Yoga for IBD With Desiree Schmidt - About IBD Podcast Episode 135

Yoga for IBD With Desiree Schmidt – About IBD Podcast Episode 135

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Desiree Schmidt, a 500-hour yoga instructor and owner of a personal training business, shares her passion for helping people with chronic illnesses, which is inspired by her own experience with Crohn’s disease. She discusses how yoga has been key in her journey, both physically and mentally.

Amber and Desiree discuss the benefits of different yoga forms and how to choose the right practice based on whether one is in a flare-up or in remission. Desiree points out how it is important to modify poses when living with a health condition, including IBD, to ensure comfort and safety during classes. She offers insights into providing options for different needs, making the yoga accessible for everyone.

Gain valuable insights into the world of yoga, its benefits for chronic illness, and how to embark on your own yoga practice with confidence and guidance.

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Find Desiree (Schmidt) VanDaalwyk, NASM-CPT, FNS at:

Find Dutchmen Kettlebells at:

Find Amber J Tresca at:

Find Mac Cooney (mix, sound design, and theme music) at:

Episode transcript and more information at: https://bit.ly/AIBD135

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Transcript

[Music: IBD Dance Party]

Amber Tresca  0:05 

I’m Amber Tresca and this is About IBD. I’m a medical writer and patient educator who lives with a j-pouch due to ulcerative colitis. It’s my mission to educate people living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis about their disease and to bring awareness to the patient journey.

Amber Tresca  0:21 

Welcome to Episode 135.

Amber Tresca  0:25 

We sometimes joke that well-meaning people tell us to use yoga to manage our IBD. It’s one of those common pieces of unsolicited advice. Well, a few years ago I took a dive into the research. Some of the studies I found showed that after an 8 or 12 week yoga program, some people with IBD has less joint pain and an improved quality of life. It’s kind of annoying because I think we may have to find a new piece of unsolicited advice to make fun of. 

Amber Tresca  0:53 

My guest is Desiree Schmidt, a 500 hour yoga instructor who has experience in working with people who live with chronic illness. She brings a special focus to her yoga practice because she herself lives with Crohn’s disease.

Amber Tresca  1:05 

She explains what type of yoga might be better during remission verses during a flare-up, how and why to modify poses, the ways she helps beginners feel comfortable in her classes, and what to look for in a yoga instructor.

Desiree, thank you so much for coming on about IBD I’m really excited to talk to you today.

Desiree Schmidt  1:29 

I am very thank you so much for having me.

Amber Tresca  1:31 

Oh, it is my pleasure. You have so much information to share that I can’t wait to get it out to our listeners. But first, let me ask you to briefly introduce yourself so people get a idea of where you’re coming from.

Desiree Schmidt  1:45 

Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Deseret, and I am a 500 hour yoga instructor. And I own my own business with my husband. And we do personal training. We do I do yoga classes. And I have a passion for helping people with chronic illnesses, as I also have Crohn’s disease. So that is my passion right now for helping people

Amber Tresca  2:12 

does right. I don’t know anything about yoga, my knowledge of yoga extends to what I’ve read in research. And then also, I think, like some videos I did while I was pregnant, can you explain to me first off, what does that mean? 500 hours like I’ve seen different measurements for different yoga instructors. Can you just briefly let me know what that means? Yeah,

Desiree Schmidt  2:35 

absolutely. That’s a great question. So there’s different levels or different certifications for yoga instructors and 200 hour certification is kind of the first certification for most yoga instructors. And that that’s like an entry level for a yoga instructors. And then the 500 hour is a higher level. So that means you have more experience, you’ve been teaching longer. And you have kind of like, almost like a master’s degree, basically. And in yoga certification.

Amber Tresca  3:12 

Right, right. Okay. That’s what I thought it was.

