Mahara Wayman [00:00:05]:
Welcome to the art of badassery where I explore what it takes to live life on your own terms. Break free from the status quo and unleash your inner badass. Whether you're a rebel at heart or simply seeking inspiration to step outside your comfort zone, this podcast is for you. I'm your host, Mahara Wayman and each week I dive into the stories, insights and strategies of those who have mastered the art of badassery and are living life to the fullest. They smile when no one is looking. Welcome to the art of badassery podcast. I'm so excited to introduce doctor Dana Stubbs. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Dana's early years were shaped by her experience with amniotic band syndrome, leading to numerous surgeries addressed by challenges posed by tissue restrictions.
Mahara Wayman [00:00:59]:
At age 7, she moved to a pig farm in Kearney, Nebraska where she grew up. After initially pursuing pharmacy at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Dana switched to biology, aligning more closely with her health philosophy, and later completed her education at Palmer College of Chiropractic. Now living in Lincoln, Nebraska with her wife and two dogs, Dana is a solo practitioner at Stubs Chiropractic. When she's not in the office, you can find her enjoying the great outdoors, whether on a trail near a dog park or at the DISC golf course. Welcome, Dana. I gotta learn more about this DISC golf course. 1st, we're gonna touch on that. But first of all, really, I'm so excited to have you on the show, and thanks for joining me today.
Mahara Wayman [00:01:41]:
Gotta ask, and I've been asking this a lot of my guests lately because it is the name of the show, but what makes you badass?
Dana Stubbs [00:01:49]:
I think the better question is going to be what doesn't?
Mahara Wayman [00:01:52]:
Oh, sting. Love that. Okay. Tell me. What what haven't you done to feel like you're a badass?
Dana Stubbs [00:02:01]:
Well okay. So my journey started very early. So I was born with a disability called amniotic band syndrome. So, basically, what that means is, aesthetically, I looked a little bit different entering the world. So my hands are aesthetically a little bit different. I was also born with a clubfoot. So my early years kind of became, filled with a lot of medical intervention. So, I kinda had to navigate the medical side of health care at a very early age.
Dana Stubbs [00:02:36]:
So I I actually didn't end up learning how to walk until I was 2 years old. So I I kinda faced some challenges very early on. So that would be, I would say, where it all started. That's my origin story, if you will.
Mahara Wayman [00:02:51]:
The medical journey that you were on, that you started at such a young age, was there anything else that it taught you in hindsight?
Dana Stubbs [00:03:01]:
In in hindsight, the early adversity actually was probably my greatest gift or one of the greatest gifts I received in that when the chips are down, which everybody's going to face up ups and downs in life. So when the chips are down, I know deep down that there's an extra gear that I can always go to when it it gets hard. So that extra gear has has served me well in other phases of life. So that's one of my favorite, favorite things that have has come about all of the difficulty from having a disability. So, my wife likes to tell me that, sometimes you just your your toughness is so tough that you don't know when to stop sometimes.
Mahara Wayman [00:03:55]:
Oh, interesting. Interesting. So how do you stop? Or do you I mean, there must be some time I think
Dana Stubbs [00:04:03]:
that's probably one of my greatest challenges. It is that I one of my, I I guess, strengths to a fault is that sometimes I don't know when to quit. Like, my my perseverance is so strong that sometimes my radar for bowing out isn't, the strongest. So that's one of the things I'm actually that's probably one of my life lessons to learn is that, I can't always push through every single thing. Sometimes the time out is better than continuously grinding. So
Mahara Wayman [00:04:41]:
What's an example of that?
Dana Stubbs [00:04:43]:
I would say rest is a struggle for me in that it, I have a hard time, taking just time for rest because my life has been just sort of, like, one thing after another with just the adversities that I've dealt with. And so, I'm learning that rest is just important as the work.
Mahara Wayman [00:05:12]:
Such a good call out because I I meet a lot of clients, and I've even struggled with that. This idea that it's better to keep going. Just go. Just get it done. Just go. Go. Go. And what I've noticed even now and I'm I feel like I'm pretty, you know, on top of things and intuitive about my own needs.
