The Growing Pains Podcast
Growing a business and a family? Join host Alyson Caffrey as she interviews mompreneurs who have scaled businesses and juggled life at home. Having it all may seem like a pipedream, but we are making it happen every day. Tune in and fold time in that carpool line!
The Growing Pains Podcast
Harnessing Lunar and Menstrual Cycles with Jessica Snyder
How do natural cycles influence your productivity and energy levels? Jessica Snyder, personal growth and transformation coach, joins me in this episode to explore the powerful connection between your menstrual cycle, the lunar phases, and your business rhythm. Learn how to sync your tasks with your body's natural ebbs and flows, discover the best times for decision-making and tackling challenges, and find out why slowing down is crucial for your success. Whether you're dealing with irregular cycles or simply seeking more balance, this conversation offers amazing tips to help you harness your inner moon wisdom and thrive in both business and motherhood!
Topics covered in this episode:
- The female menstrual cycles vs. male 24-hour cycles.
- Aligning business tasks with different phases of menstrual and lunar cycles.
- Importance of slowing down and self-care for hormone balance.
- Journaling and reflection practices for cycle awareness.
- Irregular cycles and hormone imbalances
- Lifestyle changes for better hormone health.
CONNECT WITH JESSICA:
https://www.instagram.com/intimatemama/
https://www.intimatemama.com/
RESOURCES FROM ALYSON:
The Kid-Proof Business Checklist
https://alysoncaffrey.com/checklist
Maternity Leave Planning Guide
https://www.mastermaternityleave.com/guide
Are you juggling the challenges of running a business while raising your little ones? Do you crave more ease in balancing your professional ambitions with the demands of parenthood? Well, sit tight, you're in the right place. I'm your host, alison Caffrey, and I understand the growing pains that come with building a business while nurturing a growing household. Think of this as a soft spot to land when you feel like your ambitions are starting to become just a little overwhelming. Welcome to Growing Pains.
Speaker 2:Hey and welcome back to the Growing Pains podcast. I'm your host, alison Kaffrey, and today I am sitting down with Jessica Schneider. I am so excited about this episode, specifically because we talk about something that's actually been really, really front of mind for me, which is cycles.
Speaker 2:We talk about your productivity, your energy levels your rest periods your big decisions while on your cycle and being in tune to your internal cycle and the external cycle, which is the moon cycle. So we actually go super deep on these things, why they matter, and I even rapid fire asked Jess when we should be making some of these key decisions, because I personally always felt really bullheaded when it came to my cycle. I was like it doesn't matter what time of the month it is for me, I'm just going to push through and I'm going to be stubborn and just move through the obstacle. But actually getting in tune with your cycle and recently for me this has been true Counting the days, really tracking when my energy is high and when my energy might be a little bit lower it can help me pace and plan for a lot of things in my business and in my life. So Jess brings incredible perspective and I'm so excited for you guys to hear all that's going on with this mama.
Speaker 2:I'm going to give you a quick overview. So she's a personal growth and transformation coach, guiding women to connect with their femininity, align with their hearts and show up full and fearless with authentic expression. She has experience as a labor and delivery nurse and she developed a burning passion for holistic women's health, where she's been working her magic for the last decade. So we are seriously jumping into the cycles. Jess is multi passionate, so she's got a lot of things going on, but this is one topic that I felt like would be so incredible to unpack on the podcast. I can't wait to hear what you guys think about it, and I'll see you inside, jess, welcome to Growing Pains. I am so excited to have you here and honestly, I think we just cooked up some pretty juicy topics before we record here. But let's kind of slow down for a second and let the listeners get to know you a little bit. So can you tell me a little bit about your business and your family at home?
