Just Women Talking Shit
Just Women Talking Shit is your go-to self-help podcast for real talk on personal & spiritual growth. Hosted by Jacquelynn Cotten, personal evolution mentor & founder of Spiritual Support System, this podcast features juicy interviews with badass, one-of-a-kind women. We dive deep into the good 💩, bad 💩, weird 💩, & life 💩, offering insights & inspiration to help you live a more authentic, fulfilled life. Join us for relatable stories, expert advice, & practical tips on overcoming challenges, building resilience, & embracing your true self. Tune in & start your journey towards personal evolution today!
Just Women Talking Shit
Ep 94: Goodbye Cramps, Bloating & Mood Swings: How Cycle Syncing Can Transform Your Health with Womb Wellness Mentor Samantha Martinez
Join me and womb wellness expert Samantha Martinez as we unpack practical ways to support women’s health through cycle syncing and holistic self-care. Samantha, a seasoned doula and advocate for women’s wellness, offers transformative insights for managing painful periods, bloating, cramps, and mood swings naturally—starting with the power of aligning your life with your menstrual cycle.
Follow Samantha on Instagram here.
We discuss how to sync daily routines with the body’s natural rhythms to not only reduce symptoms like PMS, fatigue, and hormonal imbalances, but to enhance mental clarity, energy, and productivity. Samantha explains how these changes can bring immense relief and empower women at every life stage, from young adults struggling with monthly pain to postpartum moms balancing new demands.
Our conversation also dives into the effects of hormone shifts, the toll of chronic bloating, and the anxiety that many women face in silence. Samantha shares real, actionable steps to tackle these challenges, so you can show up as your best self without being held back by period pain or other cycle-related symptoms.
Follow Samantha on TikTok here.
Whether you're looking to improve your menstrual health, overcome bloating and cramps, or are just curious about holistic approaches to hormone balance, this episode is filled with easy-to-implement tips. Don't miss this insightful discussion on reclaiming your well-being through understanding and syncing with your cycle—listen now and start feeling more at home in your body every day.
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Hello friend. Hey babe, how are you? I'm doing good Good Late morning, decided that our power went out last night and it messed with my sleep so bad, oh shit. Like the house went from really noisy because we sleep with an AC and all this other stuff. We haven't got like an actual standalone AC in our room. I like everything shut down, so quiet. And I woke up because I was hot and it was silent and my husband was still awake and I was like what is happening? Like the power went out and I was like no, and so we were up, up and down and then I got up at seven and the kids have to be at school at eight. It was like chaos all morning hey, where did what state?
Speaker 2:what state are y'all in again, florida, florida. Oh yeah, you got the humidity. Then never mind. Oh, it's been so bad it has been so bad.
Speaker 1:The last, like I don't know, like three weeks, we've had like 75 humidity and it's just sticky. So sticky.
Speaker 2:I don't like that, so I don't know. I don't know why I didn't realize you were in florida, but I'm in mississippi, so we're super close I thought you were in tennessee?
Speaker 2:no, my sister is no my sister. Maybe that's because my sister lives over near tennessee, so she's like towards chattanooga and I visit there a lot. But now I'm in mississippi and I'm like florida's. I love florida, um, but no, that's why I was asking. I was like because I know the times that I've been without power in mississippi. You can't sleep like, especially like, I mean if it's a song like summer, even right before fall or something, because it it is so freaking sticky all the damn time. So I'm sorry that that happened, but you didn't get to sleep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I think that the power ended up coming back on within a reasonable amount of time, because it went out at like one ish, from what Philip told me, and then I woke up and everything was back on, so it couldn't have been too bad.
Speaker 2:Couldn't have been too bad you're like, I still can't sleep, I can't sleep. I get it, though, so I'm really excited to chat today. Um, I honestly didn't even look at our notes, because I already know you.
Speaker 1:I didn't even know if we had notes, like I was. I figured it like the way. When I've listened to your podcast before, it's really just like literally just people talking, like it's just shooting the shit, like we're just chatting yeah.
Speaker 2:No, like I have that questionnaire in the beginning, like whenever you book your session, or like this interview, and so I'll go based on that, because typically the people that want to be on the show I don't know yet, but like I've engaged with you for, I feel like quite a bit, a year and a half, like we've been friends now for a year and a half. Is that true? What the hell?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah because it was last year. It was last year that I was working for Luana and I was friends with you. We connected, like I want to say, a few months before I left, because I left for October this time last year. Yeah, actually, I remember.
Speaker 2:So when we were on the call, I was like so you're starting to realize I'm like I can be socially awkward. I'm coming out and telling people like I'm super awkward and I like kind of just show up and fake it till I make it, type thing. But when I so when I met you especially like there's just this whole mindset of going into a sales call and it being intimidating, you know, and then I just remember thinking god, she's like so cool and she just knows her shit and she's like so confident, and and then at the end you were like you're also cool, and I usually don't do this, but I'm gonna follow you, and then we've just kind of clicked and so it's so just so funny, I, I only I.
Speaker 1:I think I only made like in the I don't even know how many people I talked to I think I connected with you and one other lady where I was like listen, I can help Cause with you. It was like we just clicked with the other lady. She was like just fresh into the fitness industry, yeah, and she was doing like a lot of copy paste strategies and I was like listen, honey, like I'm not fantastic, but like I can help you a little bit, so like let's have a conversation, but that's it. Like it was you and one other person in the hundred plus people that I spoke to that's crazy ridiculous.
Speaker 2:That is so crazy to me. So, but it's all starting to make sense now. I told you I don't know if I told you that I thought I was a projector, but yeah, okay, so my body graph, I guess, and I put the information in the first time. It registered it as I didn't think about military time whatsoever. Anyway, I recently I was going to be on a podcast with a woman and she is. Her expertise is human design, but projectors, specifically, is what she was looking for, so that we could, like, ask a question, and and it wound up being an episode, so I couldn't remember where I did my body graph. Um, spoiler alert people, you can just go to my body graph that's what it wound up being so.
Speaker 2:She suggested this other website whenever I would like go into book the, uh, the interview, and she was like what, show me a picture of your body graph, and if you don't have one, go to this website. So I was like, well, I can't fucking remember which website I did it on, and it wound up being it's god, a god thing, I think, because I'm going through so many transitions already, like we've been talking about cycle syncing and and then my mental health, and this whole time I've been at like trying to perform as a projector, waiting and like doing all these things and and then so I don't think it was a coincidence that I wound up having to do that again and coming across that mistake, because to just like open my eyes so much to be a manifesting generator, everything's starting to make sense.
Speaker 1:And then you said you're one, and so it makes sense why we grab each other when I did my human design too and I started studying more about like manifesting generator, it released so much guilt from like being multi, like multi-focused, like. Right now I have my insurance license that I'm studying for, and then I also have cycle thinking, helping women with their womb before childbirth, and like going through that process. Now I'm adding in doula services and helping women with the womb during pregnancy and childbirth, and I think what I'm going to do is I'm also going to open up a offering that will help and support women not just in the, not just in trimester four, which is the three months after, but moving on into just like their postpartum era, mom body and like going into the womb and what that looks like after pregnancy and after being done giving birth to children, because it changes so many different things, like postpartum depression, a lot of things. Something that's not talked about enough is postpartum depression, regardless if you're on medication or not, last seven years in the body, shut the fuck up, and so it's like okay, you can get on zoloft, like fine.
Speaker 1:But like the trauma of the postpartum depression. It's different than like circumstantial depression or chemical depression. Postpartum depression is a hormone focused depression and the hormones like when they drop like that, it takes seven years to completely recover. And that's wild Because, like I had really bad postpartum depression with Delilah, which is how I got on my psychosyncing journey, and and she's only four, so that would explain why I still have such like all have deep drop offs where I'm just like I don't want to exist, I don't want to move, like I don't want to die, but like I don't want to exist.
Speaker 2:Can we go back to that real quick, because I I'm getting full body chills and I may cry because let's do it. But because I say this kind of shit to my husband and it's because it's an invisible illness, it's like not taken seriously, like I contemplate just starting over because I feel misunderstood. But when you say that that's what I tell him is like I just don't want to exist and it automatically goes to.