Mahara Wayman [00:05:31]:
But even now, I feel like I'm on a roll, and I don't wanna jinx it. So I just keep going. Whether it's Yeah. Getting work done in the day, sitting down for 8 hours, or even with exercise. I'm like, I've been riding for an hour. I think I can do more. Let's just put let's just see. So, yeah, it can be a challenge when you sort of going back to your analogy of having that extra gear, when you keep yourself in that high gear.
Mahara Wayman [00:05:56]:
What do you do to calm down or to pull yourself away and to sort of rest?
Dana Stubbs [00:06:00]:
My dogs are helpful in that. They kind of bring that parasympathetic version of me out a little bit more. That's one of my main ways or definitely a daily way that I that I calm down. I have a younger dog and then a little bit older of a dog. And the younger dog, he he is just a bundle of joy mixed with the a little sprinkle of mischief. And so he he's hilarious, but he keeps me on my toes for sure. He's a he's a 2 year old Chiba Inu, and so he's just he's just a he's fuzzy and wonderful and just full of life. So that's probably my main my weighing way of calming down.
Dana Stubbs [00:06:52]:
Obviously, daily walks for them is also helpful for me and not just helpful for them.
Mahara Wayman [00:06:57]:
So so good. What was it about chiropractic work that that pulled you away from your original field of study?
Dana Stubbs [00:07:05]:
Well, I started as a pre pharmacy major, and I was working at a retail pharmacy. And over time, I saw the sort of the shortcomings of where I thought health care should be stronger. And so I was feeling sort of, like, dissatisfied with what I felt like the quality of life we were providing as opposed to the quality of life I felt like was achievable. So I started digging around, I suppose, as far as what health care industry fits that model, better. So I sort of stumbled into chiropractic. I kind of had a divine intervention sort of meeting with the great beyond, I suppose, and sort of decided on a whim to be a chiropractor rather than a pharmacist. And and, I've I've really enjoyed that journey, although I didn't I didn't go into it knowing a lot about the background of chiropractic. I just knew that it aligned better with my philosophies.
Dana Stubbs [00:08:26]:
I actually started receiving chiropractic care after I started chiropractic school.
Mahara Wayman [00:08:34]:
Okay. I wanna go back to divine intervention. Yeah. The else you said that really caught my attention, like, WTF. What happened?
Dana Stubbs [00:08:42]:
So between my junior and senior year of college, I was in my room, and I was flipping through, at the time, the registrar catalog for 4 majors, and I was skimming the pre pharmacy requirements and making sure I had checked off all those boxes. And then I I flipped the page to make sure I had everything, and the next page was all the pre chiropractic requirements. And I skimmed that page, and I thought, well, I've already taken nearly all of these classes. That's so weird. I could I could maybe at the time, I thought, well, maybe I could use that as a backup, or that was my thought. And then I sort of heard a voice that was like, maybe you should use your hands as part of your profession, and I just, like, looked around and thought somebody came into my room and no one was there. And then I thought, oh, this is one of those times I should maybe pay attention to because I'm not hearing a human, I don't think. So I sort of took note of that, and then I sort of took note of how I felt about that thought, and it got me incredibly excited.
Dana Stubbs [00:09:59]:
And so I thought, there's there's something behind that, so I just went with that feeling. I didn't end up talking to really anyone else about it. I made the announcement to my parents that I was switching my major, which did not go over all that smoothly at the time. And I just thought, well, if they don't want me to do it, then I have to do it.
Mahara Wayman [00:10:25]:
Okay. So much badassery in that. Before hold that thought. To be able to have the guts to listen to your intuition or divine intervention, whatever you call it.
Dana Stubbs [00:10:41]:
Yeah. Whatever the terminology is. I don't know.
Mahara Wayman [00:10:43]:
Whatever works for you, it's it's it's it's fine. But, wow, to actually pay attention to that and listen to it. And then to recognize that or to make the decision that if they don't want me to do it, it's even more reason for me to do it. There's obviously a story there, but we don't we don't need to go there. But how did it feel? You said it felt kind of exciting. But as you continue to take steps towards chiropractic, a field that you, by your own admission, didn't really know much about, how did it feel doing all of that?
