Trauma and Informed Consent with Leah Shirton

In this week's episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Leah Shirton, who is a trauma informed yoga instructor.

Informed consent is a critical part of feeling safe and making decisions that are aligned with your values. 

Join us as we talk about what informed consent really is and how it supports your feelings of safety everywhere from the yoga studio to the hospital room.

About Our Guest:
Leah Shirton is a trauma informed yoga instructor. "Through years of struggling with pelvic pain and endometriosis, it was often proven to me that most fitness and exercise would only trigger my pain and symptoms. I was skeptical of giving yoga a try the first time, but in 2012 while living in Key West, Florida, I decided to make an attempt. Prior to attending this class, I had little hope of connecting with the practice in the way I did. But during my time on my mat, I witnessed my body prove to me, pose after pose, what it was capable of. I knew I had to make yoga a part of my life and share it with other people, especially women like me dealing with chronic pain. Fast forward to May 2020; I graduated my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program and started teaching regularly in studios and virtually. Since then, I have increased my training and become a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher certified in Trauma-Informed Yoga + Yoga for Women's Health. I love teaching my students the value of this practice not only for a strong mind/body connection and deeper body awareness, but as a therapeutic modality to ease the symptoms and pain of pelvic health issues."

Transcript

Adrienne: 0:00

I'm gonna start by asking you to close your eyes. When you close your eyes and you turn your attention into your body, what do you feel? Does it feel safe? What makes you feel that way? Feelings of safety and empowerment for many. Come from knowledge. Knowledge of where we are going, what we are doing, and what might be happening to us. In this week's episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Leah, who is a trauma informed yoga instructor. Informed consent is a critical part of feeling safe and making decisions that are aligned with your values. Join us as we talk about what informed consent really is and how it supports your feelings of safety everywhere from the yoga studio to the hospital room. Hi, my name is Adrienne Irizarry. I am an eastern medicine practitioner who is passionate about women's health and helping women live their best lives. My goal is to put you in the driver's seat of your menstrual health offering period solutions for a symptom free life. Statements made in this program are for educational purposes only, and not intended as a substitution for medical consultation or advice. We do not claim to diagnose, treat, or cure any diseases. This podcast is inclusive and welcomes all gender identities. The focus of the program is on biological function, and we will use the term women throughout, but it is referencing physiological and social challenges for biology. Not identity. Come as you are. I am happy you are here and welcome all performances of identity. I hope you find something helpful in this show.

1:58

Welcome to another episode of the Reproductive Rebel Podcast. I am so excited about today's episode,, because I actually found Leah on Instagram of all places. She had this amazing Reel about moving with your cycle. and as a yogi I thought it would be very, inspiring informational to bring her wisdom on this show. and then as we got talking, we had all kinds of other cool things spin out of it. So I am pumped about today's conversation. Welcome to the show, Leah. I am so happy to have you. Thank you. I am so excited to be here. I've been like having butterflies in my stomach all day. I'm like, so ready to talk about this stuff. And I'm just very appreciative that you are including me. Thank you so much. Oh my goodness. It is my pleasure. so like I said, I found Leah on Instagram. She had this really beautiful, real about, moving your body with certain types of yoga poses that fit the different phases of your cycle. And I anticipate that as we go through this conversation, we'll talk about that more specifically, since that was part of the reason why I reached out to Leah in the first place. But, she has an incredible story about what brought her to this work in the first place. So Leah, you have the floor, my friend. What brought you to this beautiful. Oh, thank you so much for asking. I love this question. yeah, so I have as many women on this planet struggled with, pelvic health issues for a very long time, specifically endometriosis. I also struggle with interstitial cystitis, which is, questionably attached to that, in some way. So I've just always, since I was 13 years old and I got my period, struggled with some kind of pelvic discomfort almost all the time. So not always just with my period, but outside of my period, unpredictable moments, just, completely, kind of life altering since I was pretty young. So I have been someone who has always loved movement. I love movement. My body, I love being active. it's not something that has ever really controlled my life to the point where, I didn't feel like I could do something, movement wise because of the effect it would have on me, but it was more just listening to myself and trying things that I knew wouldn't put me into any kind of pain flare. So that basically led me to, to yoga. I tried yoga, for the first time living in Key West in, 2012, which was a long time ago, a decade ago. It's crazy. and immediately fell in love with it in the way that it made me feel extremely safe. And that is the first word that comes to mind whenever I think of my first, few times practicing yoga. I felt safe in my body. I felt safe in my breath. My nervous system felt safe. It was just all a very, nurturing practice for me. So even when I was. Practicing more like vigorous styles of yoga. I still felt like I was offering my body the space to move in ways that felt authentic and beneficial to me and what I was going through at that time. So never, never really experienced any bad pain flares while I was practicing it. And I was like, okay, so if I go for a run that hurts if I do any kind of like crazy cardio, nope, that doesn't feel good, but yoga feels great. So that kind of led me to just a very consistent practice. And then, really just over the years noticing how extremely beneficial it was to my health. I thought to myself, I need to share this with people. I have to become a teacher. this is my calling. It was just one of those things where like you feel that pull in your heart and in your chest that this is what you're supposed to do. So I did my teacher training, a little over two years ago. And I've been teaching ever since. I specialize in yoga for women's health. I don't always work in that capacity. I teach, regular classes to the public, but most often, my private yoga sessions will be with women who are premenopausal, menopausal, dealing with fertility issues, dealing with pelvic pain, postnatal, things like that. So just trying to help women feel comfortable and safe in their bodies. and more aware that yoga can supplement and support that. I love that. Oh, I have goosebumps I very long winded answer, but that's what it is. Yeah, no, it's beautiful. And it says so much about you and your journey and the fact. You work in a capacity that lights you up inside and that is so incredibly special when you find your calling. I feel that way about the work that I do as well. Yeah. I just feel like this work is as natural as breathing and, being able to bring relief and safety and care and body sovereignty Yes. To the people that I work with is just such an incredible space to be in because so much