What is Cortisol and Why Should Moms Care?

The demands you place on yourself as a homeschool mama are heavy and many. You rise to the occasion time and time again, often because there's no other choice... but sometimes, there is! What's the ultimate cost to your health & relationships?

Join Whitney and guest Yvonne Conaway of Alive Functional Wellness as they dive into cortisol, including:

• how unrealistic expectations can lead to hormone issues
• the actual purpose of cortisol, daily rhythyms, and sleep
• what happens when cortisol runs the show
• small steps to address cortisol imbalance and chronic stress
• Whitney's journey through cortisol and hormone imbalances

If chronic stress has you stuck in a cycle you can't seem to break, this episode is for you. Maybe perimenopause or other women's health issues have you concerned about hormones-- but how does that relate to feeling overstimulated? Listen along and find out.

Be sure to check out Alive Functional Wellness, including their website, facebook, and instagram. Yvonne is the perfect balance of approachable and knowledgeable, and you're sure to benefit from her resources and services.

Spring crazies got you and yours feeling a little extra dysregulated lately?

You're invited to join the workshop and Q&A: Mama Needs a Minute: 3 Steps When You're Over It. Friday May 2nd at 3:00 Eastern EDT. Check out Sensational Moms on Instagram or Facebook or sign up to be notified via email. Live or later! I'd love to see you there.

This podcast is not meant as medical advice or a substitute for any medical advice. Please contact your health professional with any mental health or physical health questions or concerns.

Transcript

Whitney: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Sensational Moms podcast. I'm so happy to have a friend here today who is also an expert in functional wellness. Yvonne, welcome.

Yvonne: Hi. I am so excited to be here.

Whitney: So you started your career 15 years ago working as a registered nurse at Piedmont, and you spent 10 years at an ICU. Doing labor and delivery, and you had a passion for assisting women that developed there. So from there you had just an eagerness to learn that resulted in your accreditation as a nurse practitioner.

You worked five years as a breast and women's health specialist, and then as you became involved in just the total care of your patients, you started to see how functional medicine principles resonate with how you approach patient care. So that's neat to see this, the evolution of your career over these years and now you see [00:01:00] patients or clients virtually.

And in person at your private practice in or near Atlanta, Georgia. So it's called a live functional wellness. So I'm so happy to have you here today. I remember in my early days of motherhood before I had ever even considered homeschooling, that you homeschooled your little boys.

Only super women must homeschool their kids. And uh, of course now I know better. We are just, uh, normal moms and we are just pushing ourselves like all moms do. And often we push ourselves beyond our limits and we have negative effects from that with our health, our physical health, and our mental health.

Sometimes it's just the nature of our jobs as moms that we are the ones who are pushing ourselves to unrealistic expectations. [00:02:00] Sometimes the expectations aren't from other people. They come from inside of us. So can you think of a way that unrealistic expectations affect women with young families in particular?

Yvonne: Oh, I think, you know, we live. We live in this time now of, of, uh, what I call Instagram and Facebook perfection, right? And so, um, when we, when we look at, I think we said un unrealistic expectations of ourselves because what we see on, on social media and, and the perfect lives that people portray, which is really an, an unrealistic view of their lives, right? also think that that moms often try to be everything to everyone else. Um, they try to be the perfect mom, the perfect housewife, the perfect wife, the perfect friend. And, um, in the process of that, maybe we forget take care [00:03:00] of ourselves.

Whitney: Yeah, that's so true. We, um, can become martyrs, whether it's accidental or intentional, and before we know it, we can just kind of be, you know, treading water. And I know that my experience with traditional medicine has sometimes, you know, it's almost like a signal isn't. An alarm isn't sounded until it's, I wouldn't say too late, but you know, it's really far down that journey.

Whereas if I had realized what was going on with my health earlier, um, before things had really snowballed and gotten out of control, then it would've been much easier to to head off those difficulties on the front end. But yeah, you are so right that, um, that. Perfection. The highlight reel that we see in other people's lives can really affect us.

I know that we see that a lot as homeschool moms because it's like there's this, you know, perfect, you know, table [00:04:00] spread with homeschooling children, sitting quietly and learning together. And, um, that's very rarely how things actually play out, especially if you are in a.