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, family is very exciting right now. We just found out that we are having a third boy. So exciting we are, you know, thrilled. It's going to be a little wild and a lot of fun, and my littles are three one and then expecting in the new year. So we are in the thick of it and it's everything and more. And, business wise, I really am multi-passionate and I love women's wellness. I really love creating sacred and intimate spaces and I really enjoy curating programs for women in our one-to-one mentorship containers, because people will come to me and say like I want a little bit of this and I want a little bit of that and I want to dabble in what you offer here, because I do have so many offerings and I am a manifesting generator. I don't know if you know about human design, but it is like a whole lot of everything, and so my work ranges from women all women to female entrepreneurs and my love for women's health, with working with women in preconception to birth and through motherhood, and it is just all women's everything Powerful.
Speaker 2:I'm really interested in this specifically because I know that there's a lot of I mean even just bringing up human design. There's a lot of focus, especially with female business owners, that we really need to be in tune with our energy and who we are and like understanding, you know, kind of these inward voices and feelings and things that can help us make decisions right externally. But can I just say motherhood and the process of becoming a mom feels like it just throws everything out of whack. So like how can we as moms or folks who are, you know, becoming new moms or becoming moms again, right? So going through you know your experience of having baby number three? Like how do you feel like you align with your energy, you know traditionally, versus like this crazy wild west where you're like, oh, actually my hormones are all over the place and I'm not really sleeping that well and I'm craving weird stuff, and so how do you kind of find that center in a traditionally chaotic time?
Speaker 3:That's such a good question and it's so complex, especially coming to the end of this first trimester. I'm feeling all those things. I'm like this is not my body, this is not what I'm using. I feel out of alignment, so bloated. This food doesn't feel good, but really I just I do come back to my grounding practices and when I'm not physically bleeding and cycling with my own moon, my own cycle, I will tune into the physical moon, the lunar cycle, and move with the energies of that, so I can learn when to slow down and when to speed up.
Speaker 3:And if I feel like, oh, it's full moon, it's time to speed up, it's time for, like everything to cultivate. But I'm really feeling slow. I'm like, well, you know that's not aligning with me right now, and just really listening to like I'm waking up today and I'm feeling tired. So I'm going to take it easy, I'm going to call, you know, a family member, my husband's home, and just let him know like I'm going to need a nap today, and giving myself permission to just listen to my body, even if it doesn't align with my typical alignment. So you know, we have our phases and there are days that you might be expecting to be productive, and if you wake up that morning and it's not exciting you to attend whatever event, I've given myself the permission to just say like I'm not going and that's a really different place than what I'm used to being in, because I used to be the yes girl. I used to be the girl. That's like I have to go to everything.
Speaker 3:Fomo is a real thing and now I just really have to honor myself and honor my body and honor my family and to be able to show up in the work that I do, and for little and for myself, in the best way I can. I can't spread myself thin like that, and so even my best friends are like we are okay, canceling on each other because I'm like nope, just do whatever is in most alignment for you today, and if that means we're not getting together, that's fine, we'll find another day. No big deal, and that's been so. I don't even have words for it Like it's just such a like a welcoming feeling to know that you're being seen and you don't have to do something that you don't feel like doing Oftentimes. If I show up anyways, I'm so glad I did, but I love to give myself the permission to slow down when I need to.
Speaker 2:I'm so glad I did, but I love to give myself the permission to slow down when I need to. Hmm, I love that. I think some of the I think what comes to mind when you describe this, jess, is like you know those friends that like are just okay with whatever it is you decide, and they don't ask questions, they're just like I'm here. Or if you don't talk to them for two months and then you text them, they're just like so excited about that and there's no expectation right, text them. They're just like so excited about that and there's no expectation right Of like lots and lots of communication. I think what you're maybe saying and hopefully for folks listening it's helpful is like be that for you right, be that for yourself. Like be that friend that's like always welcoming, always supportive, no expectations, like really really do that. I think that's a really beautiful thing.
Speaker 2:I do want to talk about cycles because I align so much with what you've just described that I also, for years and years, was the yes girl.