about our. Social construct leaves us vulnerable. if you think about just gynecology in general, it's so invasive. I'm thinking about it from my perspective, you know what I mean? Yeah. When I talk to people about pelvic steaming the, a lot of times what comes to mind is some sort of archaic steaming tool that's gonna be stuck inside of their personal areas, because all of our testing requires this up and in, and it's just, it's very. Off putting. it's very sensitive for a lot of people. Yes. Very much. Yeah. And people who go in for routine procedures, they end up walking away with these traumatic experiences that they then hold in their body that can fuel more pelvic pain, more intimacy issues, the pain with intimacy just sitting around and having pain. there's so many things and it's really sad that is the model. And so I feel very pulled to this work. And it sounds like you are too, by the very means of being able to give women their power back. Absolutely. Oh my God, I love that. That is exactly it. we, like you said, it's everything surrounding, our pelvic floor and our reproductive area. is it, it's not something that we ever feel we have control over when it comes to the care and the maintenance and the management of, anything that goes on in that area. So it's absolutely, it's extremely important for women to know that they have other healing modalities available to them and other ways to feel, more connected to their body in a way that is positive and, empowering rather than just like scared, intense and fearful and things like that. yeah. So any, anything, anytime I can talk about these other options for women especially, it just makes me really happy. I love that I, and I feel the exact same way. It's like we are here to spread the word that you are a sovereign being. Yes. And you are, you should be in the driver's seat of your bus. Whether that is understanding the nuts and bolts of how your cycle works during the month. Because that's one area I feel like just keeps coming up over and over in my practice right now. Yeah. Is the fact that people just don't know how to count day one. They don't know what their fertile window is. They don't know how to count it. Because we have been in this societal container that tells us we're fertile all month long. Which either, either forces that abstinence only narrative that culturally, society wants us to have, or it scares us into birth control options because, If you're not ready to get pregnant, it's oh God. that is the scariest thing in the entire world. And instead of empowering them with knowledge so that they know how their body works, and it's not like having blinders on a horse if you have all of the information laid out in front of you and you understand how your body works, you are now in the driver's seat. You can help with supporting your body in the way that the body is calling for, to be able to have a healthy cycle, to have energy during the month, to not have pelvic pain to, not feel so stiff in your hips. Because we hold a lot of emotions in our hips. because, our, the seat of our identity is like all in our. Space and our roots chakra, right? Like we're, yeah, it's all right there. Yeah. And we hold so much tension there when we feel like we need to guard who we are as people, who we are as women, who we are as just in general. Because there's so many things that bombarded us from a societal perspective. And it's incredible. When I work with people just on the basics of this is day one of your cycle, you're only fertile seven days out of the month. All of a sudden it's like the clouds part and the sun comes out and they're like, wow, I can have unprotected sex most of the month and not get pregnant. This is like revolutionary man And so little things like this, it's, and I'm sure you see it in your work too, being able to move your body in certain ways. Either it's supporting. It's natural, energetic changes in cyclical movement or just feeling in a safe enough space to actually get into an embodied place. Because a lot of times we separate our body and our brain as a protective mechanism. All the time. All the time. Time. Its constantly. Yeah. Yeah. and unfortunately so many of us also have some form of trauma, whether it's little tea or capital T trauma in our past. And that really informs the way that we move through the world too. And so it's, there's so much to unpack that we literally hold all in this pelvic region. So true. Yeah, it's so true. One of the first things that I. Kind of review and dive into with private clients, especially private clients who are dealing with pelvic pain, is diaphragmatic breathing. Because that for me is just, it's the number one, that's always where we start. because more often than not, if we as women have dealt with any kind of pelvic trauma, medical trauma in that region of our body, we are constantly tense through our pelvic floor. It's just a natural reaction that part of your body is having to like, protect, everything that's inside of it. And it's really crazy and awesome to see how eye-opening it is for a lot of women to just learn how to breathe through their bellies and relax that area of their body. not only while they're still, but while they're moving. So that is, that's a, I think a really important, point is You're not even always cognizant of the trauma response that your pelvic floor is having. but when you actually sit with your breath and you try to send it to that space that allows you to soften and relax, it's like the floodgates open and you just realize that, there's hope after that. that so beautifully said, my friend. So beautifully said. And. I see this after, like medical procedures a lot. Yes. Where you were, where you're talking about this. I remember I had a doctor at one point that said something to the effect of, keep your eyes open because it keeps you present in the moment. Because I was having an issue with a pap smear. and this was just a pap smear. We're not talking people who have colposcopies or leap procedures or anything like that, which is like another layer, that so many women face. But because of trauma in my own past, I really was having a hard time staying present in the moment and not panicking, just having a regular screening done. And, but she never said anything to me about. And you're so right. breath grounds us in our body in such an incredibly powerful way. Yes. Not to mention what it does from a structural perspective. So one interview that I did, recently on the podcast as I was talking with the pelvic floor pt, she was talking about. How that expansion is so incredibly important in terms of not only the structural aspect of things, recovering after birth, all you do is work on your breathing so that all of that is coordinated right. When you start doing other types of activities. And it, it just, it made me think of that when you were talking about this, because again, it comes back to the breath. And in a society where we're moving faster than we've ever moved before, we really don't break it down to basic parts like our breath anymore. Yeah, it's so true. And it's almost, it almost feels like a rebellion, right? To stop and just pay attention to your breath and literally just stop whatever you're doing and sit with your breath and notice it and nurture it is like, What, why can't I don't have time to do that It's but you have to make time. You have to. yeah. it's amazing what, our breath can do and what we, what kind of techniques we can use that will work specifically for us. And that's always one that I go back to with, even in my regular just public classes, I talk about diaphragmatic breath all the time because it can help anyone to just offer more of a space of grounding and centering. And that's, it's wonderful for pelvic health, but it's wonderful for overall health too, Absolutely. one