Sheree 0:00
Hi, beautiful souls. Welcome back to another incredible episode of The Wild and wild collective. I'm truly excited to be bringing in a guest from the other side of the world, even the other side from me and Krista. So our beautiful guest today is all the way from CO clear in Ireland. Haisling is an aravego, a therapy practitioner, holistic menstrual educator, yoga and body dance teacher and women's circle facilitator. Her offerings we've holistic menstrual education, womb wisdom, Feminine Empowerment, ceremony, ritual and healing. She works with women and girls, both in person and schools and online. Her Maya abdominal massage practice is based in Ireland itself, passionate about holistic or women health and reclaiming menstrual cycles as a source of female empowerment. Coming from a background in primary teaching, she sees the gaps in education around emotional well being and fostering awareness and reverence of our cycles. So she's forged her own path and holistic well being for women and girls. Her signature course and her flow gathers women from around the world and guides them to honor, adore and celebrate their cycles and wounds. She teaches holistic menstrual education and empowerment to youth at schools and holds menstrual empowerment retreats for mothers and daughters. Her inner vibrance mission statement is that may all women be activated and empowered by the wisdom of their wounds, the power of their periods and the magic of their menstrual cycles without any further ado. Welcome, welcome. Welcome to our beautiful next episode and guest welcome, Ashley, all the way from Ireland. I'm so excited that you are here joining us today. Thank you so much for making the time.
Speaker 1 1:46
So happy to be here. Thank you. It's great to all be getting you know, through zoom from different time zones. It's awesome.
Sheree 1:54
I would love to start off with your story. I think it's quite empowering. And just to share with our listeners, like, what brought you into this beautiful flow, this educational space, you know, doing the magic that you bring into the world? Oh,
Speaker 1 2:10
yeah, it's kind of an interesting story, a bit of a long story. But I started out as a primary school teacher, so my background is in education, and I was teaching in Ireland, and I went off to warmer places like New Zealand and Australia, and spend time there teaching. And I was often working with, kind of teaching girls around the age 1011, bracket, and just noticing all the changes they have. And, you know, puberty is kicking in. And also I was noticing the gaps in the education system around, you know, emotional well being and mental health, and learning about our bodies and tuning into how we're feeling, and there was so much pressure on academics and sport and achievement, so I was getting a bit disillusioned, maybe disenchanted, with the way schools were not supporting, especially our girls in this way. And then meanwhile, alongside that, I was going through my own journey into motherhood, becoming a mother, and, you know, having just awe and deep reverence for the womb and all it can do and all it can be. So after I had my baby and had a lovely, long maternity leave, I trained as the other teacher, and I started doing yoga with teen girls and with pregnant mamas and doing some women's circles, and then I was finding even a bigger, you know, observation of teenage girls, pregnant women, hormones, hormones, hormones, hormones. We need to be talking a lot more about hormones. So that set me off onto a really, I guess, self directed path of learning about what it is to be in a female body and how hormones really affect us in such a huge, massive way, all parts of our life, you know, physically, mentally, emotionally, yeah. So that's kind of, that's how I ended up. So I leaned away from teaching full time and became more interested in doing, like, women's circles and teaching menstrual cycle education, so menstrual empowerment to pregnancy circles as well, to honor the sacred journey of, you know, from maiden to mother, becoming giving birth and all of that. And, yeah, that's kind of where my journey led me. That was the education piece. And then later on, I felt like I wanted something a bit more hands on to support women, not just education, but something that can really help them tend to their women's space, tend to their issues they were having. I love that you
Christa 4:16
have really dove into hormones, for sure. I mean, I think that really stands out that women, and I don't know how I know you didn't complete exactly what you know all that you're doing right now. Are you doing anything with perimenopause or menopause? Like, are you doing the whole scope of from puberty to menopause? Or do you primarily focus on teens and puberty and pregnancy and that kind of thing. So
Speaker 1 4:41
I focus on all the work I do now kind of picks a whole continuum from puberty to menopause, and a lot of the work I do now is with mothers and daughters together. So I do day retreats and events for mums with like eight, 910, year olds to come along for the day, and we learn about our menstrual cycle. And we do a lot of. Conversation and an understanding about the similarities and contrast between puberty and perimenopause, because quite often, a mother with 11 year old, 12 year old is also going to her own, you know, second puberty, or puberty in reverse, over however you want to call it. So, yeah, it's nice to bring those two together in this way, in that really lived experience, way of mother and daughter living at a home together with raging hormones.
Christa 5:26
Yeah, I have all boys. So you know, we do have raging hormones. They're just not Oh, do
Unknown Speaker 5:32
you Yeah? I have one boy.