Speaker 2:I was like I have to go, I have to do this, I have to go to the event, I have to talk to the person I would always say yes to, to like every request for my calendar, which is so wild to even think of right now, because I'm like how on earth could I even have done that and kept that going right?
Speaker 2:So, to always say yes, and I always felt like from a productivity perspective, there was some you know stubbornness or some wall that I could break through, where I was like, oh, if I'm really not feeling it today, I just basically jam it down life's throat and I just get it done.
Speaker 2:And I had this stubborn nature about me, specifically about getting stuff done, and I would totally beat myself up if it didn't happen. So I want to talk about, like how somebody who is maybe in that space where they're like man, I can just overcome anything I'm feeling and I can just push through and do it, which I definitely believe in the power of a great routine in terms of, like you know, moving my body, doing those types of things, things that we don't wake up necessarily and like want to do every single morning, um, but like moving toward being in tune with cycles, and then I want to break this down, but like somebody might be listening to this and be like no, every day I can wake up and grit and get through my dad's list. Like, what do we say to those people?
Speaker 3:Wow, so much to unpack here. I love this question. I think where I want to start is that we have been raised in this society that is focused and surrounded by the man cycle. So men have a 24 hour cycle. They wake up every morning feeling the same and go to bed feeling the same, and they their clock resets and they can do the same thing every day because the sun has 24 hours and so does the man's cycle, and so the working hours of Monday through Friday, nine to five, work for a man because they can wake up, they're productive, and then they slow down, they have their like happy hour time and then they, you know, wind down and go to bed so they can have the same workouts every day. They can do all these things every single day.
Speaker 3:And then you look at our cycle and the women stepped into the work field, which is amazing and it's not conducive to our cycle. So if you look at the Monday through Friday, that is based on a man's cycle and women, we have a 28-ish plus or minus day cycle, and so one of your weeks will be, you know, slow down. I'm on my period. I'm, you know, going to slow down. I'm on my period. I'm, you know, going to take it easy. I'm going to listen to my body, I'm going to do some more planning and organizing here, and then you start to get a little bit more momentum and then the next week you can really start to, like, build up on those plans and start to take action.
Speaker 3:Then the following week you're the most productive and the most social and you can plan all of your meetings and events and this and that. And then the following week after that you're starting to slow down again, reflecting, figuring out what worked well, what didn't, making plans for the next cycle. So we don't work on the everyday same kind of thing and we can push past that because that's how we've been taught. But when we really tune in and see how we can schedule our entrepreneur calendars to match how we're going to be feeling possibly right, it changes, but at least hormonally. To plan for that. It really then helps you align how you're going to feel with what you have to do and you don't have to feel like you're pushing past a point that is not natural for you.
Speaker 2:Hmm, I love that. It's really elegant. And I love that you've broken down the difference between the male and the female cycle, because I think we aren't necessarily taught that. Like I remember taking sexual education and like learning about my body, and like they didn't make that very clear distinction, and even if they did, maybe I was too young to hear it. I'm just gonna say that and my thought process is like now, as I'm older, learning a little bit more about this, I love thinking through some of the ways that we can get creative, especially in work, to basically pair our best self with the type of task that is actually required of us at that time. And so where can we start? So if I'm like, hey, yeah, I really super want to start to be in tune with my cycle, like, where do I begin? Do I just make some notes in my phone Like how does that? How does that work? How do I start tracking?
Speaker 3:Yeah, something that I started to do was just journaling, like just a word or two, like it doesn't have to be like sit down and journal for 10 minutes, because I don't think everybody does that every day, nor is it something you can keep up on. If it's not something that you do, but if you just jot down a couple of things that you feel that day and track where you are in your cycle. So starting to learn about the phases of the cycle and figuring out where you are. Even if you're on birth control, you know you can still learn. The hormones might not be the same specifically, but and then if you're not cycling, if you're like me and you're pregnant or breastfeeding or um, have an IUD and don't have your period, then the phases of the moon match up energetically with the um female cycle and so learning about that and then figuring out how you feel and seeing, does it energetically match up? And then trying to incorporate, you know the tasks for those weeks.
