Marla Miller: 0:35

Welcome back to Open Minded Healing. Today we're going to be addressing the ways you can defeat depression and address anxiety with a holistic approach. So if you're feeling stuck, disempowered, or exhausted by a sense of doom and gloom, I hope you'll stick around to hear what my guest has to share. My guest today, Anthony Kudjo, is an advanced NLP practitioner, a metabolic specialist, nutritionist, certified personal trainer, and a life coach with the background as a professional athlete in boxing, powerlifting, and bodybuilding. He's also the founder and head coach at Human Optimization 3.0. Welcome, Anthony.

Anthony Cudjo: 1:21

Welcome. Thank you for having me, beautiful Marla. That's a great way to start.

Marla Miller: 1:27

I appreciate that, Anthony. Well, I know that you believe that each human already has this built-in system, right? That's meant to adapt and evolve and heal ourselves. And so you believe in empowering people to tap into their own ability to heal rather than instructing them on how to better themselves. It's more like tuning in to what they were born with. Is that right? Is that your main philosophy?

Anthony Cudjo: 1:57

Yeah, human optimization means that you are optimizing yourself as a human being. And it's unfortunate that a lot of us don't do that because we haven't been taught how to do that. That's what I'm here for. I'm the tour guide. I'm going to show you and I'm going to talk to you about the power you already have inside of yourself that you're not tapping into. And this is why you're kind of living life in a wiggly way. Anxiety, depression, fear, doubt, all these things happen when you don't know who you are.

Marla Miller: 2:29

And there's a lot of that. I would say most people go through that at least during a certain point in time in their life, you know, where they feel overwhelmed by anxiety or feel a little depressed or just untethered. Like you don't know what your purpose is.

Anthony Cudjo: 2:45

So society is very successful in the way they teach us. And they're very successful in the way they control us, and they're very successful in the way they make us believe or not believe in ourselves. See, if I can keep you depressed or I can keep you living in a world of anxiety and fear, I can control you. So if you'll notice, that's what society does. It tells you things are happening that are out of your control. We have so much power and we have been created with so much power and ability inside of us. It's inside of your DNA. And your DNA, I want to get clear about this so you fully understand who you are. Your DNA stands for the divine nature of the Almighty. That's who you are. You have the nature of the creator inside of you. This has nothing to do with religion, it has nothing to do with politics, has nothing to do with your creed, your color, your gender, your age, or anything. You were created complete. You were created with 100% integrity, and you are created with 100% health and wellness and prosperity built into you. You just have to learn how to tap into it. And I have over three and a half decades of working with thousands of clients. I think I have found the recipe of how to do that.

Marla Miller: 3:59

So you've worked with, like you said, thousands of clients, and we'll get into exactly how you work with them and help them overcome anxiety and depression. But I want to start with your own life. Is this something that you had to overcome yourself? Or how did you create this organization? What was your passion behind it?

Anthony Cudjo: 4:22

That's a great question. Not going into my past too much because the past does not exist and I know that. But when people ask me questions about my past, to be able to draw some inspiration to help them to overcome any challenges that they may have in their life, I will discuss it. But normally I don't talk about my past because the past does not exist. And this is one of the problems why people have depression. You're living in the past, the past does not exist. So if you stay there, you're going to feel off. You're going to be depressed. It's the things you're focusing on that's causing the depression. How do I know that to be true? Because I was a child who was abused. I went through a tremendous amount of abuse as a child. I grew up as a very angry young man. I was doing some very negative things in my community because of my anger and my depression and my anxiety. Why? Because I was living in my past and I was living in my future and I was not living in the moment of now where your power is. So if you find yourself in that place where you're depressed, I want you to stop for a second and I want you to think about what you're thinking about. Because I promise you, whatever you're thinking about is the fuel and the root of your depression. And there's a way around that. There's a way to stop that depression immediately and never have to deal with it again. But you have to choose to take your power back. You have to choose not to give it up to anyone else. And you have to also choose to protect your inner strength. Because the world will push you around, it will blow you around, it will do all these different things to you if you allow it to happen and you don't understand what's going on. So again, I'm here to help explain and express to you the power that you already have. I'm here to show you how to tap into that power, and I'm here to challenge you to become the best version of yourself that you can be.

Marla Miller: 6:17

I do want to fully get into that, how you work with clients that come to you. But when you were pulling yourself out of this, how were you doing it? Because I'm sure you weren't just saying, I got to change my focus mentally.

Anthony Cudjo: 6:31

Well, I did get to that point where I finally said that. I had injured myself, you know, everybody in my family, my father, his brothers, and my uncles, they all played football and they were all great football players. So I had this kind of cloud over me that I had to play football and I was really good at it, but I didn't really enjoy it. I was good at it. I was gifted, but I didn't have a love for the game. I injured myself my freshman year of college. It was a pretty major injury. I blew out my lateral meniscus and my ACL on both my left and right knee. I blew out my lower back, and I was a fullback. So, you know, you can't be a great fullback with a bad back and bad knees. My career was over, so to speak. I was faced with surgery. My coaches and the doctors had told me if I do the surgery, there was a potential that I could get back on the field and play football again. And something inside of me, I know what it is now, but I did not know what it was then. It was the voice of the divine telling me no. I just couldn't do it. I told my coach, I said, I'm not for that. I'm not I'm not for the surgery. And again, you know, this is years, I'm talking about years ago. This was before orthoscopic surgery was even in our world. The technology wasn't there yet. They used to cut your knees wide open, they used to cut your spine wide open. And I just did not want that. So I decided to give up football. And I lost my scholarship because I was in college because of football. So my parents couldn't keep me in school financially, and I didn't have the financial means to keep me in school. So I just kind of stopped going to college. And I ended up talking to some of my football friends that were still on the team. They all were trying to get me back, but I didn't want to come back. And I asked them, I said, Hey man, won't you let me use your library card? And they did. So I snuck back on campus and went into the library and I started studying kinesiology. I wanted to understand how the human body worked, and I needed to understand how the human body works so I could heal myself. So as I'm studying, I'm not working out anymore because I have major injuries. And I went into a major stent of depression. And I'm talking about a deep depression. It was so deep that I had a gun and I was about to end my life. That's how depressed I was. I was done. I was finished with life. I was done with the challenges and everything else. And I just told God, I remember that conversation I had with God. I said, if this is life, take it from me. I'm done. And uh that touches me. That's just why I don't go back to my I don't go back to the past. Because it's energy. And as you go back there, you'll feel that energy. And that's what I'm feeling right now. So there was an intervention. Someone knocked at my door at the right time and gave me an opportunity to think about what I was doing. And I made a different decision.