Desiree Schmidt  3:14 

So but is there is there another level, there is actually you can get what they call an E, if there’s like an E next to it, which means you’re an experienced 500 hour. And all that means is that you’ve been teaching for a certain amount of time. And and I’m almost there, actually. So yeah. So there is another level up to that. So it’s like the third step. And I’m almost

Amber Tresca  3:44 

glad we get well, so I will look for that designation when it changes. Yeah. In all the places that we could find you. So let’s start you did say that you live with Crohn’s disease. So let’s start with that. Let me know. How did your symptoms start? How did you get a diagnosis? Where did this all begin?

Desiree Schmidt  4:05 

Yeah, so I was diagnosed 20 years ago, I was only 15. When I first started seeing symptoms, it really started just in the abdominals or I was experiencing pain, cramps, bloating, and as a teenager, you don’t really think much of it. You kind of think that’s just girl problems, right? So I really didn’t think much of it.

Desiree Schmidt  4:30 

But they started getting worse, and they weren’t going away. So I eventually told my parents about it. I was sent to a children’s hospital, where I was told I had Crohn’s disease, and I was actually hospitalized for almost a month because my symptoms were so bad. I ended up having a couple of procedures while I was in the hospital, and including a blood train fusion because I was actually losing blood during that time.

Desiree Schmidt  5:05 

And I found out too, that a lot of people during the ages of 15 to 20, are diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, which are within that family of IBD. And so it’s very prevalent within the teenage years for those to get diagnosed. And so I’ve been living with it ever since. And it’s I’ve had my ups and downs for sure. I’ve had a few, you know, good years where I’ve had very little symptoms. And then I’ve had some years where it’s been pretty bad. I actually found yoga because of Crohn’s disease, where yoga has helped me through it helped me not only physically but mentally as well get through some of those ups and downs. Yeah,

Amber Tresca  5:55 

Your your story is very similar to mine. And I’m sure a lot of other people’s now, I have a two part question for you. What are the benefits of maybe choosing one form over another? And that in does that make a difference with IBD? And when you’re flaring or in remission? Because what I’m trying to get to here is that for people who have not practiced yoga before, how can they think about starting in? What should they be looking for? Before they start taking classes?

Desiree Schmidt  6:28 

Yeah. So that is a really great question. And it does make a difference if you are in a flare versus in remission. Because there are certain yoga poses that if you’re in a flare up, you’re going to want to stay away from certain postures, like, twisting, for example, is going to put pressure on your internal organs. And if you’re in a flare up, that’s not going to feel very good. So you’re going to want to stay away from those postures, right? Because it’s just, it’s not going to do you any any good. In fact, it could be more painful if you’re in that posture, so it will make a difference.

Desiree Schmidt  7:09 

And the two most common forms of yoga is going to be your vinyasa flow, which is more of a fast paced yoga class. And if you’re in remission, that could be really refreshing, really energizing. And for those of us that do have Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, we can experience bouts of fatigue and low energy.

Desiree Schmidt  7:35 

So a Vinyasa practice can actually be very beneficial for us, especially in the morning, when we want to feel weak, we want to get ready for the day. The other form of yoga is more of restorative, where it’s slow. It’s more on the ground, stretching, we think of deep relaxation. And that can be very beneficial for those who are in a flare, because it’s going to be more relaxing, deep breathing, that can help if you’re in a lot of pain, because it’s going to focus on the breath, it’s going to be more helpful for your mental state as well to help kind of calm the body, relax the body, especially if you’re dealing with pain in your in that that type of flare up.

Desiree Schmidt  8:21 

So those are the two most common types of yoga. And one would be good if you’re in remission one is going to be good if you’re in a flare up. And I would definitely avoid the fast pace. If you’re in a flare, it’s probably not gonna feel good on your body at that time.

Amber Tresca  8:41 

Right. Right. And so you live with Crohn’s disease. And so you understand this in a way that maybe other practitioners might not. So what I’m thinking about here is how you might modify poses or modify a class for people who live with Crohn’s disease or with other health conditions. So how do you go about doing that? Is it something that a person who lives with IBD, who is taking a class might then understand how to modify the pose for themselves in order so that they can continue to, to practice and to go to their classes, maybe even while they’re experiencing a flare up?