Maybe you have some of your own needs and there's just a lot when we have so many people under one roof. So how do you, how do you think that we can become aware of what those unrealistic expectations are?

Yvonne: Oh, that's a good question. Um, you know, I, I think self-reflection is really important, um, also giving yourself a lot of grace. I, I definitely realize in, in my personal journey, you know, when we, we, we homeschooled for a shorter period of time. Mostly when my, my oldest son was in middle school because there was [00:05:00] just some struggles anyways.

Um, and I remember, you know, you have this plan and you do all your research. I spend so much time on the front end looking at curricula and, and programs and things like that and talking to people. I, I pulled. Pulled so many different moms that I knew homeschooled and trying to make the perfect plan for us.

Whitney: Right.

Yvonne: then, uh, and then we got to the point of, you know, we, we got started and you meet other homeschool moms and maybe you're in a, in a community of some sort, and all of a sudden you start second guessing everything.

Whitney: Yeah.

Yvonne: I be doing that curriculum? Oh, did I make a bad choice here? And, and, and giving yourself the grace to know. I know what's best, um, for my family and for my children, and also just being still and, and listening to, to the guidance of the Lord, to, to, to, to get you on that right path [00:06:00] because just, you know, there's so many pathways we can

Whitney: Right.

Yvonne: any given point. There's so many choices and, and ultimately realizing. Um, that there's maybe many cor right choices and, and just trusting that the one that you chose is the right one for you. And, and also realizing that there are course corrections along the way that we can take. And just because we chose one path, that doesn't mean it was wrong, even if it took us around, um, different paths and, and, um. Those are all life experiences and they all count for something, and I think that's, that's important. Our life doesn't have to be perfectly planned out and follow this perfectly planned path, but realizing that even if we took a quote unquote wrong path at some turn, that we still ended up exactly where we were designed and, and created and, and planned to be at this [00:07:00] point in time.

Whitney: That's so true. Thank you for that reminder. So it sounds like you're saying, you know, it's much easier to look out and around us and compare what's going on in our life to others and it can be a different kind of uncomfortable sometimes to sit and be self-reflective and see what's going on. And to a certain extent, you know, just holding that with an.

Yvonne: Yeah.

Whitney: The more we learn about neuroscience and biology, the more that we learn that there is this intricate relationship between the brain and the body. So if we're trying to look at those unrealistic expectations and shift, and when we're stuck in a place of overwhelm or just feeling anxious and reactive, we often jump to or just kind of.

Mind or, or brain-based solutions, right? Kind of these top down [00:08:00] sort of mind over matter things, but it's not always that straightforward, right? The sort of, uh, willpower to, to, to make the right choice or, or do things differently. So when we think about hormones like cortisol, and that certainly affects our whole body, right?

Like we think we kind of put cortisol in like this neat little bucket, but it has body. Full body effects. Certainly it affects our, our mind in our state of mind. So can you just help us understand a little bit more about cortisol? You know, I've seen, you know, like it's kind, I wanna say it's like a buzzword.

Maybe the algorithm is just feeding me cortisol. I, because I talk about this a lot with moms, but, um, I feel like it's, we do kind of throw around this word cortisol and we just don't really have an idea of what.

Is in our body, right? Because we cortisol for a reason. You could help understand.[00:09:00] 

Yvonne: Yeah. So, um, cortisol is a hormone that's released by our adrenal glands, which are two glands that sit above our, our kidneys, um, kind of deep inside of our. Belly and the adrenal glands make other corticosteroids as well, but cortisol is is a big one. It is actually stimulated by the pituitary gland in our brain, which releases corticosteroid stimulating hormone, and then that stimulates the adrenals to release. Cortisol, right? And so we have this, we have this cortisol curve, so to speak, where in the mornings when we, when we wake up, our cortisol naturally rises to its peak or should rise to its peak. And then throughout the day, um, we see a gradual drop in cortisol and have a, our lowest point of cortisol at the end of the day. What's also very interesting about cortisol. Is that when we first wake up in that first 30 minutes, we have what's [00:10:00] called a cortisol awakening response or car. that is, um, kind of, we wanna, when we, when we test for cortisol, so getting a little bit into the. Nitty gritty here, but, um, we wanna see a certain percentage of rise in that first 30 minutes, right? But that cortisol awakening response is actually not triggered by our adrenal glands, but actually by our brain directly. So it is that, that stimulation that we get in the morning, that get up and go, and when, when our brain starts running through all the things that we, that we need to do. Um, and so that, that initial stimulation is actually our, our brain's cortisol, so to speak.

