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Dr. Robin is a chiropractor, author, teacher, holistic healer, podcast host, unshakable optimist, speaker and the founder of Your Wellness Connection. Every day she meets people who truly want to feel better. They want to enjoy their existence and not merely “make it through another day.” She believes that we all deserve to live a vibrant, happy and healthy life. She also knows that we all have the power to create that life for ourselves. For thirty years, she has helped people create small changes that ultimately shift their habits and their life. Today, we want to help you get started on this journey!
Find out more about Dr. Michelle Robin at her website here: http://www.drmichellerobin.com/
music by ben sound .com
Transcript:
Welcome to The Art of Living big. My name is Betsy Pake entrepreneur, author and personal success coach. This is the show that brings you stories and small ideas to help you live a big life. I hope this once a week podcast will inspire you, motivate you and encourage you to think differently about what could be possible for your life. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let’s go live big. Hey, everybody, welcome to the next episode of The Art of Living big. I’m excited today to have my friend Michelle Robin with us. Hey, Michelle, thanks for coming on. Hey, Betsy, thanks for letting me join you and share with your audience. You know, we have such a similar philosophy, but I want you to tell everybody a little bit about yourself, and then we will dive into it.
Well, you know, I’m like most people had some drama and trauma growing up, got fortunate enough at the age of 15, to get hurt playing basketball. And live in a small town, my mom took me to the hospital and nothing was broken. So she took me to the chiropractor. And here I am 35 years later, hard to believe. And I am a chiropractor that specializes in well being. But the foundation for me is as being a chiropractor and making sure that the nervous system is functioning and it can’t function really well but doesn’t have the proper support, whether it’s the proper motion, the proper thoughts or the proper nutrition. So that’s a little bit in a nutshell. And I absolutely love what I need to do on an everyday basis. For me, it’s just like, I can’t believe I get paid to do this.
Yeah, that’s really cool. And you know, I always say or I often say, it’s when we are in the dark that we figure out the thing that is our light. And it’s and your story is just like that, right? So you get hurt, and then you find this really great way to heal.
Exactly. And I you know, and I’ve had some other things along the journey of the last 35 years that I’ve kind of just, gosh, taken it to a whole nother level. And for me, I love the spiritual side of well being. And so and then I got more into, you know, the energetical side of well being and then the chemical side and learn more and more, oddly enough, more and more about the nervous system, after 15 years in practice. So it’s pretty, it’s been a pretty phenomenal journey, I just pinched myself that I get to do it every day.
I really like the chiropractic care, there are some folks around here where I live, that are really into like the holistic side of it. So many times if something happens and we get injured, or we go to somebody that only sees one part of your life, right? They just see this, like you’ve got a neck injury, and that’s all they see, instead of seeing how like the whole energy surrounding it can really help you improve.
Well, if people really knew the chiropractic philosophy, you know, we were professional started in 1895. In the first adjustment actually was to a man who had a loss of hearing. And he got his hearing back. And it was like, Well, wait a minute, how does that work? And so through the years, we have become more of a medical model. Because we want it to be like everybody else. We got an insurance in the 70s. And so we became pigeonholed as paying doctors. But the real philosophy of chiropractic, what we’re taught is whole body holistic medicine. And unfortunately, many of us got in the trap of having to have diagnosis codes, and having medical necessity, which means I’ve got to diagnose you with something to treat you to get reimbursed. Right. Yeah, yeah. And, and the good news about health insurance system imploding is that we’ve gone back to affordable care, you know, an average visit, My office is $50. That’s cheaper than most people’s copay these days, right? So they can come in and we don’t have to play the game. Okay, now tell me what’s hurting today. You can’t come in and say, I feel good. I just want to get checked up. I just want to have a checkup, you’ve got to come in and say, you know, I’ve gotten a headache, or I’ve got back pain or whatever. But now they come and say, You know what, I’m feeling pretty good. I just want to make sure everything’s in all in alignment so that I could be my higher self. I know, for me, I’m traveling, and on the way to the airport, I was at my office, and then I left and our doctors were all busy. And I left to go do a TV show interview. And then on my way to the airport, I Oh my God, I really need an adjustment before I go give a talk tomorrow. And so one of my old colleagues, his office happens to be right on the way to the airport. And so I stopped by and got adjusted. I thought oh my god, how did people function without knowing about this medicine? So I will tell you that our philosophy from our founders, Dr. dd Palmer was you got to remove the interferences and there’s three types of interferences, thoughts, traumas and toxins.