Christa 5:36
I have three teenage boys. I Yeah, hormones are definitely they play a role in the mood. They play a role in how much we sleep, how much energy we have, all of the things. But can you dive a little bit more into how what are these retreats look like? What's your focus when you are diving into hormone education, especially for the younger girls? Because I think that's fascinating. I think that every woman on the planet deserves to have this education early on. That's an amazing gift. So, Ashley, I'm just really interested in how you go about teaching, like, how you go about teaching menstrual cycle to, you know, the nine year olds. Like, I think it is a beautiful gift to have that, to have that information. And if all of us had that information from the get go, that would be amazing. And I think the way that you intertwine the teaching with their mothers as well is kind of a refresher course on puberty, I'm assuming, but also kind of bonds, you know, the mother daughter. So I'm really curious, like, how do you do these, these retreats with these two age groups? Yeah, yeah. I
Speaker 1 6:41
think, I think you're totally right as well. Because, you know, the average age now of of a first period is actually 10 years of age. It was 12, and it's getting younger. So we really do need to be gifting our girls this education. And most of the mothers, if not all the mothers, come to these retreats with their daughters because they wish they had received this kind of education at this age. You know, I think about the States and New Zealand, but I know that our education system usually just gives, you know, one day at the end of the year talking about periods, and that's it, you know, when we actually have a cycle for a lot of a large portion of our lives. So how I like to introduce the cycle to the girls is by connecting it to the moon phases and the moon cycle. So I start with that first, and talking about nature, and then talking about our connection to nature and how our bodies reflect, um, cycles and rhythms. And that's a really beautiful way to bring it in. It makes it quite tangible, quite understandable, and takes away a bit of the stigma around talking about, you know, are these parts of our bodies and blood and all of that. So I introduce it that way first, and talk about the different phases and the energies, and bring in the seasons again as well. And then later on the day, when everyone's a bit more familiar and comfortable, we open for questions. And I talk a bit more about female anatomy then, and yeah, and menstrual products and
Sheree 7:58
all of that too. It's so beautiful. I think this process that you're bringing in, I wish we could just put this on tour and go across all the schools around the world. Because I totally agree with you, and I'm sure Chris is the same, the amount of women that come to you and say, Man, I wish I had this knowledge when I was younger. I wish that I, you know, knew the Empower, empowerment that I could have from being in tune with my menstrual cycle, from actually understanding what's going on my body like this reframe that, even if we think about menopause for a second, the idea that menopause is this awful, horrific time of our lives and our periods are this awful, horrific time of every single month is the story we've been told time and Time and time again. And I'm super curious, because, I mean, I've spoken to youth as well, and one of the things I've noticed is that because they haven't quite gone through the pain yet, because they haven't quite gone through the Oh, wow, this is what I'm experiencing sometimes. And I love that you connected with nature, but sometimes I find it doesn't quite land. You know, I've got, I've even got a couple of my clients who, like, I'm really trying to educate my daughters around this, and they're struggling because they're like, Well, Mom, why are you making me reduce my sugar intake? Why are we focused on, you know, this thing and that thing and the other thing to make sure that my periods are fine, I'm not even bleeding yet. And, like, what is all of this about? And so I'm really curious how you bring it in and get them to really connect, I guess, to their bodies and to that space.
Speaker 1 9:29
Yeah, I think it comes back to reclaiming these parts of womanhood as rites of passage. I think a lot of the work, like when I was doing a lot of my, yeah, my own learning and study of this. It was over in New Zealand, and I was, you know, fortunate enough to learn from the Maori perspective, the indigenous ways of looking at our menstruation as this gift from our, you know, ancestors to our descendants, and this connection to Mother Earth and Papa tonuku, or Eru in Ireland here like connecting to the land and to the earth and. Returning back to these old ways. And I think when I talk about this in circle, in women on online courses and schools, there's like a bit of a remembrance or recognition of, oh, yeah, this feels right to come back to our natural way, our natural rhythm. You know, I talk about how women, you know, in ancient times or ancient ancestors, they all would have cycles very similar due to bleeding, bleeding with the new moon and ovulating with the full moon because they didn't have blue screens and tick tock. And, you know, phytoestrogens in our plastic containers that were affecting our hormones, we used to be a much more aligned with natural rhythm. So I think introducing like that is is a really powerful way. And then, yeah, it comes back to just really listening to our bodies and connecting into our bodies and noticing how our bodies feel. So there's a lot of discussion happens around that, too, but I think celebrating it as a rite of passage versus, you know, fearing it or dreading it. I'm talking about puberty and also menopause. I think that's really important. That's I really feel like we're in the middle of a revolution right now, in immense revolution all across the world. If you look at the amount of books being written in the last five years, the amount of women talking about this online, even younger generation knowing about hormones and progesterone, estrogen, there's a real shift happening. And I think that it's really it's an exciting time to have a cycle.
