Around the time of Menopause or “Moonpause,” we go through changes in our hormones that may remind us of almost a second puberty. At this time, we may also go through changes in our roles as caregivers.  Perhaps our children are grown and we no longer need to provide the same involved care. Moonpause is a beautiful gift of womanhood. It is the transition to embracing the changes for the next half of life, by turning inward to care for ourselves and nurturing our dreams that may have been set aside during our motherhood years.

How Does Menopause Affect for Our Hormones?

During perimenopause, we generally start to see pauses in our moon cycle, where we might not have a bleed for several months. Eventually a whole year goes by after our last bleed, and we will now have transitioned into Moonpause- the final pause of our moon cycle. This final pause means we no longer release an egg, thus our bodies stop producing the high levels of estrogen we experienced during...

Now estrogen isn’t so bad, it gives us our curvy hips and breasts, and it’s the cause of our voluptuous femininity. We need enough estrogen to ovulate, as it is helping build the tissues in our uterus to create a home for the fertilized egg, as well as helping the pre-fertilized egg grow and mature to burst through the follicle.

So how does excess estrogen, from Xenoestrogens or poor detoxification, affect our body?

With excess estrogen, our body may be building up too much uterine lining, causing very heavy menstrual periods or even Endometriosis, Fibroids, or PCOS.

Also, if we are under a lot of stress and our diet has been filled with more meals consisting of processed foods, our liver may be having difficulty performing all of its cleaning up and filtering functions such as breaking down excess hormones.

During the Follicular and Ovulatory phases of the female monthly cycle, estrogen is rising and is at the highest peak of your cycle. After ovulation...

Are you feeling more tired lately? A desire to nest and relax in the comforts of your home?

You might want to glance outside in the evening and see if you can see the moon.

It could in fact be the dark moon, (new moon). The moon is closest to the earth during the new and full moons. It changes it’s relation to earth through a 29.5 day cycle during its revolution around the earth, creating a gravitational pull that is strongest when it’s closest (new and full).

In ancient aboriginal and agricultural community times, tribes were in harmony with the changing phases of the moon. They used it as their source of light at night (we are all too familiar with the bright glow of a full moon and how it lights up the night’s sky). And when the moon was dark, they naturally rested more, as it would have been dangerous to be out at night without much light as they would have been more susceptible to predators.

Furthermore, a person may naturally produces less melatonin, a...

Many of you have probably heard the term “prana” if you go to yoga. Prana is taught in our Western culture to mean “breath.” But in the ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages in world dating back to 1,500 B.C., prana translates to “life-force.”

During my training at The Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center with Dr. Gabriel Cousens, we studied how eating a diet rich with live foods, also known as raw foods, provided life-force energy and affected our energy levels. After 3 months, I experienced an abundance of energy, as my cells were vibrating with life-force and in return, I felt joy and spirited.

Cousens said “the green of our garden, the algae in our water, the trees, grasses and herbs on our lands are the transforming agents that harvest the sun’s light via the process of photosynthesis. When we consume these foods, this stored sun energy is released into our bodies as electrons; it is then transformed...

During the Follicular Phase a.k.a. “inner spring,” in our Menstrual Cycle, our bodies are maturing eggs in the ovaries in preparation for ovulation.

At this time, it is important to eat foods that are high in vitamins A and C, which will help with healthy egg maturation. Vitamin C helps build cervical fluid, which should increase during your Follicular phase leading up to ovulation, where it is most bountiful. Cervical fluid is necessary for creating ideal environments for fertility and conception.

My Abundant Vegetable Soup is loaded with healthy vegetables providing the necessary vitamins to aid your hormones at this time of your cycle. Made in a crock-pot, the steps are as simple as chopping the veggies and plugging in the crock-pot (and some waiting time, of course  ). This soup is ideal for the winter, as colder outer temperatures cause the need for warming foods to provide internal heat. There is a bit of spice in this soup from the black pepper and...

We are entering the holiday season and with it comes family bonding time, delicious foods with seasonal spices, and celebration. But there can also be added stress from traveling, cooking for large parties, as well as intestinal stress from digesting rich holiday foods. I have come up with a simple guide to help you navigate your way through the holiday table. 

5 Tips for Keeping Your Hormones Happy this Holiday Season

1. Fill Your Plate with Vegetables– The mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin breads may be hard to resist, but if you fill your plate mostly with vegetables, you can still have those foods too, and just eat less of them. This will also help prevent overeating, as when you fill up with foods that are micro-nutrient dense, your body will be nourished at the cellular level, as opposed to eating foods with empty calories. Micronutrients are needed for healthy hormone production. 

2. Support Digestion– know you have a sensitivity to gluten?...