Speaker 3:So something I used to do is have like a long running to-do list and it would be overwhelming to look at and I remember when I had my first son I would look at that to-do list and be like there's no way I can get this all done, like my priority today are to shower, to eat and maybe do a load of laundry, and so, instead of having a long to-do list, I would break it up Like okay, monday, let's put like one or two things that is productive.
Speaker 3:Tuesday, one or two things. Of course, as an entrepreneur, there are some things that you have to get done that you can't just put on the back burner for a day that you feel like it, but for the things that can get done on a different day, even in just a different week, planning it for that week and not overwhelming the whole calendar, but just doing like a couple of tasks that I feel like I could do on this day and then, if it gets done, you know, check it off. It's like my favorite thing to do ever is take something off my to-do list even when.
Speaker 3:I'm done something, I'm like I'm gonna put it on my to-do list and take it off, um, and if not, I have stopped getting so worked up over not getting something done and just moving it to the next day like, okay, well, it didn't get done today, I'm gonna do that tomorrow, um, and so it's just a small way to break up that overwhelm that we can feel as mompreneurs and start to learn more about our cycles and how we can create the tasks that would match that cycle.
Speaker 2:I want to talk about the exterior, so the lunar phases, because my thought is so there's a, there's basically two right. There's the in your internal, so like if you are going cycling and going through menstruation, all those things, and then there's just the way that you feel, right, so we can start to kind of move that. That's kind of in the center, and then the external cycle, which is the moon cycle. Talk to me about how you pay attention to that and how you can start to figure that. Are they like two separate lists of feelings? Like I'm internally feeling this today and also there were a ton of weirdos at Target, so it must be a full moon.
Speaker 2:Do we like really experience it as much like externally, I'd imagine too, because there are just some days like I mean, anybody who's ever waited tables knows that the full moon is a thing right, like the. The strangest people come out, the strangest things happen, especially when you're like with a ton of people in a short period of time, and so I've always believed that there was some kind of energetic pull, but I never really knew how to quantify. And so is it the same process? Do you just like observe externally and then write down how you're feeling, or is there a way generally that the moon cycles that you can kind of start to pair up with?
Speaker 3:This is such a great question, and it's actually something that I've been curious about too, because since I've been doing this practice about three or four years I've been pregnant or breastfeeding and have not had that many cycles with the moon and my own cycle. So I just had two back-to-back cycles before we got pregnant, but we've gratefully had easy pregnancies, um and so I've had four periods in the last four years, and so I haven't really actually been able to utilize my own cycle and see how it correlates with the moon. I'm on the lunar cycle because I don't get my cycle when I'm pregnant or breastfeeding Me personally. But the way that I would describe it is focus on your own inner cycle right Like that's like the center, just like you described it and then notice those external energies and see some people do line up, like some people do ovulate on the full moon, or the opposite will ovulate on the moon.
Speaker 3:And it's like the opposite energy and the lunar energy does affect everybody, right, like we feel that, and especially women, like our cycles are in sync with the moon, with the amount of days and the energies and, like you said, a friend on that weighs tables in the birth world.
Speaker 3:I mean, a full moon is always a day People are coming in delivering babies.
Speaker 3:Like there is that pull energetically and so, noticing it, seeing how you feel, feel and of course there's, there's always going to be a change, right, like if there's like something that's emotional or something that you experience in life and it throws off what you would usually feel like okay, well, today I was supposed to be most productive but this happened and I just I like I need to take it slow, you know, and and being okay with that, right, like that, like that's life. We don't come into this world like with this whole plan of exactly how perfectly everything is going to go, and so we did. We would be so disappointed because it's a roller coaster and it's a journey and it's just navigating it and having that grace, um, but yes, the lunar cycle is more of the, the energy everybody's going to be feeling, right, um, and the your personal menstrual cycle is more the energy everybody's going to be feeling right and your personal menstrual cycle is what you are experiencing internally in your own energy versus the collective energy.
