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Balancing Hormones Using Oral Medicine and Ayurveda · Wellness In Every Season

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: This is episode 220, and we are talking about balancing hormone.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: But this time we're talking about it using herbal medicine and Aryaveda, and we're going to talk about exactly what that is.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't even know what that is, so I'm very excited.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Wellness in Every Season.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: We talk all things wellness to help you align yourself, align with your goals, get find balance in your life, and just recalibrate yourself.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: If you are listening for the first time, welcome, welcome.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad you're here.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: And let's get started in the rest of the podcast.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: Today I have with me Whitney Irwin, and she is coming at this through her own lived experience, which is always my favorite to interview people like this.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: And she says, Years ago, I healed naturally from Hashimoto's thyroiditis and migraine, achieving long-term remission.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's a huge deal.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: She says, This inspired me to earn a Master of Science in Clinical Herbal Medicine from the Maryland University of Integrative Health.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's a really great program.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Advanced Ayuravedic certifications through the National Ayuravedic Medical Association and training with renowned health experts.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: And she says, drawing on this training and lived experience, she now offers practical research-informed strategies to achieve long-term wellness.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's the biggest thing is so many of us are spending money on things that have the wellness branding on it.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: And we're hoping for long-term things, and it's really super short-term, or it doesn't even move the needle for us.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm very excited to talk about using things that are natural and that can offer long-term solutions.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I know that there are so many women, and especially women, that struggle with their thyroid.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it goes on for decades before they ever fully uncover what it is and how to help themselves.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: And usually what's offered to them is synthetic medicine.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I would love to start off with tell us what Arya Veda is, and then let's dive into your own journey.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure that it has been quite a journey to even get to the point where you are now.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's so lovely to be here, Autumn, and with everyone who's listening.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: So an ongoing journey as far as my own healing, and I mean that continues to this day, but like so many different phases throughout that.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: When we talk about Arya Veda, this is a really beautiful, time-tested system that has been around for thousands of years.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And the earliest historical documents go back to like 400 to 200 BCE.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: It does originate from India, although it is a universal system that anybody can apply.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: It is something that I have loved to bring forward more into the West.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I live in Virginia, very close to Maryland, where you are.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I just see a huge need for more holistic medicine choices and support for women's health.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Arya Veda literally translates in the Sanskrit language to the science of life and longevity.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that really sums up the heart of what it does, even though it's complex and multifaceted.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a living, breathing science.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Also, I've heard it termed the twin healing science to yoga.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like the health and wellness side that complements yogic practice.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think for women's health, which is something I specialize in my clinical healthcare work.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: It has really advanced teachings that have been intact for thousands of years.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was something that was such a pivotal experience on my healing journey when I came across in-depth Arya Vedic teachings and started working one-on-one with an Ayurubedic practitioner.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: I never thought I would do this professionally.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I was just struggling with so many of my own things and just trying to survive.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And what can I do to feel better?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And this just moves the needle so substantially for me.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say is a lifestyle switch that has really stayed.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it is so big that I'm always telling people you could study it for the rest of your life and just feel like you're scraping the surface in a really good way.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, I'm never bored.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so even though I do this professionally all the time and I have for now over a decade, I'm still learning and growing.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: I continue to infuse new Ayurvedic teachings into my life.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's some things that I feel like are more relevant during specific rates of passage, like in womanhood, you know, mis menstruation and maybe fertility, conscious pregnancy, postpartum, menopause.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so some of it is just applying what you need when it's relevant to ideally live in optimal, thriving house.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: How long were you struggling before you started to put these puzzle pieces together for yourself?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: And what symptoms did you have?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: For those who might be struggling with these same symptoms.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I know we can go deep.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: And there's so much to that.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm looking back when I was growing up, and I often tease that I grew up as the daughter of two college professors.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so just like from the womb on, just around a lot of open-minded thinking, critical thinking.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think my parents were prepared for how how far I was living internationally and doing so many things, but they were very supportive to just learn and grow and expand and like learning new languages or something I was like very interested in from a young age and did that.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like a lifelong love of learning has been a thread for me throughout so many phases of my healing journey.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I feel very, very grateful that I actually did grow up healthy and like very healthy, solid early childhood years.