word that I wanted to come back to when you were talking about how yoga made you feel and what called you to becoming a yoga teacher, was this word of safe? Yes. Talk a little bit about safe and how that, that felt for you and why it was so meaningful for you. Yeah. So I think. The first way that I noticed the feeling of safety was through external kind of influences, right? So like I stepped into this yoga studio, I was immediately just felt like I was held, I was like warm and it was welcoming and it was soft lighting and it was quiet and everyone was respecting each other's space. And that immediately, right off the bat, made me feel safe, externally. and then internally after the full practice and just being in Shavasana, I was like emotional. Like I was laying there am I supposed to be crying right now? no one is anyone else crying, I was like, this is crazy. But it was like, for me it was that release externally and internally and feeling safe in those ways was like, oh my God. It was like my entire body was taking an exhale, not just my lungs So it was, It was something where I wanted to make sure that when I was doing my yoga teacher trainings and getting certified in trauma informed yoga, that I brought that safety into all of my classes and into my teaching. because I want everyone to feel that way. And I don't think that necessarily is an immediate response to a lot of movement practices. it really depends on the person, right? And what you're doing and the style of movement. But yoga definitely offers us a little bit more of a space to tap into that parasympathetic nervous system, which is where we feel that safety. so yeah, I just, I immediately wanted to make sure that I could share that with people right off the bat when I was teaching and make that kind of the core principle of my classes and how I teach. so that no matter, who you are, whether you've been through trauma or not, and. Let's be honest. Many of us have at this point, which is unfortunate, topic for a whole other day. Yeah. Really unfortunate. but it's such an important part of the way that I teach and I always wanna share that, that element of safety with people. I love that. and you're right, it, there's so many of us that have something in our past and it's reason that the Me Too movement gained so much ground when it did, because so many people, I know that trauma can come in a lot of different forms. It doesn't just have to be sexual trauma. And I apologize if any of this piece of the conversation is triggering for anyone, but I think that if we continue to sweep it under the rug, that it doesn't help anyone. because then it can become this large monster in the corner in the dark. But if we shed some light on it or able to unpack it, unravel it, and move through it, right? and I feel like the beginning of the Me Too movement was really a step in that direction, which was really beautiful. But at the same time, it was really gut wrenching to see how many people lent their voices to that saying, yeah, I've been through something like this too. So being a trauma informed instructor I think is a very. Beautiful and meaningful place that you can be to give that safety to others, because whether that comes from sexual trauma or birth trauma, there's lots of women who have birth trauma. it could be a fall off a horse and there was a break in a pelvis and lots of pain that was the result of that. Now, everything down there is a scary adventure. whatever it is that's causing that traumatic response, being able to really meet people in that space is an incredibly special gift that a lot of us need. And especially in this post covid era. Yes. big time. It is, absolutely, it is something that is desperately needed because people who didn't think they had things to unpack are now finding themselves face to face with some stuff to unpack. oh yeah. Result of being through this whole process, we had a lot of time to sit with ourselves. Yeah. A lot of time. And that is, I think, not something that any of us should forget. I think it's really important to, to, sit back with those thoughts and really allow ourselves to move forward in a way that's, Really nurturing ourselves. And that's as far as being a trauma informed teacher. I just always try to remind people of, the power of their breath. It's something they can always come back to. Listening to your body, trusting your body, moving in a way that feels safe to you. so if that means. Laying in child's post for 60, 75 minutes. This is a judgment free zone, and no one's gonna tell you to get up. No one's gonna judge you, no one's gonna talk about it. It's just do what you need to do. I do not offer hands on assists and adjustments in my classes. if it's a private and it's something that they're requesting, then I will offer that. But typically, if I'm offering an adjustment or an assist in a posture, it's a verbal cue. So it's making sure that I'm not ever behind my students, making sure that my language is extremely inclusive, and making sure everyone knows that, you're stepping into a completely judgment free zone. This is, we don't judge each other, we don't judge ourselves. We are in our own bodies and in our own minds, and this is our practice. And so I try to, bring that into my teaching as much as possible. But I am noticing a lot more teachers are getting trauma informed, certified, which is great. And there are some spaces that are, every teacher there is trauma informed, certified. I know in your area there's a beautiful studio called Embodied Directions and it's a fully trauma informed, studio. And I think that's so great. And hopefully we see a lot more of that Yeah, absolutely. Because there's a big informed consent piece, that often gets lost. So with your background and as a trauma informed instructor, what does informed consent mean to. Such a great loaded, wonderful question. I know it's a loaded question. I wanna unpack it. it's such a good one and it's so important and I'm really glad that you're asking it. So I'm gonna answer that in two parts. Absolutely. as a, just a a human woman on this planet, female identifying person, informed consent to me means whoever you are communicating with face to face on the phone, in any capacity, about your body, that person should make sure as much as possible, that they are asking all of the questions pertinent and necessary to be able to give you the information that's going to serve you best. So to me, that. Making sure that my therapist, my acupuncturist, my gynecologist, my boss, my anyone in my life who at any point will be around me a consistent amount. I am very open and verbal and transparent and candid with my health and my body, and I think that's really important. But I think it's also important for those people to be a little bit more empathetic and compassionate and want to learn as much as possible about the human being they're interacting with in order to offer information that's going to help them in the best way. and then as far as a yoga teacher, I informed consent to me means, again, reminding people that, I will not be behind them. I will not be touching them. Their body is theirs. I'm not coming into their personal space. constantly reminding my students that they are always open to come to me if they're dealing with injuries, discomfort, pull me aside, speak to me privately. I'm happy to talk to you about that. Before, we start class, I wanna know what's going on with you. That's important to me. and I think just as far as teaching yoga, really big one and something that I'm like so passionate about is teaching with props and reminding students that your consent around your body and the way that you move. Should feel like you are getting into postures and moving your body in such a safe way that you are offering yourself options. that is an