Christa 11:20
So what I would say most of our listeners are probably, you know, closer to menopause than they are puberty. So what how do you coach is most of your focus on the puberty age? Or do you do work around the perimenopausal phase? And if so, what kind of help do you offer around some of the symptoms that come with that stage of life?
Speaker 1 11:45
Yeah, I do. So I do the education pieces, and I do an online course or mental cycles, and a lot of people who come to that would be the permitted proposal age. So we talk about symptoms that arise, a long list of symptoms. But the other part of my work that I do is around body work and my abdominal massage therapy also knows our ego therapy, and that involves, you know, there's a bodywork element. There's also other modalities, like castor oil packs and vaginal steaming and using different herbs. So all of these, these therapies and techniques support women throughout their womb continuum, but especially in perimenopause. There's so many, there's so many, so many different ways, I know from your both your backgrounds, I think it's really a holistic approach of bringing in nutrition, movement, medicine, you know, HRT, when it's needed, a lot of the work I do, I guess, would be a lot more gentle, working with the body and bringing back homeostasis to the body. You know, for example, if there's symptoms like vaginal dryness or especially the emotional the moods, things, all that kind of thing. There can be things that we can do in session. I can tend to the woman's body, but I can also tell them things to help them and give them things and tools they can do at home with themselves, like steaming, like self massage, bringing our hands to our womb every day and rubbing our bellies like that's so simple, but so powerful to bring her, bring the power back into our own hands and be tending to ourselves like that.
Sheree 13:03
It's really beautiful. And I think there's probably a couple of things you've mentioned that you know, maybe our listeners have never even heard of before. Understand the benefits, and I'm wondering if we could dive into them a little bit deeper. I know one of the beautiful things that really attracted me to you and your work is this concept of the how much wisdom the womb holds. And I love when you spoke before about the rite of passage and bringing it home to that, because I think there is so much ancient wisdom, the indigenous wisdom. There is so much beauty when we're connected to that, but there's also so much beauty when we're connected to our womb and our intuition and our ability to lean into the space that as women, we've actually got this incredible part of our body that not only brings life into the world, but so much other wisdom to us and how we can lead our lives. And so I'm wondering if you can touch on that a little bit, and also the vaginal steaming. I feel like some people probably like that. So why would I do that? So, yeah, we could dive into, okay,
Speaker 1 14:08
so much in there. Oh my gosh. So I guess, like, I believe I feel like, when I say womb as well, I'm talking about, like, physically, all the organs, like the uterus, ovaries, vagina, vulva, physically. And then also, like, energetically, the whole space it contains within the pelvic bowl, and how it relates to other parts of the pelvic bowl. And then I think, like the womb has this this wisdom, this intelligence, this consciousness, almost, I would liken it to where it responds to how we're feeling. It responds to us, listening to it and communicating with it. And we can do like a lot of the healing that I see happen with clients and with women is based around keeping that connection open and tuning into what your womb needs. There's so much, oh my gosh, I could go off on a tangent, so I'll stay focused. But I think again, coming back to indigenous cultures, you know the word for. Menstruation in in Seville, Maori is why federal which is like Red River, like a river going back to the earth. And the word for menstruation in the Irish language, an old Irish word, my favorite word, when I heard it, is blah, squila. And blah means flower petals, and Squealer means shedding, releasing. So there's this ancient wisdom of our ancestors that knew what it was representing to bleed, to menstruate, what our womb does, to regenerate itself, to shed. And I think if we understand that every month, if we're shedding our menstrual or menstruation is a physical shedding of our lining of our uterus, but it's also emotional shelling, we're releasing whatever we're holding on to that month, whatever we're containing. So if we think about that way, it's a beautiful way to connect into the womb and to, yeah, begin to understand what she can do for us when we're bleeding. If that makes sense, yeah, I'll pause there, but jump in with something else, like steaming. I'm going to steaming from here.