Hi, okay. I love that. I want to dive into that. Okay. Yeah. Okay, so thoughts, traumas and toxins. So yeah. When you talk about treating somebody then are you just treating one of those or do you are you treating all of those
Well, I use a focus of the quadrants of well being and your listeners can go to the quadrants of well, being.com. And we have tons of resources resources on there that are free and had a free ebook called Small changes, big shifts, putting the odds in your favor,
which is why we connected because because of the small stuff,
I like it. Yeah, this is small stuff at the add up. And so when I work with somebody, I’m kind of like a quarterback. So somebody will come into me and say, Michelle, I have anxiety or have autoimmune or I’m having headaches or having back pain, what would you recommend? And so I sit with them, and I hear their story. And I think about Okay, well, they had a traumatic birth, or they had a car accident or they had a sporting injury, well, there could be the interference, there’s the trauma in the nervous system, then what we’ll do is look at some of the other things in their nervous system that can be impacting their sleep posture, maybe not using a headset when they’re on the phone. The way they’re their way, they’re sitting at a desk all day long. They say what sitting is the new smoking or sitting? Yeah, sitting is like sugar to the teeth, right? So sitting is like sugar. It’s the tea. Yes. And so then we talk about chemistry, Well, okay, well, they also probably have digestive issues, or they’re having hormonal issues, or they’re having blood sugar issues. So we talk about the nutrition piece of it. And a lot of people don’t know they’re getting toxins in, you know, in my case, I have a very clean diet. And I found out that I that I have some sulfur pathway issue. So my genetics, and so you’re well dispersed, you’re eating lots of broccoli, and onions and garlic. Well, my body can’t handle all that, because I have some pathways that aren’t working great. So I talked to them about the whole chemistry piece, whether it’s through food testing, food allergy testing, or doing something like the whole 30 or looking at their genetics. And then we look at the we look, then we look at the energy component, and the energy component component. It’s like air, we can’t see it. But we definitely can’t live without it. And that’s the whole Chinese medicine, philosophy of ci. And so we’ll talk about that. And then we talk about the psycho spiritual aspect of this, their thoughts, and maybe their belief systems, keeping them stuck.
So that’s kind of I really like all that. Yeah, you know, so many times we think, and I think in some circles, chiropractic care kind of gets a bad rap, because they think like, you just go in and they’re, you know, throw in your body around. But I have always felt like the experience I’ve had with Chiropractic and my background is that I’m a competitive weightlifter. So I’m in my 40s, but I’m a competitive weightlifter. And so chiropractic care is a big part of staying healthy enough for that sport. But I always felt like it was more of a holistic approach. So when people would say that to me, I feel like that’s, maybe that was something in the past. You know, maybe that’s how it used to be. I don’t know what what do you think about that? Have you ever heard that before? Were people are like, people just see it as one aspect. But what you’re saying is really like the experience I’ve had, where I’ve gone in, they’ve asked me lots of questions. And it’s been much more of a healing experience than it has been just like, I’m going in to get my back cracked, you know,
yeah, you know, everybody’s different. And so it’s just like going to a dentist or a medical doctor, you’ve got to find something that really catches your vibe, and something that really speaks your language. And, and there’s nothing wrong with we call it a pop and go experience. There’s nothing wrong with going in and getting adjusted. Because the adjustment is a foundation of well being in and leaving and some people that is their that is what they’re here to do on planet Earth. Right. And so I don’t want to trash any chiropractors who say, you know, Michelle, I just want to adjust people, I don’t want to talk to him about nutrition, I don’t want to talk to them about the heart space. And that’s okay, because we need people like that, because there’s absolutely no way there’s no way we could serve the population. If everybody really understood the power of a great chiropractic adjustment. There’s no way we can meet the demand. Yeah, that’s a really good point that there is a space for everybody, depending on what you need and what you want at any particular time, right? Sort of like there’s a lid for every pot. It’s like a personal trainer, you know, I know you know tons about personal training. And so you have some personal trainers who know a lot about nutrition in your case you do and some don’t. But they may know you how to get you ready for competition or they may know how to help you drop weight, right so we get into such a tizzy that somebody is not what we thought we throw the whole profession out. You’ve got to figure out what works for you. It’s it’s to me it’s always it’s like playing a basketball game. You know, as the coach you’re trying to decide, do I need a Ford at this time? Or do I need a center at this time? Do I need a guard? what’s going to help us win this game? And and for me winning the game of life is having my body not get in my way?