extremely important part of teaching that I don't think all teachers necessarily do. I think a lot of them do, but it's, I think part of informed consent is like knowing that every student in your class is coming with a whole slew of different body, not necessarily issues, but the way that they see their body, their connection to their body, their awareness, things like that. Making sure that you are seeing everyone as a completely different person, not just one large group of people. So that's, props to me are a huge way to offer informed consent and let people know, if you use this block in this way and this posture, it may allow this, the floor is coming closer to you. It's allowing you more space. Use a blanket to soften, the space under your knees and things like that. So it's really just, it's something small, but it's a way to make sure that people know, if you do these things, these are the after effects. the, this is what may happen, this is how it's going to help you in a positive way. This is how it may affect you in a way that's not so positive. So just constantly reminding people of the options that they have available to them and how those options will affect their specific body and the journey that they're going through with their body. Oh, I love that And you know what, as you've been talking, and I know obviously since this is a podcast, people can't see me nodding my head like very enthusiastically as you're going through, but it's Yes. Oh my gosh, so much Yes. In all of that. because sometimes people will go to yoga classes and they like try to be a hero about it and they Oh my god. All the time. Yeah. And or they feel like they're not getting the most outta the practice, or they're failing somehow because they're, they have to use a prop. Yes. And instead of flipping the frame, And saying, I'm meeting you where you're at today. I'm meeting you in the space that you're in today. Maybe you could have, reached your toes the other day, but maybe you got into a fight with your partner before you came today, and now you're holding all of that emotional baggage in your hips and getting down to your toes just ain't happening. Today's system. and I see that in my practice with acus all the time. and, but just, I love how you were talking about, there's. No, I don't wanna say the word shame, although some people do feel shame around trying to pull in assist of supports to be able to, meet the requirements of the practice. so I love the fact that essentially you're giving them the message with a prop, but you're giving your client the message that it's okay to need support. Yeah. Grab the prop. I all, every class, I'm like, the props are your friends. Grab them. Even if you just put them by your mat and you don't feel like you need them at all, you, that support system for your body is, will immediately make you feel safer in your practice. Because you see the blanket is here, my blocks are here, I have a strap. If I need any of those things, they're available to me to either dial back or go deeper. So I think that's something people forget too, is props are not just A way to be softer and lazier in your yoga practice. It's you're being kind to your body and they can offer an even deeper approach to a posee. So yeah, I can talk about props for many hours, so I'll stop now. But it was, it's just something that I make sure I mention as much as possible to my students. you are being kind to your body by using these props. And I always try to, use them myself too. If I'm actually demoing, I don't just say grab your blocks in pyramid pose to, allow for your nose to come closer to your knee and your, it's, I'm actually doing it at the same time. I'm not, I'm practicing what I preach. I'm not just saying oh, you should grab a blanket, but mine's over on the side just sitting there, wasting space, so I try to practice what I preach as much as possible, and I think that makes a difference too, is oh, okay, the teacher's doing it, so it can't be that bad to grow up these blocks right now, But I think a lot of the stigma around props has died off, which makes me extremely happy. but yeah, that's a really big one for me. And then I think just like really quickly, going back to informed consent in like a medical capacity. This is such a small thing, but it's Unbelievably profound, especially to people like me with chronic illness. If you are a doctor or someone who practices medicine or in some way, you're helping people with their bodies, look them in the eye, stop staring at the computer and taking notes and not ever turning your chair to look at their face. that is, To me, probably the number one way to start an informed consent relationship. Oh, look at people. Look at them. Stop avoiding looking at them. Please. I beg you. It makes all the difference. It's profound. It's profound. Yeah, it is. And like from their perspective, I understand they have a very short period of time to Yes. figure out what's going on. But at the same time, one of the biggest challenges with our allopathic healthcare system is the fact that we are losing touch with the fact that there is a human with emotions and. And opinions. that is sitting across from the practitioner. And I have heard so many stories about, women who maybe they're having difficulty on their fertility journey or whatever it is, and they go to their practitioner, they have 15 minutes with them, they have a laundry list because they've done research ahead of time, right? Yeah. To be able to maximize their time with that doctor. And the doctor doesn't look up from the computer, the doc, but the doctor doesn't even really look at their chart either. So I've had people who've had recurrent losses be treated just oh, you have a fibroid or you have this, or, we can put you on this medication to help you ovulate or whatever. And then they're kicked out the door and nobody ever says to them, I'm sorry for your loss. Which makes them feel seen, right? Yeah. And it makes them feel heard and it makes them all of a sudden a person. and not just a number or another 15 a minute appointment that needs to be kicked out the door. Yeah. It's an energy exchange. Everything is right. Like anytime we are one on one, dealing with another person in whatever capacity it is, we're exchanging energy with each other. And that should be as empathetic and as and compassionate as it can possibly be, especially when you're working with someone on their health and that's, to me, it's just stopping and looking at that person and connecting on that level. Yeah. That says I am. Taking this in, I am really genuinely listening to you and I genuinely care. And I'm not just, you're not just a person sitting over there, another body in my office and I'm focused on, typing notes. I think it's just, it's a really small thing. And like you said, doctors are extremely busy people I completely understand. Like they only have a certain amount of time to sit with someone. But if you know whether or not that person is dealing with chronic pain or any kind of, trauma, you should still be taking as much time as you can to show them that you're genuinely invested in their health and the things that they're saying, because that not only is gonna make them feel safer and more validated, but it's offering a space. You might actually as a practitioner of some kind, you might be like, oh, this is actually what I should be informing them about, or this might be a better option for them because you're actually sitting and listening to them and noticing body language and noticing if they're crying. it's just this small thing that in my experience, has rarely happened, and when it does, I leave so emotional, I'm texting my husband, like the doctor looked at me and he's oh my God. Cause he knows, at this point in my life, yeah, that to me is super important. So