Marla Miller: 9:12

Who was that person? Was it, I mean, a friend or was it?

Anthony Cudjo: 9:16

No, it wasn't a friend. I had the I had all I'm I'm so glad you asked that question. And this is where my spiritual awakening happened. So here I am in my house by myself. My wife is at work. She's working a different shift than me. We were both working at Goodyear at the time, and we were on rotating shift. She was working days, I was working nights at the time. So she wasn't home. I was by myself. It was a perfect scenario. And I someone was knocking at my door. I sat back in the room and I wasn't going to answer the door, but that person decided that they were not going to leave. So I walked to the front door. I kind of cracked open my window, the shade, so I could see who was out there. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a bill collector because they were coming after me too. I was depressed and my life was falling apart. And um, it wasn't a bill collector. It was this little guy. He was standing out front. He had salt and pepper hair. He was probably about 5'4, 5'5, short guy. I opened the door and I was a little aggressive and I said, What do you need and how can I help you? And he just didn't say anything at to me. He just looked at me and he softly said, I'm here to help you. And that's when he got my attention. I said, What are you here to help me with? He goes, My name is Pastor Newton. He goes, You see that church up the street? I said, I see that church every day. I drive from work and go to work. I said, I've passed it. I've watched you break the dirt, I've watched you build it and everything. And he goes, Well, guess what? I'm inviting you to church. We're having our first service this Sunday, and I think it was like nine o'clock, is when service was supposed to start. He gave me an invitation. He said, Would you come? And I said, Yes. And I had no intention of going to church. I was trying to get him off my porch so I could finish doing what I was doing. Uh so he left and I shut the door. I went back into my bedroom and I picked up the gun and it wouldn't fire. And I pulled the trigger a couple times and it wouldn't go off. That's when I knew something, there's something here that I need to explore. Here we go. Sunday morning. I'm in church. And I don't even know why I'm there, to be honest with you. I don't even remember getting dressed. All I know is I'm sitting in church and I'm listening to this sermon, and he's preaching out of the book of Revelations. And let me tell you something, Marla, within within probably 20 minutes of service, I got very, very sick. I got physically sick to where I had to leave the church. And as soon as I walked out of the church and got in my car and drove back to my house, the sickness left my body. I didn't feel sick anymore. And so I was like, okay, I guess church is not for me. So I said I wasn't going again. And you know what? The following Sunday, I was right back in church. This went on for about, I don't know, six or seven weeks. And every time I went back to church, Marlon, this is, you know, someone needs to hear this story. I know it. That's why I'm sharing it. So every time I went back to church, I moved a little bit closer to the front. So by the sixth week, I'm in the middle of the church now. I'm right in the middle. I finally made it all the way through the sermon. I finally made it to where he made an altar call. I had left church because every time I was there, I had got sick and I would leave. So I'm sitting there. Now you gotta understand something. I'm a 280-pound bodybuilder. I'm not easily swayed. I don't follow people very easily. I'm just a hard-headed dude. I mean, that's just who I was. And so I'm sitting there, and I can remember this as it was yesterday. I'm sitting there, and Pastor Newton is giving the altar call, and people are getting up and going down to the front and giving their lives to God. And I said to God, I remember I sat there with my eyes closed, and I told God, I said, if everything I've heard today is true, and you love me and you created me, I said, You'll send Pastor Newton to come talk to me. And that didn't get out of my mouth very well before I felt this hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes up and it was Pastor Newton standing right in front of me. And he said, God told me to tell you that if you were the only person on this planet that he loves you and he created you for a purpose, for a reason. You're here for a purpose and a reason. And I needed to hear that. And at that moment, what do you do? What can you do? I just said, okay, all right, God, here we go. Let's let's make this happen. I don't know what's going on, but I'll give my life to you. And and that's where my spiritual journey started.

Marla Miller: 13:55

That's an incredible start to your spiritual journey, to say the least. Such a powerful reinforcement like that, and consistently, not only at your front door, but then back in the bedroom and then back at church numerous times. And to get that constant support and reassurance every time you ask for it is incredible.

Anthony Cudjo: 14:19

Some things happened to me that were undeniable that I was here for a reason. We are all here for a reason. I just didn't know what my reason was. I had no clue. I was doing what the world told me to do, and I had no peace, I had no joy, I didn't feel powerful, I didn't feel like I had control over my life, and I had enough of that. So after I gave my life to God, so to speak, or accepted God, my life changed tremendously in a very short amount of time. Some things were happening to me that that were really unexplainable, some miracle things that were going on in my life. And I was like, wow, man, this is so amazing. So I really started digging deep into spirituality, into getting to know who God was. And then I got to a point where I was like, okay, I need to know who you are and who I am together. So I just went off into a sabbatical for a couple years to really understand what I was supposed to be doing on this planet. And a lot of things were revealed to me.

Marla Miller: 15:29

So when you say you were on sabbatical for a couple years, what does that mean specifically?

Anthony Cudjo: 15:34

I disengaged from humanity. I went to a place where it was just myself. I got silent. I had to bring some peace into my soul. I had to bring peace into my body. And I knew I couldn't do that around other people. I knew I had to get away from everything. So I did that for a while.

Marla Miller: 15:52

Did you go? I mean, like to an ashram, or you're talking about. No, no, no.

Anthony Cudjo: 15:56

I just I just quit hanging out with people like I was. I quit going to parties, I quit hanging out with people. I stayed in my home a lot, did a lot of research and studying. Again, I just didn't want to be around people. So I didn't go to a retreat or a sabbatical like that. I wanted to be alone. I wanted it to be just me and God, to be honest with you. Uh, so that's why I didn't go around anyone. I even moved into a different room, and my wife thought I'd lost my mind. She's like, What are you doing? I said, I'm sorry, sweetheart. I said, I just I need to be by myself right now. I can't explain it. So I moved into a different room and I slept in that room. And my wife was honorable enough where she allowed me to do that and didn't give me any grief for it. She let happen what needed to happen. And um, the rest is history, man. When I realized who we are as human beings, and I was shown who we are as human beings, it scared me. It really scared me because I was like, Are you serious, man? Are you really serious that we have the power to heal our bodies, that we have the power to create ever whatever we desire, that you put this power inside of us, and all we have to do is agree with it and tap into it, and then we can activate it for our own lives. And so when I heard that message, I started my journey. I started working with other humans for first of all myself, because remember, I had to rebuild my body, my body was broken, and I had to rebuild my own health, and it took me about a year to do it. And then I started learning a lot about the biological laws of the body. As soon as I did that, a lot of other athletes started coming to me because they seen what I did with my own health, and they were like, whoa, man, can you help me with some of my issues? And I said, sure. So I started working with athletes for about six or seven years, and then it graduated into working with the population of people that have sickness and disease in their bodies, and they're taking a ton of medications. And that's when I really realized that the body had the ability to heal itself of anything.