Desiree Schmidt  9:29 

Yeah, so as someone that has these conditions, I know that there’s secondary symptoms other than digestive. So there’s joint pain, there’s muscle aches, even just stamina being able to go through, you know, sun salutations. After a few we might get tired and we might not be able to do as many or sitting in a posture for very long, we might get tired more easily than some of the other students And so I’m able to be cognizant of that. And cue in a way that I can throw out options, so that all students can feel comfortable.

Desiree Schmidt  10:14 

So if someone is experiencing joint pain or muscle aches, I can throw out options for them to take a different pose, or take a pose in a way that will help their body feel better. And so they don’t necessarily feel uncomfortable during this certain posture.

Desiree Schmidt  10:36 

So like in, in a plank position, if your hands are bent, your wrist might start hurting. And so I’ll throw out an option where your hands can stay straight. That’s an example of how I’ll modify a certain posture. Or I’ll let people know that they can always go into child’s pose at any time. And I’ll even go into it myself so that students feel comfortable. And they don’t feel alone. As a as an instructor, I’ll go into the pose with them. So they don’t feel alone.

Amber Tresca  11:10 

That’s really great to hear going to a class where your skill level might be different than other people in the class. Yeah, it does sound a little intimidating, and that it could lead to some discomfort, of course, you want people to come back and enjoy the class. So I love that you do that. That’s a really smart way to go about that, I think.

Amber Tresca  11:33 

You work with people of all fitness levels, you work with people who live with different health conditions and are finding their way through yoga and improving their health by doing so, what do you find fulfilling about this?

Speaker 2  11:49 

Yeah. You know, I get asked that question a lot, actually. And it’s kind of like, I feel like I’m living my dream life. Like, every day, I’m teaching a class. And at the end of the day, it’s almost like, I can’t believe I get to do this for a living, you know. And it’s because at the end of the classes, when I see people smile, and I see them leave and feel better. And they tell me that they moved better, they tell me that, after taking classes after a few months, that they can now do things they never could do before.

Desiree Schmidt  12:30 

Or, you know, maybe now they can touch their toes. And they never did that, you know, they could never touch their toes, or they’re able to play with their grandkids. And you know, they weren’t able to do that. They had knee pain, and now they don’t have knee pain. So just hearing their success stories, makes me feel so good inside. I’m also inspired by the different age groups I get to work with. So I have a senior group that I go to, there’s a home I go to, to do chair yoga with.

Desiree Schmidt  13:10 

And I just had a woman who turned 100 years old, and she moves just as good as some of my 60 year olds. And she tells me every class she goes Deseret. It’s because I’ve been doing yoga for you know, she tells me she’s been doing yoga for 20 years. And every class she tells me that I’ve been doing yoga for 20 years, and if I would have stopped, then I wouldn’t be here today. So I’m so inspired by people like that. And I want to be like her like she’s my you know, Muse. So that’s what keeps me going. That’s what keeps me inspired. And I love that I get to do that for a living.

Amber Tresca  13:52 

When you go back and work with your 100 year old student, can you ask her some more questions for me like how?

Amber Tresca  14:27 

I’m assuming there’s going to be people that are listening that are like me and have never engaged with yoga in a very deep way. Previously, I did some yoga at home while I was pregnant was helpful. And I forgot and I just remembered that I did some yoga with my son when he was a toddler, I think so I took him to one of those like mommy and me kind of yoga classes. And I’ll say like probably pooped As part of it was the end, where you structure would put on the soft music turned out in the lights, we would all sit with like our legs against the wall. And then occasionally, she might give some of us like a, like a little shoulder massage like that. That was pretty amazing. But I have been resistant to going to formal classes just because it’s not something that I’ve done before. So what’s your advice for someone like me, who would like to start taking classes and just doesn’t even know where to begin?

Speaker 2  15:44 

Yeah. Two things to that. One, I would look for any offerings that are any yoga studios that might offer beginner yoga classes, that is pretty common for yoga studios to throw out either like once a month or something like that, they might offer a beginner yoga class. If they do, that’s a great place to start. Because then you know that, that’s going to be something where you’re not going to be the only one who’s just starting out. And the yoga teacher is going to be there for those who are new to yoga. So you’re not going to be surrounded by people who know what they’re doing. And who are, you know, experience, it’s going to be everyone who’s new to yoga. So those are great classes to begin.