it's, it really can make all the difference. And I just, I feel like that is, like I said, like a big foundation of informed consent and being, offering a trauma informed space. Oh my goodness. I Brava. You said it beautifully. Thank you. That you but I feel the same way. I feel the same way. And it's why my appointments with my clients are as long as they are, I don't wanna rush someone out the door because every practitioner that they have met with that is supposed to influence the quality of their health in some way has rushed them out the door. And. being able to make eye contact, meet people in that space, hold their hand when they're crying about the baby they've lost. Yeah. Or even if it's not a hand holding, cuz some people do not want that kind of connection. being able to meet them at whatever level of support they want from you is very meaningful and, I think about, the fact that our Western model is very surgical focused and, they have the tools that they have and, if I'm having an ectopic pregnancy, I want a super skilled surgeon saving my life. Yeah. But Western medicine really has lost the understanding. and I'm saying this at large because I really truly believe that most people go into medicine with good intentions to help people. Yeah, I agree. I agree. I really do think that a lot of them go into medicine to help people, but then the system indoctrinates them into a way of being, and either they decide that they're going to fit the patriarchal mouthpiece or they're going to buck the system, and then they have trouble professionally, which is a difficult space for them to be in. So I'm not demonizing the Western model. I'm just saying that there are definitely some issues with the way that it currently plays out in the day to day, and it does affect the health of the client. Yeah. Cause. I truly believe that even when you are a surgically focused practitioner, that if you make eye contact and actually see the person that you're going to be operating on the other end of that table or at the other end of that desk, that person's surgical outcome is going to be positively affected. Yeah. Cause they feel held and they feel seen, and that has physiological effects on the body and the outcomes. The thousand percent. Yeah. A thousand percent. and it's, I think it's so important you said that because I've had many surgeries in my life for, specifically for endometriosis. And when I have, when I'm working with a doctor who is empathetic and compassionate and genuinely caring my nervous system. Is like in such a good sp like the homeostasis is real. You know what I mean? Like it's good. And that is huge to go into such a scary situation. cuz to me, surgery's scary every time. I don't care if I've gotten five of them in my life. I'm always nervous, I'm always like, okay, this is awful. I'm really scared. I hate this whole process. what happens if you know all these things. Of course, if you have already connected with that surgeon and that doctor in a really compassionate way, it's, it just makes all the difference going into, such scary procedure and such a scary process. yeah, it's, even when you, a lot of people, when you walk into a doctor's appointment or any appointment that has anything to do with your physical body, More often than not, like our nervous systems are, our sympathetic nervous system is all that fight or flight is like just a switch that's turned on. And it's really hard for us to relax and feel like, okay, I'm gonna ask all the right questions. I'm going to feel heard and seen. It's always just, at least for me, it's, there's nerves every single time. So if you just have that human connection it goes such a long way and it can Yeah. Prepare you for any amount of procedures or surgeries or anything, in a much more safe space. Absolutely. I have clients when they have to have, myo, ectomies and things for fibroids and the like. They will often choose, Who they have, if they get second and third opinions, they will often choose who is going to do their surgery based on how they're treated in that appointment and how they're seen and how they're held and how they're listened to. Yeah, because the cultural narrative is that women are mute. So even if you think about the English language defaults to male. Yeah. And then you have to specify female. Yeah. So like we at a, and obviously this podcast is not gonna solve this problem. However, I would love to think that it has some influence over this, that we often default to the male gays and the male voice. And it's because our language is constructed that way. We do not have the demarcations between feminine and masculine and neutral like you do in a lot of the romance languages. and it takes. The gaze and shifts it, And so particularly for women in a women's health space don't care what you do for work, if you are actually making eye contact with and seeing the client across the desk from you, you may not be top in the field, but they are gonna go to you for surgery. You could be top in the field and if you act like a pompous jackass, they're not gonna go see you. Cause I have had that experience firsthand. I multiple miscarriages, couple of failed iis, and here I am in the reproductive endocrinologist's office. He's supposed to be a top guy. I looked at his success rates and all of his stats and of course, all the research that everybody does before they decide who it is that they're gonna go see. You obviously want to see the best of the best. I got into that environment. Where mind you, you have to do this type of, assisted reproductive procedure. We're talking tens of thousands of dollars. Yeah. Which some insurances cover and some do not. So there are a lot of people who are cashing out retirement plans and literally taking out second mortgages on their house to try to have a baby. Okay. Yep. Just putting that in his framework. Very common thing. Sadly. It is so common. It is so common. And so you now are sitting in the office, the person who's supposed to hold all of the answers as to why your body is not doing what it's supposed to innately do. Because that attacks our womanhood, if you think about it. and they don't make eye contact with. I had this very accomplished doctor. He's probably excellent at what he does. At least he looks like it on paper. But I can tell you from his bedside manner, there was no fricking way, man, and I had him laugh when he walked in the office, threw himself down in, across the, this big pretentious desk in his office. Laughed, flipped open the top of the folder on the top of his desk. Looked real quick, laughed and. There's nothing wrong with your husband's test results or your test results. I have no idea why you're having this issue, but we can do IVF with iy and then walked back out the door again. Didn't explain what that was, didn't make eye contact with me. Laughed essentially at the fact that I'm having this issue and he's mystified as to why this was a problem. Now, this was many years ago now, but still like that moment stuck with me. And I remember my brain being a total fog as this nurse who you know, wonderful person, but you can tell that she does this day in and day out, just verbal diarrhea. here's the script, here's the pharmacy. Here's when you need to start the birth control pills. Here's the this, here's that. Nobody explained to me what iy. Yep. And sent me out the door with a whole bunch of papers that I needed to read myself, not explaining any of these things to me. Yeah. And I got into my car and I remember staring at the steering wheel of my vehicle, thinking to myself, what the hell just happened here? And they want me to do all of these drugs, not explaining what could potentially happen with any of them. I think the entire appointment lasted 30 minutes total from the time the dude laughed at me. And I had been