Marla Miller: 17:51

So, how were you doing that with your own body, with your back issues? I went back, you know what?

Anthony Cudjo: 17:55

Here's the deal your life, our lives are, I'm not gonna say controlled, but our lives are severely influenced in what we create externally by our internal conversation. Your internal conversation is your power. So I always tell people this you only have one problem. I don't care where you are, what you are, and what you're doing. You only have one problem and it's your beliefs. You either believe you can or you believe you can't. And you get to choose. You see, this great thing that we've been given is a choice, and that's power. You get to choose. So I chose to believe. I chose to believe that my body could heal itself. I went back into the gym and I started talking to my body. I started talking to my knees, I started talking to my spine, and it healed on its own. No medications, no surgery at all. Uh, and I was like, hold on here, man. You mean you can speak to your condition, and that condition will change? Then I also noticed when I was working with people that would come to me that were sick, I started paying attention to their conversation. And then I started realizing that they were making themselves sick by the way they were speaking to themselves and their beliefs. And so I opened up a studio in Richmond, Virginia in 2004. It was called Fitness RX. My goal was to marry the homeopathic medicine with allopathic medicine. I didn't believe that we were doing the right thing as far as our health was concerned in our country because more people were sick and people were on medication. So I was like, we we we're not curing anyone. We're just we're just medicating everyone. And I said, hold on here, we've got to change this. So I started working with patients. Doctors started sending their patients to me, and I started working with people, and you know what? We overcame a lot of diseases that the medical community said were incurable. Fibromyalgia. People came to my studio, they were cured. Autoimmune disease, they were cured. Ciliac, IBS, digestive dysfunctions, they were cured. Cancer, they were cured. No chemo, no radiation. So they'd come in my studio and I would actually start showing them how to change their internal conversation, how to speak specifically to their dysfunction, how to believe that their body had the ability to cure itself, long as you put your body in the right environment. And when I mean the right environment, I mean externally and internally. What are you saying to yourself? Pay attention to how you speak to your body. How do you speak to yourself? Your body is an individual living organism with its own intelligence. And if you don't believe it, your heart's beating right now without you thinking about it. Your lungs are working without you thinking about it. Your digestive system is working without you thinking about it. Your body is an individual intelligence on its own, but it also works collectively with you. You have the power to influence everything. And I mean everything, from your health to your wealth to the weather, all of it. You have the power to influence it.

Marla Miller: 21:17

That goes along very much with Dr. Joe Dispenza's work and his research, talking about how your thoughts become things, and you know how on a biological level, like you're creating different things that help your body just by delving into the mindset, like you said, the thought process. I guess you can tell what you say to yourself if you look in the mirror. There was a study of some kind done where they say, look in the mirror and say, I love you, you know, every day.

Anthony Cudjo: 21:50

That was one of the exercises I would do for my clients. And it's so difficult for some people. It's difficult for all of us. Well, but the thing is, society teaches you to judge yourself.

Marla Miller: 22:00

Yeah.

Anthony Cudjo: 22:01

See, I'm here to deprogram you so you can reprogram yourself for greatness. Society has programmed you to be weak, they have not programmed you to optimize yourself as a human being, and that's part of the game to control you. At the end of the day, I use that exercise as well. I call it the mirror exercise. And what happens is when you wake up in the morning, you are actually creating the energy for your day. And most of us wake up angry, most of us wake up with depression, most of us wake up with anxiety, most of us wake up with fear, most of us wake up with judgment. Okay, and you wonder why your day unfolds with fear, doubt, judgment, anxiety. It's energy. Everything is energy, everything. There are energies that are going on right now that you can't see. There are energies that you are submerged in right now that you have no awareness of. I have animals. I don't know if do you have any animals, Marla? I in the past. In the past, have you noticed that animals see things that you don't see and hear things that you don't hear? They are tuned in to the divine at a level that you're not. Yeah, but you can get there, believe me. It's just a matter of acknowledging it. There's one master key that will unlock everything in your life, it'll unlock your health, it'll unlock your wealth, it'll unlock everything in your life. One master key, and that's love. And you have to start with yourself, you have to start loving yourself, you have to forgive yourself, you have to know that you are here to grow and evolve. When you understand the law of life, you can play the game and win, so to speak. These powers are amazing. You're already using them, you're just not doing it consciously. If you want to become the master of your existence, you cannot allow the external world to affect your internal world. That's one of the keys. Knowing who you are on the inside, but not letting the external world change you or condition you or even dictate who you are on the inside. You know, all the clients I work with, I tell them keep your form. And what I mean by that, if you're in the gym and I was training you, Marla, the first thing I'm going to teach you is proper form and technique on exercise movements. And the reason why I do that is because I do not want you to injure yourself. Once we learn proper form and technique, then we can start executing exercises in a proper manner that's going to help you get that body you're looking for without any injuries. So you must keep your form. No matter if I give you 10 pounds or 200 pounds, you're going to keep your form so you don't hurt yourself. The same thing applies with life. You have to know who you are, you have to get clear about that. Okay? And then you have to keep your form when life shows up. When people show up that maybe you don't agree with, people show up that maybe you don't understand, you don't allow them to change who you are on the inside. You maintain who you are. And the reason why those things in life happen is because they're growing you. You see, growth is painful sometimes. Growth is a place where you don't know until you grow through it, so to speak. So I tell people, listen, if you really understand energy, energy is a vibration, it's a frequency. It goes up and down. Life goes up and down because life is energy. And the problem is when people get to the ups, they love the ups, but when they get to the downs, they go down. You see, when I'm at the ups, I'm up, and when I'm at the downs, I'm up. That's the difference.

