Men Have Pelvic Floor Problems Too and Nobody Is Talking About It

Summary

Biohack-it Host: Iman Hasan
Episode: "Men Have Pelvic Floor Problems Too and Nobody Is Talking About It"
Date: June 22, 2026
Guest: Dr. Tamara Akazi, Doctor of Chiropractic, President of the Emirates Chiropractic Association, Founder of DISC

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Overview

In this insightful and candid episode of Biohack-it, host Iman Hasan delves into the broad and often unspoken topic of pelvic floor health—with a dedicated focus on why men, as well as women, suffer from issues, and why these problems are seldom discussed. Joined by Dr. Tamara Akazi, a leading chiropractic doctor in the Middle East, the conversation expands to bodywork, emotional release, chronic pain, and biohacking essentials. The dialogue is rich with honest anecdotes, cultural commentary, and practical health advice aimed at breaking taboos and reshaping the narrative around well-being in both men and women.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Mind-Body Connection and Emotional Release

• Bodywork as Emotional Therapy:

  • Dr. Akazi emphasizes how emotions manifest physically, citing examples of fatigue and tension being "stored" in the body.
    • "We restore fatigue and emotion in our body, and that's what we wanted to release." – Dr. Akazi [01:37]

• Cultural Differences in Expressing Pain:

  • In the Middle East, stoic attitudes toward emotional expression often result in deeper emotional and physical tension.
    • "We're told to hold it all together. There's no room for bullshit. That's how we're raised from childhood, right? So very together. I feel the release is even deeper because we finally get permission to feel." – Iman Hasan [06:09]

• Gendered Patterns of Emotional Storage:

  • Over her career, Dr. Akazi has observed men tend to store stress and trauma in the hips, while women carry it in the neck and shoulders.
    • "Women more neck and shoulders, men more hips... Men store a lot of tension in their hips. And I know when I start to get in and release the hips, like, the emotion that comes out of people is crazy. Especially when I use dry needling." – Dr. Akazi [05:20]

The Pelvic Floor Problem in Men and Women

• Taboo Around Men's Pelvic Health:

  • Despite high prevalence, men rarely discuss pelvic floor dysfunction such as incontinence and prostate-related issues.
    • "Men too. So many men come to us with incontinence and prostate issues. They don't talk about it so much." – Dr. Akazi [36:00]
    • "So many younger men [with prostate issues]... from either stress, heavy lifting, sitting a lot, sharing emotions—it stores all in the hip." – Dr. Akazi [36:28]

• Why Maintenance Matters:

  • Pelvic floor maintenance is crucial even for young, active women and men who haven't experienced childbirth or trauma.
    • "A lot of women have extremely tight pelvic floors... Pelvic floor maintenance about, you know, once every few months, just to check." – Dr. Akazi [37:20]
    • "With men, you can do manual work... A lot of men are scared, but a lot of men are open. We've seen so many men come because they don't want to have urinary issues." – Dr. Akazi [36:59]

Chronic Pain, Connection, and the Problem with Suppression

• Pain as Communication:

  • The tendency to mask pain with medication can numb the body’s signals and ignore the root causes.
    • "Symptom relief is just really masking the issue... It doesn't make sense to take pain meds all the time means that there's an issue that needs to be resolved." – Dr. Akazi [15:50]

• The Danger of Identity Through Pain:

  • Chronic issues can become entwined with identity, making it harder to heal.
    • "A lot of people adopt... their traumas or their story as part of their identity. It's almost this attachment... These stories that we tell ourselves become what keeps us safe." – Iman [08:56]
    • "Pain begins to define them... Acknowledge the pain, but don't let it define you." – Dr. Akazi [08:04]

The Foundations of True Biohacking

• No Magic Pill:

  • There's no replacement for foundational practices: sleep, hydration, nutrition, movement, connection, and sunlight.
    • "People are like, I feel a bit tired. I’m going to take peptide. No, baby, sleep. Go outside, get some sunshine. Take care of your circadian rhythm. Is it the food that you're eating?" – Dr. Akazi [17:26]

• Vitamin D Deficiency in Sunny Climates:

  • Even in the Middle East, vitamin D deficiency is rampant due to indoor lifestyles.
    • "We are extremely vitamin D deficient. Extremely." – Iman [18:24]
    • "And that's where we get our vitamin D – by actually being outside without our sunglasses on, you know, absorbing the sunshine, especially at sunrise and sunset through our eyes." – Dr. Akazi [18:13]

• Connection & Community as Longevity Factors:

  • Emotional connection has direct links to physical health and longevity.
    • "Loneliness is the number one killer. The number one longevity factor is connection." – Dr. Akazi [06:35]

Fascia & Somatic Therapy: The Body’s Emotional Storage

• What is Fascia? Why Does It Matter?:

  • Fascia is connective tissue that encapsulates muscles and organs, transferring both physical and emotional trauma throughout the body.
    • "Fascia is connective tissue... It encapsulates our entire body from our head to our toes, and it connects all the muscles together." – Dr. Akazi [24:36]

• The Process of Release and Healing:

  • Techniques range from manual myofascial work, cupping, dry needling, to modalities like lymphatic drainage and yoga.
    • "All you're doing is encouraging blood flow... same thing with dry needling, same thing with cupping. It all goes back to improving circulation." – Dr. Akazi [27:21]

• The Role of Somatic Therapy:

  • Somatic therapy is body-based, helping patients confront and process stored emotions and trauma rather than only talking about them.
    • "It's a body-based therapist... when you’re going into body-based therapy, you’re going back into how you feel about something... where you store it, which is usually where chronic pain appears." – Dr. Akazi [20:07]

The Hustle Culture: Dangers and Self-Awareness

• Pressure to Accomplish & Validate:

  • Both host and guest admit to tying self-worth to productivity, discussing the challenge of "slowing down."
    • "So much of my who I am is tied to my accomplishment and my accolades... I was like, dude, why am I bringing my resume to this date?" – Iman [12:05]

• Learning to Just Be:

