Your Hormones Aren’t the Problem, They’re Your Power | Dr. Aumatma Simmons

What if your hormones weren’t the problem, but instead were the key to everything?

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Aumatma Simmons, a naturopathic doctor who’s spent nearly 20 years studying hormones, fertility, and the deeper wisdom of the female body.

We talk about why so many women feel burned out trying to keep up with systems designed for men—and how understanding your natural cycle can change the way you live, work, and make decisions.

This conversation is both validating and eye-opening. If you’ve ever felt “off,” exhausted, or out of sync with your life… your body might not be failing you. It might be trying to guide you.

In this episode:

 • Why hormones have been misunderstood (and mislabeled) for years
 • The real reason women experience burnout
 • What it means to live a “fertile lifestyle”
 • How toxins, mindset, and stress impact your body
 • Why intuition is deeply connected to your physiology
 • The difference between men’s 24-hour cycle and women’s 28-day rhythm

Key Topics:

 • Hormonal health for women
 • Burnout and energy cycles
 • Intuition and body awareness
 • Fertility and lifestyle
 • Women’s leadership and energy

To connect with Dr. Aumatma: 

Website: https://holisticfertilityinstitute.com/hormonal 

Instagram: @holisticfertilitydoctor

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Transcript

Your Hormones Aren’t the Problem, They’re Your Power | Dr. Aumatma Simmons

[00:00:33] Penny Fitzgerald: What if the moments when you feel the most frustrated. The most emotional, even the most off, are actually the moments your body is trying to tell you something. In this conversation with Dr. Oma Maimon, we're talking about hormones, cycles, and how women are wired very differently than what we've been taught.

And I'll tell you, this doesn't change what I believe about intuition, alignment, and women's wisdom. It [00:01:00] confirms it. And gives you a whole new way to understand why your body is trying to get your attention. Here is Dr. Aumatma Simmons.

I'm just so grateful to meet you, 

would you please share your name with my audience and tell us a little bit about you and what you do? 

[00:01:16] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, sure. So I am a naturopathic doctor by training. My name is Dr. Aumatma. Uh, I've been in practice for almost 20 years, and I primarily have focused my career on helping support couples with fertility.

Now I am stepping into how our hormones either support or ignite leadership in our, in the feminine be being, like for women specifically Uhhuh, um, which is very different than for men. So absolutely. my years in doing fertility and hormones and all of that, I've kind of come to this idea that [00:02:00] we have kind of treated men and women the same, and yet men run on 24 hour clocks while women run on 28 day cycles.

[00:02:12] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. 

[00:02:12] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And when we try to fit into this box, it becomes discordant for our physiology, for our mental health. And it's leading to so much of the burnout that we see with women. So. Uh, I've really been focusing on how do we share this message and why am I the one to share. It is essentially like I've spent my whole life around hormones and I have seen the burnout on the other side.

So I am really passionate about bringing this message out into the, 

[00:02:48] Penny Fitzgerald: I love that this, I love this so much because if I totally agree, and I feel like women have, um, been set up to fail trying to be in a corporate setting in that [00:03:00] patriarchal system where, you know, you hustle and grind and you keep moving forward.

You keep putting one foot in front of the other, but it's not, it doesn't work for our system. It doesn't feel right. And I love what you're, what you're doing the work. Um, you know, we know in intuitively it doesn't work, but 

[00:03:18] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: yeah, 

[00:03:19] Penny Fitzgerald: it's really cool to see the science behind it now that mm-hmm. Actually shows that, wow.

Yeah, this is, there's a reason why. 

[00:03:26] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Exactly, and, and it's like so much of that is hormonal, right? 

[00:03:30] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:03:31] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Hormones have just been made out to be the bad guy forever. And you know, like I remember as early as 14 feeling hormonal and mm-hmm. And then like, oh, you must be on your cycle. You know, that kinda energy is uhhuh, uh, is very interesting because it's noticeable, but it doesn't have to be a negative, right?

So I think it's, it's really in this reframe of like, how do I reclaim. [00:04:00] Yes, I am hormonal and that is my superpower. Exactly. So I don't need to like shut it down and move away from it, but rather like better understand it and live with my hormones so that Right. I can use them to the best of my ability.

[00:04:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Right. They, um, they help create humans, so. 

[00:04:20] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. They help create humans and babies. Yes. And, uh, businesses and, and literally anything else we wanna create in the world. 

[00:04:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Absolutely. Oh my gosh. Yes. So how did you, um, how did you come to your work? I mean, obviously we've been, you know, experiencing these things as we grow up, but, you know, I, I heard recently, um.

A doctor, was in obstetrics. And she, um, had, you know, six or seven years of doctor training, but only maybe six or seven hours of training on [00:05:00] menopause and of the changes that we go through as, as we age.

So 30% of our lives doctors can't help us with or have not traditionally been able to. But how did you kind of come to this realization? Or how did you move into that? 

[00:05:14] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, that's a great question. So, I started out as a generalist in, uh, narcotic medicine. I had already graduated and I was practicing for about four years.

When. I had recently gotten married and my husband at the time had started asking about trying to have children. Mm-hmm. And every time he would bring up babies, my uterus would be like, no, God no. And I was like, oh crap. Like, do I not wanna have children? Is it that this is not the right person? And I made a mistake in marrying him.

Oh. So I went through this like kind of exploration to just figure out what is this? What is it my body's screaming about? 

[00:05:59] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:05:59] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: [00:06:00] And what I figured out was that I did wanna have children, but not with him. Oh wow. So it was a, it was kind of a wake up call, Uhhuh, and then me being who I am, was doing the math in my head.

Like, oh, that's gonna mean another 10 years before I might be with someone that I could Wow. Potentially have children with like, 

[00:06:24] Penny Fitzgerald: wow, 

[00:06:24] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: meet someone, date. Yeah, get married, then get, feel comfortable. 

[00:06:29] Penny Fitzgerald: All of 

[00:06:29] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: it. Yeah. Yeah. So like in my head I'm thinking, okay, I'm like mid early thirties now. It's gonna be mid, early forties by the time I'm ready to have a child, uh, potentially, who knows, right?

Who knows when that person will come, but it means that I need to be doing something to. Preserve what I have. 

[00:06:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh yeah. 

[00:06:53] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And started researching fertility, just started going down the rabbit hole of what [00:07:00] can I do to ensure that maybe one day someday I could have a child, potentially. Mm-hmm. Right. Like it, I wasn't looking for a guarantee, it was just like, I just need to do something.