Speaker 2:I think this is so fascinating. When you feel off right, say something big in life happens. I mean it always does right. I mean something throws you for a loop. I was just sharing before I press record. Our house deal fell through and so I didn't think I'd be in this chair. I thought I'd be like 2000 miles west at this point in my life. But how do we get back? How do we reset, like if we feel like we've been kind of thrown off and this is probably more for the moms who aren't currently pregnant or breastfeeding, but it totally could be too Like if we feel like we're just off, how do we kind of feel like we can get back into the rhythm and the energy that feels most natural to us and to the environment around us?
Speaker 3:That's a powerful question Because it's such a tool we can all utilize. It's like okay, when we feel like we're thrown off, how do we recenter, how do we ground? And I think it's different for each person. I think most people would agree that stepping outside, getting fresh air and breathing in nature and just like sitting is an incredible tool. An incredible tool. Our breath really is like the one space you can always come back to to just slow down, close your eyes, take a few breaths and recenter.
Speaker 3:And I always just ask myself like is this something that's going to matter 10 days from now, 10 minutes, 10 hours from now, 10 years from now? Like am I going to remember this? Does this matter? Am I creating stress for myself that isn't necessary? And really just observing, like observing the emotion.
Speaker 3:I think I've really tapped into being okay with feeling the emotions, but wondering what's coming up for me. Like am I? Is it my ego? Like is something coming up for me? Like is it? Is it anger? Is it jealousy? Is it you know, I don't know frustration? What am I frustrated about? What upset me? Why did it upset me?
Speaker 3:And then I'm like okay, well, if it's not that big of a deal, can I like breathe and let it go, can I move on? And it's a practice right, like the more that I sit more in observation rather than like feeling the feelings so deeply that I like get lost in them, like feel the feelings but be aware of them, but when I get lost in them I feel like it's harder for me to come back versus when I'm like, oh yeah, I feel that Then I'm like I just am more grounded, but I didn't start this way. I started probably on the other spectrum of like very labile, and, and the more that you practice that observation, I feel like the more grounded you become and that the smaller things kind of just don't really affect you as much anymore.
Speaker 2:When I think that's so incredible to hear and I think I'll share how, like I have incorporated this time is like in the mornings and in the evenings I do a journaling and reflection practice and I think some of the things that you've said, jess, in your response like you know, will this matter 10 years from now like that's a fantastic prompt for anything that you want to like release right, at least in my opinion.
Speaker 2:And so something small that I've done is just scheduling, you know, to like a wind up and a wind down type of practice where I think something incredible about this, particularly far down right, like if we're just only waking up and doing what we feel like every day, then all of a sudden nothing gets done.
Speaker 2:So I think, creating those tiny patterns in life I'm a super routine person and I don't think I know anybody who doesn't love some semblance of a routine in life and that looks different for probably every mom that I spoke to on the show and every mom listening. But having something small where you can like check in with yourself and just really look back at past behavior, so like if every day you're journaling and you're like I'm super sad or I, you know, like just noticing those patterns, I actually think is helpful, because it gives you a little bit more of an objective view on how things are going on. Right, even though it is your feelings. You can literally look back at the pages and be like whoa every day. This week I woke up and my number one feeling was sadness. What's going on here?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think reflection is such a powerful tool and and it does it allows us to go back you know, days, weeks, months and also recognize our growth.
Speaker 3:And I love that you do it in the morning and in the evening, because I truly do believe that when you wake up and you set an intention for the day, you really can change your whole day.