Speaker 2:Well, that's kind of sad, but yeah right and like I'm trying to take the, the mother of his child, away, and it's like I just anyway, I feel like super, though super seen and heard hearing somebody else say that, because it's like that's just what it feels, like it's right because it's also.
Speaker 1:It's not that I, it's not that I want to die like I. I love life. I don't want to die Like I love life.
Speaker 1:I don't want to die, but I don't want to exist Like everybody, just go, like, can I just be in silence on the floor, nobody touched me, nobody say anything, nobody need anything, yes, everybody just go. And and it's really hard because, like, I'm really transparent with my kids about mental health. Like my husband, it struggles with depression and he's autistic adhd. I don't know what the fuck. I know that I've been given an adhd diagnosis, but the more I study ADHD in women and understand it on a hormonal level, I don't think that I have ADHD. I think that I'm on the spectrum and the symptoms can be very, very similar, but like the ADHD symptoms for women. Cause I read oh, I don't have it.
Speaker 1:Um, the power of the Female Brain by Dr Amen, or Unleashing the Power of the Female Brain by Dr Amen is what it is when I was studying that book there's like seven different kinds of ADHD and they all take different kinds of medication. Like, for some people, ritalin works really well. For other people, if you get on Adderall, that'll work really well. But then there's the people who need like Vyvanse, and Vyvanse are very strong, but some of these are they suppress their SSRIs and so they're going to suppress the serotonin and make it so that, like the ADHD actually gets worse, and because ADHD and dopamine is typically what it's associated with. But ADHD also utilizes serotonin and oxytocin, which are both hormone dependent. And serotonin and oxytocin, which are both hormone dependent, and serotonin, is progesterone dependent. So if you're low in progesterone and your hormones are fucked up, then your serotonin levels, your happy hormones, are not going to work.
Speaker 1:Wow, so it's, it's wild, and so I don't have an issue with like. I don't have an issue with like. I don't have an issue necessarily with staying focused or getting focused. I have sensory problems and it's not like itchy tag on the back of the shirt. I can feel my skin, I like I I don't like being touched. That's that's one thing. That it's a struggle for some people, cause I'm not a hugger. It's a struggle for my husband, because his main love language it's physical touch and I'm just like I get like dinosaur arms and I'm like don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me, and so it's one of those things.
Speaker 1:But with all of that, when you look at the female body from a postpartum side of things, it's not as simple as oh, here's Zoloft, your Zoloft. It's not as simple as oh, here is this medication that is going to temporarily like get you to that place where, like, your hormones are starting to regulate because your body does physically heal after two years. So say you have a baby, your uterus is going to be healed, your ovaries will go like, go back to normal, they'll go to your postpartum ovaries and the regulation and things like that that takes about two years. That's why these women that have like that you got those, those duggers that have like the back-to-back-to-back-to-back babies, like by the time she hit baby 19, they said if you have another child you're going to die like period and but they never completely heal, like I can only imagine what that woman struggles with inside that head of hers, like I know giving it to jesus and all of the things. Like I relate, I understand, but that's a lot of hormones and that's a lot of like dysregulation. And so when we take these things into account, codes say, say they give us a lot of like dysregulation. And so when we take these things into account, say they give us a lot for the first year postpartum, it's going to do what it needs to do. It's a great drug, it does what it needs to do, it has a job.
Speaker 1:But the problem is is that postpartum depression lasts for seven years in the body and so we go to wean off of it and and we're like, oh, I'm still broken. I thought this was supposed to fix me, but without the context of postpartum depression lasting for seven years, like we can't be on Zoloft for seven years. It's not good for the rest of us, but without that knowledge, there's no grace. It's like we're expected to just okay, you popped out a baby. Here's a pill for a little while. Oh, you're still not okay.
Speaker 1:Maybe we need to look further into this. Maybe we need to go on a grippy sock vacation. Maybe we need to be doing all these other things instead of just hey, it takes time. It's okay that it takes time. You grew an entire life and and I feel like in in womb wellness and womb care, that is something that is just not talked about enough Like there is a support before getting pregnant. There's really a lack of support while women are pregnant. But this postpartum era there's such a lack of information and women are just expected to just be okay after growing an entire human that literally will make your teeth fall out of your body, it sucks the nutrients out of your body and you're expected to just be okay I'm over here because I take zoloft, and then you said something that, so certain things are starting to click.
Speaker 2:I just think about the fact that my daughter was born seven years after I mean, my daughter was born seven years before my son was born, so I was. It makes sense, though, too, because, like I was just getting better, like yeah, I really was, and that's when I found my, my current husband, and wound up getting pregnant and whatnot. And now he's three, he'll be four in February, and I feel like, because I had the worst I don't know if it was postpartum or the baby blues or whatever, but um, and he's just a very, very vibrant child too, and I question, like, is he on the spectrum sometimes? Am I on the spectrum? Um, and then you were talking about sensory stuff. It's like I see so many similarities that you know it's freaking me out.
Speaker 1:I can feel my skin. Oh yeah, no, like literally. I have this like rash that I've been dealing with lately. I think it's what I can find. Everybody keeps telling me I need to go to a dermatologist, but I know that they're going to put me on steroids to make the rash just go away and I'm like I'll just deal with the rash. It's fine, but I found I think that what it is is it's like a, like a skin fungus, almost like a, an issue Cause it.
Speaker 1:What it does is it. I thought it was eczema, but it doesn't have the dry patches and it just gets itchy and it creates these like little circles on my back and then I can't tan in those spots, so like my whole back looks like I have that one skin condition where it's like different pigments of skin. It's not the case and like I'm using there's the medicine and head and shoulders. Apparently, if you use it as a body wash, it'll make it go away, and so I've been doing that for a couple of days. I'm going to see if it works, but I can literally feel like it doesn't itch. A couple of days I'm going to see if it works, but I can literally feel like it doesn't itch, but I can like feel my back and it's very annoying.
Speaker 2:Uh, so anyway, I'm just giggling, but not that, not if I have a rash or anything about your skin, but it's just that I cause I have moments like that, like when I shower, I cannot, I have to. It's really weird. I shower, I cannot, I have to. It's really weird. And it's my shower. It's not like it's some public shower, but like in my mind, the way the water. So once the water is no longer running, I can't stand and still water. So like I, literally sometimes, because I'm like so overstimulated by the feeling of water underneath my feet, which is weird. I love the beach, I love the sand, but there's, I don't know, the sensory, like my senses on my feet cannot stand the feeling of the shower with water that's not running and like I will if anybody ever had a camera in my bathroom.
Speaker 2:I'm probably like ridiculous, well, and I'm like super overstimulated, I've had a rough day or something like that. I will leave the shower running so that the water is still running. Yeah, my feet are okay and I'll jump out of the shower.
Speaker 1:I I understand this though, because, like, my husband has made fun of me in the past, nicely lovingly made fun of me because in the shower I have to do things in a in a specific order, like, if it does not go in that specific order like, say, I ran out of conditioner for some reason and I didn't know I was out of conditioner I can't use a different conditioner, like it's not going to work. It's not the same. I like I can't. I have to wash my hair, condition my hair. The same I like I can't I have to wash my hair, condition my hair, then wash my body. And I can't be in the water when I'm washing my body, like it can't be touching me and so like, and then I have to do it all, and then I have to get back in the water, rinse it all and then step out of the water and shave and then get back in, and it's this whole process. And if one like I can't do, like hair wash days because I can't take a shower and not wash my hair, and so it's, it's this whole thing.
Speaker 1:And when my husband and I first got married, he was like he was washing his body before he washed his hair and I was like what are are you doing? You're doing it wrong. He was like what do you mean? Like here, wash your body? And I was like no, I can't. I haven't washed my hair yet. He's not used to it now after 11 years. But like it's just, like it has to go in that order and like it's just it's a mess, but I can't take a shower if it doesn't go in that order, so it's like the shower, is it?
