Pre-diabetes is no longer a warning sign, it’s a national crisis. And the most alarming part? It’s not just affecting adults. New data shows that 1 in 3 teens are now considered pre-diabetic. But here’s the good news: pre-diabetes is not your fate. It’s a call to action.

In this eye-opening and empowering episode, Susan and Kate dig deep into the root causes of pre-diabetes in both adults and children, and what you can actually do to prevent or reverse it.

They break down:

• The difference between insulin resistance and pre-diabetes
• What your lab numbers are really telling you
• How your genes + lifestyle habits create your current (and future) health
• The silent damage sugar is doing, and how to catch it before it leads to chronic disease
• The emotional, cultural, and behavioral layers that fuel unhealthy habits
• Actionable steps to start shifting your family’s habits without overwhelm or shame
  
  
  

Susan shares powerful insights from working with clients, her personal experience wearing a CGM (continuous glucose monitor), and why stress, not just food, is a major blood sugar disruptor. Kate brings in the emotional and psychological side of habit change, including generational influences and mindset shifts.

Whether you're managing your own blood sugar, supporting a child, or trying to break generational cycles of poor health, this episode will leave you empowered, informed, and ready to take action.

In this episode:

• The real cost of pre-diabetes (and why we’ve normalized it)
• Why your food choices today shape your health decades from now
• What labs to ask for, and what numbers are actually optimal
• Why sugar is a bigger threat than we think
• The link between chronic stress, lifestyle, and metabolic dysfunction
• How to create small, sustainable changes that impact your genetic expression
• Encouragement and support for families who feel overwhelmed or judged

P.S. Check out our first mini episode coming up on Friday 9/12!

RESOURCES:

Check out Susan’s NEW E-book! Download it FREE here: https://healthyawakening.co/ebook-signup

Show notes: https://healthyawakening.co/2025/09/08/episode73

Visit the website: healthyawakening.co/podcast

Find listening links here: https://healthyawakening.co/links

Connect with Susan:

• Check out Susan’s NEW E-book! Download it FREE here: https://healthyawakening.co/ebook-signup
• Contact me for your DNA testing or epigenetic coaching! To schedule a FREE Personalized Health Strategy Session, send an email to susan@healthyawakening.co
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanrobbinshealthyawakening
  Instagram: @susanrobbins_epigeneticcoach
• Susan’s LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/susanrobbins

Connect with Kate King:

• Kate’s Website: https://TheRadiantLifeProject.com
• Kate’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/theradiantlifeproject

P.S. Want reminders about episodes? Sign up for our newsletter, you can find the link on our podcast page! https://healthyawakening.co/podcast

In this powerful continuation of our Vagus Nerve series, hosts Susan Robbins (certified epigenetic human performance coach) and Kate King (licensed psychotherapist and award-winning author) welcome one of the most respected voices in trauma recovery: Dr. Arielle Schwartz.

A clinical psychologist, author of The Complex PTSD Workbook and The Polyvagal Theory Workbook for Trauma, and founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy, Dr. Schwartz brings both deep science and profound compassion to the conversation on nervous system healing.

What is Polyvagal Theory, And Why Does It Matter?

Unlike traditional models of the vagus nerve, polyvagal theory expands our understanding of how connection, safety, and early life experiences shape our stress responses and long-term health.

Inside This Episode:

• What polyvagal theory teaches us about trauma, survival, and healing
• The link between early attachment wounds and adult stress responses
• How to re-parent and rewire your nervous system at any age
• Natural vagus nerve stimulation: small, daily practices that shift everything
• Why community, compassion, and co-regulation are vital to health
• The power of yoga, breathwork, and touch in restoring vagal tone
• How over-empathy and caretaking can become dysregulating

Your body remembers, and it’s doing the best it can to protect you. But healing is possible. You can learn to work with your nervous system, not against it. And in doing so, you not only change your health.