Speaker 3:Like if you wake up and your alarm goes off and you're like, ah, I don't want to be awake, I don't want to be awake, I don't want to start this day right now or for me it's, you know, a little cry from the bedroom that wakes me up somewhere between five and six and I'm like, oh, it's that hour again. But if you get a chance to wake up and like say thank you for something or set an intention for the day, it really can create a positive spiral for your day versus that negative spiral that we can start with. And it does. It changes the trajectory of how you might feel, how you might respond to things throughout the day, how you might react. And I love the morning and evening that's what I also tell moms to do, especially in new motherhood is like take five minutes in the morning, five minutes in the evening. That's your self care time. That's a non negotiable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's so, so true. Honestly, any new moms listening like I didn't prioritize that early enough in motherhood I felt like I just needed to be a martyr and like everything I did was for the baby and that was the measure of me being a good mom and that super, isn't true. And in fact, since I've started taking more time for myself and even prioritizing that first thing in the morning, it's been so game-changing to see how much more calmly I show up with my family and to my work. I feel like I've put myself first. So, if you're sleeping on that or if you're in the early stages, postpartum, and listening to gotta be a priority.
Speaker 2:I want to talk about a couple of things. So, in your opinion, I'm going to ask, like I think, three things best times to do the following in like your own cycle. So like we're synced up, we've got this moving, we've got the moon happening and we feel like we're really aware of what's happening. But then, like for me, I'm wondering like when should I schedule doing this new workshop? Or like if I'm about to launch like launch is such a hard time for like so many business owners who do that. Or like putting on a live event Like there's some really stressful times that require a lot of us, and so when are the best times? First and foremost, to slow down. We talked about this briefly, but I just want to make sure that everybody knows like this is your cue.
Speaker 3:Yes, slow down, I love it. We're starting with slow down because we don't give ourselves enough time to slow down in this world, and I do find that other countries do this better. Actually, we traveled to Sweden and every evening afternoon around like three, four o'clock, they have FICA, which means you like stop working and you go out with like a friend and grab like a pastry and a tea and it's so fun to see everybody like pausing work for an hour that you just like relax. Anyways, yes, so I love that part of the country and their culture and I love getting permission to slow down.
Speaker 3:So in your personal phase it's going to be the luteal and menstrual phase.
Speaker 3:So the luteal phase you're starting to slow down as you're preparing for the menstrual phase, which feels like it's a lot of time because that's almost half of your cycle. If you are slowing down, starting in the luteal phase and starting to like wrap things up and move towards the reflection and then really be slow during menstrual. And so it's interesting because when you think about how many days that would be, that's like half of your month You're starting to slow down and then being slow, and that's not what we're taught by any means, nor can you really like not do things on those days, but just at least tuning in and doing less, like maybe have you know, two things on the to-do list that day versus five. And then for the lunar cycle, that's going to be the new moon, that's when you don't see the moon, that's when it's dark in the sky, and that's like that reflection time, right, like it's dark, it's time to just go inward. It's not illuminated, and so those are the times to really slow down.
Speaker 2:All right, I love it. Next one when can we process big decisions best in our cycle, in your opinion?
Speaker 3:I think it depends on whether the big decision is for something that's coming or if it's a big decision based on something that happened right Like. Is it an intention?
Speaker 3:or Okay, so it's an intention. I would say the waxing moon, so as it's getting bigger, so after the new moon, then comes the first quarter. So between the first quarter and the full moon is that waxing phase where it's getting bigger, where it's getting illuminated. This is a great time where you've set intentions on the new moon and now you're like really working towards something. Great time to process big decisions that you're going to make in that time and then, if it's something that you're reflecting on, that it's something that happened that you need to make a decision about. Then that reflection time, that last quarter, so after the full moon, after everything has been illuminated and you're like winding down, that's the time to process those kinds of decisions. Awesome. And that's the same on the menstrual cycle as well. So you would be setting intentions more in the follicular phase and then winding down in that luteal phase.
Speaker 2:I love it. I'm going to keep this like bookmarked this episode on my um, on my chrome, and listen like, okay, I have to make a decision. What did you say about that? Um, what about things that are you know are going to be really taxing and hard? Let's just say, for example, like my mom, she's probably run a dozen marathons in her lifetime, and if she were in tune with these cycles and she was about to either put her body um, her mind, her time, you, you know, run a live event, do a launch, you know any of those big things that we're doing all the time as entrepreneurs, when's the best time to do something like really challenging?