Christa 15:59
Maybe. I think it's interesting, though, that you mentioned the emotional release, and most could probably relate to the fact that we're more emotional around our period. A lot of times it's just seen as a nuisance or, you know, she's, there's, it's a common thing, right? And I think to acknowledge it and to use that as kind of a powerful time, rather than feeling weak and sad and whatever, what do you kind of teach around that period of time? Because I think it is a really it can be challenging for some women to have to face that and kind of deal with that every month. Think that just shifting our perspective on that is is really fascinating, totally,
Speaker 1 16:41
I think, like the main issue is that we live in a we don't live in a cyclical world. We live in this kind of masculine, dominated world where we have to be performing productive all the time. But that's not our nature. Our nature is cyclical. We have ebbs and flows. We have rising and falling tides. We there's times where we're on, where Estrin is high, where we can perform and we can be outward in the world, there's times where we're called to go inward, or times where we want to we need to retreat. And if we're a busy mother, a career woman, something, and we haven't got the space, the time to take for ourselves during that luteal phase, for example, a premenstrual phase, which gets louder during pre menopause, that's when we struggle. That's when we have more intense mood swings or emotions problems with sleep. So I think it really comes it's almost like an act of rebellion to go against what's expected of us, and to take the time to to rest, to actually slow down, to be still, to give our bodies time to do the big work they're doing, to prepare to release. You know that physical and emotional release, and there's a beautiful one of my teachers years ago, talked to PMS instead of thinking it, thinking of it as premenstrual syndrome symptoms. Think of it as meaning, please make space, or permission to make space for yourself the week before you bleed. And that's a huge like, yeah, if people take away one thing from a retweet or workshop, because hope is that, you know, take some time for yourself. Take some time to connect in with your body, connect with nature, connect to the microcosm that you are of nature. Yeah,
Christa 18:11
that's really, really cool. And I think, you know, I try to educate my patients. Also, there is a lot more talk about cycle, seeking and understanding our cycle. That's one thing that you know, the fact that we have that knowledge, and we're, you know, it sounds like you're educating younger girls about this. I went most of my life not knowing anything about the cycle other than your period. Like we focus on just your period, right? But we don't really take in the changes in energy, the changes in just our ability to to show up on stage, let's say, in a bigger, brighter way. We don't recognize that, or with workouts. Why does some some weeks I feel like I'm on and then the next week I feel I'm beating myself up. And I think it's so empowering to understand it's just a natural shift, like we are just like the moon, like you said, we're not the same. And I don't think that that awareness has really come about until recently. Yeah, and
Speaker 1 19:09
it's so it's huge, isn't it? It invites so much more self compassion, acceptance, understanding, you know? And we are, we have, we are. What is it? 25% biochemistry is different every week. It's huge. And I give girls the language, no, I think the inner seasons the work of wild Power, Red School. They're on Instagram. They're amazing in the UK. And they're, you know, their their description of, you know, follicular phases, inner spring, that growing phase, ovulation, the main event of the cycle is that inner summer that you know, full, fertile, fruitful, outward energy, delusional phase, premenstrual phase is inner autumn that, you know, quite turbulent time of letting go, releasing, preparing to rest. And then winter is our menstruation, or our resting, our inner time. And just, you know, I remember, in New Zealand, actually, I was in a school and I finished the talk, and I heard the girls going out the classroom, and they were like, are you in your inner spring? I'm in my inner summer, and just, you know, it made me smile that they're 14 and they know how to talk with their cycles already. That's just Yeah, that's what it that's what it's all about.
Unknown Speaker 20:08
Yeah,
Sheree 20:10
beautiful. I love the connection with the seasons as well. I think it just land so much more. So it's definitely tangible. It's understandable. I liken it a lot to training and a lot to like Krista was saying before, like, workouts and bringing it into a woman in that space. And I was actually giving a talk recently on this more in relation to, like, the sporting teams at a school. And I had a lot of just being like, I feel so awful now because encouraging these girls to just push themselves and show up and perform the same way. And it's Dr Stacy Sims is at best, like women are not small men. And I love that this is now coming out and becoming more understood and more acknowledged. And I think a lot of the things, and I'm sure that you have this, and I you brought it in beautifully when you said, like, permission to create more space, giving yourself that grace, being kind to yourself, and understanding that we're not designed to show up the same way every day. We're not designed to perform maximal output every single day. And actually, when I had that reframe, even personally during my luteal phase, I'm like, I can actually be super productive here. I'm just super productive in a different way. I know there's tasks that I focus on completing in the business, there are different things that I will do, and it's just beautiful that you're able to bring this to such such an empowering phase of people's lives, both in their youth and then in a perimenopausal or menopausal phase. And I love that you touched on that second puberty, because I think we don't look at menopause like that. It's just like that reversal of what their child may be going through, or, you know what you are going through when you hit that
Speaker 1 21:50
exactly. It's made into woman or girl to woman, and it's another phase of life again. You're losing, you're grieving and losing and shedding an old part of yourself and preparing to step into this next version of yourself, and that's really difficult. So we have to be honest, as it's a challenging time for for both the girl and the older, wiser woman as well. So yeah, and like you said, grace, compassion, acceptance.