Whitney: Okay.

Yvonne: And so, so when we, when we see kind of that, um, you know, when we do testing, when we see that blunted response early in the morning, it's, it's, it almost gives us an indication of that we, that we already wake up anxious and amped up. Right? There's not much of a [00:11:00] rise coming because we're already so like. Our brain is immediately go. And, and to me that always that, when, when I see that, um, in a mom or in any patient really, um, I really try to talk to them about, you know, what, what, what they can do from a, from a mental stimulation or decreasing mental stimulation. Um, you know, so that they don't wake up for a lack of better word, like an amped up monkey,

Whitney: Okay, Yvonne, I've gotta stop you here because when you said wake up and like ready to go kind of already, you know, feeling anxious and what can you not do? You know what's gonna come to my mind is how often we grab our phone first thing in the morning and start, you know, scrolling, like checking the news and.

Have you seen, is that one of those things that you would say be wary of if you're in, in that sort of like blunt cortisol situation?[00:12:00] 

Yvonne: Absolutely.

Whitney: Okay.

Yvonne: Um, just because that will, will even increase anxiety

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah.

Yvonne: Um, I think, um, what I, when I see that response and, uh, there's a little bit of personal, personal history there with, with my, my, my personal testing, that was a huge, huge wake up call. But just waking up in the morning and, um, taking some deep breaths. um, starting with, with maybe some mindfulness or, or journaling or just some quiet time and things like that. Like, like really, um, almost, almost getting up a little bit earlier to have a little bit more of that ramp up time rather than hitting the ground running. So that we can see more of that, that that healthier response

Whitney: Okay.

Yvonne: what happens when you, when you run in that immediate cortisol jump in the [00:13:00] morning, Your, your body learns that response. Right? Um, so, so cortisol and, and melatonin, um, work, work in balance with each other. Right? When cortisol is up, melatonin is down, and then at night when cortisol is supposed to come down, melatonin goes up and helps us sleep. So when our body is conditioned to have that early morning immediate cortisol rise. What that results in is interrupted sleep, cortisol rising earlier, waking us up earlier, and we get that early morning, wake up, not being able to go back to sleep. So,

Whitney: Okay.

Yvonne: so.

Whitney: I have to say this because you on the right and so perimenopause, you know.

Moms are always talking about this. Now, I feel like in this fa in my phase of life that day, that that wake up like you're talking about, [00:14:00] that, you know, uh, too early wake up and I can't go back to sleep. And I know that, you know, there's other hormones at play there, but, you know, but what we can do is, like you're saying, be mindful of our habits.

The things that are in our control, right? Like maybe not hitting the cortisol driving factors first thing in the morning with the phone or the news, or reaching for, you know, extra coffee right out of bed. Maybe you know what, you know, we, we can, you know, affect this.

Yvonne: Yes, definitely. So yes, you, you make an interesting point, obviously. Yes. And perimenopause. There are some other hormones in play there and progesterone dropping certainly has to do with not sleeping well and those early, early wake

Whitney: Yeah,

Yvonne: well. It's not never just one

Whitney: I know. Yeah. That,

Yvonne: hormones are a big symphony.

Um, and when, when one, when one instrument [00:15:00] doesn't play, its

Whitney: Yeah.

Yvonne: the, the

Whitney: Whole thing. Yeah. Well that, and then that's why you do what you do is helping, you know, figure out, I love how you said that. The symphony. I usually say puzzle, but that sounds so impersonal. Symphony. I like that. Yeah. So you help us, you would help someone make sense of all of those, you know, pieces and figure out, you know, what came first, you know, that the chicken or the egg or, that was part of my story I was having, um, at first the doctor noticed progesterone and estrogen imbalances, but I was so young.