Yeah. And, uh, egg freezing was coming to market at that point, so this is like 15, 16 years ago. Okay. So egg freezing was just starting to come out and back then the success rates were not very good. Yeah. So, uh, I was like, well, that's not a great option. What else can I do? And I. Just kind of went down the rabbit hole of research.

And what I found was actually, there's so much I could do that will help support my fertility later. It's not gonna be a guarantee, but mm-hmm. Egg is not a guarantee either. Right? So what else could I be doing? And I really came upon what I, what I now call, like the fertile [00:08:00] lifestyle, which is living low toxins, uh, good, good high quality sleep, good high quality food and nutrition and, and then like supporting my body and my physiology and my nervous system to better handle stress.

So just to give you a picture of where I was at that point in my life, I was working 80 hour weeks. 

[00:08:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. 

[00:08:26] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: I was. Completely burnt out. 

[00:08:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:29] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: I was trying to launch my business. It just wasn't going as well as I wanted. I was working really hard. It just felt like I was doing so much and mm-hmm. Not seeing yet the results of that.

And as I started to think about this, I was like, oh my gosh, my hormones have been out of whack for years, and what do I need to do to fix my hormones? So I just kind of went on this journey uhhuh [00:09:00] of healing myself. And along that, I started talking about what I was finding and there were lots of women that are like, Hey, you're doing all this research, like what's happening?

What's up with fertility? How can you support me? And I was just like, you know, the biggest thing that I have found is that we are. Told as very young women mm-hmm. That our fertility's going to decline at 35. 

[00:09:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Yep. 

[00:09:33] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And that, that is the kind of end of our cycle. 

[00:09:39] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh. 

[00:09:40] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: It's the beginning of perimenopause.

It's, it's all the things, right? 

[00:09:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:09:45] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And that was distinctly different, or there was two things about that. One is I couldn't find any research that backed that up. Oh. So I was like, well, if there's no research on it, where did we get this idea [00:10:00] that our fertility declines at 35 

[00:10:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh? 

[00:10:03] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And then simultaneously I found, uh, there's a book called Women's Bodies Women's Wisdom, Dr.

Christian Northrop, who, uh, just like this book was sitting on my shelf, it's this fat, it's like the Bible for women's health. And I opened up to the chapter on fertility, and she's talking about women in other parts of the world. Consistently get pregnant in their sixties. Not, oh 

[00:10:29] Penny Fitzgerald: my gosh. 

[00:10:29] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: In our sixties.

Right. I do not watch, don't 

[00:10:31] Penny Fitzgerald: scare me like that. 

[00:10:33] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: No, it's, it is not, it's not like, I'm not saying that this is gonna happen, but there are parts of the world where that could happen. Okay. And I was like, it just opened my mind to the possibility that 

[00:10:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, 

[00:10:46] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: if there were women having children at 60, then why couldn't we do it at 40?

[00:10:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:10:52] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Right. And that was the question in my mind. So yeah, that was the framework for me to say, okay, I can't find any research on this [00:11:00] thing. I traced it back to the idea that started in churches in the 18 hundreds in France that have records of women not coming to baptize their children after the age of 35.

And me being who I am was like, Ooh, what is the reason for that? That's interesting. Expectancy for women, women in the 18 hundreds in France, uh, and life expectancy for women back then was 32.6, and most of them were dying in childbirth. 

[00:11:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. 

[00:11:32] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: To me, that was like kind of hilarious because I'm like, wait.

So this whole idea that we have, that fertility declines at 35 comes from these ancient roots that don't actually match with where we are in society right now. We have way better technology, way better maternal survival rates 

uhhuh 

[00:11:50] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: during childbirth. So we've made massive advancements in science, in birthing in all of it, [00:12:00] and yet we're still touting the same idea that 35 is the the cutoff.

[00:12:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:12:05] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So that was the first like. Kind of shift of, of perspective that I needed. Mm-hmm. That mm-hmm. Really helped me open my mind to like, okay, if, so, if everything that fertility stands for is not true, what I learned is not true 

[00:12:22] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, then 

[00:12:23] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: how do I figure out what's true? And 

[00:12:26] Penny Fitzgerald: Right. 

[00:12:26] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: That was it. That was the start of it.

And the more I shared that with other women, they were like, oh my God, you can help me with my fertility. Thank you so much. Mm-hmm. And I was like, well, we can try. This is all theory, you know? Yeah. I actually put this into practice, but yeah. It, that was, uh, 15 years ago. Okay. And I figured I would do it till as long as there were people coming through the door that wanted that support.

Yeah. And they keep coming. 

[00:12:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure it's so [00:13:00] helpful. Well, and not, not just for fertility, even though that's like a huge, huge. Draw and pull for people. But the things that you're talking about are really helpful for anyone Right. To be healthier longer and to stay healthy and to keep doing the things you like, like to do.

[00:13:18] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think a fertile lifestyle applies to everyone. 

[00:13:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, you 

[00:13:24] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: do the foundation than you're living a fertile life. Yeah. And that is creation of whatever it is that you choose to create in this world. Mm-hmm. So it's not just babies. 

[00:13:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:13:35] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Uh, babies are part of that, but sometimes we wanna create businesses and we wanna write books, and we wanna like, whatever creation is coming through you at this moment in time, it can work.

[00:13:45] Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. Okay. So tell us more about that. How to live a fertile life. How do you do that? 

[00:13:51] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Uh, so I have three, uh, general foundations that we can start with to [00:14:00] live a fertile lifestyle. The first is going to be. To remove the blocks that are in the way of our fertility or creativity. Okay. We can say in a broader sense.

So the things that are gonna be in the way, physiologically, physically in our bodies is gonna be toxins. That's 

[00:14:21] Penny Fitzgerald: mm-hmm. 

[00:14:22] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And the other big one is gonna be mindset. So yes. This mindset of, oh, I have a specific limitation. Yes. Whether that's age or that's background, that's the way I look, the mm-hmm. Weight I am, whatever that block is mm-hmm.

Is gonna manifest in our mindset as something that is keeping us from going for our dreams, for our creations in the world. Mm-hmm. So we have to get rid of those. Mm-hmm. And we can do that in lots of ways. I think the toxins are relatively easier to get rid of. Mm-hmm. And I, I say this like for women, [00:15:00] all, all hormonal things.

Have to do with toxins, right? Mm. When we are exposed to plastic, for example, 

[00:15:10] Penny Fitzgerald: uhhuh, 

[00:15:11] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: that is mimicking different hormones in our body, which then causes hormonal dysregulation. Okay. Our body thinks we have a hormone that we don't actually have, and then the hormone that we have isn't acting the way it's supposed to because Okay, it's not actual.