Speaker 2:I'm uncomfortable oh my gosh, oh, so funny. But yeah, the skin. The skin is what set me off, because I can just be sitting here and it's like almost like I can feel like have you ever heard so? Like in science class, when you start learning about like parasites and stuff like that um, and then they start talking about like how we have little like the bacteria and stuff. Yeah, yeah, I feel like I can feel this shit move on my skin, like if I'm too still, I can feel that whatever is helping me, whatever bacteria or whatever little, it's like this little tingly feeling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can like feel it, but, and I've always thought that I've always thought that I'm like crazy.
Speaker 1:Oh no, not crazy, just probably a little autistic, me and my best friend. That's all we make. We make jokes about how we're, just we're on the, we're a little bit on the tism spectrum, like because her, her, her son is severely autistic, and like we make jokes all the time about I mean, it's probably dark, it's probably insensitive to other people, but like we're, we make jokes how, if, like, okay, if, if theo is his name, if theo can function and he can transition, you normies have no excuse like you better get it together right now, because we have seven kids between the two of us. And so we're like, if you, if he can do it, you can do it. He is the standard, the bar so low. If he can do it, then you can do it. And, who knows, I might screw up the kids one day, but they'll survive, they'll be fine.
Speaker 2:I've decided that our kids are going to be fucked up regardless. It's just. How are they going to be? Every kid's gonna be fucked up in some way. I beat myself up all the time like am I doing this right? Um, I just uh, it's just, they're gonna be fucked up regardless. Just yep, and not as fucked up as me.
Speaker 1:Hopefully I do the same thing, but like my, I'm like I can deal with y'all having a little bit of self-esteem issues. I can deal with y'all saying you got your ass whooped a little bit too hard. That's fine if I can get y'all to 18 without any sexual trauma. I've won the parent game Like that is that is my goal is I.
Speaker 1:If I can get y'all to 18 with no childhood sexual trauma, I've won in my mind Like you can hate me all the live long day. I will love you regardless. I do my best. I try to control my temper. I try. I've been working on my yelling but like I have rules in my house when it comes to my kids and like and it's caused problems in my family before Because like you can't take just one kid, you have to take two. Like you're never allowed to have just one child alone sleepovers. I don't care who you are, you're, you have to mama, daddy. I well, I don't got a daddy, but mom, like even my mom, she was like, well, they need one-on-one time. I was like, no, they don't, they don't need one-on-one time, you can take two. I love you, but you can take two because accountability, like it is a lot less likely you're going to fuck with one of my kids or a lot with both my kids there than it is for one. And so it's like.
Speaker 1:I remember one time when my kids were really really little, really little.
Speaker 1:They were like I think they were like four or five. Uh, we were in Alaska visiting and my mom's neighbor at the time had like a garden in his backyard and Elijah, my nine year old he's nine now, he's the older of the boys he wanted to go over in the garden and my mom was asking and I was like either you go with him or he's got to take two. She was like well, you don't trust him. And I was like I had nothing to do with trust. He could be the greatest guy in the world. I don't care, you either take two or you get none, because I'm not going to allow somebody to be alone with my kids, period, and they're always even with me. Getting back into church. One of the like the church, one of the standards that I had for the church, is you better have a wicked high security system and an accountability process, because I you got me fucked up if somebody's going to be alone with my kids, and especially with my oldest being in youth group, like no you know, say no more.
Speaker 2:I grew up in church. Interesting that we're talking about this, though, because um don't say all either, but my, my mom's brother, who's my uncle. He just passed away and so that his funeral's this weekend. It is, uh, it at the. It's at the church I grew up in which I have a lot, a lot of trauma there, so it's going to be very interesting. And my husband was like just don't, you don't have to go. And I was like this is more like I didn't go see his body because I just it sounds terrible. I have nothing for this man, yeah.
Speaker 2:I know what you mean, yeah, I just, I, I unforgivable things, so but I want, but I know like my mom needs me, so I'll be there for that, but it's going to be interesting. It's going to be interesting because I'm deaf.
Speaker 2:I feel like you probably already know this, but I'm like, ah, I don't want to put life on myself, but I'm the, I'm the, I'm the black sheep sort of, and so it's going to be interesting because I feel like, for my experience, people tend to talk a lot and I'm going to walk in and it's just going to be interesting to see how I respond, how they respond, because we haven't seen each other in such a long time and I've grown so much and I also yeah, I hear a lot of the time through the grapevine like I've lost two of my friends to just.
Speaker 2:I don't even know why they don't talk to me anymore no idea why.
Speaker 2:None, they've just dropped off the face of the planet. Um, but then, like one friend, whenever I had it was last last summer I had a deal worked out with a girl to where I would pay for her rent and she would come help me with my kids. So she was like a summer nanny and when she started, so the girl was the cousin of my best, one of my best friends, who have just like dropped off the face of the planet. And after we spent I don't know a few days together and she started seeing me and how I am and like what I'm like as a person and what I stand for and how I live my life in a peaceful manner and I'm very, I keep to myself and whatnot.
Speaker 2:I just remember her going, she, she looked at like that cock to the cock to the side, kind of look like thinking about, and I was just like what? And she goes, I just don't see it. And I was like, well, don't you see? And she said I just so, and so I won't say her name. So and so when she found out I was coming to work for you, called me and advised me against it and told me how she was worried about me and how she was going to be worried if I was employed by you and that you are into devil worshiping and God knows what else. And she just was bashing, bashing and I was just like man. This is the person that I used to rent a house from her. She's seen me go through the darkest shit. We have had heart to hearts while she's getting drunk and I'm getting drunk in the swimming pool Like so. Anyway, it's just going to be interesting because I know it's going to be interesting, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she won't be there, but it's just it. It makes me think about how how far I've come in the church Really. It makes me think about how far I've come and the church really. I don't want to blame church and I'm not going to blame church people. It's not church in general, it's the people inside of it that really set the standard.
Speaker 2:But I was really hurt and really traumatized and it has to do with the whole like I think that's. I mean, I had sexual trauma up before that, like at a very young age. But, um, I don't know if they see it this way, but I came small short story, since we're talking about sex and whatnot, uh, and the trauma and church and everything. But my last memory of this church is the pastor's son and the past, not son, the pastor's, um, grandson and I. We had like this.
Speaker 2:It was that new love. You know, we grew up around each other and as soon as I started getting tips, he started paying attention, didn't want anything to do with me and I came from the bad stock like, where our family is known for a lot of addiction, abuse, stuff like that. So anyway, but I lost my virginity to him and I told my mom in complete confidence, because I was always raised because she has a bunch of kids and not by all the same men, so she always wanted me to learn like to be respectful and that's it's like she didn't want me to wind up, knocked up super early, yeah. So I told her because I was in love, I mean I was in love, I was in deep love and I gave myself to that boy and then it was, I swear within.
Speaker 2:I mean it was like the next Sunday we had a guest preacher he never preaches and he sat, I mean he stood up there and and he I just felt so condemned for being in love and losing my virginity. The whole fucking church knew, the whole church knew. And you know, at church on Sundays, especially like Southern Baptist, pentecostal I'm trying to think of some, I don't know other, all the very conservative people, yeah, yeah, you know we go at the end of the sermon and we pray at the pews up front and everybody, yeah, and it's like the more the merrier thing, right, yeah.
Speaker 2:Nobody fucking got up that day.
Speaker 1:I knew it was for me and that's how I remember it, and maybe they don't remember it that way, but it was just like really fucking traumatizing to have your virginity blasted to the public I, oh yeah, my, we talked about this before, like now granted, it wasn't to the public, but it sure felt public with my story, with like losing my virginity and my dad going through my journal like dude, no, like, literally we went. He picked me up, I remember, because he was driving my car, my car my grandma gave me. I was 14, my grandma gave me this pink car. I was so excited it was pink. I was so excited. From when I turned 16, they rallied the fuck out of this car and broke it. I was so angry.