Dana Stubbs [00:11:12]:
Well, my first thought was, I know that my anatomy is gonna be different from everyone else's anatomy going in. And so I I really didn't research it because I didn't wanna plug in any doubt. Right. So I sort of I I guess you could say I went in blind because I I didn't wanna ruin how I felt about that weird conversation that I had with whomever that was. And so I just sort of continued it on, and the whole 1st year is all science classes. And I was like, oh, this feels very familiar, and I feel pretty good about what's going on here. Yeah. There's a lot of work to do, but I feel pretty good about the work that I'm doing.
Dana Stubbs [00:11:58]:
If I run into a brick wall, I guess, we'll address it at that time. And, really, the only brick walls I ran into weren't made of concrete. They were made of antiquated beliefs. So
Mahara Wayman [00:12:13]:
Alright. You're not getting away without talking about somebody's antiquated beliefs, but really part of the challenge, I think, for me as a woman trying to make her way and and, you know, create a beautiful life for herself and her family, are those narratives that I've grown up with. And so many of them, I never questioned. I just kinda like, okay. That's what I that's what I'm supposed to do to be happy or be successful. I never really thought to question and or go, yeah. But what do I need to do for me me, The real me. So can you share some of those antiquated beliefs that, you know, could be thought of as brick walls that you were coming up that you came up against?
Dana Stubbs [00:12:55]:
Well, the obvious one was, well, I have a physical disability. Do I know any chiropractors with a physical disability off the top of my head? No. Do I have an example to go off of? In some ways, I did see some disabilities, just not mine or a representation of my disability. So I was going in only, I guess, we'll say semi blind. I didn't know what I didn't know. But what I also didn't know was that many chiropractic techniques have been based on some kind of physical limitation. So one of the main techniques that we learned in school is something called the Gonstead technique, and the doctor Gonstead, the guy that invented the technique, had rheumatoid arthritis. And so the reason his technique became a thing was because he was unable to he he had very inflexible joints as a result of the inflammation from the rheumatoid arthritis.
Dana Stubbs [00:14:01]:
So he created his technique because he couldn't do the other moves that were being taught at the time. And turns out, what I didn't know about chiropractic is there are a multitude of various techniques, and so adaptation is sort of part of chiropractic is finding finding your groove, finding what techniques work best for you, finding what works for your physicality. And so that was one of the, I guess, we'll say blessings of chiropractic is that there's definitely room for your own flavor, whatever your flavor ends up being. So that was the one of the wonderful advantages that I didn't know that I was getting into is that chiropractic is full of varying different bodies and varying different conditions, and so your technique doesn't have to be identical. It can be your version of of that. So I I was very fortunate to learn that sort of relatively early, like, oh, I don't have to be so concerned with doing it just like everyone else. However, that doesn't mean that I that everyone else felt that way.
Mahara Wayman [00:15:24]:
I was gonna ask what the energy was like in your classroom. And, actually, before before you answer that, for anybody listening that may not be as familiar with chiropractic as as you are for sure, and I am because I've been going to chiropractor half my life. Would you mind just giving us a quick overview of what chiropractic means?
Dana Stubbs [00:15:43]:
So chiropractic is a a Greek word. It originates from if you translate it, it means done by hand. So, literally, the the origin of chiropractic is hand technique. Although, over time, there have been instruments and things that have, integrated into the profession, but, that's sort of where it stems from. But, basically, what we're searching for is the expression of life and connecting the brain to the rest of the body in an optimal kind of way. From above down, meaning from the brain to the body, and expression from the inside to the outside. So how you present yourself to the world is a reflection of how your insides are going. So one of the powers of the body, in chiropractic we call that innate.
Dana Stubbs [00:16:42]:
So innate is the power that made the body, and in chiropractic, we wanna make innate as strong as possible so that you are able to heal whatever obstacles you come in to contact with over the course of your life. Whether that's a physical trauma or an emotional trauma or, a a spiritual trauma, whatever traumas you or chemical trauma, whatever traumas you run into, your body is able to adapt, to the those things so that you don't become full of disease or disease.
Mahara Wayman [00:17:19]:
Thank you. So good. I actually hadn't realized that this the word, you know, began with this idea of hands on. Okay. So let's jump back to my original question based on your comment around other people's reaction and or level of comfortability Yeah. With you being in in the class and doing this type of work.