Marla Miller: 25:43

Yeah, that's powerful to be able to do that.

Anthony Cudjo: 25:45

And here's the way I change people's internal conversation. See, I'm a great trainer, I'm a good coach. I've I've been doing this for so long, but I'm not powerful enough to change. Matter of fact, God cannot change your internal conversation. You are the only one that controls your internal conversation. No one else does.

Marla Miller: 26:04

It's 100% yours. So, can we uh delve into that a little bit? So, if someone is experiencing depression, you know, it can be difficult to want to think a positive thought, or some people become addicted to that negative thought process.

Anthony Cudjo: 26:19

Well, it's not even really addiction. See, here's what happens: energy goes and finds like energy. So here I am, I'm depressed, I'm thinking depressive thoughts, I'm having depressive conversations, and I'm taking depressive actions in my life. See, that's all energy. I told you everything is energy. So if that's the way I'm moving, guess what happens? Life must bring opportunities, people, circumstances, and situations that are going to keep that depression going. That's the law of life.

Marla Miller: 26:49

So, how are you able to stop that process and let them introduce something new and different that's positive?

Anthony Cudjo: 26:57

Well, I don't stop anything, they've got to do it themselves. My clients understand you are the power, I'm not the power. You are. Okay. So at the end of the day, how do I get them to change their internal conversation? This is a non-negotiable with me because I know the law. If you are a depressed person and you have anxiety in your life or you have some health dysfunctions that are going on, you are going to work out if you work with me. Why? Because there are biological laws, your body is made for movement. Okay? So if you're not moving intentionally, you're going against the nature of your own body. And I do know this. When you start working out, you start talking better to yourself. It's just a natural thing. You start working out, you start to feel empowered again. That happens naturally. When you start working out, you start making better decisions about your health. That's natural. You start doing better things as far as the actions in your life. That's natural. And not only that, when you start taking better care of yourself, you will naturally have a desire to take better care of other humans. That's the energy of taking care of yourself, loving yourself, honoring this physical organism we call our bodies that have all the power inside of them.

Marla Miller: 28:13

So if someone comes to you as a client and it's depression or anxiety, is there a process you go through with them to figure out the root cause of it?

Anthony Cudjo: 28:23

Yeah, I don't spend a lot of time on trying to find the root cause of your depression because it's none of my business. So I don't spend a lot of time on that. That's energy. I'm spending time on how to get you to a better place. So if you're a person that, you know, you're in that situation, there's two things I have every single one of them do. If they don't want to join a gym at the beginning and they don't want to get any fitness equipment in their home, I have to get them moving again because this is the law of your being. So I have them do two things. And this works 99% of the time. The other 1% are the people who don't want to do it. You know, and I tell them, I say, listen, if you don't want to act on this, then you really want to be depressed, you might as well be honest with yourself. You're okay with all this drama in your life, and you don't really want to change. So let's be honest with ourselves. Okay. So at the end of the day, the first thing I have them do is I start grounding. Do you know what grounding is? Mm-hmm. So I have everybody ground. Why? Because you came from the earth, and that's where you're going back to. The earth has positive ions in it. As soon as you take your socks and shoes off and you stand on the earth, the earth starts giving you positive energy. And it also extracts all the negative energy out of your body. And I tell them, I, you know, my whole thing is to prove to you that this is the truth. So I normally have them stand out there with a blood pressure cuff on. Because as soon as you take your socks and shoes off and you stand on the earth, your blood pressure goes down immediately.

Marla Miller: 29:42

What about for people that don't have access right outside their door to grass or dirt?

Anthony Cudjo: 29:49

What do you mean if they live in an apartment complex or something? Yeah, like a lot of cement around or there's grass everywhere. Find some grass. Do you really want this or not?

Marla Miller: 29:56

Or Arizona, where the desert, and they don't want to go out on the cactus.

Anthony Cudjo: 30:02

I would tell you if you're in Arizona and you don't have any dirt, I would tell you to go to Home Depot, buy you some soil, put it in a box, and stand on that. Not a bad idea. Stand on that. There believe me, here's the thing that I learned when I was young if there's a will, there's a way. If you really want to do this, you're gonna find a way to do it. And that's the way you are in every aspect of your life, anyway. So at the end of the day, if you don't have dirt, go to a garden center and buy you a bag of dirt and just stand on it because it came from the earth anyway, it's just in a bag. So that was Be my recommendation. And the other thing I have them do is I have them walk in their neighborhood for at least two weeks every single day. And as they're walking in their neighborhood, we create affirmation so they can reprogram themselves. It's amazing what happens to you when you get back out of nature.

Marla Miller: 30:50

Yeah.

Anthony Cudjo: 30:51

Nature is our cure. Believe me, it is.

Marla Miller: 30:53

Well, I'm curious. So if people go to the gym, like you said, and they walk around the neighborhood and they do some grounding, what if that's still not quite doing the trick for the anxiety or depression? Is there anything else you add to that?

Anthony Cudjo: 31:10

We'll start off there. And the reason why I do that is because, first of all, I want to see if you really want it. Because if you really want it, you'll do it. Once they've done that, then we have a conversation. I always ask them, how do you feel? And they'll tell me, I feel wonderful. I feel great. So now you see the law of movement. You see the law of reconnecting to the earth, right? Yes, I do. Okay, so we need to put that in your life and be consistent with that. Now we're going to move to doing some resistance training. Why is that important? Because we have to make sure we improve the composition of your body. We want to have more muscle than we have fat on our bodies. Muscle is functional. Muscle is metabolic. Muscle builds your immune system. Muscle stabilizes your endocrine system. As you get older, you want to have muscle. Muscle equals mobility. The medical community had just now figured, not just now, but probably about 10 years ago, they have realized that one of the major issues of aging is sarcopenia. And that's when your body atrophies muscle at a very rapid rate. So as the body is atrophying muscle, aging is aggressive. It's super aggressive. So that's why I like to put muscle on people's body because that gives you a defense. It gives you a shield. It actually slows down the aging process. And not only that, it looks great.

Marla Miller: 32:26

Well, what about if someone says they're depressed or anxious because they're not connected to what they're doing in life, or their skills or talent are not being utilized, or they're just in a job they can't stand? How are you addressing the mental depression or anxiety that comes with that?