  • Acknowledgement that undoing and resting are as important as "doing," especially for women balancing work, family, and fitness.
    • "There's so much undoing that we need to do as humans." – Dr. Akazi [12:22]
    • "Sometimes I look at women who have this beauty... who really knows how to just be." – Iman [12:46]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Emotion is energy in motion." – Dr. Akazi [03:33]
• "Pain is our body talking to us. So it's about time we start listening." – Dr. Akazi [09:17]
• "If you aren't able to connect to others, then there's a lot of loneliness, and that causes a lot of disease." – Dr. Akazi [06:35]
• "Doing is an amazing thing... But slowness is so important because it’s important to tap into what's going on in our body." – Dr. Akazi [10:43]
• "The number one longevity factor is connection." – Dr. Akazi [06:35]
• "People are much more open to talking about [men’s pelvic health]... and people are much more open to talking about it." – Dr. Akazi [37:02]
• "The real way to get rid of lymphatic blockages is to move…" – Dr. Akazi [27:21]
• "Pelvic floor maintenance… about once every few months, just to check." – Dr. Akazi [37:20]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:46] — Signs of Chronic Fight-or-Flight (TMJ, headaches, hip tension in men, etc.)
• [05:42] — Emotional Release in Bodywork for Men (Middle Eastern Men crying on the table)
• [08:56] — Pain and Identity/Victimization
• [15:32] — Against Symptom Suppression; Medication as a Mask
• [18:24] — Vitamin D Deficiency: Why Sunlight Matters
• [19:02] — Emotional Mapping of Pain (neck = stress, hip = grief/loss)
• [20:07] — Somatic Therapy and Its Distinction
• [24:36] — Fascia Explained
• [27:21] — Myofascial Release, Lymphatic Drainage, and Circulation
• [36:00] — Men’s Pelvic Health: Breaking the Taboo
• [37:20] — How Often Women Should See a Pelvic Floor Specialist
• [38:18] — Recovery Protocols for Longevity (Sleep, Sunlight, Movement)
• [42:08] — Find What Genuinely Makes You Feel Good

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Key Takeaways

• Men’s pelvic floor health is real and under-discussed. Many suffer in silence from issues like incontinence and prostate problems.
• Physical pain often has emotional roots. Cultural norms may make expression harder, leading to chronic issues stored as muscle tension—especially in the hips for men.
• Biohacking is not about pills or trends. Foundations such as sleep, real food, sunlight, and authentic connection drive true health and longevity.
• Pain should not define you. Acknowledge pain and its message, but work towards addressing its root—emotionally and physically.
• Fascia and somatic therapy offer powerful routes for healing. Everything is connected; emotional trauma can manifest as physical symptoms.
• Slowing down is a challenge—but necessary. In a hyper-productive society, balancing drive with rest and self-compassion is a hard but vital journey.
• Maintenance—not crisis care—is key, for pelvic health and beyond. Preventative attention benefits both men and women at every life stage.

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This episode breaks taboos, offering a compassionate and practical approach for both men and women to take charge of their hidden physical and emotional health needs—starting with awareness, connection, and holistic self-care.

Transcript

[A]

I love interviewing and bringing people on that are friends, but also practitioners who I worked with, body workers, doctors, all of that stuff. Tamara Akazi is a doctor of chiropractic, the president of the Emirates Chiropractic association and the founder of disc.

[B]

If you aren't able to connect to others, then there's a lot of loneliness and that causes a lot of disease. You know, loneliness is the number one killer. The number one longevity factor is connection. People are like, I feel a bit tired. I'm going to take peptide. No, baby, sleep. Take care of your circadian rhythm. Is it the food that you're eating? There's so many things that we can do that are actual, real biohacking tools.

[A]

Have you had grown men cry on your table? So many men crying on your table.

[B]

All kinds. And it's. And crying. I encourage it, you know, where if I have a meeting and I'm not at work, I'll always try to walk. Just find ways to connect more to the outdoors and, like, think about it. Have you ever been outside in nature and been angry or sad? It's impossible. Right.

[A]

What do you think is your one biggest fear that's holding you back?

[B]

I think it's learning how to slow down. You know, I want to do, do, do, do, do. And I think I'm afraid to slow down a little bit. Even though my body'.

[A]

I love interviewing friends, by the way.

[B]

Me too.

[A]

Makes my job a lot easier. I'm like, I know this girl. I know what she does.

[B]

Totally. And then it makes it so much better.

[A]

She knows my body.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

She's treated.

[B]

I never asked you how you were afterwards.

[A]

I felt amazing. So I literally came into you the other day was last week. Right. Please tell the audience how I came in.

[B]

Tell them or show them There was sadness in your face.

[A]

There was.

[B]

I mean, I have known you for not a long while, but. But every time I see you, you're like me, like, bubbly, full of energy, full of life. And then you walked in. It's like you had the weight of the world on your shoulders. Your shoulders looked like it. They were so heavy. Yeah. And sad and just tired, you know? And again, we restore fatigue and emotion in our body, and that's what we wanted to release. And then I think you needed to sleep, like 12 hours.

[A]

I did. And the next day we had a sound bath, which was so incredibly healthy for me because I had that restorative sleep.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And just shows you. Right. Like little things, like feeling somebody supporting you with the. Not a typical adjustment but holding space for you, creating that space for you in your body. Right.

[B]

It's a lot of energy work. Right. And I'm not a. You know, I used to be like, oh, I'm not into energy work, but it's energy exchange. What I mean by I'm not into energy is I don't understand. For example, I'm not a Reiki healer. I understand people that are. But unfortunately, I don't have that gift of that kind of connection. My connection is through my hands, by touching, and by energy exchange. And life is energy.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So just like you talked about the sound bath, sound bath is a frequency. It's energy running through your body to shift things. And that's why it's so efficient and effective. But we all need that kind of work. It's maintenance work. It's not, you know, we'll talk about this later, but sometimes people come and expect one session to just change their life. But life is a transformation event. Yeah. Ever moving, and energy comes and goes and ebbs and flows as we change, as we experience different things in life. So that's kind of the work that we do.

[A]

And I think this work is so incredible. And what I love about, like, body work in this whole space is sometimes we don't even know, but our bodies, like, you know, the whole book. The body keeps score.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We retain so many different emotions in our body. And we'll talk about the fascia a little bit later on as well. And we walk around unknowingly, just check, check, check, check. This is my to do list for today. This is my to do list for tomorrow. Not knowing that you're suffering in silence. So when you finally have a minute to sit down and somebody takes that weight off you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You can feel the physical shift in your body 100%.

[B]

And like you said, emotion is energy in motion. You know, so it's a feeling. And if you wonder how we store feelings in our body when we change, like, we have the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems, our fight and flight and our calm, nervous. And when we shift from one nervous system to another, we actually change the way we move. And so breathing is like our life force. And people don't think about it because it's. We need it to live. Right. It's subconscious. But when you start to go into fight and flight, you start to breathe so much more. So look at you now. You're like, I'm gonna run.

[A]

Yeah, take a deep breath, Yvonne.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. But we tell people to take a deep Breath to reset their breathing patterns. Because when we're stressed out, we start to use our neck muscles. We start to use other muscles in our body to compensate for being in a chronic state of stress, which is fight and flight, which is not natural for us. So that's how we start to store stress and energy body. And that's how it starts to show up in places that we're not supposed to overuse, like our traps. We get these big knots in our shoulders because we're overusing these neck muscles and we're, you know, exaggerating a movement that should be natural. So it's a lot more stress on the muscle. And a knot is basically overworked muscle.

[A]

When you meet people and they are having, like, you're saying this, like, shallow breathing over here. What are some obvious signs and symptoms that they have been in fight orf flight for way too long.