Dana Stubbs [00:17:41]:
So the reception from the class was a a we'll say a wide variety. Some some of my classmates were very impressed or awe struck with, like, oh, I know that if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't feel as confident as you are, which I feel some of that was a little fake it till you make it, so it was sort of confidence. But but I was confident in that I could figure out a way, because I figured out lots of ways throughout my life. I learned how to write. I learned how to draw. I learned how to ride a bike. I learned how to do all of those things. So if I could learn those things, I could figure out this chiropractic thing too.
Dana Stubbs [00:18:25]:
It just wasn't going to look the same, which some people were totally fine with and some people were not totally fine with. So I will say my wounds at the time, I I ended up gravitating maybe towards people who could have been more kind to me about that. But I think for whatever reason, I enjoyed the fuel that they gave me by putting me down. So I had to learn that lesson later on in life, like, maybe you shouldn't surround yourself with people that fuel you in a negative way. But, at the time, it sort of it drove me because I I was sort of used to being pushed in a way that didn't feel so good.
Mahara Wayman [00:19:16]:
So so interesting. And, really, I I'm not sure that I've had anybody on the show that has described their badassery in such a manner. So I'm I'm quite fascinated that you were able to navigate such a challenging, experience to your benefit even though you were choosing to feel to be fueled by all of that negativity. Can you recall a time when you said to yourself, okay. Enough enough is enough of being around that level of energy? I really it's it's come to the tipping point where it's no longer serving me.
Dana Stubbs [00:19:54]:
That probably didn't happen until I decided to open my own practice. So when I decided to open my own practice, it was sort of a slow process in terms of me letting go of those things because it had been such a pattern for 3 decades at that time in my life. And so it took a little bit of time, but like I've said in a previous discussion that we had where I I knew that my business is a reflection of who I am on the inside. So if I'm being fueled by something negative, I'm probably end up going to reflect that into my business, and and maybe I want something that feels a little healthier than that in the long run. So it it was a process of sort of unwinding some of those patterns, and I'm probably still in the middle of unwinding some of those things. But owning your own business, it sort of reflected all of the things that maybe were serving me at that time, but were no longer serving me going forward.
Mahara Wayman [00:21:12]:
Okay.
Dana Stubbs [00:21:12]:
So that's around the time where I had to start going into, is this a good idea? Should I keep should I keep doing it this way? Is this solving any of the things that I want to solve? That sort of thing. So the answer ultimately was this is more toxic than it is helpful. How do I go about moving forward or letting go or those types of things, which I found out that letting go is not my strength. So I had to figure that out too.
Mahara Wayman [00:21:47]:
Did you have help? And I'm asking because I'm a life coach, so I this is what I do for a living. And I'm curious if you went outside of your your what you were used to to sort of navigate this letting go because it ain't easy to let go. Right? Especially when you've you said for 30 years, you were hanging on to something.
Dana Stubbs [00:22:06]:
Yeah. So, I started with an energy healer. Mhmm. And we met weekly for about 2 years, I wanna say. And then I got a traditional therapist, and we met weekly. We still do. So I've been with her for, I wanna say, 4 years now. I did acupuncture.
Dana Stubbs [00:22:33]:
I increased the the frequency of my chiropractic care. I I did, henna. I mean, all the things that were outside of the traditional way of thinking, I probably dabbled in a good a good list of those things.
Mahara Wayman [00:22:58]:
I think thank you for sharing. And, really, one of the things that comes up a lot with my guests and and with my own work is it's badass to ask for help. Right? If you need you may we do not know everything. And when we can become aware of where we need some support, we may not know what that looks like. But when we know there's something, when we have that niggle, like, I'm not something ain't quite right in my world, it is it it's badass to ask for help and to look for it and to sort of explore that. I wanna go back to your decision to open up your own business. Was that always the dream to have your own chiropractic business, or did that come after perhaps working for others?
Dana Stubbs [00:23:37]:
It was sort of in the back of my mind, while I was in the school. Although, I felt like logistically, it would be, quote, unquote, smart to gain some experience working for someone else, which I did for a period of time. And what I found was that I learned more about what I didn't want in practice more so than what I actually wanted, which is also helpful to know what doesn't work just as much as it is helpful to know what does. So when I ended up going out on my own, I felt more confident that, oh, well, if these were the previous circumstances, I could probably create some circumstances that feel or that resonate better with who I am on the inside.
Mahara Wayman [00:24:32]:
So what's what's the biggest thing you've learned about yourself as a chiropractor now? In hindsight, you've been doing this for a few years.