Anthony Cudjo: 32:46

Well, happiness equals health. A lot of people, like you said, they're going to jobs they hate. They're in relationships that are not working for them any longer. They have some challenges in their lives and they're not happy. You know, at the end of the day, we all have a common denominator in all of us. Every single one of us have DNA. We all have cells in our body. Matter of fact, the human body has about 40 trillion cells. And inside of that cell, there's something called a proton, neutron, and an electron. It's the very thing that keeps that cell healthy. It makes that cell spin off something which is called ATP, which gives you energy. So at the end of the day, understanding these different laws and making sure that you apply them is going to put you in a real good place. Now, people have a choice. You can choose to be powerful or you can choose to be pitiful. It's your choice. How do I know that to be true? Because when I was young and I had all these problems going on in my life, I was choosing to be pitiful. It was everybody's fault. It was my mom and dad's fault. Well, I couldn't succeed. All these things were happening. But as soon as I woke up and said, you know what? I want to be happy in life, man. I want to do things that make me happy. I quit working for other people. I became an entrepreneur when I was 28 years old. I never looked back after that. Um, I was doing my own thing the way I wanted to do it. And matter of fact, I was actually in harmony with my DNA. You see, when you were created in this physical body, your body knows what you're supposed to be doing. It's coded in every single cell in your body. Life itself knows what you're down here to do. You're in the way. You remember, I told you, you're in the way and it's your belief. So at the end of the day, life knows what you're supposed to be doing. Your cells know what you're supposed to be doing. Your body knows what you're supposed to be doing, but you're not doing it because you're fearful. I was really afraid to walk away from corporate America. Where am I gonna get a paycheck from? You know, who's gonna give me my health care? All these different things that I was relying on corporate America to do. And I was super successful in corporate America, but I still wasn't happy. Of course, I had every excuse in the world not to jump because I was like, okay, where am I gonna have this money? I got to keep this lifestyle, you know, all these different things that people worry about. And one day I just said, you know what? I'm going to do it. Worst case scenario, I fail. I can always go back and get a job. And I just said to myself, I'm gonna do this and I'm not gonna look back. And let me tell you something. As soon as I started doing what I was created to do, it made me super healthy, super happy, and money just came hand over it, just it just showed up in abundance. I could not believe it. I was like, oh my God, man, I've been sitting here chasing things and not understanding the law of chase instead of just sitting here and being who I'm supposed to be. And this is when I discovered that all of us as a human being, you are an electromagnetic, a bioelectrical magnetic device. And you know that. I mean, you've been studying Joe Dispenser, and that's the foundation of his message. You are magnetic. That's the way you were created. And I tell people don't chase anything anymore, it'll chase you. As soon as you stop chasing, it'll come after you. It's really weird how it happens. I can't explain to you the science behind it. I do know this. As soon as I stop chasing my dreams, they came after me.

Marla Miller: 36:15

Yeah, they always say when you're doing something where you totally lose track of time, that's something for you.

Anthony Cudjo: 36:22

You know, I call that your Friday night essence. I I had to discover it myself. So a lot of people say, Tony, what is that? Friday Night Essence. Well, let me tell you what it is because it's inside of you as well. It's the thing that you can do, and you don't need to eat. You're not worried about food, you're not hungry, you're kind of in the zone. It's the thing that you can do, and time just goes by so quickly. You're doing it, you're like, oh my God, I've been doing this for like six hours. Okay, so you're in the zone. And then it's the thing that you do that just makes you feel so good on the inside. That's your body talking to you and giving you confirmation that this is what you're supposed to be doing. This is why you came to the planet, this is why you manifested into the physical body you're in. This is your blueprint, this is what you're supposed to be doing. Just embrace that and run with that and watch what happens. You're gonna be amazed, man.

Marla Miller: 37:13

And a lot of times it's that thing that people are like, oh, that's just a hobby, though. That's something I just like to do, or they're good at something and they take it for granted, thinking, well, everyone can do this, you know, when it's not true.

Anthony Cudjo: 37:27

Well, they we've been again socially trained to believe in society's game than our own and what your body's telling you. You know, my wife, she used to tell me, this is my second wife, she's no longer with me anymore. We kind of outgrew each other, but she used to tell me I talked too much. She said that all the time. You talk too much, you're always talking. And I said to her one day, I said, you know what? My mouth is gonna make me millions. For some reason, it just came out like that, and I believed it. I said, This very thing that you give me grief about, I talk to too many people, I'm too friendly, all this stuff. I said, My mouth is gonna make me millions one day. And you know what? It happened. I just knew when I started speaking, the first time I got on the stage, and it was so crazy, Marla. Let me tell you this story. So here I am. I felt this energy inside of me saying, Speak, you're a speaker. So I went and got me a little hotel and got me a conference room and paid for it, and invited a lot of people to come to my little program that I had going on. And I walked in there. The event was supposed to start at 7 p.m. I got there about six o'clock to set up the room, 6 45. I'm waiting for my guests to come in. 7 o'clock, no one shows up. 7 30, there's no one in there. I sat in the chair and I just started sobbing. I was so mad. I was like, God, you told me to do this, and there's nobody in here. I'm like, what is the deal here? I've just spent $650 for a room that I didn't have. I'm like, man, what is up? What do you want me to do? So I sat there, and after I finished crying and sulking over the situation, I heard this in my spirit. Get up on the stage and speak as if this room was full. So I did it. I got up on the stage and I went through my whole presentation all by myself. There was no one in that room. The following week I was told to do it again. So I went back to that same hotel, booked the same room, did my marketing, and you know how many people showed up the next time? How many? Five people showed up. So I was like, okay, five. That was better than last week. Zero last week. I got five this week. Long story short, I kept doing that over and over. Consistency and frequency equals mastery. I'm gonna say that again. Whatever you're trying to master, your health, your wealth, or whatever it is, consistency and frequency equals mastery. I was consistent about getting that room. I was frequent about what I was doing. And before I knew it, within a month, month and a half, I had a packed house. About two months, I had to get a bigger room. In about probably uh six or seven months, I was speaking in auditoriums in front of thousands of people. And it happened that quickly. And I just knew that I was a public speaker. I just knew that I had a gift to speak inside of me. And when I spoke, I had cold chills the whole time and I loved it. Nothing that I had ever done, I had that much fulfillment in. And I just kept doing it and I kept doing it and I kept doing it. Next thing you know, ESPN radio, and I had radio shows and spoke on different stages. I had a contract with ABC. I was speaking all over the country, 14 different cities every month. And I just looked back one day, I look back and I'm like, my God, look what happened. If I wouldn't have said yes to that, if I'd have just said no and kept working for other people, I would have never got here. I would have never made it to this point in my life. I'm trying to get people to believe in themselves.