Yeah, yeah. So if somebody’s listening and they’re like, Alright, I don’t know that I ever thought I needed chiropractic care, but I’ve got some things that aren’t. Don’t feel like they’re running. Right? Right. Like, I’ve got some issues, how would they know? What is the right thing to go to the chiropractor for? Or do they just find a chiropractor that deals with like the whole body? The whole wellness bubble like you were talking about? And, and, and just go and see what they say like
what would be a common experience for somebody?
Well, I heard two questions there. One, how would I know if what I have going on would benefit from a chiropractor. And so if you think about chiropractors to the spine like dentists to the teeth, most of us need dental care or all of us need dental care. Yeah, the frequencies based on our home care and our genetics. Hmm, yeah, I’m so the same thing with chiropractic. I believe everybody needs a great chiropractor on their wellness team. And the frequency will depend on how you partner with them and how you show up to take care of yourself and your your case. If you’re a competitive bodybuilder, you’re going to your weightlifter, you’re going to need more care, but then the average person, in my case, I feel like I run a marathon every day taking care patients, you know, having my podcasts teaching speaking, and I really demand a lot of this, this body I treat it like I’m a NASCAR driver. Right, right. So I got I’ve got to change my tires more often. versus somebody who says, You know what, I do yoga every single day. I I haven’t I have an eight to five job. I am eating clean. I’ve had no traumas. So it varies. So I want people to know that there’s not one way to figure out what you need. But everybody’s individual. Yeah, okay. Yeah. So I believe everybody needs chiropractic. And I believe the most traumatic experience a lot of people have first coming in is a newborn. And we have actually specialists and chiropractic people don’t realize this. Think about this, like the medicine medical field, except we’re about 10% of the pop 10% of the medical population. So you got about 500,000 medical doctors, you got about 50,000 chiropractors, in the medical profession, you have family doctors, you have pediatricians, internal medicines, neurologists, in chiropractic, we have the same thing. except we’re such a small profession, we have less than, like, I know, I’m a certified wellness chiropractor. And so there’s a handful of us, comparatively, probably a couple thousand now over the last six years. And so we have a different paradigm. But we’re still fit underneath chiropractic. And and so if you have babies, there’s pediatric chiropractors, and I love them. And I would, you know, within a second, I would take my, my, my baby and have a chiropractor, check them out. It’s a total different experience than what somebody bigger would need, but you give their body a chance to turn the power back on. We live our life through the nervous system. In order for us to talk right now. We are communicating because of our nervous system in order for us to see, listen, digest heartbeat, it’s our nervous system and chiropractors, our doctors or neurosurgeons that don’t cut on people.
Okay, so Okay. All right. Now my brain is going crazy. So do you think like people that have babies to be adjusted? Or do you mean like the babies need to be adjusted, because it’s a traumatic thing I would think to be born.