Desiree Schmidt  16:32 

So my second thing I would say is finding instructor that works for you. So every instructor is going to be different. They all have their own teaching styles, even their own unique voice, you know, there, some people are going to have that soft yoga voice is what they’re called, others might have a more strong demanding voice, and you’ll find one that that kind of connects with you. And that’s really going to help you enjoy the class more, when you find that instructor that you’ve like you connect with, and you enjoy. So it’s really going to be about trying different classes. And don’t be afraid to kind of shop around to different yoga studios.

Desiree Schmidt  17:21 

And you know, you don’t have to go to a studio and feel like okay, now I gotta stay with this studio. It’s okay to try one class, go to another studio, try that class. And just keep looking until you find one that that suits you. And some people like the virtual classes as well, you know, doing some online that they can just do right in their living room, I’ll say this

Desiree Schmidt  17:42 

Lastly, that I like to tell my clients that yoga can also be two minutes while you’re brushing your teeth, and you just pause for a second and take a deep breath, that can be yoga. So it doesn’t have to be a full 60 minute class. You know, even if you do a 32nd stretch, before you head out the door for the morning, you can have these little yoga moments throughout your day. So don’t feel pressured that you have to take you know, these long yoga classes, it can always be just a few seconds throughout your day too.

Amber Tresca  18:23 

I think that’s where some people get hung up on on the the idea of intentional movement as well, that it’s like if you’re not running a 5k every morning that it’s not worthwhile. You know, it’s really important to point out that like you can like it can be cumulative, also over the course of your day. You know if you could find five minutes here and there.

Desiree Schmidt  18:46 

Yes, yeah.

Amber Tresca  18:47 

Um, so about taking classes online, I have read that maybe you should think about taking a class in person so that you could get the benefit of that. Instructor, making sure that you’re doing the poses correctly before you try to do it online. Do you have any thoughts about that,

Speaker 2  19:13 

It is beneficial to go in person because you are going to get more of a personalized touch. The instructor can definitely be more hands on more with adjustments. They can see you better to you know, let you know if you are in the posture correctly. As someone who has taught online class it is classes, it is very hard to look at all the participants and make sure that they’re in the postures correctly.

Desiree Schmidt  19:45 

So yes, I would agree with that. If you can take a class in person to begin with to make sure that you’re doing things correctly. And I personally enjoy getting adjustments from The instructor I think they feel amazing when you’re able to get hands on, uh, you know, when when I’m in child’s pose, and the instructor places their hands on my low back, I think it feels wonderful. So if you’re able to experience that in person, please do. And then if you need to take classes online, at least, you know, now how the pose is supposed to feel how you’re supposed to be in it, then you can take the class online.

Amber Tresca  20:32 

Yeah, I think that was something with my limited experience. I think that was something that I didn’t expect was for the instructor to walk around and help us adjust. And yeah, there really was something very special about that. Yeah. It’s wonderful that we can access so many things online. But it does seem with yoga, that there is more of that personal connection, that may be can be an important part of the practice for some people.

Desiree Schmidt  21:01 

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Amber Tresca  21:03 

So people with IBD, as you mentioned, sometimes live with joint problems or other extra intestinal manifestations, and might need to be thinking about that, when they’re doing any type of exercise or any type of movement in yoga would be included in that. And you’re very cognizant when you’re teaching a class to offer modifications for your students. And then you’re also very good about also making them feel as though they’re not slacking by by altering your movements as well. But is there something for a person to think about when they’re taking a class, when they’re practicing on their own, that maybe should tell them that they might want to pause that they might want to not engage with a pose? Or that they should try something differently while they’re practicing? What might that feel like? What should people watch out for?