Speaker 1:Um, but I remember my dad lit in like little North pole, like this town is, it's itty bitty, like it's tiny. And I was walking home from school. My dad pulls up next to me. My stepdad was like get in the car. And then he told me he went through my journal. And then he was like give me directions to your boyfriend's house. So we drove to my boyfriend's house because my boyfriend at the time was not in school. He was. He was a degenerate, like not a good kid, still is not a good kid, still an addict. Well, he's an adult now, he's in his thirties, but like still, and his dad or his grandpa was a part of the hell of angels and so, which doesn't hold much in tiny little alaska but like in whatever. And so he drove me up there and he goes and he like bangs on the door and my boyfriend comes outside and his grandpa comes outside and my dad's like yelling at this boy and his grandpa's like you're on your own, and goes inside and left this little 14 year old boy to deal with my like six foot tatted muscle stepdad and he freaked out on him and then and then drove me home. I was grounded, I was embarrassed and like, shortly after that we broke up and now was it for my own good, yeah, but like I haven't journaled since, like I still don't, like I don't, I don't like it, I don't want to. Yeah, and so I just don't, I don't like it, I don't want to. Yeah, and so I just don't, and like things like that.
Speaker 1:When people, when you are embarrassed, like you're put to shame, shame that's over over such a sensitive decision that, like you felt, like you put a lot of thought into, like I love this boy, like I thought he loved me, like I wanted to give it to him, I chose that and then you embarrassed me and made me question my decision. Like it was my body to do with what I wanted to, and and so, and. Then you chose shame. Like of all of the paths you could have chosen, you chose shame.
Speaker 1:Now I think about it on the flip side of this. Like they were, at that time, my mom would have been 29. And this man would have been my stepdad, would have been 34. I am 31 years old and I think about it and I'm like I have done a lot of self-development, I've done a lot of reading, so like I have a little bit more under my belt. But like to think about being a parent to a 14 year old at 29 years old, like you don't know jack diddly squat about life at 29 years old, like even though you had been, like you've been doing life for a little while, like now at 31, I'm like I still don't know shit. Like everything I know ain't shit. I call my mom on the regular. I'm like mom, I'm so sorry, I just didn't know. Like I thought you were so smart, but you're, we're really stupid and and we laugh about it because she was like yeah, yeah, I really didn't know what I didn't know and I'm like yeah, yeah, I think I.
Speaker 2:It's like to put yourself, like to flip the script, and I try to think about it like because I have a daughter. She's 11, she's about to, she'll be 12 in february and jennifer's gonna be 12 in january what in january? January, when uh 24th 20 get out. It's weird it's weird, we're connected in weird ways yes, um, I have to tell you about how camp my son. Well, his first name is actually Philip. I didn't know, your husband's name is Philip, but, um, anyway, I'm getting off. I'm getting off subject. What were we talking?
Speaker 1:about, uh, your daughter's turning 12 in February oh yeah, anyway I'm flipping the script.
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, flipping the scroll, but I just I'm in a. I'm in a spot now where she's growing and she lost her dad in 2020, like over the pandemic, yeah, and so we're both.
Speaker 2:It's. It's a really interesting phase right now. I'm trying to learn, I'm trying to put myself back in her like her shoes, being at that age, and there are just so many moments where I feel myself, um, it's, I'll be honest, it's mostly I feel very like it's expected of me to instill shame in a sense. Yeah, like that's the discipline, like we're supposed to discipline them and so. But what I'm finding is, is that so like it's really difficult? Um her having a stepdad? They don't connect, they're not emotionally connected, they do not get along, uh, and then that's hard, it's really hard. Um, it's a private conversation we should chat. Yeah, I actually actually need some advice, if I'm being honest. Um, but so we're going through, like she's going through, all these changes to begin with, and then I'm I'm 35. I'm just now really discovering who I am.
Speaker 2:I feel like we're kind of, in a sense, growing up together but to find, to find the, the balance and like I don't know, it's just hard. It's hard because she's so curious and I know she wants to. She's already like wanting to fall in love and all these things because her dad died, so she's trying to replace the man that meant everything to her you know, and I'm just sitting here like feeling like I, as much as I'm trying to break the generational curses, could I be repeating them by? Not, I don't.
Speaker 1:uh, maybe you know what I'm trying to say yeah, I know what you're saying because, like I'm, I I'm not struggling so much with genevieve in the like, trying to find love outside, but I am. I'm going through this process with her right now. Where she's on she, she's on restriction, like I've taken all of her devices away because she was getting on them in the evenings when she's not supposed to be and staying up late and then, like, not waking up on time and going through this process, process. But one of the things that I tell her and I use this phrase with all my kids all the time, because it was something my mom never said to me is like this is my first time being a parent to an 11 year old and this is my first time being 31. So I know about as much as you know about being 11.
Speaker 1:And being a parent to an 11 year old. Yeah, because, like, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, I'm just doing the best I can. I'm reading a lot and I say I'm sorry a lot. Like one of the things that my mom did not do was say I'm sorry and I remember her giving me advice early on about not apologizing to my kids and you have to stand firm, and I'm like no, no, no, I don't, I apologize, like I I. I noticed patterns in myself when I'm cold, shouldering my kids when they pissed me off, and I will go back and be like, hey, I'm sinning against you, like this is wrong. I'm the parent. I'm not supposed to behave like this. I'm doing the best I can.
Speaker 2:Oh man, you've given me so many chills because I'll tell you in a minute man keep going, but like I had to explain to her.
Speaker 1:I'm like you know, okay, you're 11. I had to explain to her. I'm like you know, okay, you're 11, and you're talking about like all these ideas of like things you want to do and all this stuff, but like that takes trust and trust starts now you want things when you're 16, you're talking about being able to drive and like being excited, but like, if you're breaking your trusted 11, that that's the foundation. That's where we got to start. Like we start this relationship now. If you want to be able to have that, I like something. I've told something.
Speaker 1:My mom said to me a lot when I was a kid and as I became an adult. It's like teenagers suck. Like she told me that all the time Teenagers are the hardest part, they're the worst part about being a parent. And and from the time my daughter was born, when I was 19 years old, I've been excited for her to be a teenager. I'm so excited for my boys to be teenagers. It for my boys to be teenagers Like boys are the goofiest, like I love 14 to like 19 because they're just so silly, they're so goofy and explorative and like just just so much fun. And and I've told my kids, from I don't even know when that like I am so excited for you guys to be teenagers and I'm so excited for the rest of our life together, like I get to spend the rest of my life with these tiny little humans that I created, and I'm so excited I'm just getting through this other area Because, like toddlers and the child and all of the this is hard for for me because this is not my favorite spot.
Speaker 1:It's never been my favorite spot. I've always done really, really well with teenagers and young adults, and and so I told her. I was like you know, if you don't want the teenagers to suck, I don't want the teenagers to suck, you don't want them to suck and I don't want them to suck. We've got to work together to make this not shitty, and that means we have to talk. That means, as the parent, I have to set rules and boundaries, your jobs, to respect them. And you can ask me why, but in that breath of why you better be doing what you're told, because I'm not going to tell you to do something that's going to hurt you or it's going to cause you shame. Do something that's going to hurt you or it's going to cause you shame or that's going to embarrass you, but as a family unit, like there is a pecking order, we can be buddies, but there is a pecking order. You still got to do what you're told and you still got to follow the fucking rules.
Speaker 2:Period. Oh for sure, just talking about the girls makes me think about so I have on my calendar over there. Uh, I've asked my daughter I have like a huge calendar from my husband's work or whatever and I've asked her to start like putting a red dot when she starts her period and when then when she ends it, so she can get into that routine, because I still, like I'm just now starting to keep up with mine, unless I was trying to get pregnant. I still have to keep up with that shit, and I didn't even know cycle syncing was a thing until I started seeing your content, but it's so funny I have to show you. I'll take a picture of it later and I'll send it to you. So I asked her to and as I look over and I don't have my glasses on, that shows you how big it is I told her to put like a little dot like a period, an actual period. She went and put like this huge, so funny. I thought it was great.
Speaker 2:But I feel like that's a good segue before we wrap it up in a little bit to talk about like what it is that what you're doing. I know you're multi-passionate and I love that you do all of it, but I want to talk about like the, the cycle, syncing, um, maybe like a little introduction to it, because I don't know a whole lot and I'm learning. The more health conscious I am and especially, the more in sync I am with my body, mind and spirit, I'm seeing the importance of it and it's just like I have so many questions and I know everybody listening is going to have a lot of questions, but the more I sit and think about it, the more I want to learn because I don't know. It goes back to the church and it goes back to like learning about our periods and when I started my period and all that.