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually graduated early from high school at the top of my class.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I need a break.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: I want to travel the world.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I traveled, I lived out of my backpack for a couple of years and I worked in organic farms.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: I worked three jobs to do that.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: I worked very hard for that.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I just feeling like my health was never holding me back.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like I could do those things.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I could work three jobs.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: I could travel the world.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I loved every minute of that.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Not that all of that was easy per se, but when I was in college, I unexplainably became very ill during my sophomore year.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And there had been some precipitory signs several months before that.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I gotten like more contagious like colds and flus during my freshman year than I ever had in my whole life.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: But it was like, oh yeah, I bounced back.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: But this was really different where I had to take medical leave.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it was stress so devastating for myself, my family, not really understanding what to do.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: I was actually at an Ivy League school where they had a medical college right near campus.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: And even with what you could consider a very high-level sophisticated medical cure, nothing really worked for me.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: I just left feeling horrible.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt like the treatments just weren't working in the way I feel like my body could heal.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was about then after that, about eight years when I look back of really struggling and looking for healing and not feeling like I had a lot of good answers.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, certainly everything led to the next step.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I just felt like I had to focus on my health.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: It was like the universe has kind of redirected me to that because I couldn't work or go to school and uh do the things that I was doing before in the same way.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I did eventually return to doing those things.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: But I moved to the Southwest and I kind of serendipitously found the culture of Santa Fe, which was like a holistic health mecca in the United States.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I moved there for college and uh was in an amazing degree program that was a wonderful part of my life, but I still had these health things that were kind of paying over.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I just was really immersing myself in regular like massage and acupuncture sessions because I was so widely available in the community.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And there were a lot of community clinics when I was in college that offered those services.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I was studying with healers.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then I started to hear messages from healers there.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Then someone would just assume that I was already a healer.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, You've got to be kidding me.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I have so much healing we can I need to do.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I'm always interested in service, and that was such a huge thing for me and finding my life purpose, like from a very young age and wanting to feel fulfilled with what I did in life.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so, any way I can do that, that was something that was on the table for me.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: How can I be of greatest service in this world?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And the younger version of me, I felt a lot more lost in that and kind of like still discovering myself and trying to find more clarity.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so that happened so many times though.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I suppose people were like, Oh, you're already a body worker.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, No, like I've always loved doing massage, and I've always done that in my family since I was very young, but like I'm not a massage therapist, right?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I know.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I then let a public grandmother kind of take me in and tutor me.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I started learning some things on the side, and then I just kept looking for healing and I kept immersing myself in any new Sierra Key, anything I could do within my own practice.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was already a very serious yogi before all of this unfolded from the age of 16.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, I'm sure that saved my life actually through all of this.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that was something that kept deepening over time.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I find new yoga teachers to work with.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: I studied with new lineages.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I was trying to implement more lifestyle techniques.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: But on some level, I really felt held back from being fully confident with my lifestyle until I found Ayurvedic medicine.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was in about eight years later.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that was still a several-year healing journey, but I felt like within several months I had more stability.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it was looking a lot about like daily rituals and really seeing me as having a unique mind-body constitutional type and taking the time to really get to know my needs on an individual level, which I feel like is not always the norm.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: With how the healthcare practice is like a general one size fits all.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's I'm like always on what like someone in the bell curve that doesn't fall into that.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was missed so many times.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many examples around that I could share.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: I I felt like somebody got me and was like, oh, you're really seeing me for who I am.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you're custom creating recommendations after deep listening.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not just this like sad thing, or I don't feel like you're just going on philosophical things.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like you're going on evidence-based, timeless wisdom that has been practiced with integrity for thousands of years.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so I felt like a level of just safety in my body, applying the practices that was very helpful beyond just occasional treatments or several hours a day, where it's like starting to infuse into like my whole lifestyle.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of those things we could describe in modern terms as nervous system regulating or in stress management techniques.