[B]

TMJ pain, jaw pain, like clenching, grinding. So lots of jaw pain, headaches, tension headaches, migraines, neck pain, of course, radiating pain down the arm, disc pain. Also weird sensations like tingling and numbness. And it's not weird, but it's. I mean, it doesn't make sense. There's no pattern. A lot of people come in with stomach pain, you know, because our stomach is ours, like second brain. So we store stress in our stomach so they start to get stomach pain. Women more neck and shoulders, men more hips. Men store a lot of tension in their. That's what I've seen over the years. I don't know why I thought it's

[A]

women who stir us so much.

[B]

I think we were like, trying not to kill someone. And I don't know, they must squeeze in different areas. But their engagement is more like, I don't know, but in the hip. So it's amazing. Like, they say, one is your masculine, one is your feminine. If you look at energy lines. But men saw a lot of tension in their hips. And I know when I start to get in and release the hips, like, the emotion that comes out of people is crazy. Especially when I use dry needling.

[A]

Have you had grown men cry on your table? So many Middle Eastern men crying on your table.

[B]

All kinds and crying. I encourage it. It's a release of energy, of course. And they get so. People get so embarrassed, like, I don't know. Or laughing or hysterical. Laughing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But it's a. It's a showing of emotion, which I encourage and I say is great. You know, of course you need to

[A]

release that energy, especially in this part of the world. And I, you know, for us, when we started the podcast, a lot of my audience is obviously from North America.

[B]

Right.

[A]

A lot of my guests would be North American. And I think sometimes in that part in North America, we have this weird illusion of like, what the Middle east in this region is like. Right. But we are so the Middle east and the Far east and all that stuff. We're so stoic. We're told to hold it all together. We have to get up and get shit done. There's no room for bullshit. Like, that's how we're raised from childhood, right? So very together. I feel the release is even deeper because we finally get permission to feel 100%.

[B]

And I think a lot of this. This story is changing. You know, people are becoming a lot more intuitive to their emotion and understanding a little bit that it's normal to feel emotion. We don't have this like, hold it in, be a man kind of thing. You know, women are the ones that cry. I think this story is starting to shift. All over the world know there's more men's circles here. Men are holding space for each other. Tons, tons that I hear about it. It's beautiful. And it's nice to see and hear that men support each other. Because I see it in my dad's generation, like, they don't have that. They don't connect over feeling, they don't talk over, over feeling. And they become lonelier as they grow up. And if you aren't able to connect to others, then there's a lot of loneliness, and that causes a lot of disease. You know, loneliness is the number one killer. We talk about longevity. The number one longevity factor is connection. So that's one thing that we noticed that is really, really changing. The nice thing that we have here is we're really big on connection, which is why family, family and support system. And maybe that's one of the reasons why it's a different kind of narrative here. But another day.

[A]

No, but I do think that's amazing. And I think people. Do you see people over here who are raised here and have families here versus clients and patients who come to you who moved from Europe or North America have different signs and symptoms because they have more of a nucleus like me and my immediate family only versus larger community and versus people who are raised here who have larger communities and are raised with families and support systems, have different health issues.

[B]

100%. I mean, there's more. There's more peace when you have family and you have connection and there's obviously less expression of pain because you're able to release your energy in other ways. But still, I think it's how people express. And also when we go back to that concept of pain, pain, is it also an emotion? It's a feeling. And I think some people also get too caught up in pain. I always try to tell people, dissociate yourself from the pain is not that it's not there. Don't not acknowledge it. Acknowledge the pain, but don't let it define you. And I think for a lot of people, pain begins to define them. And that's something that I find here. Maybe people don't like to talk about their pain so much because it does become a definition, especially people on chronic medications and things that are actually not normal that you should never be on. So pain becomes normal to them. And I think maybe that's something that's challenged a little bit more outside. But again, the narrative also really starting to change here because pain is not normal and we shouldn't be in pain.

[A]

I don't think it should be. A lot of people adopt, like, certain, like, things that have happened to them or their traumas or their story as part of their identity. Then they don't know how to shift away from that or shed that because they don't know who they'd be without it. It's almost this attachment to. This happened to me in my childhood. This has been really painful for me. These stories that we tell ourselves become what keeps us safe.

[B]

It's a victimization. But at the same, and I tell a lot of my patients, even people in, like, serious pain, like disc herniation pain and nerve pain, is the worst pain that you can, can ever experience. It's there all the time. There's nothing you can do about it. There's very few things that make you feel better, but there are people that allow it to consume them, and they're like, okay. And they end up getting surgery. And there are people that are like, no, I'm not going to let this consume you. I'm going to work on it. I'm going to find ways to reprogram my brain because our brain is what controls pain. I'm going to do things that make me feel good. I'm going to spend my time with people I love. I'm going to sleep more. I'm going to do all these, you know, biohacking things that are going to help me with inflammation and, and, and, and change the way I feel about pain. And I've seen some people just through meditation just do simple practices change pain pattern. Pain is our body talking to us. So it's about time we start listening and it's about time that we empower ourselves to change how we feel and not expect people around us to change how we feel all the time.

[A]

It's taking accountability that life is not

[B]

happening to you, it's happening for you 100%. And people like me are there to kind of push people in the right direction, kind of open up their eyes, show them or make them feel better in the moment so they get off the table and they're more confident to live, to do, to action, to be.

[A]

A lot of us, I feel like, are just not being. We're so busy going from one point, and I'm. I'm guilty of this, going from one point to the other, finishing one task to the other with my to do list, that there's a sense of being just in the now because that's all we really have. But I myself sometimes find that difficult practice, even though I know that's the right way.

[B]

Oh, my God, I'm exactly like you. You know, we're both like headless chickens. And I love it. You know, I love the energy. I love busy cities. I'm a city girl. And I think you're very similar to me. You know, I like the rush. I like. I like to feel important and needed and wanted and whatever it is, you know, it validates how I. How I feel about myself. But. But slowness is so important because it's important to tap into what's going on in our body. It's important to tap into how we feel. You know, I always say I use movement as meditation. Movement is my life through the work that I do and through the way I live. But sometimes it's really important to slow down regularly, to kind of just put yourself in check, like, what's really going on with me? How do I really feel that?

[A]

And I sometimes ask myself, tomorrow, what are we running from? What are we running from that we are keeping ourselves so busy, so occupied.

[B]

Emotions, it's loneliness, it's fear. It's so many things, you know, if

[A]

I stop, am I going to fall behind? And where is that sense of self worth coming from? Because I think you and I and I had this conversation at lunch with somebody. So much of my who I am is tied to my accomplishment 100% and my accolades and who I am, what I'm able to do. Yeah, and that comes from our family too, of course. We were raised to be like that. But a part of Me is like, I don't think that's even correct because sometimes I like, I'll go on a date and I'll be like, so I do. I'm like, dude, why am I bringing my resume to this date? Like, what the hell am I doing? You know?

[B]

100%. 100.

[A]

But it's so.

[B]

It's validation. It's your own validation to who you are. But it's, you know, doing is an amazing thing. And I always have this thing when people ask me, oh, you do too much. I'm like, well, I'm young now. I need to do it now because one day I'm not going to be able to do it.

[A]

Maybe you have to learn to undo. Yeah, just be and.