And that doctor was wanting to approach it with, um, you know, bioidentical hormones. And, but I was just thinking, man, well I'm, you know, 32 here, do I really, why am I having these imbalances? And that was really just that, that was the tip of the iceberg. There were other problems under that, that were really, you know, more at play.

So it is, it's a tangled web that is for sure. So cortisol has its role, so. I'm [00:16:00] sorry, what? You can go ahead, Yvonne.

Yvonne: Yeah. What, what, what I, I tell people is, um, re reproduction is, is is not essential for, for survival, right? It is, it is important for, for. but reproduction is not important for your personal survival. So it's the first thing that's going to go because it's non-essential, right?

So progesterone imbalance, estrogen imbalance, testosterone imbalance, those are all downstream.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah.

Yvonne: so when there, it's, it's usually a reflection of a dysfunction further up. So what I've learned in functional medicine is when we have hormonal imbalances, really the order in which to approach it is thyroid, adrenals, and then the sex hormones.

So, giving bioidentical hormones to a 32-year-old without having assessed is, what are the adrenals doing, what is the thyroid doing, and, and, and how is everything else involved is really,

Whitney: It's a pretty bandaid.[00:17:00] 

Yvonne: right? Because it really is just a sign.

Whitney: Exactly.

Yvonne: something not working elsewhere. It's a downstream effect.

So,

Whitney: Yeah. Thank you so much for perspective. So it. Um, I, I did for sure notice, you know, the morning, the sleeping difficulties, you know, those sorts of things that you see with cortisol imbalances and adrenal fatigue. But so, so what are some other things that cortisol is supposed to help us with, right? So it's gonna help us with that wake up, but ideally we won't hit the ground running, so it'll be kind of a slow amp up.

What else should cortisol be doing for us?

Yvonne: So cortisol is involved in our, in our stress response. Right. And, and, and, um, in that hear that fight or flight moment, right? Or terminology. So when we're, when we're in a, in a situation of danger or. Or if you have to, you know, get up in front of a. A room and give a speech, but you [00:18:00] maybe are not comfortable with that or whatever situation that might be causing you a little bit of anxiety or, or, or stress in that sense. Um, that's where, where cortisol comes into play. Um, the example I, I like to use, that's really not realistic to our time and age anymore is, but it's, you know, if you, back when we were hunter gatherers and you were walking through the jungle and, and that tiger came upon you, it's cortisol is what? What, what, what rises and makes you run for your life?

Right. So it's a, it's a, it's a healthy response that, you know, um, blood flow from non-vital organs at that point in time to our vital organs. So our respiratory rate increases our heart rate increase. Um, and when we get laser focused, we get that. This is all, this is where we're going right now, and, and, and, and so, so it's, it's a really positive response when you're, you're fighting for your life or you're [00:19:00] having to give an important speech or, um, you know, you're, you're, I don't know, something happens with your child on the

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah,

Yvonne: fall and you have to be laser focused and get them to the car, get them to the er, whatever, all of those situations, right?

Whitney: Yeah.

Yvonne: that's where cortisol is. Is a, is a good response. Um, it also helps with, um, our immune system and with wound healing and, and healing in general. Cortisol is involved in, in that inflammatory response when we have accu acute infections and, and, and cuts and bone breaks and all of that.

It, it, it gets all of those helpful, um, inflammatory cytokines and everything to the area, so, so, so that the body can be restored and healed.

Whitney: Sop.

Yvonne: When, when the acute chronic, the acute cortisol response becomes chronic,[00:20:00] 

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah.

Yvonne: So when you're, when you're not talking about a. one time situation, but maybe a situation that happens over and over and over and over. So you have this compounded stress response, or it's just a prolonged period of, of stress where there is never that relief where the cortisol can come back down. And so then the body goes into this, um, you know, it can't, it can't. Reset itself and, and does not bring itself into that, that homeostasis. And so the body continues to try to get you back into that mode. But after you run constant recovery for so long, eventually you just, you just burn out and, and, and, yeah.

And crash.

Whitney: You know, my gut reaction when you say prolonged stress event is to say what we hear, you know, repeated all around us in culture was like, well, motherhood is like one [00:21:00] prolonged stress event. But you know, we have to figure out how to, you know, break that mentality. And if that's the case, you know, if we really feel like.

