I’m a smoothie girl when it comes to breakfast in the summer months, but during the colder seasons, a warm savory breakfast hits the spot. My Luteal Phase Breakfast Bowl with Chanterelle Mushrooms can help boost energy during a cold morning with the energizing B-vitamins from the mushrooms and kale and filling fiber from the butternut squash. Plus, chanterelle mushrooms are a source of the thyroid supporting vitamin D, which is found in very little foods, making this an excellent hormone balancing meal, as vitamin D can be more challenging to get from the sun during the colder cloudy months.

It’s an ideal breakfast choice for the autumn season outside and the inner autumn, a.k.a the luteal phase of your menstrual cycle. I love eating with the seasons both externally and internally. I cook meals with cold weather roots such as butternut or acorn squash or locally harvested autumn mushrooms such as golden chanterelles, lobster mushrooms or maitake during the...

Oᑎ YOᑌᖇ ᗰOOᑎTIᗰE?

Don’t let low energy, moodiness and cramping steer you away from loving this sacred time of your moonthly moonstrual cycle. When hormones are balanced and our body has the right nutrients and minerals, we wont feel pain or exhaustion when our moontime comes. My wish is for you to enjoy this phase of your cycle, as your bleeding phase can be a powerful time for tuning into your intuition and receiving messages for where to place your energy the month ahead.

Here are four powerful foods to eat to replenish your Body-Temple during your bleed to keep you energized, free of extreme cramping, bloating and heavy bleeding, and to brighten your mood!

I am currently in Bali, and exploring all the exquisite restaurants and warungs while eating for my hormones in the four seasons of my menstrual cycle. Here’s what I have been eating:

ᑎOᖇI ᔕᕼEETᔕ

Nori is rich in: calcium (10x more than milk!), iron, potassium, selenium, zinc, and iodine, making this a superfood to...

The year of 2015 for me was a year of breakups and boundaries.

The six-and-a-half-year relationship I was in came to a confusing halt right before we put down a deposit on a dream wedding venue in Sedona, Arizona.

“I thought I wanted kids, but I don’t think I actually do.”

These words left me shocked. We had always discussed a family, since a few months into beginning our relationship.

I was left with a choice, to move across the country with him to Seattle from the Midwest where our families were, as planned, and hope he would change his mind as we entered into marriage… or honor my own life goals and desires.

The differences in desires brought the break-up, and simultaneously at this time, I had to leave my job as my health and hormones took a huge toll, causing massive burnout and two week menstrual cycles.

Everything I knew as my foundation came crumbling down, and I felt exhausted and unclear about what my future life would look like.

The Universe truly...

Your “Please Make Space” (PMS) time of the month is here. It’s been a long day at work, and all you are thinking about is a warm bath and some deep breathing…. Or possibly that pint of chocolate coconut bliss ice cream in the freezer waiting for you…

When you arrive home, the kitchen is a mess. Your beloved comes up behind you and gives you bear hug, while grabbing your ass.

You feel irritable, exhausted, and do NOT want to be touched.

So, you snap, tell him or her off- that you have had a hard day and need your space!

Ever had something like this happen before?

I am a firm believer that when we understand our monthly cycle and its fluctuations: our hormones, emotions, energy patterns, and libido… we are in a better position to communicate in our relationship about what’s going on, and share a generally predictable blueprint of how we wish to connect throughout the month.

When there is understanding and communication, the bond in the...

Why Your Weight Changes in PMS and Menopause

There’s no need to be alarmed if your weight fluctuates throughout your 28-day menstrual cycle.

Before you bleed, there is an increased volume of blood flow that goes to the uterus. The uterus swells, along with other areas of your body. You might feel heavy… bloated from additional water fluid retention and notice you weigh a bit more.

No worries, this is quite normal, unless the bloating is excessive.

High progesterone levels are culprit here, as they draw fluid from the blood vessels to other tissues of the body… which is why your breasts feel fuller too!

Additionally, high estrogen levels towards the end of your luteal phase can also affect the swelling, causing breast tenderness. Really sore breasts are also a sign of a hormonal imbalance.