[B]

And it's the same for your body, by the way. There's so much undoing that we need to do as humans. I see it in a lot of athletes. I see it in a lot of women. I'm learning this myself is to do less. You know, I run marathons, and this year I decided to. To do half marathons. I'm like, I don't need to because I just have so much going on. Exactly. Why do I always have to be punish, push, push. And I want to do it out of love, not out of need.

[A]

Punishment.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, sometimes I look at women who have this beauty, including Mariam, who's just this gorgeous, beautiful soul who really knows how to just be.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The way Mariam enters the room, the way her boys so healthy. For me to spend so much time with her because I look at her and have so much admiration for her because she has this essence of just being able to be.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm like, here I am with my to do list and doing. And I have to do this and I have to accomplish this and I have to be winning this award. And I'm like, there she is. Just her essence is just this gorgeous human being who just is. And her husband just loves her for being her. And I was like, maybe I have this all wrong. I have this ingrained in us that the more we accomplish, the more loved we will be.

[B]

Yes. Yeah. But I think that's the journey of life, right? We need to learn and unlearn.

[A]

Unlearn all of that.

[B]

We need to unlearn. And I still think part of our identity, some of us, is to do things and to create and to make life a more beautiful. And that's how we receive love. But I mean, you're also doing something that, you know, making you happy as Long as it brings you joy, you don't need to sit around and just be, you know, I don't know how

[A]

to justfully be ever. You know, I always tell myself I was like, I don't think I could. Just like, my mind is such a active place.

[B]

Also.

[A]

I love to create. I'm driven by purpose, just like you are. We have a purpose. So when we wake up in the morning, the work that we do is really to impact people and help change lives and leave the world a more empowered, educated, better place. Because we always say our motto for the show is a curiosity heals. So all the message we deliver, the work you're doing, is teaching patients how to get in touch with themselves.

[B]

100 heal to heal. And I think when it stops bringing me joy, that's when I know I need to pull back a bit in anything is to do something with. With joy, with purpose, with a vision of creating change. Because at the end of the day, we all want to kind of leave a little legacy, you know, we all want to do what? The biggest pleasure for me exactly is when someone tells me, thank you so much. You helped me change my life. Or I saw things differently, or because of you, I started doing this and makes me so happy. Like, I will run to the end of the world for to make people happy.

[A]

When we started this session and with the recording, you said basically, you don't do Reiki, but in a way, when you touch people, you're so intuitive, you know what's going on with them.

[B]

100 no, no. 100. I see. I mean, I, I. There's one. I'll never forget this one experience in my life when I was living in California and I had a good friend, and he's a, an amazing yogi. And we. He was just laying there on the floor, and it was right before I was leaving, and I had my hands over him, and I think because we were both so connected, I felt this crazy burning heat, which is, I think of what Reiki is, and yeah, it is. And we looked at each other, and he's like, did you feel that? I'm like, oh, my God, I felt that. But I think you need to be so focused in the moment. I am so unfocused, and I think that's something I haven't tapped into. But it's, yeah, this amazing energy exchange, and I think it's bringing more focus to the work I do and how

[A]

you give it back. So you also talk about, like, how you're in a crusade against pain and pills. So most people will reach for that bottle of Tylenol or Panadol, whatever they call it in this part of the world. And do you stopping or inhibiting their body's natural ability to heal if they're numbing it with just, oh, let me

[B]

just take this pain. We all take. I take anti inflammatories, you know, when I get period cramps, like we all get, you know, am I gonna sit there and meditate my way out? I just don't have the time for it, you know, so it's there, it's supposed to aid us when we need it. But is it supposed to be something that we use all the time? Like you said, symptom relief is just really masking the issue. It doesn't make sense to take pain meds all, all the time means that there's an issue that needs to be, you know, resolved. For women, it's the same thing. I'm sure my life is too fast. I'm sure I need to slow down. I'm sure I need to sleep more. I'm sure I need to eat more.

[A]

Cortisol is really high.

[B]

Exactly. You know, and that's probably why I'm getting what I'm getting. But it's not normal to feel pain. Pain is a signal from the body and masking it with, with, you know, my, my crusade against pills is because I'm anti, by the way, even supplements and vitamins. Like I said, some people just overdo it. Absolutely. Why? Like eat well and plus, we don't know what's in all of these supplements. We don't know how they're stored, we don't know how they're transported, manufactured. Exactly. You know, take them. I'm always about cycling medication. Same thing with peptides. You know, now that everybody's talking about peptides. I know we, I love peptides. We prescribe them at the clinics, but we cycle them and it's important to take them when you need them, not just because you feel like it. And they're not, they're not the end all solution. No, not at all. People are like, I feel a bit tired. I'm going to take Peptide. No, baby, sleep, go outside, get some sunshine. Exactly. Take care. Take care of your circadian rhythm. Is it the food that you're eating? Maybe you're drinking too much alcohol, you're not moving enough. There's so many things that we can do that are actual, real biohacking tools before you mask with other things. Absolutely. And that is really the essence of what I'M trying to preach. And what I.

[A]

One of the things I've seen kind of interviewing so many people and, you know, having this show and meeting so many incredible people is there's no like magic pill in a bottle and it always goes back to the foundations. There's no biohacking out of the foundations, guys. Sleep, nutrition, hydration, like that.

[B]

Love and connection.

[A]

Love and connection. Like those four.

[B]

Sunshine, you know, sunshine. You know how many people I know that live here in the UAE, a country where it's 300 days a year of sun, sun. And they don't even step out of the house into the sun. You know, like people that live on the beach, they don't remember the last time they've walked out onto the beach with their bare feet. And I'm like, how are you not growing? Like, how. Yeah, if I lived on the beach, I would be out there all the time, all the day, feeding the sand, grounding, connecting our.

[A]

Most people don't even know that we have mitochondria in our eyes.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, so our pupils.

[B]

And that's where we get our vitamin D by actually being outside without our sunglasses on, you know, absorbing the sunshine, especially at sunrise and sunset through our eyes. It's so important.

[A]

And by the way, this part of the world and going even further out, we are extremely vitamin D deficient. Extremely.

[B]

Because it's too hot and nobody wants to be outside. But.

[A]

And when we are vitamin D deficient, it's actually a master hormone in your body. It regulates so many other things in your body and so many different functions. It's actually really dangerous to be vitamin D deficient.

[B]

100%. And people are not even like density issues on top of that, hormonal issues. So many imbalances that we can. And we see it on a daily

[A]

day when people are coming into you, what are some of the most common areas that they complain about and what emotional aspect is that connected to? You know, because different body parts connect to different emotions.