Speaker 2  22:08 

Oh, yeah, I always say anytime you’re feeling close to anything that resembles pain, anything that’s close to too much discomfort, where your body, if you can’t breathe, where you, you know, you’re getting to that point where it’s hard to inhale, or it’s hard to exhale. That’s a sign from your body that this pose isn’t right for you right now. And you need to back off, you need to come out of the posture. Even if you come out of the posture for a few seconds, shake it off, maybe you try to go back into it for a little bit. Or it’s just not right for you today. You know, you just come out of it for today.

Desiree Schmidt  22:52 

 You can wait until we go into the next posture. And then you can join us, I always try to make people feel comfortable and say, you know, just take a few breaths, you can stand in mountain pose, you can come into child’s pose, wait, and then join us in the next pose when when you’re ready. But we never want to feel pain. When we’re in yoga, it’s one thing to feel like a deep stretch, where it’s like, it hurts so good. That’s one thing. But we never want to feel pain. If you feel if you’re feeling pain, then we’re not supposed to be in that pose. That’s definitely not something you want to feel when you’re in yoga.

Amber Tresca  23:32 

So I want to understand a little bit more about the idea of pain, maybe versus discomfort. And I’m thinking kind of like planking, which is something that I might get up from my desk at certain points during my day, because what I do for a living as I’m sitting at my desk all day writing, right, so I might get up from my desk and just really quickly take like a minute to do a plank and you were talking specifically about how you might modify that for someone. I’m thinking of like my wrists, you know, so I might use like my forearms in a plank, or I might plank like on a on a fist instead of an open hand.

Amber Tresca  24:16 

So those are the some of the things that I’ve done to sort of be able to go into that pose, but modify it so that I’m not feeling so much discomfort, but I’ll tell you, there is still some discomfort. So what how would you define that a little bit further as a what, what is the discomfort that you should expect because you are pushing your body or teaching your body something versus like pain and that you should back off and not be experiencing that much discomfort?

Speaker 2  24:51 

Yeah, I think to me, it’s where you’re experiencing the discomfort. So the discomfort should only Be in areas of where we’re strength training. So in a plank, for example, we’re strength training through the core for strength training the shoulders and the glutes, those three major areas are where you might feel discomfort because you’re really engaging those muscles. So you might get a little shaky through the legs, your core might start to have some discomfort, because you’re really holding it in and you’re contracting.

Desiree Schmidt  25:26 

That’s where, in my mind, as students where I’m coaching them, I’m going to say, alright, you might start to feel discomfort here. Now, where you should not feel pain is in your joints, I don’t want you to feel pain in the shoulders, in the joints in the wrist, I don’t want you to feel pain in your knees, or in your hips. If you do start to feel pain in those joint areas, then I want you to come down to your knees, go into child’s pose, take a breath or to maybe come back into plank. Or maybe you stay into child’s pose until we move on to the next posture.

Desiree Schmidt  26:03 

So it’s really where you’re feeling it. Because anytime you experience pain in the joints, that’s your body saying, Nope, not today. I don’t want to feel it. discomfort in the muscles is okay, because we’re using them. And it’s really straining them. And then they’re saying, Okay, now I’m awake, I’m alive. We’re using it today. But the pain in any areas of the joint is not a good sign.

Amber Tresca  26:33 

That makes that makes a lot of sense. So thank you, I understand that a lot a lot better now. Because I know that for myself, a lot of times when I’m engaging in some sort of intentional movement, like, sometimes my brain is telling me stop. Like you shouldn’t really Yeah, but that’s maybe not always about pain. That’s maybe just about you know, not wanting to do it. Like, like, this is hard.

Desiree Schmidt  27:01 

This is hard. Yeah.

Amber Tresca  27:03 

This is hard. A lot of what I do usually is walking or running or biking. And there’s definitely times when you’re running when like your brain is screaming at you that you Why are you doing this? Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, and sometimes and then sometimes I just tell my brain to shut up you know, and then I just keep keep moving. But I think it might serve me also to think of it in the way that you were talking about it.