Mm-hmm. It just like screws with the brain and the detection system. Mm-hmm. Of what's actually present. So getting rid of toxins, getting rid of toxic mindsets, getting rid of toxic people. Uh, that's a big one. Uhhuh, which even in the fertility space I find a lot of times is. They don't even know them.

These are people online that they're Oh, wow. Psyching out about, of like, oh, another person pregnant. Oh, another person pregnant. 

[00:15:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Aw. 

[00:15:57] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Uh, Uhhuh. And that 

[00:15:59] Penny Fitzgerald: doom [00:16:00] scrolling. 

[00:16:00] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. The doom scrolling. The, mm-hmm. Oh my God. I'm not doing enough. Oh, maybe I should take that supplement. Oh, that supplement worked for that lady.

Maybe I should take it. 

[00:16:09] Penny Fitzgerald: That pressure. All of the pressure from everyone else is doing it. And why can't I? 

[00:16:13] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Right, right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And we're trying to like, work so hard at figuring it out for ourselves that we're not opening to the bigger picture mm-hmm. Of like, what's really going on here. Mm-hmm.

And how can I address it with some strategy? How can I stop, uh, doing everything in my power, which is often, you may be even doing the right things, but doing the right things in the wrong order, still not work Uhhuh. So it, so yeah, like the first step is to get rid of what's in the way. 

[00:16:48] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, and your, your body was telling you something, right?

[00:16:51] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So for me, that was the wrong relationship uhhuh to get rid of that. Yeah. [00:17:00] Um, and I realized in the process, and this leads right into step two, which is understanding our own bodies better. Yes. What is the wisdom in our bodies saying? 

[00:17:12] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:17:13] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And if your inner wisdom is saying, Hey, you're on the wrong path, then are you okay to listen to that?

Even, right. Everything around you is saying that's crazy, right? Mm-hmm. And for my life, it was, um, really easy to look around me and say, oh my gosh. Like a, my parents would. Be heartbroken that I've been divorced. That's not okay. In our culture. There's all kinds of pressures, right? 

[00:17:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:17:49] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So that was part one.

But then like, oh, our friend groups are mixed and we have all these friends together and what's gonna happen? And like, how do [00:18:00] I navigate this from the perspective of this is what's true for me, Uhhuh. And even though I made this commitment for a lifetime and I'm only like 10 months in at this point.

Mm-hmm. Uh, it was, it, it was blaring me in my face and when I looked back at it, I was like, oh, my body's been telling me this the whole time. 

[00:18:22] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Isn't that funny 

[00:18:23] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: information? I just miss the message. 

[00:18:26] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, I feel that too. Like we hear what we wanna hear. 

[00:18:30] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. 

[00:18:30] Penny Fitzgerald: You know, it was an uncomfortable message. You had to make the change, but yeah, I'm sure it was just so difficult mm-hmm.

To even accept that this is what's happening. 

[00:18:40] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, totally. Totally. It was, it was hard. And even, I remember my father on my wedding day, like two minutes before, he's walking me down the aisle, he's like, uhoh, you can still pull the plug. 

[00:18:53] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, oh. 

[00:18:55] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And I was like, what? Oh, you're at my wedding? [00:19:00] And he's like, it's okay if you change your mind, it's okay.

Oh. And I was like, wow. Why would he say that to me 

[00:19:08] Penny Fitzgerald: if you two months ago would've been a good time to tell me that? 

[00:19:11] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Well, he, he was just not a fan of this person. So it, it was not a surprise when I was like, oh, I need to have a divorce. Um, but it, it was like. In retrospect, like I can beat down on myself about, oh, I didn't listen.

Yeah. Oh, I didn't. I didn't. But the reality is I learned something from that experience. 

[00:19:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Yep. 

[00:19:35] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And yes, it was an expensive lesson. Mm-hmm. But I learned what I needed to learn. Mm-hmm. And it was a good practice marriage to be able to go and live my fullest life. 

[00:19:50] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh good. 

[00:19:51] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So, yeah. So it is so important to listen to our intuition.

Mm-hmm. [00:20:00] Even in my practice, I find a lot of times people are like, oh, we're talking to like five different doctors and we don't know who to work with. How do we know who to work with? And every single doctor that they've talked to has a hard sales pitch of like why they should do work with us. Oh, right.

Like, you're running outta time. Now is your chance. We're the best, my gosh. Clinic all like so much pressure. And my sales pitch is, listen to your intuition. If your intuition is telling you to go work with someone else, please go do that. Mm-hmm. Because the people that are most successful with me are the ones that intuitively want and need to work with me.

Mm-hmm. So I, I have just learned to have so much respect for each person's intuition. There's no right intuition, it's just 

[00:20:54] Penny Fitzgerald: mm-hmm. 

[00:20:55] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Your intuition's guiding you. And if you're listening, it's like [00:21:00] trudging you along in the, the direction that your soul wants to go. Right. And, and if you're not, then you're, it's okay.

Like, that's gonna be a lesson too. Mm-hmm. And, and sometimes that lesson is a hard one. Mm-hmm. Hopefully it's not. Um, you know, like I just. Your, your intuition is guiding you. And, and it's that wisdom often is coming through our body. Mm-hmm. So I find at least like in retrospect, I know that my hormones, the entire time I was in that relationship, we were together for seven years.

Mm-hmm. And that whole relationship, I was like, oh, I should, um, you know, I was kind of like skirting around it and I was having terrible periods. I was having migraines, I was having all kinds of symptoms that I was writing off as like, oh, my hormones are whacked out because I'm stressed. [00:22:00] 

[00:22:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:22:00] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And I was putting it to that.

But the reality is yes, there was stress. Yes. I was over way overworking. But at the core of it, my body was not in alignment with this person. 

[00:22:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. 

[00:22:14] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And it was showing me in little signs until the point where the baby thing came up and then it was like, yeah, no, we're not doing that. Mm-hmm. There's no way you're having a child with this person.

Mm-hmm. And, uh, yeah, so intuition is the second really big component of creating what it is that we are here to create in this world, for sure. Babies or otherwise. 

[00:22:39] Penny Fitzgerald: Yep. 

[00:22:39] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And then the third piece is around our specific lifestyle. So 

[00:22:46] Penny Fitzgerald: mm-hmm. 

[00:22:46] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: That's going to be the food that we put into our body. Mm-hmm. The, the new, the extra nutrients that we consume.