Speaker 2:Like I remember starting my my period. I remember the day I started it. I remember being fucking humiliated because, again, I told my mom and she just runs around the house with her random boyfriend she's like I don't want whoever it was, I actually think it wound up being my stepdad, but I think they were dating at that point. So, anyway, still boyfriend, and I just remember like being so embarrassed, but I don't remember having like conversations outside of okay, so you're gonna get your period and that makes you a woman. And now you can have babies and people may call you a bitch.
Speaker 2:When you get that time of the month, I was taught how to wrap a pad up and how to dispose of them. But as soon as I started having any pain and I had excruciating, excruciating pain when I, as almost as soon as I started having any pain and I had excruciating, excruciating pain when I, almost as soon as I started my period, to the point that I would be out of school for days and I told you in the comments on one of your videos they were prescribing Lortab.
Speaker 2:I mean if anybody doesn't know what that is, just equate it to any other like it's a painkiller and I was a high dose painkiller yeah. And I was 13. Nobody wanted to like actually ask any questions. They were just like you're in pain, you're a woman now, um. So here you go, and honestly, I think I started my period at 12. So that was pretty fucking early to be taking pain medicine.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, and I also started mine when I was 12. So and I remember like very similar, like nobody told me anything about, I mean for context, like it wasn't until I was 26. After I had my fourth child, that I even knew what progesterone was, which, for those listening, is the hormone that's necessary to hold a pregnancy, like we utilize it throughout every cycle. But, thinking about that, like I had four children, I had just popped out my fourth child and that's when I learned what progesterone did and what it was like. Nobody ever told me and but I'm gonna, I'll go over kind of what cycle syncing is and like just the generalities of like what our body is as women are doing, and my favorite part about it is how it's tied to the moon and the cycle with the moon, so that that's like the moon is is my baby, it's my favorite planet, like it is one of the coolest things to me. I have three different moon tattoos because it's just it's my favorite. So, as a woman, we actually have a 28 day cycle and it's the same as the moon. The moon is also on a 28 day cycle where it, you know, it becomes a full moon all the way to a new moon and it just continues that cycle over and over. So the first day of our cycle is what is over and over. So the first day of our cycle is what is actually our period, so the first day of our actual period, which ranges from three days to seven days on the long end. If it's any less or any more, you're outside of the norm, and but the average cycle length is four to five days for most women, with your heaviest bleeding being on the first day and then like barely spotting on day five. So you go through days one through seven. This also begins what we call our follicular phase. So we have four phases, but I'm going to kind of express them in two main phases and then I'll talk about each individual phase week by week as we go. So we have our menstrual phase, which is also the beginning of our follicular phase. So think full moon mine starts on the new moon.
Speaker 1:A lot of women's will start on the full moon and then, once your period ends, you go into the second phase which, in terms of like content, things that I post, is where most people will call the follicular phase. This is day 7 to 14, and in this are all of our hormones are starting to go back up, and mostly in this area is our testosterone will start to rise, and this is a very happy time. This is what most women will equate to being like the one good week that they get out of a month If your hormones are any kind of fucked up. You're only going to get one really, really good week where you feel like you have complete access to your brain and you feel like you're in feminine flow because you're the most creative in this era. Like when I teach cycle syncing, I usually work with business owners and typically I will have them batch create their content in this week because they have no problem getting in front of the camera. Their skin is looking great, they're not breaking out, it's plump, it's. Your hair looks great Like. Your mood overall is just fantastic in the follicular phase, and so we got that.
Speaker 1:Then we move into ovulation. So ovulation is where the spicy side comes out. This is where our body is like, please put a baby inside of me, and is like you, like your man again, and you're like you're wanting to get it on all the time. And this is typically if I have some really, really like, if I have, or my clients have, like spicy content not meaning like only fans, I mean like a controversial opinion that takes a lot of confidence to put out. I will have them film it in this five day frame because it's really, really easy. This is where your confidence is the highest. It's because of testosterone, like. This is the part of the month where women actually have testosterone in their system and it actually matters and is useful. It's also the window of time where you can like I said it a minute ago, but this is the main window of time where you can get pregnant. So if you're doing like natural family planning, the day before, so it's a five day window. So day before that five day window and the day after that five day window is a fertile period, because sperm can live in your body for up to three days. So you have to be very mindful of this era of time. I do. I utilize Google Calendar and I will actually do all day events in my calendar for each phase of my cycle so that I can plan things accordingly.
Speaker 1:Once that's over, we move into our luteal phase. The first half of our luteal phase. It's a two week frame. So this takes you from basically day 18, day 19 of your cycle, all the way through day 28. And this first half of the luteal phase we're still feeling okay. But our hormones start to dip and what happens is we get a rise in progesterone here, because if we did have sex and we were we got trying to get pregnant. Progesterone is where this rises and that, like I said earlier, is a necessary hormone to keep a baby in utero, like in order to be able to make it so that our body does not shed the lining of our uterus and throw a temper tantrum. But progesterone is also a sleepy hormone and so this is why we start to feel more inward. It's what we can call like our inner fall. So if you think about fall, we start. We want to go to hibernate, we want cozy, we want slow. That's what our luteal phase is. That first week, the progesterone is starting to rise.
Speaker 1:The second half of your luteal phase, that's where PMS usually starts to kick in. And for anybody listening, PMS is common, but it's not normal. It is not something that needs to be normalized, it is not a normal experience. You can have a cycle as a woman without having PMS, without having Shark Week, without being a complete bitch to everybody around you. That is a very clear sign of hormone imbalance. And if you are struggling with severe mood swings, severe depression, severe anxiety, cramping early on, extreme exhaustion, meaning like you're, I'm not talking sleeping nine hours, I'm talking sleeping like 12 hours hours, I'm talking sleeping like 12 hours and meetings like extra bits of caffeine.
Speaker 1:So when we get into this era and it's okay to take things a little bit slower this is where our brain physically moves from the creative right hand side of our brain into the left hand side of the brain where we're very logical, and so it's a lot easier for us to make like analytical decisions or to be like working more in that logical side. It's a little bit harder for us to tap into our emotions. Our libido drops because we're more in the masculine side of our actual cycle, and so I like to make it with my business owners. I try to get them to pull back. We're going to look at numbers. We're going to maybe do some more low energy but high impact tasks, opponent, where the world's going to tell us that, oh, you're just a woman, you need to just keep going, going, going.
Speaker 1:As a female, our bodies are actually telling us, like every single month. This week is a week for you to be slow and intentional and care for your body as you need to. Then, once we get to the end of that, we're back at day. One day, one of our cycle period starts. Your period should not completely make you immobile. It should not be insanely painful, like, yes, you might need a little bit more sleep. Typically, I recommend, when you're on your period, like 10 hours of sleep because you are losing a lot of blood. Then there's also like food components and lots of other things that I can dive into, but like overall cycle overview. That is what that is.
Speaker 2:Dude, so much I feel like I just sat through a masterclass.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it is a lot. I have a masterclass on my fan store that breaks this down with more specific and it's a free master master class, but like it really breaks down like exactly what each hormone is doing, why it's doing it, um, and gives some more description, but that's like a very chaotic overview of, like, what we're doing, one through 28.
Speaker 2:I'm here for the chaos, the, the progesterone thing, like it makes sense, but I still now I have to go do a lot of research on progesterone. Uh, so, if you feel so, what are some indicators of low progesterone? You know, you mentioned, you mentioned it um okay.
Speaker 1:So low progesterone is really gonna? It's gonna give you those clear indications of pms. So if you think low progesterone is really going to, it's going to give you those clear indications of PMS. So if you think low progesterone, think severe PMS and painful periods. So when our progesterone is sitting at a normal level, like where it's supposed to be, it's not bottomed out, because typically, with low progesterone, you're going to have high, bad estrogen, you're going to be estrogen dominant and when you're estrogen dominant, it causes a lot of cramping. It causes because I mean, you gotta think about like estrogen is an emotional roller coaster, like that. That's just what estrogen is.