[B]

Neck pain, always. Stress related, tension related. Hip pain, always a lot deeper. A lot, a lot of loss, a lot of grief. Grief. You know, chronic, chronic stress from work, from. Again, like we said, men experience a lot more pain in their hips, but it's so different depending on how people feel. Again, there is lots of biomechanical pain. You know, I did something wrong, I fell. But that pain goes away within a session or two. The pain that's coming back again and again and again. You always dig deeper into how someone really feels. And there's always Something I work with an amazing somatic therapist. People are so resistant, so resistant to working on their mind. And I keep telling it's not a psychology session. It's really digging deep into an emotion that you feel. And it will come up the second you close your eyes. The first thing you feel will be an emotion and you just need to recognize it and you need to accept it. You need to change the narrative about it and then you need to let it go. That's not my job. But I work with some amazing people that do that. And so we really try to work in a holistic way on physical body. The alignment, the muscle tension.

[A]

If somebody listening to this says Tamara, what is a somatic therapist?

[B]

This.

[A]

What. What does that entail?

[B]

It's a body based therapist. It's a psychologist that works with feeling. It's not just about talking because we can convince ourselves of stuff and we can yap away about our problems, which a lot of, you know, all of us do. Yeah. But if we yap away about our problems, we are saying our side of the story of our problem. Whereas when you're going into body based therapy, you're going back into how you feel about something. So they take you back to a time or space or place where something happened. And you go back into feeling that emotion in your body, where you store it, which is usually where chronic pain appears. And then finding out how to, you know, especially next tension, like women with neck tension, neck pain for years. It's always coming from some kind of stored emotion or trigger or some traumatic event. And not everything has to be. People think trauma. They think like something super bad, but

[A]

different things to different people.

[B]

100. It's our perception of an event. You know, I always say I had the best childhood, the most amazing family, the best parents. But if you think of certain things that happen, my perception on them is, you know, scarring for my life or how I took a situation. It's changed how I act and react and all of these things. So healing those things is. And it's something that's so beautiful and so available to us now. Yet people are not willing to scratch.

[A]

And why do you think that is? They don't want to sit with themselves. It's uncomfortable.

[B]

Or it's like putting a mirror up and showing you your. Your. Not your flaws, but the things that have made you who you are today. And a lot of people just don't want to accept that. You know, they just want to push that away. And it's changing that is so hard. You Know, facing things that were difficult is so hard. You know, it's so easy to pop, build, or so easy to accept. This is how it is. I'm just getting older, you know, so it's so hard to go back and say, no, I had this really bad divorce or I had this really bad time in my life. I just want to block out that memory, and I just never want to go back. Right. But people don't want to face these emotions.

[A]

And they get stored in your body.

[B]

They get stored in your body, and the stories that you make up about that situation get stored in your body. And the grief and the suffering and the anxiety and the pain, and it all gets stored in your body. And then you start to manifest. Manifest that, you know, as really bad tension and tightness and chronic pain, which is not normal for us. Unless, of course, we're just sitting all day and just not doing anything, which is also other people's story. But, yeah, Which. But that's. We're not born to do that. Yeah.

[A]

We're born to move. You know what's so crazy is that in. In the US we only spend 7. There was some research that came out that said we only spend 7%. That's a very low number of our time outside. 7%.

[B]

That's crazy. You think about how.

[A]

And even look at Saudi, by the way. They're not spending much time because they're going from car to car to car.

[B]

There's an active culture. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

And so how we're meant to move, that's how we're meant to be. We're meant to be in nature. We're meant to take in natural light. We're meant to breathe in fresh air. But we're living in these, like, cylinders, essentially, you know, with these lights that don't even feel natural.

[B]

100.

[A]

And our bodies are like. Well, we're going AWOL and we're wondering why you're living in a cement box. Happen.

[B]

I think that's why you have to be conscious of these. These things, you know, where. If I have a meeting and I'm not at work, I'll always try to walk or, like, walk on the treadmill or take a walking meeting. If the weather is nice, I'll always go outside. Just find ways to connect more to the outdoors. And, like, think about it. Have you ever been outside in nature and been angry or sad? Like, it's just impossible to happen. It's impossible. Right? Like, you're around trees and flowers and you're distracted. You're not on Your phone. You're just like, wow, it's so beautiful. It's so great. You know, I'm going actually hiking tomorrow morning. You are?

[A]

Where?

[B]

In the mountain here. It's so nice. I haven't been in two years. I'm really upset. I haven't been in two years, but it's rocky, it's not green, and it's definitely a drive to get there. And the terrain is not very well marked. So I'm a bit like. Sometimes I get weary of taking certain people because you can be a bit dangerous if you go a bit too deep in. But it's so.

[A]

Have people ever gone lost?

[B]

Oh, my God. I had someone getting a heli lifted up the mountain. But I'm also that kind of crazy person that takes me. I've changed, but I used to take people on these crazy hikes. I'm like, you can do it. And now I'm like, I'm done. Like, you could. No, you cannot.

[A]

You can't.

[B]

Do not come.

[A]

You know, you're not invited.

[B]

But there's some beautiful. Easy. There's all kinds of hikes that you can do here. You can really immerse yourself in nature. The nature is beautiful. It's different. Yeah, it's rocky. You know, it gets very hot in summer. But we have a beautiful window from, let's say, December, end of November until, like, March, where I feel like it's amazing. It's beautiful.

[A]

Even October. I was here. Yeah.

[B]

You like it? Yeah.

[A]

Miami.

[B]

You like humidity?

[A]

I like it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I definitely do. I also want to tell teach everybody a little bit about fascia. So what is fascia? Why is it so important? And what does it do in the body?

[B]

So fascia is connective tissue. So the best way for me to explain it is if you've ever seen, like, a raw chicken breast, and there's like, this sheath that covers the chicken breast. That's what fascia is. It's really thin. It's connective tissue that encapsulates our entire body from our head to our toes, and it connects all the muscles together. So we have fascial slings. So let's say I'm moving my arm in this direction. The sling is going to go from my right arm down to my left foot. So it's what allows the muscles to work together in synchronicity. It's the connection between different muscle groups. And that's when we say, when one muscle works, the other one turns off and the whole chain moves together. That's what the fascia does. How does it affect us? Why are we working so much on the myofascial level is when there's trauma in the body, it gets stored both in the muscle and the fascia. But in the fascia, let's say you have an injury in your shoulder. For some people, it starts to show up in other areas of their body, in their neck and their mid back and their hip, because everything is connected and the fascia is the layer that connects everything. We also store a lot of tension and emotion because when we're chronically stressed and we start to engage our muscles or squeeze our muscles or grind or, you know, not be in a relaxed state, it also starts to create like micro trauma in the fascia. Or if we've had an accident or we've, you know, like you fall or you move to the gym, even going to the gym, it's micro trauma on your muscles, micro trauma on your, on your fascia. It doesn't get repaired as easily as muscle because it's connective tissue. So that's why we do a lot of manual work to kind of stretch. That's why we encourage things like yoga, where you're going through movements that are dynamic, which help elongate, extend, stretch, release. So, yeah, that's the story about when

[A]

you see all these people on Instagram, there's a lot of accounts that are doing like this fascia release work and people are crying. Some are true, some are not so true. But what do you think about that?