It is traumatic, it’s a tragic c sections even more traumatic, and you can listen to Dr. Aviva ROM who talks about how the gut health is really suffers with C sections, but it’s also a cranial issue. And then there’s you got the cranial sacral. So experts, Dr. Carol Phillips, both who’ve been on my show, who talked about the cranial part of it. So I believe both mother, both baby and including the father as well. I don’t think there’s not one person on the planet who doesn’t need to be adjusted, it may be a different technique, it may be a no force technique and low force technique, a high velocity technique, we have 100 different techniques that we can use to adjust somebody, you just have to you have to go into your tool bag and say, You know what, this person has had a stroke before, okay, well, I’m going to do a non force technique on them. Or this is a, this is a brand new baby, I’m going to do some cranial sacral on them. This is somebody who’s broke their pelvis, which I did in my case, okay, I’ve got to do this instead. So, okay, so this is I’m fascinated now. So,
okay, so my daughter was a C section, and she’s in high school now. But when you said that about your gut health, because I know from my nutrition background, our gut health has so much to do with our weight, right? So it has to do with how our brain functions and the healing of our brain. And then also with our weight, so like the gut health of thin person is much different than the gut health of a heavy person. So
are you saying like your gut health can get screwed up when you’re born as a C section? Oh, sure. Because one reason that we you know, there’s no mistakes about the way we are created by Whatever you believe is the right yeah. And so when you go through the battle for you actually gobble up some Your mama’s poop. Right. Right. Right. And that and that inoculate your immune system. Yeah, hopefully, your mom has healthy poop. Right right not to look Candida. Yeah. So when we have a C section, baby, we don’t do that. Instead, we don’t get inoculated. Yeah, in our gut health, what I think is the most important besides the brain function. And we’re seeing a lot of depression and anxiety right now. So you talk about that, but is the immune system, it’s depending on who you read between 60 and 80% of the immune system is regulated by the gut. And so we’re seeing these all this autoimmune epidemic, whether it’s hashimotos, which is the thyroid, right, whether it’s multiple sclerosis, whether it’s irritable bowel, eczema. So you can see that it’s really, really important. And so I think that as a child as a baby, we need to have holistic care.
Yeah, yeah. So I’m wondering now like, and if somebody’s listening, like, I’m sure, because
I feel like when my daughter was born, it was,
I felt like there was more and more people having c sections at that time. And I don’t know if there was a surge in that, or it’s just, you know, my reticular activator, where I was noticing it, but I feel like a lot of her friends are also c section babies. And that became more like the rage for lack of a better term. And so I, I wonder, like, if I talk a lot about my daughter experiencing anxiety and sort of how that came to be for us to come up with solutions that worked for her. But I wonder now as we’re talking, and I’ve been learning more and more about gut health, if there is some sort of relationship between her anxiety or in weight struggles, and, and being a C section, baby and not having that experience, and if chiropractic care could help her kind of work through that that holistic process?
I would say yes, yes. And yes. And it’s such a non invasive medicine. That’s what I love about it, you know, part of my next path in my career, we’re celebrating our 25th year right now is really to focus on the five to 30 year olds, because of all the anxiety I’m seeing in the in the gut issues. And I really believe there’s a way we can turn that if we don’t turn it, we’re really in trouble. Because we’re, you know, we’re this fish pond, and, and we’re getting more and more polluted, whether it’s because of the food, or the water, or the air or the electronics, you name those, we’re getting more and more polluted and, and it’s not just about your daughter, here’s the reason why to do it. It’s about your grandchildren. Yeah, you’ve got to get her her environment, her ecosystem healthier, so that when she starts to have children, they are healthier, you’ve actually kind of downregulated some of the DNA DNA defects, right. And so instead of throwing gasoline on them, through whatever we do through nutrition, or through technology, or through not enough sleep, we throw gasoline on our DNA, and we need to throw water on it. And I believe from every single cell in my body, that chiropractic helps throw water on our system. As long as you have somebody that you trust that you’re comfortable with. I’m not saying every single therapist could be right for anybody. I’m not right for everybody. I’m overwhelming for a lot of people, because I’ve just got so much passion for them and their well being that they think oh my gosh, what do you really mean drinking water matters? Yes, you cannot be well without drinking water. Right. And I personally don’t believe you can live your best life without having your nervous system turned on. I believe I believe that and no, no that and I’ve been adjusted for 35 years now, at least twice a month for 35 years. I’ve been fortunate to take no medication since then. And I lived on antibiotics before that. My family’s not my family’s not in chiropractic. This was just because I got hurt, went to the chiropractor, and then fell in love. And it just became my passion, my path. And so I have now now that I’ve witnessed it on my own self, I manage my anxiety with it. Yeah, literally, I want to tell you, I was driving to the airport saying okay, who there’s got to be a chiropractor between here and the airport that I could see. And because I had that 30 minute window where I had time to go see somebody and I’ve deemed and I reminded oh my gosh, to my old partners are on my way. And I deemed one and she says Yes, come by, I could see you. And it was like, Oh my gosh, I could actually think better.