Amber Tresca  27:54 

We’ve been talking for a little bit now Desiree, I can hear it in your voice. I can hear the Wisconsin in your voice. Which I love. I love Wisconsin. I love it. What do you like about your state?

Speaker 2  28:10 

Yeah, I love that we have both water and nature. So like the forest that we have here. A lot of parks. So I do camping a lot. We go camping all the time as much as we can. My husband and I and we have two dogs, to black labs. So with black labs, they love to swim. So the water, they’re their outdoor dogs. So whenever we can get them outside and swimming and camping are their two favorite things in life. So that’s what we do in our free time. And Wisconsin has plenty of room for that. And that’s one of my favorite things for it.

Desiree Schmidt  28:51 

And we can also in Wisconsin experience all four seasons. You know, I love doing activities. People you know, I know we have harsh winters. I know we have harsh winters. But I love that we get to experience every single season because I do I love them all. I love Spring. I love summer. I love fall. And I love winter because I love doing all activities in every single season. So I truly do love it.

Amber Tresca  29:19 

I agree. I grew up in Michigan. I live in Connecticut now. And I’m Yeah, I will not go camping in the winter. That is not what I’m about. But we have a camping trip scheduled in a couple of weeks. And like I cannot wait. Like I just can’t Yeah, wait. It’s just the best.

Desiree Schmidt  29:38 

Yes, yes. Yeah, exactly.

Amber Tresca  29:42 

Is there anything about Crohn’s and camping that you can share. For myself I live with a J pouch. So I absolutely have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. That’s just not something that I can get around. So I always make sure I have a really great flashlight next to my sleeping bag. Is there any way that you modify things for yourself?

Speaker 2  30:05 

Yeah, you know, that’s such a great question. Because we do. I mean, my husband and I, whenever we book a campsite, I do make sure that I’m close to the bathrooms. I’m never booking a campsite that super far away, right? Like, I always want to make sure that I know where the bathrooms are.

Desiree Schmidt  30:24 

One of the things I always bring with me is, butt wipes, I call my butt wipes. So I got those with me, those are always been deep.

Desiree Schmidt  30:33 

And, you know, I always make sure to that. I know where, like, the nearest emergency room is, if I have to, like, you just gotta be prepared, because anything can happen. I have had trips before where, you know, accidents have happened, or things have happened where I’ve had to go to the emergency room before. This was a, this was a few years ago. And you know, so things have happened. And so it’s nice to know, or if you’re booking a trip in advance, definitely have like your emergency like, Okay, if something happens, where are we going? How far is it? You know, just to have that as, as your emergency, here’s what you need to do, just to be prepared.

Amber Tresca  31:20 

That makes a lot of sense. I’m on board with the wipes. I’ve always got laid out probably to probably at least two different kinds of wipes. Me where we go, maybe even three, one for the hands, want to clean things, and then one for butts.

Amber Tresca  31:37 

Yeah, but I but I will say like, camping in Connecticut, I would know where to go. But like camping in Massachusetts, camping in Maine, I don’t think I really looked up where the closest hospitals or emergency room or urgent cares. were near our campsite. So I really appreciate you mentioning that. I’m going to get on that before our next camping trip.

Desiree Schmidt  32:01 

There you go.

Amber Tresca  32:02 

All right, that’s right. I want to go through your social media, so that folks can find you all over the interwebs. And then also in person, if they do live in the great state of Wisconsin and want to come and take a class with you. So tell me where people can find you.

Speaker 2  32:19 

Yeah, so two places. So my business that I own with my husband is Dutchman kettlebells. So you can find me on social media on that we’re just at Dutchman kettlebells. You can find us on Instagram and Facebook on that. And then you can find me on social media on my personal page. My married name is Desiree VanDaalwyk. And that is spelled Vand a LWYK. So that’s a Dutch. And that’s where Dutchman kettlebells comes in. My husband’s Dutch heritage is that we got our business name. And, and yeah, both my personal and our business page, we share a lot about how spring training and yoga can help. Just your your life in general, help you move better, live better, feel better. That’s kind of our personal and business motto.

