Diane Cridennda, LAc
Staying Healthy Means Never Giving Up
Forever Young with 21 Years using Custom Creams
Throughout the years, Sabre Sciences has been fortunate to establish a worldwide network of doctors and practitioners, each with their own specialty and unique story behind what brought them into the world of clinical healing. We always enjoy getting to know our partners, learning about their unique backgrounds, and forming lasting friendships. We are excited to highlight our friend and partner, Diane Cridennda, LAc, Doctor of Chinese Medicine, owner of East Winds Acupuncture in Colorado, and triathlete!
We first had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Diane 21 years ago after she saw an ad for transdermal creams as a way to bypass the gut, while supporting energy and hormone balance. She has been working with Sabre Sciences and using her own custom-made products ever since; keeping herself not only active but an Ironman World Champion. Doing a lot of self-talk while on a race is part of Dr Diane’s process for success. While interviewing her, she told us that the cremes keep her brain clear for good decision making, staying positive, and maintaining confidence.
Diane secret to staying young:
“Mental fortitude. Keep going and keep trying until you achieve results. Never give up”
Born in South Saint Paul, Minnesota, now living in Colorado at the youthful age of 68, Diane has qualified to compete in the Ironman World Championships for the past 7 years, earning several first-place titles.
Diane’s journey as an athlete began in her early 30’s as a mom of two, living in Nova Scotia, Canada. Diane relates, “It started with swimming. I watched my friend swim in the local lake and thought ‘I want to do that!’ With her 3-year-old daughter, Diane would make trips to the local YMCA to begin swimming practice, she says “I couldn’t even do one lap when I started.” After about a year Diane noticed her strength really begin to improve. Soon after, she added cycling and running into her routine and became a triathlete.
Diane’s first triathlon was far from dull. Held off the shores of Price Edwards Island, the swim competition was in the Atlantic Ocean and it was Diane’s first attempt to sight in open water. She was the only competitor to have no wetsuit, about to swim in ice cold water. She recalls repeating to herself “Just look for the buoy” over and over; determined to never give up, and finish the first triathlon of her remarkably successful athletic journey.
About 6 years into competing, Diane was working as a radiologic technologist and raising her two kids, unaware that she was about to face debilitating illness that would impact her life and future forever.
Diane was Diagnosed with:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Over-active Thyroid Disorder (Graves Disease)
An enlarged spleen
Among many other symptoms that lead to a halt of her athletic pursuits and endeavors.
As someone who had never been one to give up, Diane had no intention of allowing these obstacles to defeat her. She started to get to work on finding a way to regain her active lifestyle. While working in the medical field, Diane made many well-educated friends that she was able to reach out to, yet she still struggled to find answers for the health challenges she now faced. She then began to research alternative methods outside the realm of standard western medicine that may provide relief.
In doing so, Diane first found Natural Medicine through a Native American Medicine Woman, who introduced herbal remedies to her. She then started receiving acupuncture, and as one level of healing led to another, she began to see light at the end of the tunnel. She decided to take 3 months off from her job to do the inner emotional work that often accompanies treating physical illness.
In a little over a year, most of Diane’s symptoms had resolved, she was off all medications, her lab results had normalized, and she was back at her triathlon training.
Through regaining her health and having the ability to get back into the training she is so passionate about, Diane had a newfound sense of purpose. She was inspired by the transformative healing power of natural medicine, and had a need to give back by helping others who found themselves in similar crisis situations. Diane knew it was something she wanted to study and devote her life to, so she went to go back to school.
When her kids were teenagers, Diane sold her house and all her belongings to make a move to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she would start attending acupuncture school. After 4 years of study and earning her doctorate of acupuncture, Dr. Diane went on to continue her education in Beijing, China to study at a local hospital and learn traditional Chinese Medicine techniques.
Diane talked to us about her time spent in Beijing, and how it helped shape her practice and methodologies for achieving optimal health for her patients.
She shared that the hospitals in Beijing have a much different appearance than those we are used to here in the U.S. The hospital where she studied had different departments: Medical Massage, Herbal Remedies, Acupuncture, and Meditation Techniques. There were two buildings, separated by a court. One building offered traditional Chinese Medical therapies, while the other offered medical therapies that were more in line with the Western world.
The two buildings facilitated a way to merge eastern and western methods, creating a more holistic approach to patient care. When a patient was discharged and needed medicine, they would get a prescription for the acute problem happening at the time along with herbal remedies to treat the foundational root cause.
Diane shared that she learned interesting standards that were followed in ancient China. One being that the Emperor’s doctor would only get paid if the family stayed healthy. If the family got sick again, the doctor would not get paid because they held the belief that the doctor “should have seen it coming.”
After years of experience in western medicine and mastering Chinese Medicine in Beijing, Dr. Diane opened her private practice, East Winds Acupuncture, as an Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbologist. She continues to merge Eastern and Western methodologies to heal her patients. Through her personal experience and over 18 years in practice, she sees that many people struggle with illnesses that take quite a while to build up an manifest such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, IBS, Fatty liver disease. As Dr. Diane says “you do have to be a detective to figure out the root cause.” By combining the best of both east and west, she takes a holistic approach that facilitates the best possible outcomes for her patient’s health by taking advantage of the breakthroughs in modern technology, but never losing touch with the ancient wisdom of Chinese medicine.
Today, when Dr. Diane is not seeing patients, she continues to train with triathlon masters. She typically trains with younger athletes than her, which helps her truly feels the anti-aging effects of her lifestyle and natural supplements. She continues to perform above average for her age group, usually within the top 3-4, and often coming in first. She believes that endocrine support is the key to maintaining our bodies, and slow the rate of aging. It's pretty safe to say that she is living proof of just that!
We are so grateful that Dr. Diane took the time to speak with us, so we could share her inspiring story. We're always proud to play a part of keeping her balanced, healthy, competing, and winning!
Photos courtesy of Women of the New Generation