Dana Stubbs [00:24:45]:
People resonate more with who you are rather than what you say. Mhmm. I could tell somebody how to be healthy all day long, but I think they would rather see it emanated rather than me be preachy and tell people how they should live their life, which that's not the approach that I would want as a patient either. So sort of just being the type of person you wanna see in the world and also the type of provider that you would want to see yourself?
Mahara Wayman [00:25:26]:
Well, it goes back to what you said earlier is that your world on the outside is a reflection of who you are on the inside. You can't really fake it. I mean, you can try, but it you're not gonna get the results that you want. So that's a big that's a big How long have you been in practice for yourself?
Dana Stubbs [00:25:44]:
For myself, since 2017.
Mahara Wayman [00:25:47]:
Good stuff. Has it been all that you expected and then some, or has it been a the the a ride that you never could have expected?
Dana Stubbs [00:25:56]:
Definitely a ride I I couldn't have expected. Although, it is more rewarding in terms of I've learned more about myself than I probably would have in any other setting. So I'm I'm happy about that. Although, I mean, there is a lot of responsibility with that. I would say trying to juggle a business on top of whatever else is going on in your life. Like, having the work life balance is probably, probably one of my biggest difficulties is trying to feel fulfilled in all of the areas while while resting, while working, you know, doing all of the the entrepreneurial dances that you do. You know? So
Mahara Wayman [00:26:49]:
Absolutely. So curious, your mom and dad weren't so pleased all these years ago when you switched majors. How are they feeling now?
Dana Stubbs [00:26:59]:
They're still sort of warming up to what is chiropractic. They they do get adjusted on occasion, but they're on their own learning health journeys too. So I just try to hold space for that.
Mahara Wayman [00:27:18]:
Good for you. There are so many things that have you know, in the last, I'd say, 15 years in my world that have come into and entered the realm of of health care practices. I go to a chiropractor fairly regularly, and there's some things that they he's doing now that I've never heard of. I don't even know the names, to be honest. But one thing for one thing I can share and, again, I don't know what you call it, but I went in for my hip. My hip's been sore, and he said, look. I'm just studying something new. Tell me about your knees.
Mahara Wayman [00:27:52]:
And I'm like, well, I broke my knee. And he's like, interesting. You broke your knee. So he was explaining that there's a phenomenon where, a residual effect from a knee injury can can manifest in the hip. And he sees it quite a quite a lot in older women or women not older, but menopausal women. Anyway, kinda long story short, he didn't work on the hip at all. He kinda just worked on the knee, and he explained about scars. And he we looked at the scars on my knees from surgery, and we massaged that.
Mahara Wayman [00:28:19]:
And it it was just a little bit, dare I say, out there, but it worked. Like, you know, by the end of the session, I'm like, oh my god. My hip is fine, like WTF. So I think it's exciting that there are it seems like, anyway, so many more practices that are becoming accepted in mainstream. And dare I say, some of them heart back to very old practices that perhaps the western medical community hasn't really taught share shared with us or or it hasn't been part of mainstream. But as somebody that's in her late fifties and has body aches and menopause and drama, I am so excited that there seem to be so many offerings out there for something different. So I just wanted to stick that in there as my own personal experience. Is there anything that you're seeing that's trending that that either makes you go, yay.
Mahara Wayman [00:29:12]:
This is great, or holy hell. Where did that come from?
Dana Stubbs [00:29:17]:
More and more often, I'm seeing that people are beginning to come around to the idea that not every physical pain has a physical source. So, yes, you can definitely hurt your back from lifting something too heavy. I definitely see those types of cases in my office. What I'm seeing more and more of are people who are coming in because their sympathetic nervous system is too dominant. They're too stressed out. Maybe they're not sleeping well. Maybe their blood sugar is their levels are fluctuating too much. And mostly, I'm seeing that as a result of stress.
Dana Stubbs [00:30:06]:
Some of that stress is present day stress. You know, trying to take your kids to soccer practice and making sure dinner is ready and all that kind of stuff. But what I'm also seeing is past stuff that is showing up in present day. So one of the things that I'm leaning more and more into now is intuitive chiropractic care, more on the emotion side, more on the the invisible side of the stressors that could possibly be causing physical manifestations of of those stressors.