[B]

Look, I used to be very deep in my work. Like I was a big no pain, no gain person when I was, when I first came out of school and I was working on a lot, a lot of athletes. I have a completely different mindset about that now. I think we go through so much stress in life that you don't need to inflict that much pain in the body. I do use a lot of tools for myofascial release. I use some metal tools that look like scrapers. In certain areas where there's a lot of blockages, all you're doing is you're freeing up energy. You know, you're not changing the actual structure of the body. You're not breaking down anything. All you're doing is encouraging blood flow. Same thing with dry needling. Same thing with cupping. I do dynamic cupping. It's all about recreating either micro trauma or trauma in the body. Everything goes back to improving circulation. Right? Circulation is what heals us. You know, even with lymphatic drainage, I'm much more a fan of going and jumping on a rebounder or moving or walking than just getting a lymphatic drainage massage. It feels great. There are some cases where people need it, but the real way to get rid of lymphatic blockages is to remove it.

[A]

What I love about lymphatic drainage is that ability, especially proper lymphatic drainage. Right. Not slimming. It can put you in a state of parasympathetic right away.

[B]

That's exactly it. Yeah. It's about relaxing, it's letting go, it's re regulating your nervous system. And the same thing with what we do. People get off the table expecting to feel zero pain. What we've done is encourage you or desensitize the brain, desensitize the area to allow your body to feel less pain. But if you don't go and do the correct movement and sleep well and hydrate and do all the things that you need to do, then you're actually not going to heal. It's not going to work.

[A]

Have you heard of this technique called Rolfing? Yes, I really liked it. What do you think?

[B]

Okay, me too, me too. It's very energy focused and energy based. Yeah, I don't do it so much because I'm more of a, I like more myofascial release work. But Rolfing is amazing at, you know, releasing energy blocks in a certain area and especially stress in your neck. But again, like, like, like cars, we need maintenance. You know, it's not a one time thing. Like we get off and we live life again and stuff comes back. So unless we change our patterns in life, pain is going to keep coming back until we learn. It's a, it's a learning tool, you know, it's a learning emotion. Sorry. Basically telling us this is not nice, therefore do something to feel like. Yeah, exactly.

[A]

I also wanted to ask you, with a lot of the women coming into your practice, practice, besides body pain, what are some of the deficiencies, health issues, imbalances that they are experiencing?

[B]

Always. You know, mothers that also have full time jobs are trying to be fit and try to eat their protein and try to drink enough water and try to all of these things. So you have a woman with chronic stress, lots of neck pain, lots of jaw pain, other than pain, a lot of hormonal imbalances. We're pushing our bodies. A lot of us are not sleeping enough. Everybody's a bit too much into this perimenopause space. I mean, yeah, it's like every woman now that's in her 40s comes to me. She's like, I'm in perimenopause. Just because we have a little bit of brain fog. A little sleep more. Have you tried sleeping more? Have you tried correctly? Have you tried, you know, meditation and trying to refocus your brain? Because we're all going to experience brain fog when we're doing 700 things. So I'm seeing lots of different things. You have a lot of metabolic issues. So women gaining weight when they're like, I'm working out like crazy. I'm eating so well, why can't I lose the weight again? We're doing too much. And I'm guilty of that. I've experienced a lot all the time.

[A]

I mean, I'm experiencing it currently.

[B]

So hard on our bodies.

[A]

Do you know what's so crazy? So I thought I'd, like, leave Miami and move to Dubai because I have a better work life balance. That was.

[B]

Yeah, no, this is not the place to have work life balance. No, no, no. Here is a doing city. It's a city of doing. It's city of dreams. And you're not gonna dream by just sitting around.

[A]

You know what I mean? Like, you can become a legend here if you. This city, what I'm noticing is what you put in is what you get out.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

100, you know, and I was like, I'm gonna move to the Middle East. I'll have this better work life balance. And it's like seven days a week. No Christmas, New Year's off.

[B]

I'm like, I mean, you have to choose, right? You need to choose. You need to say, I'm taking the time off. I'm forcing myself to slow down. But again, this is.

[A]

But our brains don't switch off.

[B]

So then what do I do? Travel, check into nice hotels, vacation, and

[A]

be like, turn it turn on and out of office.

[B]

Yeah, you really need to. I'm. I'm also like, something I was saying yesterday, it's also my fault. But like, patients message me all the

[A]

time, all the time.

[B]

At night, in the Evening, morning at 7am, 12pm, I respond. That's the problem is I respond because

[A]

I love people and I feel bad as well. So I always said an out of office. And my managing director at the agency, she's like, why do you even bother doing.

[B]

You just can't do it.

[A]

She's like, what's the point of you setting a lie out of office on which is like, you're still going to jump in and respond. You're still going to mess up Message in the team group chats or to the clients.

[B]

I'm. I'm also horrible. I bother my team.

[A]

It's not like I'm doing this out of, like, it's not like, you know, I love what I do. I love the creativity. I love the collaboration. Okay. There's some days where I'm like, I wish I could quit. And then.

[B]

Yeah, the thing is, right on a Sunday, sometimes you'll be chilling. You're like, oh, my God, I have this idea. You got to put it down.

[A]

And then I'm like, guys, I'm sorry about that. I'm blowing up the chat today. But it's just a brain dump that's coming to me. You know, my ideas. And there's some days I'm just like, yo, I wish I could quit. And I go to my team, I was like, who can I resign to? They're like, nobody.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. You have to stay as a collective. We need to, like, chill. Yeah. And respect boundaries for people and time.

[A]

Oh, by the way, over here, people are working like, 8, 9, 10pm at night.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At least the Americans have some, like, decor. And the Europeans have a lot of decor.

[B]

I don't know, like, unless you're in a small town, I feel like in the US it's the same.

[A]

I don't know. We wouldn't message somebody like, obnoxiously at 9, 10pm at night knowing they have kids over here. People don't care.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They're like, hey, what's up? Like, did you get back about this?

[B]

Because they sleep at 2. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Is everything okay? Yesterday's having a work back and forth with somebody at 11pm and I was like, this person doesn't need to respond to me this message for tomorrow.

[B]

I know, but they're like, on it here. Everybody's so on it. Which is probably why everybody's so stressed out and why everyone is in pain. But I really think, you know, it's again, a city of dreams, a city of performance, a city of hustling. And if you're not ahead of someone else, people feel like, I need to go, go, go. But I think with us, we're so busy during day.

[A]

Like, I like to do all my to do list. If I don't do it now, I'll forget 100%.

[B]

And I don't want to be doing it when I was my patients. Like, I don't have the time to do it to do that.

[A]

So I also feel that. And you let me know the health and wellness scene here is changing so radically.

[B]

So.

[A]

So there's a lot of cons coming in. And I get really frustrated because I'm like, everyone's just trying to sell you peptides. Everyone's just trying to sell you some magic pill that. That doesn't work. Everyone's overcharging for stem cells. Like, who the hell is paying $50,000 for, like, a stem cell?

[B]

A lot of people. And I don't get.

[A]

It's crazy.