waiting several minutes in his office for him to get there all the way through exiting the front door. So they were very efficient and you can tell that they have this down to a science and that's wonderful. But nobody saw me. I was not seen as a person. I was seen as another potential dollar sign. and out the door. I went, yeah. And I'm like, holy crap. And I had probably the ugliest cry in my car that I have ever had in my life. because I felt so hopeless because I didn't feel like I got any resolution, any answers, any nothing out of that appointment. and I wasn't seen as a person who had recurrent miscarriages. Cause I was three miscarriages in at that point, which, that's a load to bear in and of itself. You're walking into that appointment already feeling hopeless. Yeah. And you don't think you can feel any more hopeless than someone who's a trained professional is actually making you feel worse than you did walking in. And that's so unfortunate, and I'm so sorry that happened to you. that is, and it's, the sad part is it's so common. It's so common. And you mentioned another thing that I wanna touch on really briefly, but being given prescriptions or options or notes or whatever, and having those things not even described to you in any way, what they are, what they could possibly do to your body. Yes. How often you should take them. Sometimes I haven't even been told that. It's just here you go, just pick it up and figure it out. It'll say it on the bottle like you're supposed to. Just informed consent is. Making sure that people are okay with what you're saying they should do to their body by giving the them the information that arms them with the knowledge to make that decision. Yes. Amen. Sister birth control is the same thing. Oh my. We're gonna have an entire pod button. I was just gonna say, we're gonna have an entire separate podcast just on birth control and it's, but it's the exact same thing. Yeah. Like it is literally prescribed so freely. Yeah. And for like young girls who are still developing for God's sake and. Nobody explains that, hey, this, even if they did not sit down and read the entire product label to you, they don't have to do that. They don't have time for that. Yeah. But what they should be telling you is that it is a black label warning product. Cigarettes have a black label. Okay? Like they, it has a black label warning. There are some serious health risks that you are assuming taking this thing and whether you're, you think, oh, I have a copper i u d, I'm in the clear, I don't have any hormone. Migration is a thing, folks, right? You have to have that thing surgically removed from your abdomen or God only knows where else if it migrates, right? Oh, it's so scary. It's, oh, it just goes back to that word invasive. It's just being, having female body parts is, it's just always attached to fear on some level, and it's, it makes me so sad, It's just, it's, but at the same time, on the same coin, your doctor, they shouldn't be, filling your head with. So much information that you're terrified to take this thing if you genuinely think it's gonna help you. But for them to not be hitting those bullet points that are pretty damn important. Yeah. is a major red flag and a major problem. And it's unbelievably common, especially in, the world of endometriosis. we're prescribed birth control as one of the only options for pain relief. And I was actually told when I was about 23 that maybe you should think about getting pregnant cuz when you're pregnant for nine months, you don't have your period. So at least that's nine months of no pain. Oh, I was told that by a male doctor. So it was birth control, which did a number on my body and no one ever told me how it might do that. Yeah, it was get pregnant at age 23. And then I think the third option was just like, Go see a gastroenterologist. Maybe it's actually like IBS or something. Yep. it's just insane. To me, it's, the options that we're given are so limited and the ones that actually are given in that limited amount are not. Are not actually, they don't elaborate why they're given and what they can do and how they can affect us. And it's just, it just boggles the mind to this day. Oh, I see you and sister speaking for me because I. I was put on birth control for the same reason. I have endometriosis also. Yeah. And it's a big thing that called me into this work because I ended up having a heart attack at 25 on birth control. Yeah. And I w I didn't share that with many people at the very beginning. But the more I see how little is taught to us, not only about our bodies, so we can make an informed choice. But then also about the medications and the procedures that are offered to us and the risks and benefits of all of those things. The due diligence is not being done on both of those accounts so that people can make informed choices that are in right relationship with their bodies. Can you tell from the tense in my voice, is it something that really gets my eye going? can you tell listeners that we are quite fired up about this talk and we, it's honestly though it's not, we are not in the minority here, women. All over this planet are being dealt with in this way. And it's really unfortunate. And I do, I really do see a shift. I do wanna say something, positive here. yeah. I have noticed a change and a shift in the last, maybe five, 10 years. That is wonderful to see. And I'm really happy and I just hope it keeps going in that direction. And that's like my one fear is that, that it won't I'm just really, eh, it's a tough topic, but it's, I wanna make sure as much as possible that, especially younger women, like teenage girls, yeah. Oh my heart. I can't even think about. How hard it is now to be a teenage girl. If it was as hard as it was in 1998 when I was a teenage girl. Yeah, my mind hurts, my brain hurts. Just thinking about what it must be like now. So it's more important now for doctors to be empathetic and compassionate and be offering, that informed consent. Absolutely. and I agree with you that there, there is a shift that is happening, but this is why we're having these conversations. Exactly. I do believe that these conversations are helping to fuel that change, which is the whole reason I started this podcast. Yes. Because I wanted to talk about these topics that so many of us collectively have those experiences and we haven't had a voice, we haven't had a platform to talk about them. We haven't had a space where we've felt safe enough to share them in. And I see it day in and day out in my practice. And I'm sure that you do too. And it's actually what called me to your work so much because you have some absolutely beautiful reels on Instagram that Thank you, that speak to these topics where you're talking about. Informed consent and, and this trauma piece because it's a thread that's woven through so many of our narratives. Yeah. And, and I was just like, Ugh, I have to have you on the show because this is, this right here is, a way for us to. To say, I see you. Yeah. And I hear you, and I'm meeting you in that space. And together our voices can make a change in this direction. and I feel like especially in light of the change with Roe versus Wade here in the United States, that being able to be a sovereign being and have the education to be able to make informed decisions is more important now than ever. Absolutely. And I think that it's, gone are the days where women are not advocating for themselves. Sorry, those days are long, long gone. They are over. We are, we're done. we're not gonna take it anymore. And I think that is it. It may, it like, gives me goosebumps. It's makes me so excited that there is this fire and this passion that we're not. Stomping out where if anything, we're just stoking it. And that's, I think it needs to happen right now and it makes me