Christa 22:15
So as far as physical remedies, you've touched on a little bit of it, I'd like you to dive a little bit deeper into the steaming. And also you mentioned, kind of the uterine facade, and then you've mentioned castor oil packs. I'm really curious about how, yeah, how do you teach women to, kind of, like, what is that remedy and, and how do you do those things?
Speaker 1 22:38
So Steaming is really beautiful. Steaming is like a, you know, a species imperative. It's called, or, you know, cross culturally, if you look across different cultures, there has been evidence historically, of steaming or some sort of using either steam or smoke to to support pelvic health. And in its simplest form, you're using the power of heated water in the form of steam and the medicinal properties of different plants. Often, some plants are chosen for certain reasons to support the tissues around the uterus, so when steam enters. So basically, you're sitting over a steaming bowl or pot and letting the properties molecules of the plants with the steam come up and enter, gently, enter the soft tissues of your Yeah, of your womb, of your uterus, and the steam alone has the effect, because when steam rises and touches the cervix rises from the steam, and that alone helps to tone the inner uterine muscle, yeah and our cervix. I could talk about cervix for an error, but the cervix. Is this really important part of ourselves is this, you know, Gateway, this boundary between the international world, between our womb and the outside world. And it can be, you know, it can be traumatized in different ways, you know, even medical procedures. So bringing back some softness, some heat, and it's all about the properties of keeping the womb warm, keeping the blood flow going. So hemodynamics and homeostasis are really important in this therapy. So we're bringing heat to the womb and increasing blood flow to the womb. Space this there are physical benefits, but then emotionally, spiritually, it's the most beautiful ritual. It's, I'm not sure if you've experienced it, but it's very like blissfully relaxing. When you're sitting for 15 minutes over the steam, you're connecting into your room. You're feeling really, really present, really, really still grounded. And it's the best thing to do after steam is just to go to sleep, like not to go out and do a workout, because you're all supple and warmed up, and all your you know, ligaments, fascia, pelvic floor, you want to just really nurture yourself and keep warm and rest afterwards. So that's the steaming. And you know, you could learn a lot more about it. The steaming for different reasons, steaming to help support fertility, steaming with, yeah, a range of issues you can support with, and a beautiful ritual to do the massage therapy. There's a lot to be said there, but basically, we're working with the biomechanics. Looks of the pelvic bowl, so it's an upper abdomen massage. It helps suggestion, it helps release tension around the sternum. And then we work on the lower abdomen, and we're gently helping, again, to bring blood flow and warmth to the pelvic bowl, and also to tune in and feel where the positioning is of the uterus. And sometimes it's quite easy to feel, and you may know that your uterus can be in the center, but can also move a little bit. Tends to wander around in the pelvic bowl, and some women have tilted uteruses that tilt backwards, retroversion, or tilt forwards and anti version. Uteruses with this simple massage technique, the practitioner or the person herself, you do on your own, on yourself, helps to bring the uterus back into central alignment. And quite often, you know, people don't even know if they have a tilted uterus or if it has any effect on them. But if your uterus is leaning back towards the next organ, which is the rectum, the colon, remembering that you know when we're about to menstruate, our uterus doubles in size and weight. It goes from 200 grams to 400 grams. I forget what it is in pounds, but it double like we're holding a heavier organ in our bodies. And if that's leaning against the colon, you can imagine that's going to affect digestion, elimination, constipation, lower back pain, putting pressure on these ligaments. If it's tilting forward, it's going to affect bladder, you know, the urge to pee more even UTIs can, because more often, if it's if it's leaning forward too much. So, yeah, it's really, it's a really powerful way to, yeah, support the biomechanics and the structure and homeostasis and flow of the pelvic bowl.
Christa 26:39
I love that fascinating. What about the last one is about castor oil packs. I've always been curious about this. I haven't personally used castor oil packs, but I'm fascinated and open to trying it.