Speaker 3:Follicular and ovulation phase. So you've finished your menstrual cycle, you're out of that slow phase, you're building momentum and you're in your follicular phase. That's like growth, right, like think folliclesicles, think like blossoming, and then, as you get into ovulation, that's like bright and shiny, like feeling your best. You're like you're ovulating, like you're creating, like little life, um, and it's the culmination, and that's similar to the full moon, right, so that, um, waxing moon from first quarter to full moon, that full moon time, that energy is so potent and that's one of the best times to launch.
Speaker 2:I love that. Oh, this is so awesome. I got to ask. I have some family members, close friends, folks who have had challenges with their cycle. Right, they have either in a regular cycle or they've got PCOS and so they have like stuff. That's kind of all over the map. It feels impossible to predict and, frankly, it's probably a little bit frustrating, taxing, to be like I feel betrayed by my cycle. This thing's never been normal. How am I supposed to sync up with it? Do you have any thoughts or feelings that you want to share with those women who might be struggling there?
Speaker 3:It's so hard and it really is. We're seeing more and more and more of us that are out of sync with our cycles, and our cycles are like too long or too short or super intense, with the symptoms that we're feeling. And it sounds so cliche to say and it's like the most annoying thing to hear, but it comes down to the basics. This is my entire fertility program is based on this. It's like getting your hormones back in sync and balanced. Our hormones are out of whack and it's it's the food that we eat, it's the exercise, it's the sleep that we need to get, it is the self-care so we need to slow down and it's our environment, it's the water we drink, it's the toxins in our products, it's like everything around us all and stress Stress is a big one. All of that throws our hormones off, and I mean we're such fragile beings right, like we're strong and we're also fragile, like our hormones are everything and they're everywhere, but you can't see them. You can just feel them really, really deeply. And so, doing a check-in am I getting enough sleep? Are my stress levels through the roof? Do I need to prioritize that self-care and slow down? What have I been eating lately? No-transcript. Am I getting filtered water? Like, am I? Am I still drinking tap? Um, and once you can, slowly, one thing at a time, right Like this is the most overwhelming thing to tackle.
Speaker 3:And when I was preparing my body for pregnancy, the first time was when I started this journey and it was like a six month journey that I went on um to prepare my body to like really get it ready and clean, like, if you imagine, like you're moving right, you want to move into, like this home with good energy and insulation and the basics, and you want it to like be beautiful and have like nice things and like feel good. Well, when we invite a pregnancy, we have to get our bodies ready. And so I had gone on this whole journey of clearing and cleansing my body, of like okay, well, let's not drink alcohol every week, let's maybe just slow down, let's move to just wine and beer occasionally, you know, socially, and then let's move away from I don't know super intense workouts, like big hit workouts that are going to stress my body and like let me tap into more of like yoga and going on walks and um, whatever feels like. It still feels good to me, um, but I'm not stressing myself out on top of the stress I already have in life, and so I went through this whole process.
Speaker 3:But what I'm saying is it doesn't have to all happen overnight, like don't change everything all at once, because that feels like a lot. So pick like one or two areas that feel manageable to you, that you're like okay, this is probably where I need to start, because I feel like everybody can pinpoint like ah, yeah, that's, that's like one of my number ones, um, and then start with that, and once you get that tackled, then move on to the next thing, and then the next, and then, over a period of time, even if it's a couple of years then all of a sudden you're like oh, like I'm feeling better, I'm like a whole new person. But it took us months, and probably many years, to get our hormones out of sync that it's going to take us just as long to bring them back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love the invitation to start slow, because I think even overwhelming amounts of changes can still stress you out right and throw your hormones out of whack.