[00:22:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:22:55] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: The quality of our sleep, whether or not we're drinking alcohol, [00:23:00] smoking, um. Caffeine, just all of the different types of things that 

[00:23:07] Penny Fitzgerald: mm-hmm. 

[00:23:07] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: We as humans have chosen to put into our bodies. Are those pro fertility or ants? High fertility. And I'm using fertility in a, a bigger sense here. Just like Uhhuh creation.

Right? So either your diet, for example, potato chips. Right? On most days I love potato chips. That's my, that's my one weakness. So on certain specific days, it may actually be okay for me to eat potato chips and have a net neutral effect on my body, but most of the time it's having a net negative. 

[00:23:48] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:48] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So I then have to say, okay, is this the right thing for me to do right now? And if this is a pattern or a thing that [00:24:00] I do a lot. Then is it hurting me or helping me get to my goal for my life? Mm-hmm. Get to the, the vision that I want to create in this world. 

[00:24:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:24:14] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And in my experience, that has to be a very individualized decision.

So we can say like, yes, in general, kale is good for most people and potato chips are bad for most people. 

[00:24:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:24:30] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: But that's not always the case. Right. Uhhuh, I've seen, I've seen people whose bodies react to kale. It's actually doing them more harm than good. 

[00:24:39] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:24:40] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So, so there are people out there whose immunology responds in a way that's not beneficial.

[00:24:48] Penny Fitzgerald: Interesting. 

[00:24:49] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Something that is generally good for the population. 

[00:24:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. I'm, I'm of the belief that nobody really likes kale. 

[00:24:56] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: I love kale. If kale was on my sensitivity [00:25:00] list, I would be very bummed out. 

[00:25:01] Penny Fitzgerald: I'd be okay.

[00:25:05] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Um, so it is, it's up to us to really fine tune what it is that is moving us to our goal and then moving us away from our goal. 

[00:25:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:25:17] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Same with sleep. A lot of people are like, oh, you have to get eight hours, you have to get seven hours. Whatever this have to is. 

[00:25:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:25:26] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: But in reality, like everyone's bodies needs different amounts of sleep.

Mm-hmm. So the best marker for whether or not you're actually sleeping well is do you wake up rested in the morning? 

[00:25:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:25:39] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And if the answer to that is, well, yes, I'm rested after I have my cup of coffee, then no, you're not resting. Oh, that's not working for you. You should be able to go your first hour of.

Ness without needing anything in your body. Mm-hmm. After that, if you wanna drink some coffee, have at it, I have no problem. Mm-hmm. [00:26:00] But, uh, if you are the person that like, drags himself out of bed Mm. And then you're like, oh, where's my cup of coffee? And I can't, without, don't 

[00:26:09] Penny Fitzgerald: talk to me yet, 

[00:26:11] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: then that's not working for you.

[00:26:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:26:13] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Um, so things like that, that are in our lifestyle, and we can just do an inventory of like, do I wake up rested? Do I feel energized for most of the day, or do I need to have another coffee, cup of coffee or another sugary thing? Mm-hmm. To like gimme that extra boost in the afternoon. That's true.

Then something needs a shift or needs to be dialed in to where you can optimize your sleep so that you're waking up rested. Mm-hmm. And I think that's a really big foundation that we, I know it sounds so basic, but I feel like 

[00:26:53] Penny Fitzgerald: it's hard to do though, right. 

[00:26:55] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. 

[00:26:55] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. It's hard to remember. I, for me, and I teach my [00:27:00] clients this too, that, you know, what would your older, wiser self want for you?

Because, you know, when we look back at our younger selves and the way we've talked to ourselves, it's just horrendous. We would never talk to a girlfriend the way that we talked to our own selves. Our own self-talk is just kind of hard. 

[00:27:16] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Mm-hmm. 

[00:27:17] Penny Fitzgerald: And, you know, our older, wiser self wants the best for us as well.

So what can I do in this moment, or if this decision in front of me is, well, I'm not gonna say kale 'cause I'm never choosing kale. If it's potato chips or like celery sticks or something, or something. You know, a snack that would be healthy or an apple or whatever. Right. I can think of my older, wiser self and I put the apple in my body because I'm protecting her and she's.

Pulling me toward her in a healthy way instead of, oh my gosh. You know? Yeah. What's sad for you if you keep eating potato chips? 

[00:27:57] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, absolutely. And again, [00:28:00] like it's okay once in a while. 

[00:28:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:28:02] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: But if it gets to be every single day or multiple times in a week or whatever, 

[00:28:07] Penny Fitzgerald: uhhuh, 

[00:28:08] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: you decide when it is becoming a problem and then it goes back again to your intuition, like, is this, and like, I will eat potato chips and be totally blissed.

Like, I have no issues. Like, you see me be completely non guilt about it because it's probably like once a month. Yeah. And I'm like, I'm gonna enjoy, enjoy my potato chips there uhhuh. Right? 

[00:28:35] Penny Fitzgerald: That's right. If you're gonna have them enjoy 'em. 

[00:28:37] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Right. So it's, it's like I know when I'm on the right path, when I am listening to what my emotions and my hormones are signaling for me.

[00:28:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:28:51] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And if I am eating something out of guilt or if I'm going to go work out and it's out of guilt, oh, I better go work out. [00:29:00] 'cause I have a, I pay these, I pay the gym whatever amount of money and I better go, make use of it. Right. Yeah. Versus like, this is my joy. I am finding joy in the things that are in alignment with my future vision of myself.

[00:29:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:29:18] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Love it. I think that's just such a easier place to live and an easier place to create from Whether's. 

[00:29:24] Penny Fitzgerald: Absolutely. 

[00:29:25] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Babies or anything else. 

[00:29:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Right, right. Yeah. Can, can you talk a little bit more about the cycle thing? 'cause you know, the 24 hour cycle versus our 28 day cycle? 

[00:29:37] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, absolutely. So our rhythm, our, so actually let's do men first.

'cause they're easier. 

[00:29:44] Penny Fitzgerald: It's easy. Yeah. 

[00:29:45] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. They, they get a testosterone surge between four and 6:00 AM in the morning. And they wake up, they, testosterone is already high and it keeps going higher. It peaks around noon-ish and then [00:30:00] it's gonna start getting converted to estrogen. And when that conversion happens, they actually become more sensitive.

It's good networking time. It's like good connection time. Oh wow. Even for men, which is why. So many social things. Happy hour, uhhuh all around their estrogen clock. 

[00:30:21] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, 

[00:30:21] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: so that testosterone has converted to estrogen and now they're ready to mix and mingle. Right. 

[00:30:26] Penny Fitzgerald: Just have more estrogen. You'll be happy.