Learn more about our guest Dr. Arielle Schwartz:

Dr. Arielle Schwartz is a clinical psychologist, internationally sought-out teacher, and leading voice in the healing of trauma. She is an internationally sought-out teacher, leading voice in the field of trauma recovery, and author of seven books including The Complex PTSD Workbook, The Post-Traumatic Growth Guidebook, and Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga. As the founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy, she offers a mind-body approach to therapy for trauma and informational mental health and wellness updates through her writing, public speaking, social media presence, and blog. She believes that the journey of trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart.

About Susan Robbins and Kate King

Susan and Kate come from two very different, but perfectly complementary, worlds in the health and wellness space. Together, their synergy is magnetic. Think: science meets soul, strategy meets intuition, real talk meets radical transformation.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Dr. Arielle Schwartz:

Website: www.drarielleschwartz.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5LUxnXbReV7I5cEzvb46sQ

Learn More about Dr. Arielle’s Books:

https://drarielleschwartz.com/books-by-dr-schwartz/

Find all of Kate and Susan’s Resources and links in the show notes: https://healthyawakening.co/2025/08/25/episode72

Connect with Susan: https://healthyawakening.co/

Connect with Kate: https://theradiantlifeproject.com/

Visit the website: healthyawakening.co/podcast

Find listening links here: https://healthyawakening.co/links

P.S. Want reminders about episodes? Sign up for our newsletter, you can find the link on our podcast page! https://healthyawakening.co/podcast

In this raw and eye-opening conversation, co-hosts Susan Robbins (certified epigenetic human performance coach) and Kate King (licensed psychotherapist and board-certified art therapist) welcome Dr. Navaz Habib, aka “The Vagus Nerve Doc,” to unpack one of the most overlooked superpowers in your body: the vagus nerve.

Dr. Habib shares how stress, inflammation, and poor vagal tone can silently erode your health, and why your heart rate variability (HRV) is the key biomarker you should be tracking. From sleep and gut health to resilience and emotional regulation, your vagus nerve plays a starring role in how you feel and function every day.

Whether you’re a health nerd, a burnt-out parent, or someone in your 30s–60s wondering why your “brakes” feel fried, this episode is packed with empowering science and actionable tools. Learn the game-changing V.A.G.U.S. Protocol (Validate, Activate, Gut-Brain, Unburden, Sustain) and find out how to start rewiring your stress response, no matter your age.

In this episode:

• The science of vagus nerve regulation and HRV
• Why most people are living with worn-out “brakes”
• Signs of low vagal tone, and how to rebuild it
• Dr. Habib’s V.A.G.U.S. Protocol for lifelong resilience
• Why breathwork (and even mouth taping!) can change your life
  
  

Learn more about Dr. Habib’s work at healthupgraded.com and check out his book Upgrade Your Vagus Nerve. You can also find him on Instagram @drnavazhabib and listen to his podcast The Health Upgrade.

Learn more about our guest Dr. Navaz Habib on the episode show notes!

About Susan Robbins and Kate King

Susan and Kate come from two very different, but perfectly complementary, worlds in the health and wellness space. Together, their synergy is magnetic. Think: science meets soul, strategy meets intuition, real talk meets radical transformation.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Dr. Navaz Habib:

Website: https:/healthupgraded.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drnavazhabib
Books: Activate Your Vagus Nerve, Upgrade Your Vagus Nerve: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Dr-Navaz-Habib/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ADr.%2BNavaz%2BHabib

TruVaga Device: https://www.truvaga.com/

The Oxygen Advantage - Patrick McKeown: https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Advantage-Scientifically-Breathing-Techniques/dp/0062349473

Breath - James Nestor: https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art-ebook/dp/B0818ZZNLR/

Find all of Kate and Susan’s Resources and links in the show notes: https://healthyawakening.co/2025/08/18/episode71/

Connect with Susan: https://healthyawakening.co/

Connect with Kate: https://theradiantlifeproject.com/

Visit the website: healthyawakening.co/podcast

Find listening links here: https://healthyawakening.co/links

P.S. Want reminders about episodes? Sign up for our newsletter, you can find the link on our podcast page! https://healthyawakening.co/podcast