Speaker 1 26:51
Yeah, castor packs. Again, another like, it sounds simple, but it's just, you know, the technique of again, heat, plus the properties of castor oil. So castor oil, again, has been used for long, long, long time in different ways, but in here we you can apply it as a castor pack. So simple ways to apply some castor oil, using organic, cold pressed castor oil, onto either the womb. You can also do the sacrum, lower back. Some will do on the liver, but you're placing it, for example, over the uterus with a heat packers and the heat over as well and lying there for 20 minutes, or else, falling asleep. And the castor oil works its way through the skin into the ligaments. It's known for, like, decongesting so it can break down congestion. It can help with scar tissue, like C section scars, which I have myself, or like laparoscopy scars. It can help with like smaller fibroids. It can help to help break them down a bit. Obviously, depending which fibroids are, if they're bigger, it's not that easy. But, yeah, it's really it's a powerful way to help gently, detox and decongest. Yeah, issues that surround the uterus and again, really relaxing and nourishing. And these are things you can just do yourself at home, if you know, if you're taught by a practitioner or learn about them, you can do them yourself and make them yourself and make them part of your practice again. You can make it a ritual. You can do it before you bleed or after you're finished bleeding each month. Or, yeah, it's a lovely way to bring some self care and some ritual into your life. Yeah,
Christa 28:14
the casserole itself. Do? You put it topically, just on the skin, and then you cover it with something
Speaker 1 28:19
you can't do, yeah, you can buy, like, they call them packs. If you want to do I recommend using, like, old pajamas or like something you don't mind getting stained on because it is really thick oil that won't just rub off or rub out. An easy way that I was told to do by my teacher, chervago therapy somewhere, is to use, like, kitchen towel, like, like, unbleached, organic kitchen towel, fill up a few of them, and then spread some castor oil, like a tablespoon on, and then place it on, sticks on, place it over your womb. And then place something heat, like a hot water bottle or a wheat bag, heated wheat bag over that. Okay, you can also buy, you know, cotton packs, and do it that way,
Unknown Speaker 29:01
called QUEEN OF THRONES Krista. And yes,
Speaker 1 29:03
yeah, they've done great work for really, yeah, bringing Castro oil mainstream again, yeah, yeah,
Christa 29:09
I am familiar with her. I've just never used the pack. So I was just curious how that actually, I actually do have castor oil on its own, but it is quite messy.
Speaker 1 29:20
Yeah, it is quite messy. So like, using the kitchen towel is great, because after you finish, you just put the soaked towels into soaked tissue towels into your compost. So it's environmentally it's a better way of doing it, because even washing, even a cleaning your washing machine can the washing machine is quite thick, thick oil. So yeah, I just have one pajamas I always wear my dude, because it's already covered in oil. So that's the logistics, practicalities of doing this, yeah,
Christa 29:46
and just rewinding a minute about the steaming. How can someone do that at home? You just that just seems Yeah. It
Speaker 1 29:54
sounds Yeah. Well, you can purchase like you can buy it, you know, steam stool, or Yoni stool, or, you know, I. Actually had some made here in Ireland, beautiful wood. But if you haven't got a still is great, because it takes the pressure off your legs. You can just relax into it. But there are ways, and I'm sure, like, you could look up certain there's certain people, and you should look up and find ways you can lean over, like leaning over a chair, kind of squatting. You want to be squatting up so that you're both steam, and the steam is access to your pelvic bowl if you're kind of crunching over. Or some people like, you know, do a downward dog. That's not going to help, because the steam has to rise up and enter. So you're hovering over the steam, and you're using herbs. You can use simple things like lavender, rose petals, rosemary, you know, you can, yeah, there's lots of simple herbs and plants you could use that you might have in your garden, obviously, yeah, do your research first putting something. Yeah, they shouldn't, but, yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly like I some people do put nettle, but I would not put nettle in but even things like, and if you hadn't got, you know, plants you can use, you know, a chamomile tea bag, and that's a gentle way of putting some Commonwealth you know, just just have the experience of what it would feel like. Yeah, definitely something to if you feel curious. It's definitely worth looking into and exploring.
Sheree 31:10
Would you use something like essential oils or they're not quite as potent? No,
Speaker 1 31:13
you wouldn't know that. Yeah, do not use essential oils. They're just so potent, and your skin is way too sensitive there for something like oils, yeah, just keep it really natural. Little handful of
Sheree 31:27
you think it was funny. I was watching popped up on my feed the other day on Instagram, and it was showing a flashback to some of the adverts they used to have, and honestly, quite horrific what used to be out there on TV, about keeping, you know, that area of ourselves, that vaginal area, the the labia, everything down there, like smelling fresh and looking, you know, feeling fresh and and I think, you know, even I love that you brought up the even the essential oils are too strong and too pungent, like, No, you know, we're taught to, oh, you need to make it smell nice, or it needs to look, you know, be a certain way. It's this, again, this reframe, to really look after yourself. And actually, no, don't go and put all sorts of products down there, and don't load up and be damaging, yeah?