Mahara Wayman [00:30:49]:
So thank you for sharing that, by the way. But does that mean that within in those cases, there is a component of therapy, conversation?
Dana Stubbs [00:31:01]:
So in my own healing journey, one of the things that sort of happened along the way was because I was processing all of this suppressed trauma. Once I had let go of some of that suppressed trauma, my ability to be intuitive with my patients went through the roof. And now I'm picking up on on things that may be missed by the average eye. And so now when patients are coming to me, I'm listening to what their words are saying with one ear, but I'm listening to what their body is saying in another ear. So based on what their body is saying, then I sort of maybe present, okay, what what would be your stress level on a scale of 1 to 10? Are you seeing someone about that stress? Would you like help with that? Those types of conversations then happen. We also offer a technique in our office called emotion code, which is an emotional technique that helps you release traumas and and, suppressed memories. So that's if it's something very in-depth, then that would be a referral. If it's, oh, I'm just dealing with some day to day stressors, maybe I'd recommend more of an emotion code approach.
Mahara Wayman [00:32:32]:
Can I just say totally badass to be open to that recognition and understanding? And your patients, I'm sure, are very lucky to have that. I am, you know, like many of us learning that the body holds everything. Good, bad, and indifferent, it feels like. The body holds everything. And for many for many of us, that can really be tough to navigate because you're like, you know what? I'm ignoring that part of my life for a reason. I don't wanna go there. Don't tell me that. I'm not into bringing it up.
Mahara Wayman [00:33:06]:
Can you just help my leg? Can you just make me feel better? You know? It's we're very we can be very cut and dry because that's what we've needed to be up until this point. So I love that you are open to that understanding, and it's totally badass to to to go for it. Right? And to to recognize your intuition as being as using it in a way for good rather than shying away from it. So lots of reasons why you're a badass in my books for sure. What's coming up for you in your work that you'd like to share with us? If anything, I have no idea what you could answer, but I always ask people what's what's coming down the pipe for you.
Dana Stubbs [00:33:46]:
Well, in the next few months well, in in addition to today, I'll be promoting, the memoir that I wrote. It's called FINGER. It it discusses my journey into chiropractic as well as, some of the traumas I sort of alluded to previously. It'll also it it dives into all of the alternative methods that I use to sort of dig myself out of, all the trauma that I had endured. So, I'm speaking at podcasts and things like that to to get the word out about that. My office is in Lincoln, Nebraska like you had mentioned. It's, located on the southeast part of town on Old Cheney and South 84th Street. So one of the things, I guess, we've we've recently changed is that we are now appointment only.
Dana Stubbs [00:34:49]:
And I'm I will be digging more and more into the intuitive side of practice. Practice, that'll definitely be, more and more, encompassing area of my practice. What's your biggest tip for helping
Mahara Wayman [00:35:08]:
us feel badass on a regular basis?
Dana Stubbs [00:35:11]:
I know this is not the easiest thing, but to be your most authentic self.
Mahara Wayman [00:35:16]:
No kidding. I've worked 55, 58 years to get to be my most authentic self. But, really, when all is said and done, our authentic selves are pretty awesome, and that is where our strength comes from. So I agree wholeheartedly. That's a great tip. Dana, thank you so much for joining me today. Your story is fascinating. Hold up your book one more time because we will we obviously want everybody to buy it and read it.
Mahara Wayman [00:35:43]:
And is it now available?
Dana Stubbs [00:35:45]:
It is available on Amazon.
Mahara Wayman [00:35:47]:
Awesome. Guys, the link will be included in the show notes. Your story is pretty fascinating, and I know you'll enjoy it. Thanks so much for joining us today. Dana, thank you so much, and I will see you all next week on the art of badassery when I speak to another badass lady. Take care, everyone. Thanks for tuning in to another badass episode. Your support means the world to me.
Mahara Wayman [00:36:12]:
So if you enjoyed what you heard today, don't forget to like, share, and rate the episode on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback keeps the badassery flowing. And, hey, if you're ready to unleash your inner badass and conquer whatever life throws your way, why not book a complimentary badass breakthrough session? Just click the link in the show notes to schedule your session, and let's kick some serious butt together. Until next time, stay fearless, stay fabulous, and of course, stay badass. This is Mahara signing off.