so proud to be a woman like, wow. Way more so than I ever was in my thirties or my twenties. Like I am so proud to be in. This body and be supported by other women who, yeah. Who are just like, no more. Absolutely. No. More like now we're talking about it all the time. Absolutely. And we're not gonna shut up yes. We're not gonna shut up. Sorry. Not sorry. Sorry. Not sorry. And this is why we're on the Reproductive Rebel podcast, Absolutely. Amen, sister. So one of those ways to reclaim our power is to actually move through the world in a more cyclical way because we have been forced into a patriarchal linear box for a very long time. And I see, and I'm sure you see it in your clients as well. I see a lot of people in my practice who. Are struggling with health stuff because the fact that women are cyclical beings is not honored in the day to day and pausing with that breath, moving with where you are in the cycle during the, whether you're a bleeding body or not, yeah, is incredibly important in terms of your mental health, your emotional health, your physical health, because you don't have this voice going, oh, I'm failing today because I don't have the energy to do this thing or to work at the same pace that I could two weeks ago. Instead, you look at your body and you give it grace and you go, oh. I am in the five days before my menstrual cycle, I naturally feel a little more introverted and that's okay. Yep. And how can I honor my body in a way that's, that is making me feel safe where I am in this exact moment. Because, like you said, it's, we don't think in those terms. We don't think, if we're in a weird head space or on the opposite end of that, if we're feeling like super confident and excited and have tons of energy, we, up until very recently, we weren't thinking to ourselves like, oh, I'm ovulating, or, oh, I'm in the follicular phase. that's just not, we were never taught recognize and observe. Those things that are happening in your body and your brain as attached to what's happening in your reproductive cycle. Like we were never taught that ever. I don't know about you, but I was never, ever taught that. no, I, yeah, it's that, again, I'll use this term again, but like eye opening, af, just Profoundly, wow. Like a light switch was turned on, Yeah. and I, being somebody that also has endometriosis, I don't know about you, but I felt like when I made that transition, like nobody taught me menstrual phase, follicular phase, ovulation, lal phase, nobody taught me that stuff. Never. And when I learned about that stuff, because I was trying to conceive right? When so many of us learn about it. Yeah. That is the time that you learn about it, and you might not even know all the details. Yeah. And so I realized, I felt like I had this big aha moment that I'm like, oh, I actually have skills and blessings at each of. Stages of my month that help me do all the things that I need to do Yeah. And when I wasn't trying to, go to networking events because that was something I used, oh, if I was near my menstrual cycle, I'm naturally an introverted person. Me too. Yeah. So like it takes a lot of energy for me to do like those types of social things. I love one on one in my practice, but man, large groups are hard for me when I am in certain phases of my cycle. Yes. I always browbeat myself. there was this little voice in my head going, come on Adrian, suck it up. You're just, it's because you just don't like people. and it wasn't that at all. I actually love people. I love the one on one. I love the connection. I love the energy. I love meeting new people. Like it wasn't that at all. It was just the fact that naturally it takes me more energy to do that. And then there were certain points in my cycle where there might be an after hours that was scheduled that I needed to be at for my past life job, right? But my past life job that I was just like, oh God, oh, I have to go awful. And then taking that step back and going, oh, I'm just not wired that way during that part of my month. That's okay. Yeah. I'm. I'm really great at planning, so maybe if I put all my project planning in this part of the month and schedule it in, and I do my networking in this part of the month and try to go, maybe I'm doing a morning mixer and I'm doing a business after hour, so I'm doing all the touch points I have to have, but I'm doing it in maybe a week to two week stretch. and I'll give myself a little space over here. Like all of a sudden my pain wasn't as bad. I could function better. I had less clotting, even just rearranging the way I, through my months without making any other changes. I noticed my experience with pain and the irregularity that I was getting with my cycle started to change. Yes. Absolutely for me as well, I think the pandemic was where things shifted for me and I was so becoming a teacher, a yoga teacher, and the start of the pandemic happened around the same time. So I already had, I already armed myself with a new way to move my body and a new way to, to be in a safe space with my body. That happened like almost around the time where like we just were forced to be home a lot more and I came from the working in the travel industry, so I was on planes or in a car rental car driving to a different state, like half of the year. And once I stopped, Doing all of that and stopped doing a lot of things in general because we had to We were home. and moving my body in a safe way. I was, everything changed after that because I had the time to actually notice like, oh, okay, so if I, right after my period, if I'm feeling like extremely fatigued and just like I just got hit by a Mac truck, it's totally okay for me to, now that I have the time to do it, my body is naturally wanting to do like restorative and yin yoga, and now I know why and now I have the space in my life to do it that way. So like, why would I not continue to do it that way? I guess it was kismet. It all happened at the same time and I had so much more knowledge of how to move in a way that felt good and I had more time as well. to like strategically implement that into my life. So yeah, it's, that's like such a powerful thing to, to sync what you're doing with, what you're doing physically with what is happening physically in your body. So it's a topic that I love as. Absolutely. I love yin yoga during my menstrual phase and early follicular phase because yeah, I find that, and I see it a lot in my clients with endometriosis, but other, ways that periods present too. There's a lot of tight in the low back and hips and hip flexers and and upper thighs. there's, oh yeah. The soaz as well. big time. Yeah. And I just, cause your body was just like, Yeah. Tense for an entire week. Yeah. And I just love how yin yoga, like there's nothing rushed about it. and you can sink into and breathe into those spaces that naturally become a little more tight for a lot of us, during the, those time frames. I've had a couple of other podcast episodes where we've talked about, your personal records should be saved for your ovulation phase because of where you are hormonally in the month, but how does that look from a yoga perspective as far as syncing movement to your cycle? Or specifically ovulation? No sinking movement to your cycle because you had a beautiful reel about that. Oh yeah. And I know we're gonna talk about this more in more detail, but in, it's just been so profoundly Impactful for me and my health and my pain levels. yeah, so basically the, i it's the idea of tailoring your yoga practice to what specific phase of your cycle that you're in. So we have the menstrual phase, follicular, ovulation and lal, and their believe it or not, is an early and a late lal, which we'll talk about later. But, it's basically just the idea that you are honoring the space that your body is in those phases and tailoring