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: These are things I teach all the time now.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Then I think there's a lot of depth there where it's like, I think they've been talking about these things for a long time, and it's still very, very relevant.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so I feel like my nervous system started healing more.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I had some really negative side effects with some things I tried that didn't work, and my body needed healing from that.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so I did some deep cleansing and detoxification, and then I learned how to keep that up as a lifestyle, doing that safely for women's health twice a year.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so I did a lot of GI health work with Ayurvedic medicine and women identifying is something that's just is inherently variable.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so kind of learning how to live with that and tie that into my natural creative cycles.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so some of the specific things, yeah, like you highlighted, the Hashimoto's as part of my journey, which I was very actually private about.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of this I was until I was in clinical practice like full-time for about six, seven years, and I kept seeing these patterns over and over again.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I kept hearing so many women say how dismissed they were in that they weren't getting the support they needed in other healthcare practices, or like, well, there's nothing, I was told there's nothing that I can do for my thyroid.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you just have to live with that.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, you're like 20-something years old.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I just felt like that was wrong.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, that's great, that's your opinion.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm here to tell you that there's 20, 30 things.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like I could teach you right away to support you.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: You could never guarantee results or anything, but at least supporting you as best possible.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: You may have better quality of life and bringing in a true integrative healthcare approach that you can combine with anything else you may choose, like just 100% always possible to bring in complimentary medicine approaches, which is what I do.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that was something I just felt like I wanted to speak up a little bit about hey, there's actually some stories of people who have been through this and found a lot of sustainable healing through holistic health and our batic medicine as we're I love to share that.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm here to help you as best possible.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that was something that happened with the Hashimoto, the autoimmune condition.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that is one of my specialties.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: I see so many cases around that.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Some things are true, I think, for all autoimmune conditions, and then very specifically also supporting thyroid health, uh, which is a very common women's health issue.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I looked at doing everything for myself, but feel bright, like 100% naturally.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I did a lot with nutrition, functional wellness, and health, aviated herbal medicine.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something I've been managing now for a long time.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: I have to count the years, at least six years, where like my thyroid rates really good.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I still do a lot of things for a bunch of house, and I take that very seriously.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've done all of that naturally, and that's been working really well.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: That says a lot.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: I want to circle back to the fact that you said it took a while to heal.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: There's so many times we just want it to be that split.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Now we're all better.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: And it can be so frustrating when it's not, and when we feel like that needle's not moving at all in recovery.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: So tell us a little bit about that because you've experienced that.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure you've experienced that with your client.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: What do you have to say about that part when people are just really stuck?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, even though they're I never know what it's like to be in anyone else's shoes.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like just speaking for myself, I can relate to feeling very stuck like many times and for a long time.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: And just all the emotions that came with that, which were really uncomfortable and I mentioned devastating, like to that, and sometimes feeling like I completely bottomed out, like I'm like at rock bottom.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a very, very hard place to be.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I also felt like something came out of that was very positive and just this motivation that never left me that was looking for more.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't give up ever, that there was some possibility of feeling better and moving forward in a positive way, but I didn't know how that looked like.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I needed a lot of help to get there.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: I needed people that had a lot more training and mentorship and professionalism to help me.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so I give so much credit to so many people and healers.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: I still have a team that I work with.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's something I always like to normalize that conversation.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think strong women have a strong circle around them.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I do hear from a lot of people in my practice coming in this idea of I should feel better and I don't, and I've been doing so much and I just don't feel the results yet, and feeling shame, pain around that.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and sometimes you do need better strategies and things that will bring more results.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Just a short-term fix mentality is something I think to be wary of and not putting that pressure on yourself.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Some things do happen in a short amount of time for sure.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I see that a lot, but other things really take a long period of time.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it's every single step along that path matters so much.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Things like GI health and hormone balance, some of the things that I see all the time, like those are slow healing processes, even if you're doing everything right.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I visited, you should see the results of that over time to really solidify things as a long-term habit, looking at generational healing, like that's very, very big.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so giving yourself the grace to relax into the process, not always be looking at just like performative measurements as well.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: There's some level of surrendering to that process, knowing it will take time.