Speaker 2  33:23 

For everyone, even if you don’t have IBD we kind of focus on everybody, even if you have chronic pain, diabetes, we have a lot of clients that we work with that come in and are just getting older, and they just don’t move the same. And so they are retired now and they want to just want to play with their grandkids and they want to, you know, be able to feel better now that they’re getting older in life. And so strength training and yoga can benefit you so much as we’re as we’re aging. And if you move better, you can be 102 and still doing yoga. So that’s our that’s our motto.

Amber Tresca  34:09 

That’s amazing. Like, I just turned 50 And I’m getting in the headspace of, well, goodness, I want to be able to keep going camping and I want to be able to, you know, do other kinds of travel. And if I feel like this today, what are we gonna be like in 10 years? And I really, I really need to be thinking about that and thinking about how I can can can keep my body in kind of shape and, you know, knock grandkids someday.

Amber Tresca  34:36 

So also, you’ve got some other stuff coming up soon that you’re going to be doing that is focused in the IBD space. Can you tell me about some of the events that you have coming?

Speaker 2  34:44 

Yes, yeah. So I’m so excited. I’m hosting in person Summit. It’s kind of like a wellness workshop. And it’s for IBD Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis. So that whole kind of genre digest To conditions, and it’s here at my business in Green Bay, Wisconsin. So it’s at Dutchman kettlebells, our studio here. And it’s on Sunday, June 25. And I’m partnering with some other health professionals who will be joining me via zoom to talk about I have a dietitian or registered dietitian who’s going to be joining me, I also have a physical therapist who’s joining me, both of them will be talking via zoom. And we’re all talking about how watching what you eat. So nutrition, plus physical therapy plus yoga can help with your IBD.

Speaker 2  35:39 

And again, helping you live better feel better, I’m we’re actually going to be doing some yoga practices, we’ll be doing some physical therapy exercises. And we’re going to be doing this awesome mindful eating exercise, which I’m actually kind of excited about. So the registered dietitian and I are partnering, where we eat a piece of chocolate, and you do it while you’re meditating. And it’s really kind of cool, because you focus so much on like the smell of the chocolate, the tastes of the chocolate, what does it feel like as you swallow, and you really get a sense of when you slow down and eat mindfully, it really changes your digestive system, and it can really changed the way you eat. And not only does it kind of help your digestive system, because it’s you slow down the way you eat, but it can actually make you feel for quicker, and so you eat a little bit less. So that’s kind of cool. So we’re adding that as well to the whole conference.

Amber Tresca  36:49 

That sounds amazing. So I definitely hope that people will look into that and attend if they can. And hopefully, you’ll get the opportunity to do many more of these in the future because it does sound really wonderful.

Desiree Schmidt  37:02 

Yeah.

Amber Tresca  37:02 

So thank you so much Desiree, I really appreciate your time and it’s on my plate. I’ve been meaning to do it for years to find a local studio, there are plenty of them. I really have no excuse, except that it’s just sometimes it’s just difficult to get started. So thank you so much for giving me all of your tips and all of your hard work.

Speaker 2  37:19 

You’re welcome. It was my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

Amber Tresca  37:28 

Hey, super listener.

Amber Tresca  37:29 

Thanks to Desiree Schmidt for sharing all her knowledge and wisdom in how she came to yoga and how she runs her classes. I encourage you to follow her across social media and if you’re in Wisconsin or you decide to travel there, and I do recommend it, you can look into the retreats and seminars that she’s offering. I will put all the information in the show notes. 

Amber Tresca  37:50 

Links to a written transcript, everyone’s social media handles, and more information on the topics we discussed is in the show notes and on my Episode 135 page on AboutIBD.com.

Amber Tresca  38:03 

You can follow me, Amber Tresca, across all social media as About IBD.

Amber Tresca  38:08 

Thanks for listening, and remember, until next time, I want you to know more about IBD.

Amber Tresca  38:19 

About IBD is a production of Mal and Tal Enterprises.

It is written, produced, and directed by me, Amber Tresca.

Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney.

Theme music is from Cooney Studio. 

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