[B]

It's. I don't get it.

[A]

That's. By the way, we did a stem cell episode. That's not what stem cells should be costing. Or exosomes. They're just trying to, like, make a

[B]

fool out of you whenever it's new. I think there's so much novelty here. And it's just like, the biohacking space blew up here, too. And now I feel like it's kind of fading out because people are just like, how many. How many ice plunges am I gonna do? Like, it works for some people. It doesn't work for everyone. There's no one fit solution 100 and more than anything, I think what we need to focus on is real connections. It was funny. A friend today was like, I didn't see you at the Longevity Fest last week. I would have loved to go, but. But I have five days a week where I am switched on, on, on. On the weekend. And I love Longevity Fest. I love learning so much. But it's the same thing. And most of the time I go on people trying to sell me stuff, and I don't need that. You know? You know, appreciate that it's there. I appreciate it.

[A]

But there's other ways I can take in the information. The other thing is somebody asked me yesterday at lunch, and they're like, do you like being social? And my answer, actually, given that I'm extroverted, was like, no. I hate small talk. I hate being around people in situations I don't need to be in.

[B]

I agree. But we're social butterflies. Yeah. But I still would, but I selectively.

[A]

Selectively. I actually don't like a lot of people. I'm realizing more and more that I'm getting older. I'm really, like, picky.

[B]

Of course. Of course. I mean, the same with me. I don't go to a lot of events because I also don't have a poker face. Well, not just that. We put a lot of energy and effort into the things we love.

[A]

Yeah. And the people that we love.

[B]

Yes. And I want to give them the people I love and the Things I love the most amount of energy and I want to conserve the rest of the. For myself. Because we are like a finite amount of energy, you know, and we can't just give, give, give, give, give or just exchange with. And there's so many things in life, not people only, but things that are energy drainers. And I just don't want to do energy drainers 100%. But there are simple tasks that we do. That's an energy drainer. Where this is what I love about living here. I can hire someone to do something for me that, you know, cooking. I love, I love to cook. I just don't have time. I'd rather get on a meal. I'd rather put my energy into what.

[A]

Towards something. Yeah. And get the end result for it and sleep more. So I really feel that when it comes to our health and we look at the ecosystem health and we're talking about body work and fascia and all of these things. Energetically, who you surround yourself with, okay, sometimes your clients. What can we do? That's the most important thing. But energetically, who we share rooms with, ideas with, exchange thoughts with also really matters because that's what's fueling us who are positive and like minded and challenge

[B]

me emotionally, you know, intellectually as well. Right.

[A]

You don't, you. And I don't have to always like I always say it's good to have. You can't be in an echo chamber because then you don't learn and evolve. You have to have people who challenge you, challenge the way you think and see things because that's how you evolve as you 100. But at the same time, they can't be like these negative Debbie Downers.

[B]

I, I refuse to allow any kind of like, you know, short term negativity. We could all be there for a second. But I always hold myself, I give myself this like 5 second rule. I'm like, allow this emotion to pass and then just let it move on. You cannot allow negative things to consume you. You cannot be positive all the time too. But at the end of the day, I want to live my life. I want to be neutral and things come and go. And this is one of the reasons why people start to live in chronic pain and things start to affect your health. People just get attached, negative emotions. They get attached to grief, they get attached to a bad story, they get attached to, to fighting or drama.

[A]

I also want to educate our audience because majority of them are women, about the importance of pelvic health.

[B]

So for men and women, by the

[A]

Way for men too.

[B]

Men too. So many men come to us with incontinence and prostate issues. They don't talk about it so much. But I actually have two pelvic floor specialists that's in women's health and men's health.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Of course, for women, it's more prevalent because women go through pregnancy and they have episiotomies and tearing and changes in their bodies and they're carrying babies. But for men, because we sit a lot, a lot of stress, and a lot of men experience prostate issues, so that starts to affect their pelvic floor.

[A]

There's a lot of young, younger guy with prostate issues.

[B]

So many younger men. Yes. From either comment, Stress from heavy lifting,

[A]

sitting a lot, sharing emotions.

[B]

Of course, what we said, it sores all in the hip. And the pelvic floor is part of the hip area. You know, it's the muscle, many layers of muscles that basically go around your pelvic girdle, which are your two iliac bones and your sacrum. And there's so many layers of muscles that can create dysfunction when there's so much tension. And we can release that with breath, work with myofascial release, with manual work.

[A]

With even men, you can do manual work.

[B]

So many.

[A]

And they're not like attachment down there.

[B]

Honestly, a lot of men are scared, but a lot of men are open. We've seen so many men come because they don't want to have urinary issues. You know, it's a major thing. Exactly. It's a major thing. And people are much more open to talking about it.

[A]

I'd be ashamed of it.

[B]

Why? Why should you?

[A]

And with women, how often do you recommend pelvic floor maintenance?

[B]

So that's an interesting question because there's a lot of women that think, oh, if I don't, you know, I've hadn't had kids or I haven't had, you know, traumatic labor, then I shouldn't a pelvic floor specialist. But I see a lot of women that are young, especially nowadays. We train so much. It's so good for us. We lift a lot, but we also sit a lot. And that creates a lot of tension in our pelvic floor, which is why a lot of women are also experiencing pain either in their low back or in their pelvic floor area. Same thing. Pain with intercourse, bad periods, blah, blah, blah. So there's so many different symptoms that you're experiencing. Pelvic floor maintenance about, you know, once every few months, just to check. Because a lot of women have of extremely tight pelvic floors. And we also do a lot of myofascial work and breath work, queuing, teaching them, you know, guided relaxation, Recreating that connection between the brain and the body which is lost when you're in chronic state of tension.

[A]

Yeah, we're also in fight or flight all the time.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

For you work with so many elite athletes, what's the one thing for longevity and recovery that the average woman should be doing every single morning?

[B]

What? First? Sleep. Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep.

[A]

And what is how many hours?

[B]

Like, I need eight. I need eight, but I always get less than eight.

[A]

I always get, on average, how much

[B]

you have between six and a half and seven and a half.

[A]

Still not.

[B]

It's still great. No, no, no. I cannot. I can't function. Like, I actually cannot function if I sleep less. And the second thing for me is

[A]

going outside right away first thing in the morning.

[B]

I have to go outside first thing in the morning. Some people say, you know, lemon water first. I need my coffee. I need my coffee immediately.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I think for me, it's going outside, just going. Not looking at your phone, going outside, moving, you know, you don't have to go crazy, but getting a bit of movement before you start your day. For me, it's, you know, wake up, wash your face, do your thing, grab your coffee, get outside. It will change your life. It will regulate your nervous system. It will chill you out, even if it's cold. Few breaths of fresh air. That's what we need to kind of get our day started.

[A]

You're so good at taking care of other people and healing other people and holding space for other people. What do you think is your one biggest fear that's holding you back currently in this chapter of your life?