Speaker 1:Progesterone is the queen bee, so she rules over everything. She rules over your dopamine, she rules over your oxytocin, your serotonin, um, she also will make it so that, like it, when she is regulated, she will keep all of our estrogens where they're supposed to, because we have we have three different kinds of estrogens and the good, the bad and then the um I can't remember what it's called the one that we have to have in order to not go into menopause. Um, but when she is regulated and happy, we're going to have low PMS symptoms where our transitions in our phases, like from our ovulation into our luteal, will be relatively calm, instead of feeling anxious and angry and overwhelmed. We're going to feel more of that transition of fall where it's just the cool breeze and it's chill and it's like cozy, we just want to, we want to nest, similar to like when we're pregnant, like towards the end of a pregnancy, where we go into this nesting phase where we want to like tidy the house and sit under a blanket and watch a cozy movie and move slower and react slower, and kind of like when we're high, like the idea of like when we're high, like the idea of like when we're smoking weed, like you want that chill, and but when she's too low and we have estrogen, I mean I think about.
Speaker 1:I think about inside out, to have you seen that yet, okay, and I'm going to give a little bit of a spoiler here in inside out, to one of the emotions that comes out for Riley is anxiety, and anxiety and estrogen are very codependent on each other and it creates a lot of these like racing thoughts, this lack of control, um, and that's just in the mental side of things.
Speaker 1:Uh, and she, they just don't play well together. And and then on the physical side of things, like you're gonna feel that weight in your chest of like just irritation and irritability and you're gonna feel, um, you might start feeling cramping early, before your period even starts. You're going to have like we talk a lot about cravings during PMS, where it's like we want all the chocolate and the sweets. That's normal to want the chocolate because of the fact that the oxytocin, the release that it comes with eating good quality cacao, not like Hershey's chocolate bars, but if you're eating like an 85% cacao bar with maybe some peanut butter, like that's really really good for your hormones and like feeding into that. But it's really the feeling lethargic, the cramping, the irritability, that weight on your chest and anxiety. Like those are a lot of symptoms and like anxiety, like really bad anxiety or a lot of symptoms of your progesterone being really low.
Speaker 2:Interesting because I mean, I all those, I feel all those things, and then what really stuck out to me was the weight on the chest Finley, my daughter, his we, we both talk about this and um to the point that that we question, you know, maybe maybe this family isn't blending as well as we thought it would, and maybe we are. We need, to like focus on our mental health. I don't know yet, but there is this overwhelming, and she has painful periods already too.
Speaker 2:I mean not as nearly painful as mine, but like there's this. The way you described it was that weight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like right here in the center, yeah, right at your sternum, it won't fucking go away, yeah, and we always equate it to just anxiety and both of us are just on this and it's so sad and it makes me want to like be stronger and figure out what to do. Like what's the next step for for me or for us, based on mental health and our overall wellness, like longevity and and that feeling of not wanting to exist, like I feel that and she already feels that and that really freaking hurts my heart, that she's genetically getting the things that my mom and her mom like they've all passed down to us through genetics. So I'm trying to figure these things out. And, anyway, what do we do? What if you have low progesterone and like all these things are resonating Like is that something that we can? How do we get that back in our bodies? Is it a supplement? Like? What do we do? So it's food.
Speaker 1:Seriously. So a lot of it, a lot of my journey, was food. That's where I made a lot of adjustments. So I like my. My weak point right now is my energy drinks. Like I I am, they are my comfort animal. I love my energy drinks, but I pay for them. Like I, there is a cost that comes with my energy drinks.
Speaker 1:Um, when you are practicing cycle syncing, a lot of it boils down to the food that you're eating and what you're choosing to consume. So, like when I first have somebody come into my realm and within, so that, um, that, um, that uh, beta group that I had, that I did in August. I had a lady come in and talking about how she was having really bad PMS. She was having awful cramps and the first thing I, the first part of my intake, is what are you eating like, what is your, what are your regulars? How, how much dairy, how much caffeine, how much gluten, how much are you sleeping and how much water? So with her it was she was having boba tea like all the time. So it was very high dairy intake. She had very high gluten intake. I had her cut those two things out and her PMS and her periods gone, barely existent like no more PMS symptoms, no more cramping at all.
Speaker 2:Please tell me you're are you? Saying that I I love, like cheese.
Speaker 1:So much, it's more. So what I do is I have people cut it out for a cycle, just like, okay, let's just one cycle from period to the end, like day one, all the way to the end. Cut out the things that could be causing inflammation and let's add in a couple of things instead. So like, for her it was boba tea. I was like, okay, cut that out or get dairy free. Like, just get dairy free. And for, like, caffeine I've had people if your daughter drinks any caffeine, then honestly, if she's having really painful periods, have her stop, because caffeine is will make the uterus contract and it makes it worse. Okay, so like, typically, I won't drink it during my period because it'll just make me have cramps even if I'm doing fine my period, because it'll just make me have cramps even if I'm doing fine.
Speaker 1:And then adding in a lot of cruciferous vegetables are really good. So broccoli, brussels sprouts, anything within that realm. For you, I would add in a supplement called DIM D-I-M it's dimethylene is what it's called, and it's a concentrated version of a um, a component of broccoli, and it makes it really. It's easier for us who are of age, who have had, like our, our period for an extended period of time. That's I took, and it took my periods when, after I had Delilah, from seven days, I was immobile on the couch. After I had Delilah, it was so bad and I started taking DIM. You take it three weeks, um, every day. You're not bleeding as when you take it and then you just don't take it when you're on your period and it helps raise your progesterone and lower your bad estrogen. It works great for your daughter, since she's so young. It would just be whole foods, so I would just focus on, like the cruciferous vegetables.
Speaker 1:Sweet potatoes are really really good. Um, when it comes to regulating your periods, you want to focus on high protein, high complex carbs and then healthy fats like avocado oil and olive oil, coconut oil, and then making sure that those are all in there. But sweet potatoes are a really really good one, especially in your luteal phase. If you break up your phases into the, into the seasons, it makes it a lot easier to figure out what to eat, because your luteal phase is your inner fall, so it's literally all the fall vegetables like they. That's what your body is going to tell you. It needs progesterone, rises and falls on fats and complex carbs, like it needs complex carbs and fats in order to function and isn't that like what most women are always try to cut out?
Speaker 2:is the carbs, too, like carbs? And fat, yeah, carbs and fat, and those are my favorite yeah, and so it's like even this morning.
Speaker 1:So my period is getting over. So right now I'm focusing on iron, because I just lost a bunch of iron through my period. So I'm at eating a lot of red meat and I'm eating a lot of things with fiber in it, and so this morning I had ground beef, zucchini, bell peppers, mushrooms and just rolled it up into a tortilla. That's what I had for breakfast and and some toast. I had toast and peanut butter and then seed cycling is another one that you can do. Um, that's really easy, especially if she likes to snack like if she's a snacker for sure then, um, so during the first two weeks of your cycle you do flax seed and pumpkin seeds and then, once she's at ovulation, you switch it to sesame seeds and sunflower seeds and those. They help each side of the spectrum of your hormones and and so it works really well, and so that's what I start. That's how I got on my cycle.
Speaker 1:Syncing journey was through seed cycling and I used to make like little protein balls. So I would get like natural peanut butter and I would put all of the things in there with some like raisins and whatever, and just roll them up. Or you can make granola bars and then the same thing, and I would just meal prep them so that I could eat them. And then Brazil nuts are another one. They're kind of hard to find, but you can order them on Amazon. Eating two Brazil nuts on an empty stomach every day helps regulate the hormones and your nervous system. It's the, if I remember correctly, it's the potassium and something else in Brazil nuts are, and the healthy fats are really really good for your hormones. Interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like we can have 10 episodes are and the healthy fats are really really good for your hormones interesting like yeah, I feel like we can have 10 episodes I, I can literally like cycle syncing.