[00:30:30] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: They don't need a ton of it, but they're converting a little bit of that. Yeah. So, uh, that's the, the male side, and then they'll, their testosterone wears off. They get pretty tired. They go to bed, they wake up. Testosterone. Start the 

[00:30:45] Penny Fitzgerald: cycle 

[00:30:46] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: again. Start, start, start it again. There's no variation from day to day.

Okay. It doesn't matter what day of the week it is, huh. Okay. 

[00:30:53] Penny Fitzgerald: And 

[00:30:53] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: their testosterone energy helps them with single focus. Right? Like they're doing one thing, they're on a [00:31:00] mission, they're gonna go do it. With Moon, we are on a very different clock. Mm-hmm. And in a cycling female. And I say that because you know, there might be women that are listening that are in perimenopause, menopause, whatever, uhhuh.

And at that point there's some, uh, shifts that you can still do to live in tune with a cycle if you wanna uhhuh. So with women, they do have a 24 hour clock. You still need to rest. Rejuvenate. Yeah. And wake up rested in the morning to have a healthy foundation. 

[00:31:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:31:37] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: For the 28 day clock. 

[00:31:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:31:39] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So the 28 day clock then is going to start with cycle day one, which is the start of your menstrual cycle.

[00:31:45] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:31:46] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So the menstrual phase, usually, uh, different women have different lengths of menstrual cycles. It can go anywhere from two to seven days. 

[00:31:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:31:56] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: But in general, the first three days [00:32:00] are where our hormones are at their baseline, meaning they're the lowest they will be all cycle long. Okay. All of the hormones are at their lowest, which is, is essentially the time for us to be the empty vessel that receives.

Oh. So this is the strongest point in which we can access our intuition. 

[00:32:26] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:32:26] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Right. So when we are empty. Hormonally and otherwise, then things come in. Okay. And and we can let it sit with us and we can say, oh, does this feel right for me or not? Mm-hmm. Is this the right tuition or not? And you can get a lot of access to inner wisdom that other times of the cycle might be very hard to find.

To find. So I like to keep my decision making towards that point. Uhhuh, especially for big things. Yes. Right. If I'm making big decisions, it probably doesn't need to be on any [00:33:00] other point of my cycle. 

[00:33:00] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Time to buy a car. 

[00:33:05] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. If I go buy a car in my other phase, I'm gonna pick something very different.

So. That's the start of the season. I relate this most to is winter. That's like, okay, when all the leaves have fallen away, it's very clear to see from one end of the grove to the other end of the grove. Right? 

[00:33:28] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:33:29] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Because there are no leaves in the way. So this is the time when things are going to be the clearest.

[00:33:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:33:37] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: For business people, they're like, well, are you saying that I need to just do nothing for three days because that's gonna be impossible? And I'm like, oh no, I'm a busy body. I can't, but I try to filter away all the unnecessary stuff that I don't need to do. Right. 

[00:33:55] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:33:55] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: It's a really good time to rest and rejuvenate and rebuild.[00:34:00] 

Mm-hmm. So the things that I can say no to that are not necessities, just go away like. It's not the ideal time to be doing podcast interviews, for example. 

[00:34:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, Uhhuh. 

[00:34:14] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: It's not the ideal time to go and be social at a networking event. Mm. It's not the ideal time to hang out with friends even most of the time.

Mm. Uh, it sometimes I'll hang out with friends. It depends on who it is. If it's like one person, it's very low key. I can like vibe with that person in the right way, Uhhuh, then that, then it could be okay. It's also not the time to like overwork out. Right. Like during this phase I want to do resting and rejuvenating, so okay.

I'm gonna do maybe yoga. Mm-hmm. Do something like easy, low key or just take a few days off and that's okay. Like, I often do that and I feel no guilt about it. Mm-hmm. Like, nope, [00:35:00] not going to the gym today. I do some time, but not today. 

[00:35:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:35:04] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So that is kind of our first phase. 

[00:35:08] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:35:09] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: If a woman is non cycling, but still wants to live in some kind of harmony with nature Uhhuh, then a really cool sink is, the New Moon is very similar to the energy of our menstrual cycle.

[00:35:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:35:26] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So that's the easy like matchup point. 

[00:35:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I've been trying to pay attention to the lunar cycles. Um, 

[00:35:32] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: yes. 

[00:35:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Now that, that I'm in that menopausal area. 

[00:35:36] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. 

[00:35:38] Penny Fitzgerald: But yeah, trying to like pay attention to, I just know write down like on a, on a calendar actually. Mm-hmm. How am I feeling today? Mm-hmm. And has that correlated to last month?

Did I feel this way last month around the same time of this lu lunar calendar And um, it's kind of fascinating. 

[00:35:57] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And, [00:36:00] and the same if you were living in tune with the lunar cycle, then you will likely notice like, oh, I get lots of intuition during this time. 

[00:36:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:36:10] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Right? Yep. So writing down, journaling in some way, writing down your thoughts and being present to whatever it is that the universe and your body is trying to, 

[00:36:20] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah.

[00:36:21] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Send you as a 

[00:36:22] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Cool. 

[00:36:24] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: The next phase is going to be the follicular phase is what it's called. Infertility. So follicular phase is the energy of potential creation. Mm-hmm. So if you correlate that with our lives with business, then it's that energy of what are you creating this month? 

[00:36:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:36:46] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So hopefully in in the menstrual phase, you've figured out what your best energy is going to be, spend on for the rest of the month.

And as you go into the follicular phase, you start creating. So [00:37:00] you can start planting the seeds that will come into fruition later in the season. 

[00:37:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:37:07] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So it, it is, uh, very much like spring energy. So like moving from winter to spring, it's a little bit of a transition. Sometimes it's a little cold, you're still warming up, but if you're planting, then that's the time that you're gonna plant your seeds.

Right. 

[00:37:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:37:25] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So that's what you're doing in nature. It makes so much sense in your body. 

[00:37:29] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:37:30] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: What seeds do I need to plant so that I can harvest seeds later? 

[00:37:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:37:36] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So. Um, so that, and, and literally like the follicles that are growing in our ovaries during the phase mm-hmm. Is literally like planting seeds.

It's wild. Like, I love how correlated this is to nature uhhuh. Oh my God. Like, something bigger than us created this. Of course.[00:38:00] 

So that is the follicular phase, and our hormones will kind of start to be on a rise. 