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's not an unusual seeing, but also trusting that you're seeing enough progress along the way, that you're going in a direction that feels aligned for where you dream to be and what your values are.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: And it's still you talked about relaxing in the process.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I had a functional doctor on recently, and we talked about stress for a little bit.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing when you really start to peel back the layers of yourself and realize how much of this is actually caused by Jeff.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: When we don't allow ourselves to relax into different things, and I'm told that all the time.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: I've had a coaching session for pickleball of all things yesterday, and I was told that I was holding myself too tight.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, yeah, I've always been told that with different things if it's a dance instructor or whatever.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: And that reminder of the stress that I hold on to from my childhood.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: And it's sometimes very frustrating.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: And there's times where my husband about it, and he's remember that it's going to be a journey.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: Remember that it's a journey.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I think I've noticed that in coaching sessions as well, that all of this is a journey and it's okay and it's meant to be.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: And you just experienced that with yourself from what you're talking about.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah, and I do agree with your ramifications of stress like on the body, and there's so many different ways that can show up beyond just physical health.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I know you're very realistic in your approach, which I love.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: So just always looking at emotional health, psychological health, how there's the state of your environment, all of those things matter and are intimately linked, like all these facets of ourselves.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like it is something that I hear a lot is like, well, like again, a late book, this is the big goal right now.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I spend a lot of time with visioning when people come in and okay, let's get some clarity around where you want to go.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm here for you in any way that I can, but I want to make sure that this is all for you.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm tuned in to helping you to create those things you don't have at this time that are high priority.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: And what tends to happen is there's a couple of things that are usually with acute states of health.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something when usually people are coming in and there'll be a lot going on.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a very complicated, perhaps very overwhelming time.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so hard to see beyond that.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what we're laser focused on.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then several months later, other things shift.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: So some of it is trusting that the process means that some things can't be revealed yet.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just staying really present with the now.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, hey, this is what I most need right now.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not trying to force or pressure like 10 things at one time, or sometimes it's not the right timing for other things.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And okay, then getting some level of achievement and stability on those pressing things, which will take time.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: But once they've had that, I see other things open up and things like life purpose.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: My focus is in health and wellness, but I always see that pop up naturally later on.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you have more energy and vitality, you have more support for your health, you're feeling better, you just have more life to do other things.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden it's like, I have more time for my creative projects.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like I hear all this, I'm like, I haven't painted in years, like I haven't done this in years.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: I stopped dancing a long time ago.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And now I'm just doing that again.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I look forward to it.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Or now I want to go back to school.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: And like, I've always wanted to do this program.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'm gonna take that job now.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's also that there's so many possibilities right around the process that it can constantly be evolving, and that's a really beautiful thing.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: So basically, you're saying this is an investment in yourself financially as well as health.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Investment in everything.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: And then what about the people who are saying, I don't know if I have the time or the money for this?
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: What would you say to them?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I feel like working in my health practice.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's for real, fair, and I have those considerations as well.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I often say it should come back to you exponentially with the time and energy that you're investing and money.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think with health, especially, I hear consistently that it's priceless.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's like what is it costing you to say stuff?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: What is it costing you for nothing to change and stay?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's okay, that's fine, right?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: There's no judgment here.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just here to unconditionally support you.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: You the most of them people are, I'm really scared to stay here, or I feel like I haven't lost hope for what's next.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: And knowing that there has to be some investment of time and energy for that to change.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think especially with exhaustion and burnout, that can feel like something that can hold people back of I don't want this to be the other seeing her.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so I very strategically work in the beginning about things that are so life-giving and even it's just like small things and like getting herbs in your system consistently to help restore and rebuild vitality.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so knowing that the very things that you're not committing to might be the very reason you don't have the thing that you want.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then that exponential return over time opens up so many more things.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, if your health is online, like how much more can you work?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: How much more can you give here?