Speaker 1:I need to sit down and actually make that, um, the guide to painless periods that we were talking about, because, and like I was talking with a friend the other day too. She was like aren't, aren't you working on a cookbook? And I'm like I mean kind of kind of working on a cookbook, like I'm gathering recipes for it, because, like it's something that's needed, like it. It's not that it's like it sounds complicated as I'm explaining it, but once you get a grip on the basics of like each phase, track your cycle, use an app. My favorite app is, um, I'll send you a. I think I we might have talked about lively lively because it is speaking of which I need to end my period, um, but uh, it does a really good at making the suggestions of like what to eat and what your hormones are doing and gives you this like visual guide on how to follow through and, lord willing, I will get a partnership with them. I'm working on it, but working on pitching them anyways, and, uh, I love it. And so I think that, like every, every woman should track her cycle. Every woman should be trying to cut out processed foods as much as you can, because it's just not the sugar, the processed sugar, like there's nothing wrong with sugar as a whole. Like get organic sugar, though don Don't get bleached sugar. Like processed sugar does fuck with our hormones. Organic cane sugar there's nothing wrong with it.
Speaker 1:And trying to get away from the what I call the stoner snacky foods so your Doritos and your chips and your your donut holes and like all of these things that are. They're really really yummy, they're really really tasty and they're great for like a comfort food and our snacks, but they're not so great for the brain and they're not so great for the hormones. Typically, what tastes really really good isn't going to be really really good for the brain. But they're okay in small doses. But the problem that we have is we get to our luteal phase right before our period is supposed to start and we gorge on them because that's what we want, we want snacks and because we're more hungry. In that phase, like our body is metabolizing things really really fast and we're really hungry. But the problem is is that when we gorge on all of these processed foods, our body doesn't have what it needs to be able to properly shed its lining and it makes it really, really painful to start a new phase, and so we have to keep these things in mind as we're getting ready to start our period.
Speaker 1:And that's why tracking it and keeping it like, that's why I keep it in my Google calendar, because then if I, for instance, if I'm scheduling something towards the end of the month and I see that that's my luteal phase, I already know that I'm going to want to be a hermit. I already know I'm looking at that. I am not going to want to go out, I am not going to want to hang out with a bunch of people, I am not going to want to be doing a bunch of things. So I can be mindful of my schedule. I can be mindful of like, okay, I can handle probably a singular social outing on like any given day on in my luteal phase. It's not going to be going like I went to bush gardens, I went to a theme park on my period.
Speaker 1:I slept for like 12 hours that night because I was so exhausted, because it took so much more out of me. I was out in the sun, it was humid, I was around a bunch of people. You absorb all of that energy, like it was exhausting and and so like, uh, but it was last minute, I wasn't in my calendar, it wasn't planned. I literally had 30 minutes to get everybody ready to go and we just went. But I paid the price for it like I was like, okay, I will pay the price for doing this because the kids had fun. But ultimately, like I paid the price for it, like I was like, okay, I will pay the price for doing this because the kids had fun. But ultimately, like I was the one who had to deal with the consequences.
Speaker 1:And so when we're mindful of what's going on and we know, then we can actually, you know, play things a little bit differently. We can if we know that we're going to be in our more creative brain. So it's like, you know, in our period and then moving into our follicular phase, like, okay, I know that I'm going to have more energy, I know that I'm going to want to do these things. But, like for your daughter, like it would affect if she has a big test coming on. Like, say, she has a big test in her luteal phase. She's going to have to study differently. And she's going to have to study differently, she's going to have to sleep differently, she's going to need to eat differently. Her focus is going to be all over the place, whether she has ADHD or not. It's going to be hard for her to focus and retain information and recall information, because it's just not the way that the brain is. It's not wired to work that way for women, and so it's just different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I don't ever you don't ever stop and think about brain health being tied to womb health, by any means. But it's all starting to make sense. So it's all starting to make sense.
Speaker 1:They're all very, very woven together and like, and that's why this work that I'm doing is so important. And if only I could figure out how to like, take these conversations, because I have multiple podcasts out that are like this, where it's like I'm sitting here and I'm just talking and talking, talking, and put it into freaking content for my own Instagram. That's where I struggle.
Speaker 2:You should just have your own podcast and then you should record those videos and then you should use something like opus clip and then you just take the link from zoom or wherever you recorded it it's usually a zoom works really well and then you pop it in there and it makes you a bunch of videos and then you can schedule them from there. That's what I do with mine. I take these videos, I repurpose them as content it public. I have everything set up so that it's building the podcast, um trajectory, the downloads, uh, and then I have lots of content too. So we're gonna have to talk. I think we have some ways that we can help each other.
Speaker 1:I think so too, because this is you're sitting on a gold mine.
Speaker 1:It's my favorite thing, yeah, like it's literally my favorite. I think it's the coolest thing ever. It is. And we're just so special, like our our infradian rhythm. So women have two. Men have a singular rhythm. The world is designed off the circadian rhythm, which only applies to men, like, yes, we have as women, we have a circadian rhythm as well, but we also have our infradian rhythm, which is this cyclical rhythm that I've been talking about this entire time, is called your infradian rhythm and it changes week by week. It makes it make absolutely no sense for us to live our way, our lives the same way as men. It doesn't make any sense at all because we have two rhythms and and it's just the coolest bit of information that, like, nobody talks about, nobody has been taught and it's not talked about enough on how it impacts every area of our life, from puberty to just being an adult woman, to pregnancy, to post-pregnancy, into perimenopause and menopause. Like these things are not discussed, they're not studied enough.
Speaker 2:they're not, but I think it's because, like, just think about when we were kids, like when Finley, when she has like she'll, if she doesn't know her periods, coming on, because it's the very beginning, know, it's like all over the place, it's not regular yet.
Speaker 2:But I just I get so worried about people being mean about this because I remember, like my cousin, we were in the same grade being in school and she started her period and it got on her shorts. So I think that we're just conditioned as society. So I think that we're just conditioned as society. It's so interesting that the most natural things we don't talk about, but then is it's a natural thing to do, masturbation, um the peer you know the cycle.
Speaker 1:Like it's gross, it's taboo, it's like I mean even I, since going to back to church, I've talked like people ask me what I do for work and I'm like, how do you say? Well, what do do you think? Like I. So it depends on who I'm talking to. For the most part, I explained to people that I I am a womb wellness mentor. Like I teach women how to have painless periods and how to have a cycle that they enjoy, because it is possible to have a period that you don't notice is there, that does not impact your life.
Speaker 1:I have experienced that on numerous occasions. I can always tell my friends call me the period psychic, because if we have, if we have plans and and I did this back in August, me and my best friend, we had plans to go to the beach and we talk all the time. We live two hours apart, we talk all the time and I knew throughout that month she was eating less than 1,000 calories a day. She had anywhere from two to four Red Bulls a day. She was barely sleeping.
Speaker 1:She was extremely stressed, both financially and emotionally, and I called her, I think two days before we were supposed to go, because our periods are synced up. We spend that much time together that our periods are in sync and I was like, listen, babe, our period is supposed to start this day. And I was like, listen, babe, our period is supposed to start this day and you have had this. This kind of month we need to cancel, like where we will go to the beach a different day. I've had an okay month, but you have not. And lo and behold, her period started the day we were supposed to go and she was in her bedroom puking because her cramps were so bad.
Speaker 2:I didn't mean to laugh that hard and interrupt you, but like the period, but it's like that's the thing is.
Speaker 1:You can tell me how your month has gone, tell me how your diet was, tell me how much caffeine you had, how much. How were you on your water? How was your movement. I will tell you whether or not your period is going to suck and if you shouldn't plan accordingly because, like I knew that through the month of September I was booked and busy every single day. I knew my period was going to suck.
Speaker 1:I knew day one of my period, which was the day Helene hit, which was the day Helene hit, which was ridiculous. But day one of my period I had those dull, achy cramps that you can like feel in your ovaries. It wasn't like a that, wasn't like a knife stabbing. It was dull and I was so tired and I was like this is my fault. I did this to myself. I knew it was coming, but I did it to myself and, okay, it was the price I paid.