[00:38:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:38:08] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And the key hormones, first it's testosterone, uhhuh, and then it's estrogen. And that testosterone will start to rise, energy starts to go up, we start getting excited. Mm-hmm. And it, it is very similar to male energy in that sense of when testosterone is at its peak, uhhuh, it's gonna be really easy to focus.

So. For women, I always say like, if you have high focus things that are needing your attention, uh, this is the easiest time to knock it out. Do them 

[00:38:42] Penny Fitzgerald: then, 

[00:38:42] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: right? Mm-hmm. You have 50 things on your calendar list. You can be like, click, click, click, click, click, click done. Everything's done in, in a matter of days sometimes, because your energy is just so much more focused and directed.

Okay. Rather than a [00:39:00] lot of the other points in the cycle. 

[00:39:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:39:02] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And then we're turning into estrogen. Okay? So that testosterone converts the estrogen and then estrogen is going to rise and rise and rise and rise until it reaches its peak. So all the way up to that phase we are, um, in this like focus high energy.

Estrogen is also like, I call it the magnetizing hormone. It's like you are super magnetic during this time, 

[00:39:35] Penny Fitzgerald: okay? 

[00:39:36] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So if you wanna be networking, if you wanna be putting yourself out there in whatever way, I, okay. I coach my ladies to be like, Hey, good time for sales is gonna be around when your estrogen is peaked.

Like no one's saying no to you right now. Right? Like, 

[00:39:53] Penny Fitzgerald: wow, 

[00:39:54] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: you're going to be so much more easy to connect with, okay? Easy for you to [00:40:00] connect with other people. Easy to like find the synergies and find the winds. Winds, right? 

[00:40:07] Penny Fitzgerald: Nice. Okay. So 

[00:40:08] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: that's what estrogen does in our body. 

[00:40:10] Penny Fitzgerald: All right? And that's still part of phase two, the follicular.

[00:40:13] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: It's, it's, they all kind of like bleed into each other. Yeah. So it's, it is that like spring and then when estrogen is peaking, you're, we're starting to be in summer. 

[00:40:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:40:23] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So it's that like buzzy summery energy of like, you're out in the world and everything's beautiful and you have a million hours in the day because it's the longest point of the season.

Right. Uhhuh, like, it's the time to be out in the world. 

[00:40:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:40:38] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So we, we have that like mini version in our bodies every single month. So, and, and, and then if you're sinking to the moon, this is around the full moon. Okay. So like three to four days before the full moon and three to four days after the full moon.

[00:40:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:40:53] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Is this like summer season? 

[00:40:55] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:40:57] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And then that kind of [00:41:00] continues until. We get into fall. Okay. And fall is probably the trickiest season of all. Mm-hmm. Uh, in nature and in our bodies. We tend to often, like I live in Houston, so summer just like turns into fall in like a blink of an eye uhhuh. Like summer, summer, summer, summer, summer.

And we have like really long summers here. And then before you know it, you're like, wait, what ha, what just happened? It's like 40 degrees all in the summer. I'm not 

[00:41:32] Penny Fitzgerald: ready. 

[00:41:33] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: I'm not ready for this. And unfortunately, we can sometimes miss that fall. The fall is where we're doing the harvest. Okay? So when we are in tune in nature, it is gonna be our biggest harvest.

This is where you're like, let's harvest the sweet potatoes and potatoes and green beans and whatever. You grew all. Spring planted in the spring, grew in the summer. Mm-hmm. [00:42:00] You're gonna harvest in the fall, and that is going to bring you through winter. So if you don't do the harvest, then guess what? You are empty going into winter.

Oh yeah. And it'll be not a great winter. So the fall is, I say like the most important season. Okay. And what's really like from the work angle? What I like to do is, if you are doing harvest, then you're really looking for what are the things that I planted seeds for? 

[00:42:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:39] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: How did they grow and evolve?

Let me evaluate. 

[00:42:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:42] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And when I'm evaluating, I'm filtering for Yes, do this again, or No, cross this off my list. Like, you don't need to do that like ever again. And we keep doing that through all of the different areas of our life and we say, yeah, that really worked [00:43:00] well. I'd like to try that again. Or, yeah, I, I did that well, but I could have done this different, let me try that next time.

So that reflective period is super crucial to being able to harvest our, our growth. Mm-hmm. 

[00:43:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Whatever 

[00:43:16] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: that growth is. 

[00:43:18] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I feel like that's so hard, and especially for women because we say yes to so many things that aren't really aligned with our harvest, you know, with what we've been growing. But we say yes, because, you know, we're trying to support everyone around us.

[00:43:34] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. Yeah. So get this. Mm-hmm. When we are in peak estrogen energy 

[00:43:39] Penny Fitzgerald: uhhuh, 

[00:43:41] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: it is, we are going to say yes to everything because a. Our hormones feel, make us feel like we're super women. 

[00:43:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:43:51] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So I can be everything to everyone around me. I can take care of my kid, be the super wife, and be the CEO of [00:44:00] my three companies.

And Uhhuh and, and, and, and, and, and I can do it all 

[00:44:04] Penny Fitzgerald: for six days. 

[00:44:05] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: For six days. But the problem happens when I commit to things during this period 

[00:44:13] Penny Fitzgerald: mm-hmm. 

[00:44:13] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: That are getting me committed to several weeks down the road. 

[00:44:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:44:17] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And if I didn't plan it well then I am going to be committed to things that are actually not in alignment with Mm.

Fascinating. So then it takes the integrity of myself to say, actually I committed to this. And it's not in alignment. There's a mismatch. Mm-hmm. And if I discern, which is fall uhhuh the hardest, if I discern like, oh, that was a poor choice on my part, and I go back to the person and say, listen, I value our relationship.

I love you like a sister. I just can't do this right now. Mm-hmm. I can reschedule it to a different time [00:45:00] or it's so out of alignment for me that I can't do it at all. 

[00:45:04] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:45:04] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And being okay with discerning away the things that don't work for you. 

[00:45:10] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:45:11] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Mm-hmm. And, and that's tricky 'cause we are so much about the relationship.

Yeah. And remember, estrogen is the relationship hormone. 

[00:45:21] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:45:21] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So while estrogen is peaked, we're like, oh my God, I love you so much. And oh, how do I make this relationship better? And what can I do And da da. And then when fall comes, shit hits the fan. Mm-hmm. And this is the time. When our body is showing us the most.

So a lot of people complain about PMS, right? Yeah. Like that's a very common experience for our 50% of our world. Yeah. And uh, what I realized going through the relationship that did not work out and the, the marriage that was just a bad choice, is [00:46:00] that I had the worst PMS that I had ever had in my life.

[00:46:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. 

