For years I have stood by the belief that to find true wellness, it is necessary to approach the journey with a multi-faceted plan. In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s discuss some herbs that have been passed down through the ages as helpful for all things female. Many herbs, foods, teas, etc can support women’s health. Today we’ll cover a few of my favorites. I am obligated to tell you, I do not prescribe or diagnose. This information is purely educational. It is up to you to do your own research and/or discuss with your providers before starting any new supplement regimen. With that out of the way, let’s get to it! 

One of my personal favorites is an herb called Vitex (aka chaste berry). As early as 450 BC it was suggested by Hippocrates, and it is still recommended today for PMS and menopausal symptoms. Some research suggests that vitex helps to regulate the pituitary gland, so the signals it sends to the other glands allow the...

I am a nurse and a Women’s Wellness Coach. 

When I tell people that I usually get one of three replies. 

1. What’s a coach? 
2. Why do I need one? 
3. And my favorite… “Do you have your own life together?” 

It seems that the term coach is being used for anything and everything these days. For many years we have recognized coaches for sports of all kinds, and even voice and speech coaches. It is in more recent years that coaches for every other aspect of life have started to emerge in droves. Nutrition, finances, mindset, meditation, lifting, running, you name it, they’re hireable. Other terms used for these people have been guide, mentor, and advisor. A rose by any other name… right? In this instance, coach, guide, mentor, advisor, etc, are basically the same. To coach, by definition is to train or instruct. As a Women’s Wellness Coach, I help coach you to find wellness, in your mind, body, and soul....

Mom-guilt is such a strange emotion.

It is all-encompassing and sometimes feels impossible to avoid. 

Work too much- mom guilt

Work too little - mom guilt

Clean the house- mom guilt

Don't clean the house - mom guilt

Feed your kids take-out- mom guilt

Don't feed your kids take-out- mom guilt

You add in the ever-changing recommendations and research in raising children and there's a whole other myriad of guilt-inducing challenges (cry it out or don't,  vaccinate right away or delay, allow devices or don't, attachment parenting or free-range parenting, etc etc etc). 

We have these ideals and standards in our minds about what a perfect mom is and allow ourselves to feel guilty when we are less than that imaginary figure in our minds.  It's not easy mama. I hear you. And while there's so much to unpack around those standards and how you feel,  there is a slight change you can make in your home that can help you feel good...

Last week we discussed the effects stress has on your body and mind. Things you may not even realize, check it out here. There is one more significant part of your life that is affected by stress too. Your menstrual cycle. We’ve all heard of the fight-or-flight response, right? The driving force behind that response is the hormone cortisol. Higher levels of cortisol in the bloodstream reduce reproductive hormones, especially progesterone and estrogen. That affects your whole entire month! Let’s review your cycle before we get too far into this. Please know that hormone fluctuations in the body are an intricate and complex process. What I will do here is provide information from a very high-level view. 

So let’s have a little refresher on your cycle. If you are not on any kind of hormonal birth control, you have four distinct hormonal phases throughout the month. These phases make up what we know to be our menstrual cycle. Of course, everyone is aware of...

Much of what I work on with my clients is based on stress relief. Whether that's stress from a current situation, stress from past events, or stress caused by our current lifestyle,  it all boils down to a lack of peace in the body, mind, and soul.  

We hear so much these days about self-care,  work-life balance, and wellness it's easy to forget that each of these is more than just buzz words.  

A stress response from the body can be a good thing. This is your fight or flight response. This is the mechanism in the body that helps you to fight a virus, shiver when you're cold, and run from the saber tooth tiger to save your life. We certainly want those things to keep happening. The difference between these scenarios and the kind of stress most of us endure is that each of those scenarios is short-lived. Here and gone in a matter of weeks. Your work stress likely isn't that way.

That is where we run into problems and why there is so...

I have always been a proponent of using a multitude of modalities to find true wellness. As you are a multifaceted human being, you need many different techniques to stay well. Just like your nutrition is not balanced without consuming a wide variety of foods, you cannot be well in your body, mind, and soul, without a wide variety of modalities. Essential oils are one of the modalities I turn to often. I love having them in my diffusers (I currently have four diffusers in my home), use them in skin care remedies (like sunburn relief), or for inflammation from an injury.

EO's are also the only "pretty smells" allowed in my home. I do not use anything in my home with the word "fragrance" listed on the ingredient label. Did you know "fragrance" is a blanket term for many different chemicals in products? "Fragrance" is not regulated by the FDA so it becomes a default place to hide chemicals you wouldn't otherwise want in a product you use daily (like BPA, a known contributor to...

You’ve likely heard the term, “the weight of the world is on your shoulders” or some variation of that anyway. After a session, my clients will often tell me, “I feel so much lighter” because we always work to relieve some of that weight. That heaviness we carry around thinking everything and everyone is our responsibility does not serve us, mentally, spiritually, or even physically. Now, you may start thinking this sounds a little woo-woo but hear me out. 

Think about someone who gets a tension headache. They experience sustained, intense stress (emotion), and that leads to a headache or even migraine (physical symptom). Or the person who vomits (physical symptom) when they get nervous (emotion). See every emotion we experience carries its own energy and is held in a specific part of our body. When we hold onto that emotion for too long it can cause build-up or stagnation and that leads to physical ailments. 

Energy should...

I was listening to a book the other day that explained the difference between "best practice" and "evidence-based practice" in healthcare. When I was in nursing school one thing they drilled into our heads over and over was to always perform evidence-based care instead of doing things because "that's the way they've always been done."  It got me thinking about how often in life we accept what is happening as "normal" because that is just the way it's always been. "Normal" is different in different parts of the world, different workplaces, and even inside different households. One could even go as far as to say normal is different for each body. But that is when this idea of "normal" gets a little dicey. See, so much of what we have accepted as normal in our body, might not be. Because it is common, does not mean it is normal.  When it comes to your health and your wellness it is important to distinguish between the two. 

For example, it is common for smokers to...

My husband and I have become big fans of the show “1883”. Living in Montana now, and having grown up in Wyoming, I enjoy seeing some of the history play out in “1883” and appreciate the unfolding story of how people settled this part of our world. In the show, there is a young woman who begins her journey on the Oregon Trail as a well-dressed, well-mannered, young lady. As the show progresses, we watch her begin to wear pants, gain a little more sass, and find her independence. Through her heartbreak, the hard knocks of living out of a wagon while traveling across the prairie, and the lack of “civilization” we see a different kind of strength show up in her. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, this transition is one that must be appreciated. 

See, women have always been strong. 

Mary birthed a son who she knew would be ridiculed, tormented, and eventually die. Women birth the future of the human race. We experience...

Be honest, how much do you think about your feminine cycle in the three weeks you’re not bleeding? Maybe you’re on birth control that prevents a bleed so you’re not aware of it at all. Or maybe you dread the day your bleed comes because you know it will come with pain, irritability, and frustration. The female cycle is one of the coolest transitions our bodies make and if you can understand how to work with it, instead of against it, I think you’ll find a whole new perspective. Let’s start that shift today. 

You know that each month your hormones fluctuate through each of the phases and each time they change, they create different desires in you. Just like Mother Nature shows off her four seasons throughout the year, you experience similar seasons throughout the month. Let’s break it down. 

Spring/Follicular phase: In this phase, your body is preparing an egg for ovulation. The hormones responsible for this will make you...