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like, yeah, all interconnected.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: So it sounds like if we're going to stages of change, which not everybody knows what that means, but we have these stages where you have pre-contemplation where you're not even sure if you want to change it yet.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then contemplation, you know what the problem is.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you're starting to like really grasp what it is on the safe level, and then you're preparing to take action.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: But it sounds like you have the people that are they're so sick of this that they're just, here's my time and here's my money.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like, let's dig into this.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: They are in the preparation and action stage.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: So the next stages after that would be maintenance and then relapse.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: Relapse actually is the best stage because that's when you're like, No, I really want this, and you try and get back again.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: And it just made sense to me because I would see people and I'd be like, you know, your life would be so different if you could just change this one thing.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: And realizing they're not there yet.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: And we've all had people in our lives where we're like, you know, you could stop the cycle if you just do this, but they're not ready to see it yet.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: They need to get to that point where they're just sick of it.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: So my next question, and I know that this can be a little precarious because you don't know all the listeners.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know all the listeners, right?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, what would be your general advice of like, here's one thing you can do to make yourself better?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: What would that be?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a big question for sure.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: And full respect, everybody's coming in from different places, and I don't know a lot of the ins and outs of so many listeners.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: So just full respect for everything that you have been doing to support yourself and maybe shedding some meaningful new light in this conversation.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's my sincere intention.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: I would say I'll try to highlight things that I think are missing a lot when people come in and like they've been struggling with for a really long time.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that you talk a lot about mindfulness and holistic methodology.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm guessing a lot of your listeners have that awareness because they think mindfulness is really, really important.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's for women's health, what I see is this underlying lack of self-love that can pull people back from prioritizing self-care.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: And like even if we know how wonderful all the things are, this inner psychological block that we need to work through.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes just doing the practices consistently with discipline, like going for a morning walk, which is very helpful for refractional tissue and hormonal balance and regulating your sleep weight cycles, having mindfulness eating and like slowing down before you eat, like sitting down and cheering your foods, bringing in an afternoon herbal tea, like some of these things like that that can seem simple, but are so powerful and so big.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, well, why aren't I taking the five or 10 minutes to do that?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why can't I slow down?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: Why aren't I stopping to eat a lunch?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just one thing I see a lot.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so just knowing that I see that a lot within women's health is a common thread.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: We can be such givers.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, let's take care of everybody else first.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: But when your cup is empty, you don't have anything to pour from.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: Literally.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you can see your own essential self-care is just as important as everybody else's, and you are so worthy and valuable of pouring in healing love and energy and light, that is not selfish at all.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually very selfless.
• 26:39
  unknown: Yeah.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Then I think it opens up the possibility of more consistency in your lifestyle to allow the things, to schedule, to give yourself permission to do that over a long period of time, that will genuinely result in you feeling better.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: What a great example you're being to other people around you when they see you doing that.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: Think about yourself as a grandparent.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: If you're a mom with young kids, future you, you're a grandparent.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to see your children neglecting themselves the way that you're neglecting yourself?