[00:46:06] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And PMS is the, the har harmony of hormones. And I'm calling it a harmony on purpose. It's the way that the hormones are synergizing. 

[00:46:18] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:46:18] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: That is meant to show me that there is a di, a misalignment. In my something, and it's not clear what it's about. Right. It could be, oh, it's a misalignment for the way that I'm doing my business.

It's a misalignment for my job. Wow. It's a misalignment for my relationship. 

[00:46:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:46:37] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: But where those emotions show up is the indicator of what the misalignment is. Mm-hmm. So if I have a week of PMS and I'm like, oh, I'm so bitchy during this time. Excuse my language, it's okay. Everyone says this, right? Like, I'm bitchy.

I'm bitchy. Or, or the, the partner is like, oh God, watch out for [00:47:00] that woman 

[00:47:00] Penny Fitzgerald: uhhuh. 

[00:47:02] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And during that period of time, if my quote unquote bitchiness is anger towards my partner, then that emotion plus the discord of hormones. Trying to tell me that something is out of whack in my relationship. 

[00:47:20] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. 

[00:47:21] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Versus if that anger or frustration is showing up with my boss at work, Uhhuh, then that is an indicator of like, oh, something is out of alignment with my work.

[00:47:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. 

[00:47:31] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So it's a really cool way for me to be like, oh, I can be in obs observation about Uhhuh, where the emotions and what are the emotions that are coming up. It's not always anger. Right. Uhhuh. Sometimes it's, oh, I just am weepy all the time. 

[00:47:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:47:49] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: It's like, well, what are you sad about? Where is that 

[00:47:53] Penny Fitzgerald: commercial with the puppy?

[00:47:56] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: No. What's the deeper sadness? What is it [00:48:00] reminding you of that Yeah. That's triggering your sadness Uhhuh when you cry about the puppy in the commercial. Mm-hmm. I know you're just joking, but this is very real because I've done this exercise with people, 

[00:48:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, 

[00:48:13] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: it's like they're crying about the emotional connection that this woman has with her puppy.

Mm-hmm. That they very much want in our life. So the sadness is what's missing from my life. 

[00:48:28] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. 

[00:48:29] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Right. Uhhuh. 

[00:48:30] Penny Fitzgerald: So 

[00:48:30] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: we, we just have to get really super skilled at reading what it is uhhuh that our body and our hormones and our emotions are trying to tell us. 

[00:48:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. That's so fascinating. 

[00:48:43] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. And when, when you start to see the pattern, you're like, and.

Please don't get me wrong. I, I say this a lot and people will message me like, are you telling me that my relationship is just doomed and I should get a divorce? And I'm like, no, no. That's absolutely not what I'm [00:49:00] saying. No, but what I'm saying is that, hey, if your anger is directed to your partner, the deeper aspect of that is there's some resentment that's building up.

So what are you resentful towards him about 

[00:49:17] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh 

[00:49:17] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: and can you work through it? Like, can you use your, the time that you're doing in harvest where you're reviewing and you're saying mm-hmm. Oh yeah. I seem to get upset with my partner a lot. Mm-hmm. And what am I getting upset about? Right. I can like, put it down in my 

[00:49:34] Penny Fitzgerald: journal.

Journal. 

[00:49:35] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Mm-hmm. See what patterns are coming up. 

[00:49:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:49:37] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Might take a little while, but as this comes up and as I start seeing the pattern, I can say, oh. I see every time that I am during this phase in my cycle, I'm getting upset with my husband about the dishes is a great example. He didn't do the dishes [00:50:00] right.

This like the number of times I hear this, oh my gosh. Get a therapist. Yes, but it comes up 'cause we work with couples Neil, so he's telling me like she is crazy during this time. And it will take us a little bit of time to say, okay, this is not about the dishes, it's about something else. What is it about?

And what's actually happening a lot of times is that she's feeling unsupported. Like, oh, I don't feel heard and supported in what I need. And during my summer and spring phase, Uhhuh, I'm okay with it. So she's like, why does this only come up during this time? Like, is she just crazy? 'cause every other time of the the month she's fine 

[00:50:51] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh.

[00:50:51] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And it's like, no, she's not crazy. She's feeling it the whole month. 

[00:50:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Uhhuh, she just puts up with it better. 

[00:50:58] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yes. Her [00:51:00] hormones are in a different stage. 

[00:51:02] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, 

[00:51:02] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: wow. And are not paying attention to the fact that you didn't do the dishes. Right. But when it comes to the fall season, we can't bullshit anymore. Uhhuh.

If I, if you, if she's upset with you because you didn't do the dishes right, she's gonna be like, 

[00:51:18] Penny Fitzgerald: wow. Yeah, it's gonna come out, 

[00:51:21] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Uhhuh. It's gonna come out. And so the importance of fall is to do the harvest. What I tell a lot of people, especially if there's a lot of energy there mm-hmm. Do not have these conversations during that time period.

[00:51:38] Penny Fitzgerald: Good idea. 

[00:51:40] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Wait until you're in your high estrogen period to actually have this conversation. 

[00:51:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:51:47] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Because you're in a more connected state. 

[00:51:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:51:50] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: When you have estrogen floating around in your system mm-hmm. And your body's not going crazy, and you can actually have a conversation that leads to [00:52:00] connection over, uh, feeling, having your partner feel attacked or, you know, whatever.

Mm-hmm. Whatever comes out of that. So having, it's okay to like notice the patterns and then wait for a different time to have that conversation, or, A lot of times it's anger, frustration coming out towards the boss and people are like, what? I'm just supposed to quit. I can't quit my job. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Like, what is the resentment about. It's like, well, I do so much. Okay, so is it that you're doing so much and you don't feel like you're getting adequately rewarded for it? Yeah. Okay. Is it money or is it recognition? 

[00:52:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:52:45] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Money. Okay. Great. So sounds like you're doing a lot. Sounds like it's time to ask your boss for a raise.

Let's wait till your observation, your summer to ask for that raise. Mm-hmm. But [00:53:00] during the harvest period, let's get really crystal clear on what it is that you're contributing to this team, to this environment, to this boss, to this company. Yes. So that your boss can say, oh yeah, I totally see what you're doing for me.

Mm-hmm. I see the value I, and you've got it like logically listed out of like, this is how much value I create. In exchange, I would like to get paid more. 

[00:53:28] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, for sure. 

[00:53:29] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And when you have that conversation in your summer, there's no way your boss is saying no. Especially if you're going with this full report of your, have the data, all things, here's Yes.

Present the data mm-hmm. And do it in your, uh, high connection period. 