[B]

I think it's learning how to slow down. I. I'm like you, you know, I want to do, do, do, do. I have a vision for my brand. I have a vision for my clinics. I have a vision for how many people I want to help. And I think I'm afraid to slow down a little bit, Even though my body's kind of like, hello, you know, like, you've been doing this for so long at this pace, and it's time to slow down a little bit. And I'm resisting so hard, but I'm slowly starting to crack because there are. There are days, like, I just don't want to get up in the morning, morning, you know, and I just can sleep, like, nine hours.

[A]

Have you ever thought to yourself, what if it doesn't work out the way I thought, you know, and then from there being like, but what if it all just works out? But first we have to be like, what if it didn't work out?

[B]

To be honest, I am a person that has so much faith. Yeah, of course. Very strong spirituality. I'm very religious and spiritual and I pray a lot. I pray when I run. And I really believe that if it doesn't work out, it's working out in a way that's better for me. Me. It's working out the way it will always work out the way it's supposed to. And what's meant for you will always find you. And I just believe, like, I'm just gonna surrender to the way life is. I'm gonna give it my best, but I also have to surrender.

[A]

You know, the reason I asked the question or suggested that was because we're so married to the outcome. We are so in fear that we stop being like, okay, what if it didn't all work out? Things would still be okay. Right?

[B]

Things would. And I always think about that. You know, I've been in really difficult places with the business over the last few years. There are times where you're going through like literally hell and you think it's a roller coaster. Yeah, the end of the world. And then things just end up working out and you just have to take it like a pinch of salt and just say, you know what? I'm gonna take everything one day at a time. I'm gonna give every day 100, and then the rest is on God.

[A]

You know, things always fall into place. I also have this thing of being like, sometimes we are, you know, we can only meet ourselves at the level that we are. God is ever knowing, ever intelligent. He is actually all knowledgeable.

[B]

Right.

[A]

He created us living, breathing organisms. He created this entire universe. So we sometimes look at things from such a, you know, this is our viewpoint. That's all we know. Because that is a level of awareness, programming that we're allowed to meet ourselves at. But when you give it up to God and you say, actually your plan is so much bigger than anything I could have even imagined, you know what? This is my goal. But why don't you tell me what

[B]

you're able to do? You have to surrender. You just have to let go. Yeah. And take everything one day at a time. You know, you can't over plan. And it's the same with our health. Like, let's not over compliment complicate things. Let's take everything one day at A time today I can't get out, tomorrow I will. But it's baby steps and little things that make you feel good. And I always say, hold on to the small wins. For me, it's getting outside in the morning. Like today I did not feel like going for a run, but I was meeting a friend and it was the most beautiful run of my life and I was so happy and I was just on high all day afterwards and. And that's what I can do, you know, so find those little things that bring you joy, that make you feel good about yourself. Doesn't have to be crazy changes. You want to go for red light therapy session once a week, you want. Or once a month even. And you want to find yourself, you know, sometimes to squeeze in a massage here or there, you want to get therapy.

[A]

Whatever makes you feel fine.

[B]

Yeah. Find things that make you feel good. That's what health and wellness are about, you know, and. And even if you really tune in, someone's gonna tell me, oh, but having a burger and fries makes me feel good. If you really tune into your body, having a burger and fries all the time will not make you feel good. Will make you feel good once in a blue moon. It will not make you feel good all the time. Emotional eating never makes you feel good.

[A]

And there's always something at the root cause of where that's coming, coming from. It's always so. The funny thing I learned about emotional eating is, or how we generally associate any sort of feeling with food. It goes back to your early developmental years with your parents and your caregivers and the emotional charge that you gave certain foods over others. And it's diving deep into that work that takes you back in time and lifting that little meal, like, where is it coming from?

[B]

Look, my family always gave us everything. Like my mom, if you wanted pizza, she made pizza at home. You wanted a burger, she'd make you a burger at home. There was no bad and not bad, but there was this. If you don't finish your plate, you know, your dad's a garbageman or whatever, or if you don't, do, you know. And it came from their lack and scarcity and our abundance. They always wanted us to be overfed, never hungry, blah, blah, blah. You know, it's the trauma that passes on. So it's amazing to see these things. And, you know, every person has an eating disorder, whether you eat well, you don't eat well. We are obsessed with food and how food makes us feel and how it makes us look 100% you know, and look at this GLP1 explosion. Now, look, I'm. I'm very for it. The conversation.

[A]

Yes, I am.

[B]

Because a lot of people need it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

For people that don't need it. No. People that keep telling me it shuts out the food noise. I'm like, I'd rather work with a therapist.

[A]

No, no, exactly. Okay, let's talk about that for a second. Because I have no problem with GLP1s if you're really, really, really obese or if you're dealing with certain things, like.

[B]

But you know that nobody can go p ones who's obese anymore. Every single person. Like, you know.

[A]

But I don't agree with that. That's where I think, like, you're breaking your body.

[B]

There's a lot of research in both directions because I believe that we do a lot of things that do create insulin resistance in our body. We abuse our bodies in so many ways through food, but they're good process alternatives, you know? I agree, but not everybody is. Wants to work on the natural alternative.

[A]

But, like, there are. I always tell myself there are other alternative things that you can do that help with insulin sensitivity and stabilizing your blood glucose levels. Like sodium butyrate, as an example, berberine. You know, you have to take a little bit more. I prefer sodium butyrate. But the other things you can do that stabilize, starting with protein in the morning, stabilize your blood glucose levels. So having that awareness, I just think that we are over time because this race that we've gotten into with the GLP ones and more iterations of it are coming out, coming out, coming out. There will also be side effects because already our bodies are broken. Then you're putting the GLP1 pressure on top of it. So then it's like a toxic soup going on. Right. So I am all about taking about to core foundational health and how to make those changes.

[B]

And the other problem is social media. Look at how many athletes you have now. Or fit people that are like, oh, I microdose. Oh, I'm perimenopausal. Therefore, I'm micro dosing. I need to microdose. And I'm like, oh, like, you almost like, believe it, you know, because I'm always like, oh, my God, isn't Serena. Do we all need it? Yeah. I can't believe.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, look, I'm happy for her. She looks amazing.

[A]

She does look epic.

[B]

She looks so good, so fit.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But you never know because maybe there was also chronic inflammation from how much she trained you. Know, like, she trained like crazy and she is a beast, but she's retired now, so she can do whatever she wants.

[A]

She's like, that's it. I don't care.

[B]

She looks amazing, though.

[A]

I love you. I'm so grateful for our friendship and I'm so glad I got to interview you and take you into our community.

[B]

Thank you so much and all the

[A]

amazing work you do at disc.

[B]

And I'm really happy you're in Dubai. So welcome community. Come to Dubai. And I'm so grateful to have friends like you and who hold us, you know, accountable in terms of killing it in life and doing more pauses and taking a little pauses and chilling out.

[A]

Be around people that support your individuality and who you genuinely are.

[B]

That's really, really what being healthy is about for me. Yeah, yeah. Be happy.

[A]

Love you.

[B]

Thank. You, sam.