At this time, it incredibly important to lay off the sugar, salt and caffeine…. which is typically what we want at this time of the month to boost our energy...

As a Women’s Health and Nutrition Coach,  I ravenously read everything I can find on women’s hormone health, anatomy, and nutritional guidance, in addition to my certification program. I have highlighted my top 6 favorites below which share information on the menstrual cycle as well as peri-moonpause and moonpause. My goal is to empower you with direct tools to step into your Healer Creatrix. 

If you are looking for methods that fuse both goddess empowerment and wise women rituals with science and eastern medicine, I have outlined the ways and methods for living in ritual and in harmony with your menstrual cycle in my 5 week online course: Goddess in Rhythm. This course brings you into the kitchen with recipes for each phase of the menstrual cycle and gives you ritualistic practices for your full embodiment of the Divine Feminine to balance, naturally.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler

My top recommendation, this book teaches an in...

Ever wonder why you and many women bleed on the new or full moon? Or perhaps you have wondered the energetic connection of bleeding on a particular moon phase…

Studies show that peak rates of menstruating (releasing the lining) and ovulating (releasing the egg) are on the New and Full Moon.

Why?

To understand this, we must first understand the fluctuations of the moon phases and the menstrual phases.

The moon rotates around the earth in about a 28-day rotation. It goes from New Moon (dark), to Waxing Half Moon (becoming brighter into full), Full Moon, and Waning Half Moon (becoming darker into New).

During this time, the moon is closest to the earth during the New and Full moons. At this time of closer proximity, there is a stronger gravitational pull on the earth, affecting our waters and our tides.

…even animal behavior is affected: some species of turtles lay their eggs during the full moon, as the higher tides bring them further up shore.

… and our feminine...

Severe period pain, or dysmenorrhea, that causes you to cancel work, lie in bed all day, or prevents you from doing your normal daily goddess activities is NOT normal.

I reflect back to the days I was in college when I used to experience these pains.

My diet was made up of typical dorm food: lots of pizza, sub sandwiches, bagels for breakfast, bags of chips with trans-fat, lots and lots of sugary cookies, too much beer and not enough water.

My cramps had me leaving class early so I could lie in bed for hours with a heating pad after I took aspirin.

When I started taking the birth control pill, along with cleaning up my diet, my severe cramps went away. Often, doctors will prescribe the pill to treat hormonal imbalance symptoms, yet the birth control pill doesn’t teach your body how to balance its own hormones.

The birth control pill suppresses ovulation, which makes it so your body never releases an egg each month. This causes no need for your body to make the...

Blessings, Sisterhood Tribe. Many of you followed my journey on Facebook and Instagram out to the Oregon Eclipse Festival where I taught “Modern Goddess Cooking for Hormone Balance” with Nourishment Lab, the live cooking school.  

I spoke alongside other traveling chefs, cooking school teachers from the Living Light Culinary Institute in Ft. Bragg, and company owners of superfood products.

It was such a treasure of an experience, to be able to share the wisdom of the menstrual cycle, menopause or “moonpause” (as I like to call it) tips, and information on adaptogenic womb herbs.

This video captures the first half of my workshop, on hormone balance and the cycles of womanhood. I am blessed to be able to share it with you! (Hope you don’t mind the loudness of the blender at times… I was teaching next to a smoothie bar. Nourishment Lab was preparing delicious Durian shakes while I presented!)

My next live cooking...

Painful cramping? Bloating? Headaches?… before your menstruation comes?

Have you been to the doctor to address your terrible PMS and the solution was to go on the pill?

What if I told you there was a way to balance your hormones naturally, without having to take synthetic hormones?

I understand your pain, literally!- because I used to experience “normal” menstrual pain each month until I learned how nutrition and meditation could help!

In this video, I address one of the major root causes in hormone imbalances that can create these symptoms. This has to do with the hormonal ratio of progesterone and estrogen levels.

Watch the video HERE.

Most often, when my menstruation now comes, I feel my cervix opening to release the endometrium lining. It feels like gentle swelling, rather than sharp pains that used to have me lying in bed with a heating pad. I may feel some emotions arise before my moontime comes- and I explain in this video why this is natural. I also...