Speaker 1:But I know that, like I know, okay, I need to take these two. I need to take the first two days off. I already know that this is going to happen, like I just know because I've studied it so extensively. Yeah, at this point they're like I can tell you. I can tell you if you're going to have a bad month. I can tell you if you're going to feel more anxious, based off of how you're sleeping and how your body is working and the things you're experiencing throughout the month, how much pleasure you've received throughout the month. I mean even the amount of times like if you tell me that you, for instance, have only gotten off like twice throughout the entire month, I'm going to tell you right now you're going to have anxiety the week before and probably the first three days of your period. All right, because full permission slip.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna go full permission slip.
Speaker 1:Flick the vein we're gonna, because it's all these that's all the things like it's. Instead of taking an ibuprofen, go get yourself off, like promise it'll do way better, way better, and it's just the way it works. Like I, I love what I. I'm passionate about what I do. What I do still makes men really uncomfortable because they don't understand it, like I mean, when the men at church asked me what I do, I can see their skin start to crawl. They're like they don't. It's not that they hate it, it's just that they're uncomfortable because they don't know.
Speaker 2:They don't know what to say like, oh okay, like fine, cool.
Speaker 1:And like my boys and my husband, like they know, I am raising some men who are going to be. They're going to baby the fuck out of the women that they marry because, like I, I teach them. Like this is how you behave this. Like I'm on my period this is what we do. This is how you behave this. Like I'm on my period this is what we do. This is how we behave. This is how we treat women. Like this is how it works.
Speaker 1:My husband babies the fuck out of me when I'm on my period, especially if I'm having a hard time. Like I will be very transparent. Like, hey, I did too much this month. Like I need a couple of days. Like don't, just don't at all, don't do anything.
Speaker 1:And and it's just like it's a matter of training the people that are around you and continuing to grow this circle, like the circle of understanding, where women know what's going on in their body. Like everybody can know what I know, everybody should know what I know. And and the more that you know about it, the more it's not about having PMS and using it as an excuse to not do anything. How about get rid of the PMS make it non-existent. Just because something's common Doesn't make it normal.
Speaker 1:Just because painful periods are common does not mean that they are normal or should be normalized, but they are, and PMS has been normalized to a point where it's like oh, if you don't want to experience that, here's birth control, this will make it so. You don't have it at all. Fun fact, birth control keeps you in your luteal phase, that phase where I was talking about wanting to eat a bunch and wanting, and where you're really grumpy and you're really slow and you're really groggy and you're fully in your logical brain, which is why, a lot of times, when people get off, when women get off birth control, they no longer like the partner that they started dating when they were on birth control, because they're not in the same frame of mind.
Speaker 2:Oh, my God, wait, yeah, I don't even know what else to say. We got to wrap it up because there's so much, there's so much good stuff. They don't even like their partner anymore. But that makes sense. It makes so much sense and we're going to. I guess we'll end it on this. But you, mentioning birth control, like yeah, we're gonna have to do another episode, I think, because I mean, that's what was pushed on me, don't get knocked up. So I was on birth control at 15 depo, shot at that, which they wound up the devil shot made me suicidal, I think there's a oh God?
Speaker 2:Anyway, yeah, there's, but it was that was normal. That was normal. Get on birth control, take pain medicine. I just my mom at the time was struggling with addiction. So it's like here you go. She would take them. I know you would tell me to just give them to her instead. It was like you just said something.
Speaker 1:Big farmer not friends, huh, I mean. Well, I said me and big farmer are not friends. We'll have to. I'm actually doing next monday. I'm doing an instagram live talking about my boundaries within the medical industry, so I'll be talking more about my story with being um misdiagnosed with bipolar two and how I ended up completely like negating pharmaceuticals as a whole. They have their place. I will accept antibiotics if I need them, but you got me fucked up if you're going to put me on anything else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, but it all makes sense. And so many of us girls, women, girls, before we could become women, that's, that's what. That's what's pushed on us birth control and I'll never forget the, the same woman that goes around telling people I'm a devil worshiper. I remember her. She's like the way that you get rid of your cramps is you take it was like ibuprofen and Tylenol, and then she told me to like stick a weight on my stomach or something, and it was just like all these things and and I'm just like that's just like a lot of medicine are we supposed to take them both at the same time? I was just like really confused. I didn't do it, but it just didn't even sound right and it's just like there's so much misinformation out there and it's just like a problem band-aid.
Speaker 1:The problem I run into is when I, when I talk about these things, is I have to. I have to be really careful because I'm not a doctor like. This is my lived experience and this is what I've read from doctors. Like I've consulted doctors and I've talked to them, i've've read their books. I understand I'm spreading the information further, like this book in the flow by Elisa Vitti. Fantastic book taught me every, not everything. This got me started on my cycle syncing journey because this is a doctor who healed her body of PCOS with food and continues to spread her mission. Fantastic book, one of my favorites. I give it to everybody I know and I keep it so that everybody can read it. Everybody should read it.
Speaker 1:It's available on Spotify if you have the premium membership and it is also audiobook on Audible as well, so it is a fantastic book. Um, you can listen to it on. She talks really really well. She speaks very well, so you can listen to it on like 1.5 1.75 and be able to clearly articulate everything that she says.
Speaker 2:Um, but it's, it's a fantastic book I love that you added that because, as a again just now finding out, I'm a manifesting generator, but I'm one of those people that I'm like I need the information faster than you're willing to give it to me, so I listen to everything on like 1.5 or two times speed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I listen to it on two X speed too. I'm listening to a book right now called Pussy. It's going to be very interesting. It's been very interesting so far. I'm only on the first chapter. I've heard of this a reclamation. It's a reclamation, it's. It's a little. She's a little bit more on the woo-woo side, more on the, than than I am, but there's still a lot in this book that is it's very focused on like pleasure and really reclaiming the term pussy and it not being a negative connotation.
Speaker 1:Um, so far it's really really good. It's just I'm getting through her story right now and it's it's very goddess focused and I'm still learning about that and trying to like I love the term, I love the empowerment, but it it's also I don't know the way she's doing. It's a little bit funky and so we're getting a little funky, and so I'm just I'm getting through that part, trying to understand where she's coming from well, I hope so many of our church, our church friends, are listening.
Speaker 2:We just said pussy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean as a womb mentor. Like you know, there is a tavern that you have to go through to get to it.
Speaker 2:So I mean, we've literally all been there. Like, why are we not? Yeah, okay, this has been so good, so good, so good, so good, so much fun. I adore you. You know so good, so good, so much fun. I adore you. You know that. Thank you so much for being on here. Um, where can everybody find you? How can they work with you? You know the spiel.
Speaker 1:tell them all the things so my handle is on instagram and tiktok is at samanthamartinezco. Right now I am taking one-on-one clients as well as continuing to enroll for Divine Cycle Mastery, where it's a group-based program, you guys can work with me on learning cycle, syncing how to implement the basic habits into your life, around your physical, mental and spiritual health, and that will continue to move forward. And then there's also my email list. And, last but not least, is my free networking event, alpha Society, where you can come in you can learn from various different experts in various different fields. The purpose is you know what they meant by get in the room, but for free and for everybody, where I bring in industry experts to teach you on different subjects, from business to spirituality, to just branding in general. And yeah, that those are all the various different ways you can work with me. The links are all in my bio, um my instagram.
Speaker 2:That's until she writes a book, because till I write a book, till she writes a book or does something better. All right, you're amazing. Thank you so much. I love you and now I'm going to now that in florida what part of florida, not? Well, maybe you want to. Oh, I'm in central Florida. I'll tell you exactly where I'm at in my that way Cause I feel like no, I don't feel like I want to see you. We should get together. I didn't realize we were that close together.
Speaker 2:Mississippi and Florida are so close and that's like when I go, if I'm going to the beach, I choose Florida. Everybody else goes to Alabama. I don't know why, but I love Alabama but I prefer Florida. It just feels I don't know more like the beach to me.
Speaker 1:I love Florida. I'm originally from Alaska and Florida feels more like home than Alaska ever did, so I will be here.
Speaker 2:We're going to have to talk privately about this Alaska thing. I don't know why. I didn't know that either. Like anyway, I thought I knew so much about you and I don't. Okay, all right, babe, have a great rest of the day.
Speaker 1:It's my turn for the gym now, bye, bye.