Marla Miller: 41:04

I love the fact that instead of it just working instantly and all the people showed up and you did your speech. To me, that kind of feeds into how you controlled the situation. Whereas what ended up happening by no one showing up, but you hearing that voice in your head to do it anyway, and you get those practice sessions in, and more and more people start showing up. To me, it reminds you that there is this greater power that is always with you and helping you and supporting you.

Anthony Cudjo: 41:38

Oh, absolutely. The universe is here to support you. Here's what I've learned over the three and a half decades of doing this, okay? The universe has a very short, small vocabulary. And here's what it says to everybody all the time. Did you hear what I said? It says this to everybody all the time. If you say I am broke, the universe says, so be it. It's going to do everything to support your brokness. If you say that I am wealthy, the universe will say, so be it. It'll do everything to support your wealth. If you say that I'm healthy, the universe will say so be it. If you say that I'm sick, the universe will say so be it. I learned how to master the moment of now. And this is how I discovered that there is no future, there is no past. There's just now. And see, life will bring you opportunities for you to master the moment of now. And what I mean by master the moment of now, who do you want to be right now? You see, the universe was asking me a question when I was when I said yes, I'm going to be a speaker. And that first event, no one showed up. The universe was asking me, Who are you? Who do you want to be? Do you want to leave and be depressed and have anxiety? Or do you want to get up on that stage and be a speaker? Like you said, you wanted to be a speaker. Master the moment of now. So I got up on the stage. I mastered the moment of now. I spoke to an empty room. I spoke with power and conviction. I spoke as if that room was full. And you know what happened? The universe said, so be it. That's who you want to be as a speaker, so be it. I'm going to bring more opportunities. I'm going to bring more people, more situations, so that you can continue to move forward in that energy. So I had to be consistent and frequent about it, and boom, here I am. That's how it happens in your life. Look at the things you love and look at the things you hate. And I promise you that law applies to both sides. It just does because it's the law. You know, that thing that we have inside of us, that three, there's three distinct energies that every human being has. These three energies control all of your external creations. There's nothing in this life that has not been created this way. Thought, word, deed. You have control over all three aspects of that. So I tell people this yes, you're going to have good thoughts and bad thoughts depending on the way you define them. It's not those thoughts that matter, it's the ones you hold on to.

Marla Miller: 44:12

Well, I have a question. So speaking of clients that you've had over the years, can you give just a couple examples of how someone's life has been transformed? Once they've applied this and they've worked with you, can you give me a couple health ones?

Anthony Cudjo: 44:27

Sure. I'm gonna I won't mention any names for privacy because I do have a lot of private clients, but I'll give you this example. There was this one lady. She came into my clinic or my studio, Fitness RX. She came in about 2006. She had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was stage four. The doctors pretty much told her go home and finalize your business, get in contact with hospice. There's nothing else we can do for you. She found out about me, I don't know how, but she found out about me and she ended up coming to my studio. And I used to do these things called acceptance interviews. Now, these acceptance interviews was an opportunity for me to find out if you were really ready for change. So when she came in my office, I set her down and she told me her whole story. She started crying. You know, we were crying together. And I looked at her and I said, Can I ask you a question? She said, sure. I said, This is a pretty simple question. And all I need is a yes or no answer. Uh and she goes, Okay. I said, Do you want to live? Yes or no? And she said, Yes. I said, why? And the reason why I wanted to know why, because your why is your anchor. It's the thing that is the foundation. Why do you want to live? And she told me, I have grandkids that I want to see grow up and get married. I want to be here with my husband. I'm not done living my life. There's still a lot of things I want to experience. I said, Great. You have good whys, you have good reasons. I said, So now, are you ready to do what I need you to do so that you can get healthy again? She goes, Absolutely, Tony. I'll do anything you tell me. I said, Great. I said, Well, the first thing we're going to do is we're going to start talking to ourselves better. There's that internal conversation. I knew she had to change that. Okay. She had been dealing and fighting cancer for years. So I knew her belief was cancer was about to take her out. I knew that's what she was believing because her body was accelerating the disease. So I knew that was her belief in her faith. Okay. So I got her in my studio, hooked her up with my trainers. She started working out. She came in my office one day and she just told me, Tony, I feel amazing. I said, Great, we're going the right direction, right? She goes, yes. So she left and we kept going. Then I changed her diet. And the reason why I changed her diet because food has frequencies. Okay. So I had to put high vibrational, high frequency type of foods in her body so that her body could alkalize itself. You see, any disease or any state of dysfunction that your body is in, it's in a state of acidity. Acid creates disease and dysfunction. Alkalinity creates health. So I had to bring her to an alkalized size. So we had to keep her at an alkaline level of about 14. And we held that for about four to five months. And then we kind of dropped her down to a 10 or 9. And we held that for another four or five months, and the cancer disappeared. Everything disappeared. She went back to her doctors. I told her, I said, go back to your doctors and get your blood work done and let's see where we're at. And I remember she called me and she was crying. She had to pull over on the side of the road and she was crying. She goes, Tony, they can't find any cancer. I just laughed. I said, I'm not surprised. She goes, I am. I can't believe it. I said, Well, guess what? I said, You cured yourself. Your body cured yourself. And so she was like, Oh man, she just did not understand the importance of the way she was talking to herself. And so I had to get her to talk better to herself. I had to get her to forgive herself for things that she thought she did wrong. I had to get her to release the people in her life that she was holding anger against. And so we had to just clean that emotional slate to where she could really heal herself because the body heals better in love and non-judgment than any other way. So we overcame that together. I use the same exact philosophy and principle with another woman who came in and had fyromyalgia. The military put her out because she was in so much pain. She was an officer, served in the military for I think almost 30 years, and they put her out because she was just in so much pain. And she was depressed, seriously, because she goes, Tony, I can't do anything. I'm just in so much pain. She goes, I don't even want to live in this body anymore. I said, Well, let's do something about it. So we did use the same principles, change the internal conversation, get the body to exercise, start alkyl the body, turn the body back on, and the body will do the rest. So we did that with fibromyalgia. We did that with cancer. We also did that with Alzheimer's. Cognitive diseases and dysfunctions are curable.