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: Or would you like to see them taking a moment to breathe each day and enjoy, fully enjoy the cup of tea while it's still warm and to just be breathing it in, feel the steam before it even reaches your lip, feel the heat and feel it all the way go down, all the way to your stomach, and to be able to visualize like just fully breathing in that moment and allowing your children to have that space of you need to go and do that with your toys.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: You don't need to be under my feet right now.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Bring them.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: I can hear them running around, and now they're in our bedroom.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: But when we allow ourselves that we're reminding our children they can have that space.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: Because what I'm noticing and really tuning into with my own parenting is how much I'm hurrying my children along.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: And it's making me realize how bad that wasn't for my nervous system as a child and how I'm continuing that cycle for them from what my parents did and from what the school system even does.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it's that reminder of okay, I'm relearning how to slow myself down.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: I need to do that as a parent as well.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I think self-care automatically takes care of that if you're building in that space throughout the day.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's very insightful what you shared.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, appreciate your honesty.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like these are things that I still struggle with implementing a lot.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just so much better at being familiar with the habits and what they give me.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it does like I also say it doesn't matter what happened or how you feel before doing the positive self-care practices, they will just always work for you.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so some days you might feel exhausted and showing up, and other days you may feel excited and motivated showing up.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's all okay.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's just continuing to show up.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I think skipping that, especially when things are busier, then we set ourselves up for not receiving the benefit than spiraling.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: I tell people, even though I did all these things when I was younger, it was considered very successful.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: I sucked at self-care.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: I was such a giver, like it's really good at volunteering for all the things, doing things.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: That was a learned skill.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: And even though I had some beautiful models around me, just for me to actually feel that from the inside out.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some limits to external energy gibbing.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: And there's times like when we need to just stop and take a break, sleep.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that actually could contribute to more productivity and more nourishment to have creative cycles.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so these are practices I think forever.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're saying, like they don't go away.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think there's skills that you can learn where it's just so much easier.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then by default, you already have the habits set up, so you know how to immediately go into them, like no matter what happens in a given day.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: And it makes me think about how many companies used to prioritize wellness.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: They used to have time put in, like meetings actually mattered, and they would put in different wellness practices that are no longer there.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: And now it's all about the bottom line in finances.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: And they're forgetting how much they're spending in health care because their employees are given vacation time, but frowned upon actually using it.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: I've worked at places like that's awful.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: And they're expected to eat lunch at their desk.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: They're expected to only take those three days bereavement.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry, I agree for longer than three days.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a normal human being, I'm not a robot.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: And this culture is put in everywhere, it's not just for the mom, it's all around us.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: And it's no wonder that so many of us are struggling with health problems.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: And then we go into the normal healthcare system and we have doctors that are overworked and burned out.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: I've had several episodes just about that, and they're not taking care of themselves.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: They're in this position of authority where they're supposed to be giving advice to other people that they're not taking, and you're not even there in the room long enough with the patient to understand them and to listen to them.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: And it's really hard to listen when you're overwhelmed and not taking care of yourself.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like stop telling why there's people like you and why there's such a need for people like thank you.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um I feel like Garris file in with there's a lot of these cultural systems that are so toxic.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: I question so much about those work environments.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: I see so many people and I've been there as well.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've had so many jobs that actually motivated me so much to work for myself, although that is not an easier path for sure.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I hold such a deep level of accountability for myself as a practitioner.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I just non-negotiably cannot do this if I'm gonna be a hypocrite.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: I won't.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that helps me sometimes to keep me in a really healthy place because I'm like, one, I know I'm a better practitioner.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, if I'm taking care of myself, my health is solid.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: And two, like, who am I to model these practices if I'm actually not doing them?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just so important for me to do.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, I'm benefiting.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's very mutual.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's win-win.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: I was just talking with a client earlier today who's taking a break, actually camping with her family.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, you really needed this time.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I have done and we need to schedule in vacations and really genuinely take them.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: And like the European will have six weeks of paid vacation.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, that is so sane.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's like a minimum of just being human because you just need times off.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: And even if you could work more, I don't think we need to, especially in a first world country.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's an extra toxic lens.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: Cause I've been in third world countries and spent a lot of time there.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it really is a matter of survival to work more.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: But it's like we're not even giving ourselves the guess of being able to have deeper quality of life when we could.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: And we're shaming other people for wanting to live a happy life.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something I have to put a lot of my women through and teaching them.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of them are leaders and they go back into their workplace.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, okay, we're redirecting the whole flow.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's speaking a lunch break that was never there before.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's such a important part of looking at sustainable healing is looking at your environment, looking at your day-to-day, and trying to make some healthy shifts so you're not locked into things that are hurting you.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I love that you talked about happiness because you think that money will bring you happiness, then you're just grinding and grinding, and eventually I'll retire, and then everything's gonna be better, and I'll have all this time, but then you get to retirement and your health is going this way.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: So guess what?