Speaker 1 32:14
And so they, for the most part, it's a self cleaning organ. You don't need to be putting it different chemicals, yeah, keeping it natural chamomile petals is fine,
Christa 32:23
yeah, yeah. I think it's fascinating. I think it's lovely to have options for just the self care that is, it's non chemicals, it's all natural, yeah? And it keeps in tune with your body, ultimately, because I think so many women have a disconnect from their body. They just, they don't acknowledge it. They don't feel it. They're, I know your 30s and 40s can be really chaotic with life, with having babies, working and doing all the things, and it's not until many times I know, in my experience as a practitioner, it's not until you're kind of at rock bottom before you start to acknowledge yourself. And so I think these kind of things, and talking about it is an interesting way to start to be in tune with your body, listening to your body along the way, so that you don't have this crash, you know, once you hit minimal or even before, right? Because stress and ignoring symptoms just it doesn't lead anywhere good and, and I think it's important for us to challenge it. So these are really cool ways, I think, to just be ritualistic. And it's a form of self care, of just being in tune, yeah, really, like, totally.
Speaker 1 33:31
And it's so simple, like, I, I'm currently doing a beautiful online Coven with women called, it's called bannax nabruna, which is Irish for womb blessing. And as part of we do a weekly guided womb massage together, belly massage, but we also meditation and breath work. But we also, I encourage them all to first thing in the morning place your hands on your lower belly, and last thing at night before you sleep with your hands on your lower belly, your womb. So you're putting your hand on your womb before you're touching your phone before your hand in the world, you're tuning into yourself first and connecting, creating that relationship, that connection, like you said, that listening. It's so simple, but it's, yeah, it's powerful. Absolutely.
Christa 34:10
I love that. And the fact that you combine a lot of this work with younger women is just again, so cool. And I think that this is building up another Gen, the next generation, of young women, to be a lot more self aware. And how does this do you think, affect the training that you do and the education that you do early on, affect how often women, or young women, will choose the oral birth control pill or some kind of synthetic way to for contraception? That's a
Speaker 1 34:43
really good question. Yeah, it's interesting with the contraception pill, because, like, even in Ireland, it was only made. It was illegal, you know, the the pill was illegal for a long time in Ireland because, you know, it was quite a Catholic country, and there's lots of different beliefs. And, yeah, so it's when the pill. Became legal, like women used to go up to the north of Ireland or over to the UK to get the pill illegally smuggled in. So when it became legal, it was like this big, huge sense of empowerment and freedom and liberation and empowering women's hands again. But now there's a shift, because there's been so much education around what the pill is actually doing to us and how it's, you know, pausing or natural hormones. And you know, when we don't ovulate, we're not producing progesterone. Progesterone has, you know, like Dr Laura Bryden says short term and long term health benefits. So now it's almost turned either way, where women girls are coming off the pill or saying no to the pill as a statement of being empowered and being sovereign in their own bodies, again, choosing to tune into their own bodies, instead of, yeah, putting chemicals or putting a different, a different take on it. So yeah, that's interesting question. I'd love to Yeah, you can hear your opinions on that. I think a lot of mothers will bring their daughters to the doctor if they're say, 1314, they're having painful periods or heavy periods or and quite often, GPs are just recommending the pill as the first option. But I think with education now, we're learning that actually it's worth giving these girls the first five to seven years of their periods to create that connection the brain, the ovaries, the HPA axis, to get that developed, and also to notice what's happening. Because, as I'm sure you both know, everyone knows, endometriosis takes 10 years on average to diagnose because it's often masked for many years with things like the pills. So I think listening and tuning into our bodies and noticing what's actually happening can help us either have healthy cycles or to help us recognize when something else is going on the body and get support and diagnosis sooner as well. Yeah,
Sheree 36:36
something that I know that we're both so passionate about, and there's no shame. And for some people, it's there on the option, and it's something do and but I do think, and I you see the statistics all the time, like at least 60% of most women that are on the pill aren't even on it. For you know, as a contraceptive method, it is to mask a simple to suppress whatever's going on. And you touched on a beautiful point, like it does take that five to seven years, when we're going through puberty, to even establish the menstrual cycle and the connection between the brain and the ovaries. And so we go and chuck a pill, or we go and chuck in some hormonal like synthetic hormones. We're interrupting that. And then we wonder why there's fertility issues when we come off. We wonder why our body goes into chaos, and it's because we haven't supported that connection, fostered the connection between the brain, the ovary, ovaries, strengthening it enough that when we do transition off, or even if we don't go on, it at all like there's actually a beautiful period of time where your bodies are learning, and having that education Young is so empowering. I'm so grateful that there are people like yourself in the world going out there and bringing this delight and helping people see from such a young age so they can make a more empowered decision about their bodies.