[00:53:48] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:53:49] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Right? 

[00:53:49] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. 

[00:53:50] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So, 

[00:53:50] Penny Fitzgerald: oh 

[00:53:50] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: gosh. Yeah. So that's, that's the how I envision, like using hormones, using the knowledge of our body and the wisdom of our [00:54:00] body to help support the vision that we want to create in our lives. 

[00:54:05] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I love it. It makes so much sense and I love the way you explain it, so thank you so much for that.

[00:54:12] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: You're very welcome. 

[00:54:13] Penny Fitzgerald: Awesome. Can I switch gears on you a little bit? Yeah, 

[00:54:16] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: sure. 

[00:54:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. So at the end of my conversations, I love to bring it around to cocktails 'cause I love cocktails, so, or a glass of wine. So, uh, what's, do you have a favorite, um, beverage that you go to? 

[00:54:31] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Uh, so I quit alcohol Uhhuh about a year ago.

[00:54:35] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:54:36] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And, uh, but I have continued loving, I love mixed drinks. Uhhuh. So my favorite is a mescal. They usually mix it with like, um, like grapefruit juice or something like that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. With some bagel, I forget what they're called. I'll see it on the list and I'll be like, yeah, that one. And what's cool is [00:55:00] that I found, um, there are lots of.

These new companies that are like, 

[00:55:06] Penny Fitzgerald: yes, 

[00:55:06] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: alcohol, free alcohol. 

[00:55:08] Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. 

[00:55:09] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Oh, so good. 

[00:55:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. 

[00:55:11] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So good. 

[00:55:12] Penny Fitzgerald: So you can still enjoy the cocktail without, you know, without alcohol. It's a mocktail now. 

[00:55:17] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. Yep. Yeah. 

[00:55:19] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. That smokiness of the mezcal with the grapefruit and a little basil. It's so delicious. 

[00:55:24] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: So good. That's my jam.

[00:55:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Fun. Okay, so what's a, what's a favorite memory or one that comes to mind? Um, shared with girlfriends. Hmm. 

[00:55:35] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Oh, love it. So this was just about two months ago. We have a group of girlfriends here that are all the same as me. All brown, meaning Indian uhhuh. And we're all married to black men. 

[00:55:53] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh. 

[00:55:54] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And so we are kind of a very, uh, rare breed [00:56:00] in some ways.

Okay. 

[00:56:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Is there a club? 

[00:56:03] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. It's like a secret club that I didn't know existed until here, right. Until I met these women and I was like, oh my God, what's happening? Uh, so we all, we went to dinner and, and then we went for drinks, quote unquote drinks. They drank? Yes. I had some mocktails, Uhhuh, uh, and uh, we were out till like two 30 in the morning.

Wow. Which is very rare for me. 

[00:56:33] Penny Fitzgerald: Uh, 

[00:56:34] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: happened in a long time. So before I knew it, we were like. Six hours deep into conversation. 

[00:56:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, I love that. 

[00:56:43] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah. Just loved every minute of it. 

[00:56:45] Penny Fitzgerald: Aw, yeah. It's so fun. I mean, you can get so wrapped up with the girls. It's so important to keep those connections and to really have those, those girl, that girlfriend time is important.

[00:56:55] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Mm-hmm. Yep. 

[00:56:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. 

[00:56:58] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And so, um, [00:57:00] one of the things that I share a lot is there's a hormone called oxytocin, which is balancer to cortisol, uhhuh. And there's lots of ways to get oxytocin into our body. Almost all of them are free. Uh, and my, one of my favorite ways is time with women. 

[00:57:19] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh. So 

[00:57:20] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: being in groups and circles of women.

[00:57:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

[00:57:23] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Connecting deeply with deep like. Eye gazing, soulful conversation. Uhhuh is a very good way to release oxytocin and it's a good neutralizer of cortisol. So, 

[00:57:38] Penny Fitzgerald: uh, that 

[00:57:39] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, the more you can do that, the better. 

[00:57:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, you heard it here from our doctor.

Oh my gosh. Dr. Aumatma, thank you so much for your time. This has been amazing. 

[00:57:53] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: You're very welcome, Penny. It's good to be here. 

[00:57:56] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wonderful. Well, I, I will, um, keep you posted [00:58:00] as I get closer to releasing it. I've got several, um, recordings in, in my system that I'm waiting to release, but yours is so fun. I may bump yours up a little bit.

Okay. It, it could be, um, sometime be, well if I go in order it would be, um, probably towards the end of February, but I think I'll bump you up 'cause this was fun. 

[00:58:23] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, thank you. 

[00:58:24] Penny Fitzgerald: I'll let you know. 

[00:58:26] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, this was fun. 

[00:58:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Cool. All right. Well, thank you so much. 

[00:58:30] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Thank you. 

[00:58:31] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, you know, what do I have, did you email me your contact information?

Like where people can find you? 

[00:58:38] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: I think my assistant probably did that. Okay. But if you didn't get it, just let me know. 

[00:58:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:58:44] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And I send it to you. 

[00:58:45] Penny Fitzgerald: I'll look. I'm, if I probably have it and I just don't remember. 

[00:58:49] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yeah, yeah. Go look for it. Didn't, I didn't say this earlier, but, um, I am writing a book on all of what we've been talking about.

Oh, 

[00:58:57] Penny Fitzgerald: nice. 

[00:58:58] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Uh, and that [00:59:00] book will be out sometime this year. So I do have a list list so that I can get people like alerted of like, Hey, the book is out. 

[00:59:07] Penny Fitzgerald: where can people find you if they want to connect and learn about your book? 

[00:59:11] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Awesome. So the best place is connect with me on Instagram. I'm @holisticfertilitydoctor and I have created a wait list for the book. And anyone on this list will get a free, like first chapter, intro, all of that.

[00:59:26] Penny Fitzgerald: Nice. 

[00:59:27] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: And you can find that at holisticfertilityinstitute.com/hormonal. 

[00:59:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Nice. Okay, wonderful. Well I will put that in the show notes too, so people can find you really easily. 

[00:59:41] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Yes. Awesome. 

[00:59:42] Penny Fitzgerald: Cool. 

[00:59:42] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Thank you so much. 

[00:59:43] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Alright, well have a great evening and I'll um, I'll be talking with you soon-ish.

[00:59:50] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Okay, wonderful. Thank you so 

[00:59:51] Penny Fitzgerald: much. 

[00:59:51] Dr. Aumatma Simmons: Take care. 

[00:59:52] Penny Fitzgerald: Bye. Bye. 

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