Marla Miller: 48:39

How'd you do that? I want to hear that story for sure.

Anthony Cudjo: 48:42

Well, first of all, you got two brains. Did you know that?

Marla Miller: 48:46

The gut and the brain.

Anthony Cudjo: 48:48

You've got you got two brains. Your primary brain is in your gut. Your secondary brain is in your skull. So if your primary if your secondary brain is struggling, you got to go to the primary brain. You got to change the diet, okay? We started putting probiotics in her body so her gut could heal itself. We changed it to vegetarian eating. So she was eating, I think her diet was about an 80, 20. 80% of her diet was vegetables and fruits, and 20% of her diet was lean meat. So we changed her diet. And we started putting her in hyperbaric chambers so the brain could be saturated with oxygen. There's three things that I realized, and matter of fact, I was in the medical library with six of my doctor friends when we were looking at the five top diseases that humanity had to struggle with. And as they were going through all the medical journals, I didn't understand them. I don't have a medical background or degree. I was just sitting in there listening to the conversation and taking notes. So after about six weeks of us being in there and talking about type two diabetes, cancer, heart disease, hypertension, uh, all these different diseases, I noticed something, Marla. I was like, oh my God. Matter of fact, I said, Dr. Higgs, did you see that? And Dr. Campbell, I said, Did you guys see that? They both looked at me and they go, What are you talking about? Now, mind you, I'm in the room with a bunch of doctors and I'm I'm a personal trainer. So they're looking at me like, okay, what did you see that we didn't see? I said, Man, I noticed three things out of all of those diseases. See, because when I sat at that table, God told me again, focus on the common denominator. So I did. I focused on the common denominator of all of those diseases. And the common denominator that I noticed, I said, Dr. Higgs, I've seen something here. And I said, Man, let me tell you something. I think we're onto something here. And he goes, Well, what is it? I said, Cellular hypoxia is one of the things that I noticed in every single disease that we looked at. I also noticed cellular dehydration. And I also noticed the pH level of the cell was in an acidic state. My hypothesis was, you know, if we can get oxygen in the cell, we can get the cell hydrated, and we can get the pH level of the body back into a proper pH level, the body should heal itself of anything, of everything and anything that it's dealing with as far as dysfunction is concerned. And so I took that idea and I started implementing it at my studio with people that were coming to me with disease, that people that were coming to me that were not in a state of disease, people that were obese and just wanted to lose weight. I used that every single time. And Marla, let me tell you something. It worked every single time. How'd you do that? Well, hydration. I had them drinking more water. Most people are not drinking enough water. Your body's 73% water. And if you're dehydrated, every system in your body is struggling. Your digestive system, your endocrine system, your nervous system, everything is struggling. Why? Because you're mostly water. So if you're not hydrated, then the body is going to go into a state of dysfunction by law. And the other thing is most people are eating foods and holding emotions that create a lot of acid in their body. And so the body becomes super acidic at a cellular level. That causes problems. And the other thing was cellular hypoxia when your cells don't have enough oxygen. Have you noticed when you go to the hospital? The first thing they do is what? They put that oxygen sat on your finger. They won't even operate on you if your oxygen sat is low because they understand how important it is that the body has a certain amount of oxygen in it. So I would look at people's oxygen sat when they came into my studio, and we would make sure that they were 90 or higher. If they weren't, what would you do? Exercise. Exercise increases your cellular oxidation, it pushes oxygen into your cells. That's why you get so much energy.

Marla Miller: 52:35

And to make sure someone's really alkaline rather than acidic in their body, you were doing that through a plant-based diet.

Anthony Cudjo: 52:44

Yes, we would do we would first we would test their pH. We would test their pH level, and we would do that once a week for about six to eight weeks until we started seeing them turn the corner and their pH level going up. A lot of folks would come to me, they had 4.5, 5, 5.5 pH levels, which is very, very tough on the body. The body will start to age aggressively, your immune system goes down, your body just goes into a state of dysfunction. So we would check their pH level and then we'd start feeding them certain foods that will increase the alkalinity of the body. And the first thing we took them off of was all dairy products. I had so many people come to me with allergies. Oh, I've had these allergies since I was a child. Really? You've been drinking milk since you were a kid, too? Yes. Okay. So we would take the dairy out of the body. Why? Because the dairy creates mucus in the body. And dairy also creates acid in the body. So we would get them off of the dairy, hydrate them properly, make sure they had a plant-based diet, make sure they were exercising on a regular basis, therapeutic exercise, nothing super difficult unless they graduated into that after we got over that dysfunction. And guess what? The body took care of itself.

Marla Miller: 53:52

That's amazing. Now, what about did you ever have clients who had been on different medications for depression and anxiety and yes, we did.

Anthony Cudjo: 54:03

And I got in a lot of trouble behind this because after a while I got this plastic barrel and I put it in my lobby, and I had everybody that came in with medications. Once we got them off the meds, they would drop that medication inside that bot inside of that barrel. That barrel got so full, the news media came over. They wanted to know what was going on in Fitness RX. People were getting healed over there. They were like, What is this guy over here doing? And so they came over, interviewed me, they looked at that barrel, they were like, Oh my God, are you serious? I said, Hey man, listen, most people don't understand that if they'll just change their lifestyle, they can get off of 80 to 85% of their medications. And so what we do in here is we change people's lifestyles. We start getting them in harmony with their body and their biology. See, God created the body in an amazing way. I didn't do that, but I understand the law of the body and I get them in harmony with the law of the body, and then the body takes care of itself. Joe Despenza talks about this. Okay, Dr. Bruce Lipton talks about this. They're catching up, man. And I'm I'm so glad that the information is getting out because people are now taking control of their health. And right now is the perfect time. I mean, look what's happening in our country as far as healthcare is concerned. We spent $7.1 trillion in 2024 on healthcare. $1.7 billion was spent on senior health care. The number one killer of seniors is falling. Falling. And all the dysfunctions that come along with that. And the problem is because they didn't do anything to take care of their bodies when they were younger. And so now they have to pay the price. I always tell people you can either pay now or you can pay later, but make no mistake about it, you're going to have to pay. That's why I'm in the gym five days a week. I take care of myself. I speak positively over my body. I eat foods that are going to heal me, not foods that are going to kill me. Okay. I try to stay as happy as I possibly can. I don't stay engaged in society too much because when you do that, you'll get angry, you'll have depression, you'll have all kinds of different negative energies. So I keep that away from me.