Speaker 1 37:47
Yeah, thank you, Cherie, yeah, totally. And I think also it's also like there was, up until recently, it was like, quite like, you know, hide it away. Don't let anyone know you have your period. Don't even let yourself know you have your period. Like, you know, quickly put a tampon in, take the pill, just forget you have a period. And now it's like, actually, no, we want to know we have a period. We want to see our blood each month, know that it's healthy. Want to see what color it is, what consistency it is, does it have cloth? So you're looking at our men's or menstrual blood. Now, we're not afraid of it. We're not put hiding in a way with tampons. We're, you know, we're using menstrual cups, or we're free bleeding, or even just having the connection to your blood in that way, so you're not being afraid of it, actually letting it be visible, and letting, yeah, making that connection, like you said, yeah. So, so important.
Christa 38:32
Yeah. I think a lot of women don't understand. I mean, obviously it's amazing that we have the freedom to, you know, have control of our fertility. I mean, I think that is important. Yeah, of course, don't have that. So, you know, I think it's beyond that conversation. It's more, you know, people should be educated on the downsides of any medication, including that contraception. And then, you know, there's some women that are like, Oh, I don't want to have my period at all, so I'll just don't do the, you know, the week of the bleed, which is really a fake bleed anyway. But I think all of that comes from misunderstanding the power of having our natural hormones ebb and flow and to tap into that. Yeah, I think that this conversation and just the work that you do does it brings to light, like the power behind having our natural hormones, and not to mention one point of, you know, education that I tell women while they're still menstruating is the power of these hormones on our bone health, our cardiovascular health, our brain. It's really important to enter into our aging bank, let's say with hormones, you know, and also to have that report card every month, right? Like it that it is a signal. It's a sign of our overall health. Because even if we're not trying to get pregnant, fertility is a sign of optimal health in your body. So if you're having issues, yeah, then I think it's important that we track it, we understand it, and ultimately, our period shouldn't be a big deal. I mean, if you're healthy, right? If you've got a normal, natural cycle, it can be this painful. Uh, you know, murder scene every month, and if it is, then we know there's something that we need to address in the body. So I think there's power in it, for sure. And so, yeah, just the work that you do, I think, is amazing, to educate women across the board on it. Thank
Speaker 1 40:15
you. Yeah, I love what you touched on there. But yeah, it does. It gives us information. It teaches us something each time we and, you know, even like ovulation, like you said, it has so many benefits to actually ovulate. Obviously we're gonna have four, 450 approximately cycles in our life. That's 450 times you might ovulate, and maybe one or two of them will result in the baby, if even so the rest of the time. Is it useless or pointless? No, it still has so many health benefits. And I think when you learn how to track your cycle and your fertility, and you can check your own cervix, when you're fertile, you can check your own cervical fluid, these are all signs that you're healthy, that your your your womb is thriving and healthy and vibrant. And when you're bleeding, if it's bright red, you have all the signs that you're exactly like your womb is it's doing what it's meant to be doing, and you're imbalanced. And then if, otherwise, if you have a stressful month, or you've had a lot of sugar, or something's happened in your life, and things are unbalanced, then obviously, usually, the cycle will also be a bit imbalanced, too. And then you could just giving that information to that feedback loop continuously. So until, yeah, it
Christa 41:20
really is. It is fascinating, just the intelligence in our body and fascinating, you know. And I hope this conversation has really inspired women listening to embrace your womanhood and to acknowledge the fact that understanding your cycle and and just how you know, like, Did you mention the modalities that you can have some self care to surround your womb space is so powerful. I've loved this conversation.
Speaker 1 41:46
Thank you. Yeah, I've loved it too. Thank you so much. And like, I think, you know, it's bringing everything together. There's different modalities that support, and, you know, Western medicine that can help, and nutrition, and, yeah, lifestyle choices. So it's a combination of everything, isn't it really
Sheree 42:01
so beautiful. So where can people find you? If they're like, oh my gosh, I need to go and stalk her page right now. Or I need to connect, because this is exactly what I need. Or this is exactly what I want to be bringing my daughter to. Or where is the best place to come and chat, to come and see what you're up to follow your journey.
Speaker 1 42:18
Yeah, usually I hang out Instagram. So my instagram handle is inner dot vibrance, inner vibrance, and that's where I am like in my DMs chatting. So yeah, feel free to come over there and say hi. I would love to have chats about anything to do with the womb and menstrual cycles. And I do a lot of work. I do is obviously based in Ireland, but I also work online as well. I teach an online course and do online Yeah, little covens and online circles as well. So you can find me there, beautiful.
Sheree 42:46
Oh, thank you so much for your time, Ashley. And this is just been just beautiful. And I hope it's really lift people feeling empowered with this information. Because, yeah, I know I even I've learned things that I'm like, Okay, I want to go away and try that or apply that, because our bodies just hold so much wisdom. So really appreciate you being
Speaker 1 43:05
here. Thank you so much, Cherie and thank you, Chris, thanks for having me. It's been so lovely. Thank you. Thank you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