movement to offer a therapeutic, a therapeutic option for movement. in your menstrual phase, a lot of people think, when you are actually on your period when you're menstruating, you shouldn't move or you should move like super gently because like your body's doing all this crazy shit, you actually can and should move. Pretty fluidly. like a slow flow practice is great when you have, when you're on your period, as long as it feels good. Of course, if your body is not in a space where you're able to move and rest is really important, listen to that. But if you can move and you do wanna lubricate in a way, a slow flow, gentle flow, yoga practice is great, haha is really nice. your follicular phase, which is after your period, it's really important to replenish and nourish and regrow Again, you're regrowing all those follicles, right? So you want to offer your body space to do that. So a yin or restorative practice is really nice for that. ovulation we feel, of course, it's the shortest go figure, It's when we feel the best, it's when we feel like we can conquer anything. And it's like literally a day or two. Ovulation. It's, that's a great time to challenge yourself. Take a power class, go to a hot yoga class, like you're feeling great. Awesome. utilize that, that feeling. And then early Lal is essentially like right after ovulation, you're, you still got a little bit of that like young energy. You're feeling pretty good. maybe going back to like just a traditional viya, or more of a traditional HAHA class or Kundalini or something. then late Lal is basically a PMs, which we all, don't love. Yep. That is when you want to really hit the skids and pump the brakes and go back to a really introspective slow practice. So definitely recommend like not going to a power yoga class when you're PMSing. If it's something that's. Going to make you feel better, or maybe you don't deal with pelvic health issues, you can completely ignore that and do what feels good. But if you're someone who has endometriosis or any kind of pelvic pain or issues, you wanna really allow space for your body to prepare what for what's about to happen, which is your period. so I definitely always tell, especially private clients with endo and other pelvic health issues, PMs, as much as you maybe are like, aggravated and emotional and irritable and you wanna do something fast and vigorous, you actually really should try to think about doing the opposite of that because you want to enter into that next phase of menstruation with your pelvic floor and your body in a really calm. Space. Yes. Oh, I love that. Yeah. and I like that you broke it out that way because I do have a lot of clients that talk about, how they feel really good right after ovulation, because not everybody has that ideal ovulation experience. True, yes. I should have mentioned that. You're right. Yep. Yeah. and a lot of times it's because there's not enough chi for that event. But a lot of times when they get past that, then they feel really nice for the beginning part of the lal phase. And then so we go back to that five days before that I mentioned earlier. That's usually where people start feeling bloated. They feel cranky. I had one client that mentioned that they were her dragon days where she just wanted to burn everything down around her. Yeah. and the more that we get toward, like looking at life stages as well, when we're in that perimenopausal menopausal transition, it becomes even more amplified during that timeframe. but it all ha it, like a lot of it has to do with, liver stagnation you're, you want to keep things moving because the way to remedy the symptoms, because we normalize PMs so much in our culture, is to encourage the free flow of blood and. Through the body. Yes. a lot of reproductive related challenges come from liver cheese stagnation. Yeah. And blood stagnation. Yeah. And blood stagnation. Yep. Absolutely. And so things, when they get stuck, we have pain. When they get stuck, we get. Hot under the collar. Yes. and if we can encourage things to move in a flowy kind of way, we feel a lot better. It's the reason why people who do have PMs, once the floodgates open and the water comes down over the still, so to speak, and the blood lets down, they go, oh, I feel like a normal person again. And I don't feel like a fire-breathing dragon. And this is great, Yeah. And I'm sorry for all the things I said in the previous five days. Can you hand me right A chocolate Yes. Please. Get me ice cream and me for everything I said and we'll be fine. Yeah. so yeah. So I feel like I could talk to you about this forever and I think we're gonna totally have to do a part too. Yes. A hundred percent yes. Yes. Oh, I love it. I want people to be able to find you because you have a lot of really wonderful information on your Instagram, so thank you. How can people find you? Yeah, so if you would like to follow my crazy, silly, wacky journey, it's a lot of serious stuff, but it's also, I like to just be ridiculous as well. So it's a nice balance. I am on Instagram at happy dot body dot yogi, and, yeah, I'm always, my, my dms are always open. I have a lot of people that will just that, on a number of things. So I'm always, here to just have a dialogue and a conversation. I think it's really important for us as women to support each other. So I try to offer that with content and with just, being as communicative and open as I can. and just transparent and candid about my own journey. I'm someone who is an open book and I don't hide anything, and I think that's, hopefully a reason why a lot of people feel safe with me because I try. Open that door in a way that makes them feel that way. So yeah, find me on there, and reach out anytime and connect, on the grams. thank you so much Leah, for joining me on the show today. It has been such a pleasure to have you, and like I said, we're gonna have to do a part two because I feel like we could talk about this topic forever, forever and ever. and ever. Yeah. we'll keep it to an hour, but we'll do it, we wanna talk about it as much as possible. So thank you for giving me the space to do that today. I really appreciate it. Absolutely. Anytime. And we will talk again soon, my friend. Awesome. Thank you.

Adrienne: 1:06:56

Such a great conversation with Leah. I'm so glad you joined us for this interview. And one of the things that came up in the course of that interview is about knowing the physical and energetic demands of an adult female body that both of us didn't have any light shed on when we were younger. So I want to offer this. Not your Mama's Menstrual course is an online self-study course to get the information that most of us didn't get when our periods first started. In this course, I discuss the energetic changes and physical requirements of each phase of your cycle so you can lessen your. PMs symptoms and properly support each phase of your cycle periods are more than just dispensation. There is a beautiful dance of hormones and energies that comprise our monthly cycle. Get your copy of not your Mama's Menstrual course today. The link is in the show notes. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Reproductive Rebel Reproductive. Rebel is recorded by certified per steam hydrotherapist, herbalist, sound healer, and Chinese nutritional therapist, Adrian Irizari of Moon Essence, llc. If you are interested in setting up an appointment with Adrian for one-on-one support, ordering from our store or checking out our course offerings, visit our website at Moon essence dot. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get insider information on upcoming events and offerings. Join the conversation like us and follow Moon Essence me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Your voices make this program possible. Thank you all for your continued support.