim strength and performance.
Timeline
7:10 The moment of diagnosis; being blamed by her doctor in the same breath as the news
11:00 The power of human touch; havening, self-massage, and the science of physical connection
15:20 Body betrayal & reconnection; trauma, assault, and reclaiming physical connectedness
17:00 Identity in crisis; perfectionism dismantled by mastectomy and cancer
18:20 Writing Chemo Muscles Book; a seven-year journey from shame to radical openness
20:50 Vulnerability as strength; how sharing her story became her greatest gift
23:19 Bodybuilding origin; using exercise and nutrition science to reclaim control
26:40 Getting on stage; the transformation process, not the competition day, is the point
28:40 Current health; living with ongoing monitoring while maintaining strength and positivity
30:20 Family & marriage; how daughters and husband witnessed and were shaped by her resilience
33:10 Host's reflection on his own book and sharing vulnerability with his son
35:50 Evolving as a clinician; more body-attuned, present, and boundary-flexible since illness
37:10 Faith, prayer & gratitude; spiritual practice, presence, and what she prays for
CONTACT DR. RENEE EXCELBERT
Website: https://drexelbert.com/
TEDx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCP4e6UFRms
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-exelbert-ph-d-59137b89/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.renee.exelbert/
CONTACT DR. ARDESHIR MEHRAN
Dr. Mehran Studio
Podcasts
Blogs
YouTube
Bestselling Book
View all episodes
By Dr. Ardeshir MehranLet's Meet Renee Excelbert, PhD
So many people are trained to dismiss fear, outrun pain, dismiss illness, and “stay strong” when life is asking them to listen. But the body keeps the score. It also holds the wisdom.
I’m speaking with Dr. Renee Exelbert about what happens when adversity interrupts our identity, and how movement, mindset, and the mind-body connection can help us rise again, not as the old self, but as a more powerful and truthful one.
The body as a source of truth. A conversation about adversity, illness, identity, movement, visualization, and how entrepreneurs can build resilience without simply “powering through.”
Renee is a licensed psychologist, certified elite personal trainer, body-building competitor, two-time breast cancer survivor, author of Chemo Muscles, founder of The Metamorphosis Center, and creator of Visual Emotional Kinetics, keynoter, and TEDx speaker, blending positive thought, visualization, and movement to reclaim strength and performance.
Timeline
7:10 The moment of diagnosis; being blamed by her doctor in the same breath as the news
11:00 The power of human touch; havening, self-massage, and the science of physical connection
15:20 Body betrayal & reconnection; trauma, assault, and reclaiming physical connectedness
17:00 Identity in crisis; perfectionism dismantled by mastectomy and cancer
18:20 Writing Chemo Muscles Book; a seven-year journey from shame to radical openness
20:50 Vulnerability as strength; how sharing her story became her greatest gift
23:19 Bodybuilding origin; using exercise and nutrition science to reclaim control
26:40 Getting on stage; the transformation process, not the competition day, is the point
28:40 Current health; living with ongoing monitoring while maintaining strength and positivity
30:20 Family & marriage; how daughters and husband witnessed and were shaped by her resilience
33:10 Host's reflection on his own book and sharing vulnerability with his son
35:50 Evolving as a clinician; more body-attuned, present, and boundary-flexible since illness
37:10 Faith, prayer & gratitude; spiritual practice, presence, and what she prays for
CONTACT DR. RENEE EXCELBERT
Website: https://drexelbert.com/
TEDx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCP4e6UFRms
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-exelbert-ph-d-59137b89/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.renee.exelbert/
CONTACT DR. ARDESHIR MEHRAN
Dr. Mehran Studio
Podcasts
Blogs
YouTube
Bestselling Book