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_02: Your money's going along with your health.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I have been around people who are some of the financially poorest, but they are some of the richest in emotional health, and their overall wellness in other areas, and it's that reminder of what actually brings you happiness.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: The happiness for me equals peace.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: For you, what really is happiness and that happiness that sings throughout your whole body.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: And do more of that.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's so important.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I we look at any kind of research, and that's something I think we recognize as a basic human need.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: We give ourselves permission to feel happiness and joy.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so true what you were saying, that it's non-dependent on finances.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we all know people that have a lot of financial means and are really unhealthy and really unhappy.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: You have to wonder like, what are we assessing here?
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: Is it success just based on how much you're earning with money?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like that is very shallow.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's usually not going to dinner having that you don't need those things, of course.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we all need our basic needs met.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: But at what point is there a shadow side to that?
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely, I know people that you know in third-world countries are very happy.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually where I learned to be happy again.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: I was spending time in Kenya, and I was so happy and healthy.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, like really don't need more material things to feel those things.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that was so important for me to get at a young age.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so I can create my own happiness without a lot.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: And that's that reminder.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes we need to look at our children to see that or other people who are young around us.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_02: They don't really need much to be happy and to entertain themselves.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: Do we need to have all the things?
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_02: Especially because that thing that you just spent money on, how long is that going to keep you happy or healthy?
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: For those who are like, okay, I'm ready to learn more.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: What's your website?
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_02: Where do we find you?
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: Let's lead them on that direction.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_02: If they're in a situation where they can't actually look at the description for this podcast episode and click the link, where can they find you?
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: So a website is a really wonderful resource.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's available 24-7 for seasonsharmony.com.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: And there's several end-out free trainings that you can receive immediately.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: One is seven steps to creating lasting hormonal health.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: Another is a video training on five holistic secrets to vibrate hormonal balance of a blog.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's a place you can look at what it would look like to do one-on-one work together.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: Offer a complimentary non-binding breakthrough session for people after they fill out several questions.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you're very interested in receiving more in-depth help, and so that's available where you can just talk one-on-one confidentially.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's no expectation to do anything after that, just to see if we're a good fight, talk about your house challenges.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm on social media.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see, my hand, Whitney underscore Furusiasons Harmony.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm on other things more, I would say, but you can find me there too.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for being on and for sharing your journey.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_02: I know that can be it offers healing, but there's a lot of vulnerability along with it.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I know that there will be so many people who resonate with that.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_02: And that will probably be Googling and learning a little bit more about what you talked about.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_02: But before you do that, to even try to understand some of the words that we talked about with holistic wellness, go to her website, check her out.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's a better place than Google or than AI right now or ever, because she has done the work in this.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: She said that she's worked in this for 10 years, and more than that, she was her first client.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: Always the most important to me when I want to work with somebody is have they experienced something that I've experienced.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: So that it you can always gain so much more from lived experience than somebody who it's like going and seeing a gynecologist who's a male versus a female.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: I will always feel more comfortable with a female because they know what I've experienced.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: If that makes sense to anybody who's listening.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_02: So check her out.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_02: This will be a lot of really great information.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: And if not for you, share it with somebody else who you know is struggling with some of the things that we talked about.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Adam.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's a pleasure to be with you.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like it's so like-minded and aligned, and I love what you do.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure your listeners connect with you.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna get a coaching session soon so I can learn more about how to connect people to your work.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me and just wishing everyone so much joy, peace, healing, and love on your journey.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that reminder, what you said earlier, you're worth it.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for listening to this episode.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: I hope that you found the answers that you needed and you had some amazing aha moments.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_02: Please share this episode with others because it helps us align ourselves and then better align the world so that we can seek the healing that we really are looking for.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: As part of the legal language, I am a certified life coach with a bachelor's in applied health.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: That is what I am leaning on for this.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_02: This is general advice taken aside.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: See in the next episode.