Right? Yeah,
yeah. So you asked me a second question. I don’t want to forget when we got on this excitement and passion is how do I find a chiropractor?
Yeah, that’s what that what I was gonna ask you that again. Yeah. How do I so if someone’s listening and you said you were a certified wellness chiropractor? Like do they need to look for a certain thing? Or how would you even go about it? And it’s making me kind of rethink my chiropractic care. So
yeah, so share it. share share.
Well, you know, and I would say in there and you may use different ones, you know, I’m fortunate that just kind of like massage therapy, I believe in massage therapy. And at any given week, I may see two or three different massage therapists. Yeah. And so I have I have a bench, you know, once again, I’m gonna go back to the basketball analogy, I have a bench and I have a reflexologist I have two acupuncture. So I have five chiropractors, I have different massage therapists, I have a sports massage therapist, a cupping massage therapist, I have a cranial sacral massage therapist. So create a team of people that work for you. And you may say, you know what, this chiropractor is phenomenal. Give me guidance in there a Great Neck chiropractor. And this chiropractor may be a great low back chiropractor. This thing will be a great extremity chiropractor. So I would not get pigeonholed in using just using one chiropractor personally. Yeah. Because you have unique different things on different times.
Yeah. Okay. And if somebody was going, what would you say would be an average? So if that it would cost them so someone’s listening? They’re like, that sounds like something that might really help me but I don’t have insurance or an I know, my insurance doesn’t cover chiropractic Like what? Is there a range that you would think would be normal?
I think the average is probably going to be about $50. Okay, you know that first visit if you don’t have some some chiropractors diehard really like to see x rays. Yeah. And so you can always have your maybe get those at your doctor, but I know for me, what I do is I just charge a flat versus a fee. It’s $100. Yep, it’s our it’s our consultation. If I do an adjustment, it’s included. And if I take x rays, it’s included I I’m in it for the long haul. I want to see you and your family grow up healthy. And well. Yeah, I’ve always I always I always tell my patients, I’d rather you pay me a little bit each time. And we’re together for 30 or 40 years. That means you pay me a bunch, the first month we work together. And then you’re done seeing me because you can’t afford me.
Right? Yeah, yeah, I like that approach. I mean, because that really means you care about people progressing and feeling better, as opposed to just the quick buck, right?
Well, it’s a small, it’s a small world. And you know, as I say, If I see you on the streets, 20 years from now, I want to know that I made your life better. And that I gave you some insights. And that’s my mission is whether I continue seeing you as your primary chiropractor or not, or your wellness coach is that I know that I did something to help you on your journey and not hurt you. The medicine is first do no harm.
Right, right. Yeah. So when if someone’s looking, then where would they start to find somebody in their area?
Well, you know, this sounds a little bit crazy. But I think social media is phenomenal. at that. Yeah. recommendations, and we typically know people who are like us. And so if I put something out there about, I need a let’s say a dentist, and when I look to see who responds now look to is it convenient to me is okay, that’s so and so and so and so has a really similar vibe to me. So they’re probably gonna like the same type of people I like, right. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and then feel free. here’s, here’s another good, you do a little bit of shopping, walk into the office, and just drive just walk in and just say, you know what, I just wanted to come in and, and feel the vibe, Brian to kind of I want to kind of see the interaction in your office and see if it feels right. And could I meet the doctor? Right? Yeah, do a little bit, do a little shopping, your most important asset is your well being. And so it’s important that you really invest in it, not just go, you know, out of foam, but that one looks good. They’re the cheapest one, right? I would rather I’d rather I’d rather pay 510 $15 more and have a phenomenal experience. You know, we’ve got we’ve got some chiropractic places that are popping up for the $20 adjustments and, and who knows, I’ve never been to one so I can’t say yes or no, but I would rather have a great adjustment. And somebody who’s connected to me then it’s not all about the school, the
finance sheet. Yeah, the cheapest, cheapest unless that’s just somebody that’s on your bench, right for if you’re in a pinch, and you can run in a place like that.