Marla Miller: 56:00

Well, I have three questions I like to ask people who have gone through a tough time and come out the other side like you have. When you were coming through that heavy time of depression, what was the biggest obstacle you faced? Would you say?

Anthony Cudjo: 56:17

Me. I was the biggest obstacle. I had a lot of beliefs that were very, very deeply rooted. And I had to release those. Again, this is why I have this position. You are the problem. You only have one problem, and it's your beliefs.

Marla Miller: 56:35

Well, what was the biggest lesson you learned during that time period?

Anthony Cudjo: 56:40

That I am complete, that I am perfect. And people would tell, man, what do you mean you're perfect? I am perfectly created by the perfect creator. In the story. I don't see myself as less than. I don't talk negative to myself. I know who I am. I am God in disguise. You are God in disguise. Now you can choose to accept that and walk into the power of that, or you can choose to reject that and struggle with the remainder of your life. It's your choice. And that's not an arrogant statement. That's not a blasphemous statement. It's the truth. Just like a tree in your front yard is a reflection of God. It has God in it. Your grass, your dogs, everything does. There's nothing on this planet, animated or inanimate, that does not have the energy of God in it. You can accept it or not. And it took me a while to, just like I said, I was the problem. I didn't want to believe it. I struggled and struggled, especially coming from a Christian background. That how dare you say that you are God in disguise? Do you know they killed Jesus Christ for that? And that was Jesus' message. Here's the deal Jesus was here to create leaders, not followers. And that's the problem that we have in our society right now. People are too busy following versus leading. Yes, you do have to follow for a moment. When I was a child, I had to follow. I had to follow what society taught me because I needed to understand how to brush my teeth and get dressed and do the things that I needed to do as a human being. But at the end of the day, you've got to graduate out of being a follower to a leader. And that means being a steward, taking care of yourself and taking care of the things in your life, no matter how big your life is. That is the goal. That's what's going to create happiness for you is you taking care of yourself. You notice I keep saying that over and over because that's one of the things we're not doing. We're not taking care of ourselves. We're not loving ourselves. We're not supporting ourselves. We're not talking positively to ourselves. And then we wonder why we treat other human beings the way we treat them.

Marla Miller: 58:53

Well, what was the kindest thing someone did for you during that time?

Anthony Cudjo: 58:59

The kindest thing that happened to me was the abuse I went through as a child. For without that, I wouldn't be who I am today. It was a gift. All the things that I've been through, the things that most people would consider horrible, it gave me an insight to be able to be empathetic for people that were coming to me. It was so weird because the people that were coming to me was a reflection of my brokenness that I had when I was younger. And I understood where they were coming from because of where I came from. So without that abuse, I wouldn't have the empathy or the understanding that I have today. For that abuse pushed me into a higher level of understanding. It pushed me into a higher level of being. And I realized that the abuse that happens in our lives is not what makes us. It's what we make out of the abuse that makes us. It's what we do with that energy. I didn't realize that till I went to uh this thing called landmark form. I don't know if you've ever heard of that before. But I'm a graduate from the landmark form as well. Now, here's the deal in landmark, they're gonna push you in a corner until you finally accept and take ownership for every aspect of your life. They're like, listen, I know you've been abused, I know you've been through a lot of different things, but at the end of the day, it's your rackets and stories that you've added on to that abuse that's caused all your trauma. Now I need you to take full ownership for all of that, and then you can release it. So I had to take full ownership. And that really, to be honest with you, Marla, was my breakthrough of releasing my parents.

Marla Miller: 1:00:29

Was going through the landmark form.

Anthony Cudjo: 1:00:31

Yes, yes, yeah. I'd have to say that landmark form. Was one of the major players in helping me to forgive and forget that whole situation. You know how people say, you know, forgiveness is not forgetting? Yeah. You remember how you have you heard people say that? I'll forgive you, but I'm not going to forget. Well, you're not forgiving then. You're not forgiving. You see, there's a scripture in the Bible where God says, I forgive and I throw it in the sea of forgetfulness. God even showed you that forgiveness and forgetfulness go together. You're not forgiving someone if you still are remembering it in your mind. You may not be saying anything to them about it, but if you're replaying it in your mind over and over and it's affecting you in a negative way over and over, you haven't forgiven anyone.

Marla Miller: 1:01:19

Yeah.

Anthony Cudjo: 1:01:20

You see, you forgive and then you forget. You let it go completely. You don't hold on to it anymore.

Marla Miller: 1:01:25

Yeah. So where can people find you if they want to work with you?

Anthony Cudjo: 1:01:31

They can go online and I could be found at urh3o.com. And those are letters. U as an under, ours in Ralph, H is in Harry, 3 and O as an Oscar. When you go to that, it's a landing page. You'll learn a little bit more about me. You have an opportunity to schedule an appointment with me, or if you want to have a conversation, it's about 30 to 40 minutes. And we're going to get real clear about what's going on with you. There's no judgment here. There's just me trying to help you get clear about what's happening in your life and what you're really trying to accomplish. And no matter what it is, I'm going to show you that you're in the way. So if you really want to find out how to get over this and keep moving in a positive way in your life, do it.

Marla Miller: 1:02:12

Thank you so much for coming on here and sharing all the inspiration and the information.

Anthony Cudjo: 1:02:18

Well, my challenge would be in closing, for the next 30 days, what I want you to do is I do want you to ground and I do want you to go walking. I do want you to find a place to get out of nature again. Get out of nature, walk in your neighborhood, meet your neighbor, say hello to people, get some good air in your body, let the sun beam on your skin and do that for 30 days. Be consistent about it. Either three days a week, four days a week. But whatever decision you make, make sure you follow through with that decision. It's called integrity. If you want your power, you've got to have self-integrity. So I would ask you to softly start exercising for 30 days, just start walking, speaking better to yourself. And then I want you to ground. So that's what I would ask you to do before you call me. So that way we can have a real good conversation.

Marla Miller: 1:03:01

Perfect. All right, everybody, let's get on it. 30 days.

Anthony Cudjo: 1:03:06

30 days to a better you.

Marla Miller: 1:03:07

Yes. Thank you so much.

Anthony Cudjo: 1:03:10

Oh, it's an absolute pleasure. I'm here to serve. That's what I'm here for. I love it. Thank you for having me, Marla.