Speaker 2:And, um, you know, I've never met anybody who went through the stuff that they were eating and the you know uh, products that they were using and that kind of thing and started to make some better choices and felt like they regretted it.
Speaker 2:I've never heard a story about that and I think it's really confronting work sometimes, and sometimes you just say, hey, listen, the convenience of this thing is worth it to me, but at least you know. And then eventually, when you're faced with another decision, like is the convenience of this thing worth me being able to have another child, then maybe the answer would be no, right. So then we can kind of at least know what decisions we can make and I think it brings us a little bit more autonomy. Hopefully, over our lives I've felt that way, like since we've made some decisions to change the food that we eat and you know what we allow into our environment and how we handle our water, which was a huge one for us it's just really brought a lot of clarity and feels like a little bit more, I don't know. Sovereignty, whatever you want to say, like over our life, our decisions and our bodies.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, there's a lot of like clean living that we hear about and none of us are perfect, like I still have not gotten rid of all my candles yet, because I love candles and I'm like, well, some of these are not soy organic yet, but you know there are. There's the seasons and the phases and it is. It's a process, it's a journey, just like anything else, and I think, like you said, once you get started, you kind of just enjoy being on it and feeling healthier and feeling better, that you don't mind going to the next step. It just is deciding when is that going to be the right step for me?
Speaker 2:Oh, honestly, this was such a great conversation. I hope that anybody listening is really feeling like they've got a handle on some of the tactical ways they can start to sync up with the cycles around them and within them. Um, just where can folks follow along, learn more about what you do and connect with you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, um, all of my offerings are intimate, mamacom intimate. I NT, I M A T E, and then mama is m-a-m-a. Um, and I am at internet.
Speaker 2:mama on instagram that is so amazing. That is where we connected. I think you and I just started vibing with each other's stuff and it's such an incredible place to get to know folks. Honestly, I think a lot of the the larger account, larger followings folks might be removed from their you know their situations, but a lot of moms with small businesses like ours we're there, we're hanging out, we're actually the ones doing the content and typing the things. So I really resonated with a lot of the stuff that you were sharing online and transparently. I loved our conversation today. It was super, super. Just hit me right in the spot. I was like, oh yeah, this is exactly where I'm at right now. So I hope that everyone listening got so much wisdom and things from what you shared and all linked all the ways to get in touch and everything we talked about in the show notes so that moms can take a look. Do you have any inspiring or refreshing or final words for anybody listening who is growing a business and also growing a family and also?
Speaker 3:growing a family? Yeah, it was something that we had talked about before we hopped on. But it's that term balance, right Like it really doesn't have to be 50-50 and it never really is going to be. And there's the ebbs and flows in motherhood, in business, in relationship, in motherhood in business, in relationship, and I think, just giving that permission to like flow and speed up and to be in flow, right Like when you think about the ocean, there's the low tide and the high tide and what creates that? The moon we're all into our lunar energy. So, yeah, just feeling into your body is giving yourself permission to slow down and being okay to know that there's going to be the ebb before, the flow and after and it's all. Just, it's all going to work out, it is.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I love it. Thank you so much for your time today, for all of your wisdom and everything that you've shared. I really, really appreciate you coming on and sharing again just so much encouragement Like I honestly feel lighter after our conversation. So that is so, so amazing. I hope everybody listening does too. Thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 3:Pleasure.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Growing Pains. I know that you have so many things vying for your attention right now, so I am so grateful that you just spent the last hour or so with me, so I hear all the time from mompreneurs Allie Allie. What systems do I need to have in place in order to thrive in business and in parenthood?
Speaker 2:If you go over to allisoncaffreycom checklist you can grab my kid proof business checklist and it will get you started in the right direction around making sure that you build a business that doesn't steal all of the time away from your family. If you loved today's episode, I would be so, so, so honored if you would leave a review on the podcast. It helps us reach even more incredible mompreneurs just like you and give them the resources they need to be wildly successful in business and wildly present at home with their families.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much again, and I'll see you next time.