Good job. You got the lingo.
Yeah, I really I really like social media. Because I’ve been and you’ll kind of hear I see it all the time. People say I need a chiropractor and I need it in this part of town and and who do you and who and who do you recommend? And you’ll see what name comes up two or three times?
Yeah, yeah. Is there any kind of certification that people need to be looking for?
For chiropractic? Yeah, we’re all have to be board certified. So if you look at chiropractic, what is chiropractic? It’s you think about there’s the three medical professions that you get the MD medical doctor, toolbag typically are going they’re phenomenal. If you get injured I highly recommend you go if you have a bad accident, you need a broken bone. They are good at they do a lot with managing medications, and maybe some surgery so drugs and surgeries. And there’s other physician other MDS that also do more Coaching as well, kind of in the functional medicine world. Then you’ve got the doctor of osteopathy, and they’re kind of a combination of the chiropractic philosophy, which I kind of believe were spin off of osteopathy, by the way, and MDs, they have dragon surgery, they could do those. But they also know about spinal manipulation, and they know the impact of that. So they’re a doctor of osteopathy, then you have the doctor of chiropractic. And we believe drugs and surgery are the last resort. We don’t believe they’re not not necessary, we just believe that it should not be the first line of defense. And so that’s kind of the way it works. So then under each of those, they have the specialties. So if you’re in a city, like Atlanta, or Kansas City, where we’re fortunate to have one of the 17 chiropractic college, I believe they’re still 17, I could be wrong could be 16, to be 18. But we’re others under 20, chiropractic colleges, in our in our country. If you’re in a city like that, you’re going to have tons of choices. Because people move there to go to school, they fall in love with the city and they say stay. Yeah, versus versus if you’re somebody who’s maybe in Ohio, and maybe Cleveland, Ohio, you may not have as many choices, as you would have in a city like that.
Right? Yeah,
that makes sense. So it varies. It changes. For instance, I had a bad accident two years ago, and had a head injury. And I went to see a chiropractic neurologist in Dallas from Kansas City. That’s where I went, that was supposed to be the best person to go to. And so I went to see them. And so I had the knowledge to know what type of chiropractor I wanted to see. And they had a specialty in neurology. Wow, that’s really cool.
So can people go to your website and find out more information? Is that a good spot for them to go to learn more about this?
Uh, you know, my website talks. You know, I have a couple. I have my speaking and I have my practice website. I actually run it center called your wellness connection in Kansas City. We have about 25 practitioners that come together. chiropractic massage, acupuncture, functional medicine, doctors, psychotherapists, yoga, so So I have my practice website, your wellness connection if they’re in the Kansas City area. Cool. Yeah. But But then my teaching websites called the quadrants of well being, and which were launched this year, my 25th year, which talks about this whole philosophy, if they want, if they’re having trouble find a chiropractor, they feel free, they can, they can reach out to me, I’m easy to find whether it’s Facebook, or LinkedIn or Twitter, and I’m pretty responsive. Because this is my life. Yeah. So yeah, but But once again, it’s not it’s not super hard to find somebody great. You just have to have a little bit of tenacity.
Yeah, I love it. Well, thank you so much for coming on. Michelle, this was fascinating. And I am, like, more interested now then ever to really get control of my health in that way too. And maybe look into some options for my daughter, which I’d never even considered. But now seems like so obvious and such a great idea. So thank you for coming on and sharing with me and with my listeners.
Well, thank you for having me. And remember, for all the dollars you invest in your daughter’s well being you’re in depth investing in your grandchildren, your future generations.
Yes. And from what I’ve heard, I like the grandchildren more than I like the teenager. That sounds like a good plan. Thanks so much. Thanks, Betsy. Thanks for having me on your journey. today. I want to invite you to jump inside our free Facebook group. You can find that at SS lB community.com that stands for start small, live big community.com and we can just continue the conversation in there. And as always, here’s a little message from my husband.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