Our motherhood, however, you know, I say however long that will be. I mean, once we're mothers, we're always mothers, you know, it just looks different at different phases of life. But we have to start like, speaking differently about this narrative. I mean, at some point it, you know, it's starting to kill us, frankly.

Um,

Yvonne: Mm-hmm.

Whitney: easier said than done. Uh, but yeah, we have to figure out some practical ways to. To get the support that we need as moms. And like I, I talk with my clients about working on the stress cycle, right? How do you have that response and that, you know, letting go, like, like getting your foot off the gas pedal.

So figuring out what that looks like in our lives. So now that we understand [00:22:00] a little bit more, let's shift gears and talk about what we can do as busy moms. So. Change is hard, right? That's why you do what you do. It takes a lot of energy and effort to change our habits, but we can make harder, we can make things harder than they have to be sometimes too, right?

Sometimes we have all or nothing mentality or, or other things that are just really getting in our way. So. If you were to simplify things for someone who is just starting to look at their lifestyle and knows that cortisol is, is going to be as part of their puzzle piece, you know, then where, where's one, maybe one or two simple ways that we can start or things that we should look at.

Yvonne: Yeah, that's, that's a really great question. Um, I have a quick, quick story to, to, to interject there because I have had a client about six, seven months ago and she had a lot of stress [00:23:00] and it was manifesting in rash. I. And just this diff rash. And we, you know, we started with, with food sensitivity testing and really nothing pinged.

It was, it was a very kind of odd case. And, but in, you know, I, I still, in the conversation there was always this, I have so much on my plate, I'm so stressed and, you know, and I'm also not sleeping well 'cause I have this, this newborn still or young, you know, very young

Whitney: Yeah.

Yvonne: And, and so, um. We really just talked about just some very simple changes in her life and, um, what that looked like was, you know, her, she, she had a conversation with her husband about taking over just like one, one of the.

The house things. I think it was, um, he was going to prepare dinner instead of her and plan it and shop for it. And, um, she got her oldest daughter who was I think 12 or 13 at the time to help, um, with the laundry because her daughter really enjoyed it anyways. And so she [00:24:00] said those two things and her rest went away.

Whitney: Wow. Wow.

Yvonne: rash dissolved. It was, it was really quite remarkable. And it, it, it, it re manifested for me how, how really some simple changes can, can, can make it happen. So how does that look like practically? Um, what I, where I start with when I talk to clients is, you know, I, I, I really want to make them understand that it is not like you don't have to change the entire world today. Um, what we're looking for is one little change that is sustainable for you. And then when we meet again in two or three or four weeks or whenever that is, we, we, we look how successful you were, what were maybe hold backs for that change, what worked well, and then we add another little thing in, and so we course correct.

Very, very. Small, right? So like one [00:25:00] degree change over time still becomes a big change. But, but I think we need to, we need to not look at our big picture and think, oh, that'll never work for me because this, this, this, and this. But look at what, what the tiniest change look like, um, in my personal life. Currently I work a lot of hours. I'm, I'm, I'm trying to build, build a business on top of that. I have three children, well, two grown, but one in college and, but one young one still at home. And, um, there, there's a lot of times where I feel like there's not a lot of margin and what do I do with that? So, um. husband is very cognizant of my, my stress levels, and he reminds me, and, and I've, I've charged him with that. And so he's made certain changes and he, he has incorporated sauna Sunday. So on Sunday afternoons we go to our gym and sit in the sauna for 20 minutes and just deep breath and. [00:26:00] such a simple thing, and sometimes I think I don't wanna have to do that too. But afterwards I feel so much better and it really resets my mind for the week to come. No matter how busy it, it, it might look on, on my calendar. And it, it's a, know, it decreasing, decreasing that cortisol can be as simple as, as setting a timer on your phone for three minutes. And doing deep breathing, just box breathing or, or inhaling for a count of seven and exhaling for a count of 10 or whatever numbers you wanna pick, right? And when you're counting your breaths and you're focusing on your inhale and on your exhale, there is no room to think about anything else and just three minutes of breathing. Every day can do wonders for the cortisol level, and there is no mom on the surface of this planet that doesn't have three minutes, [00:27:00] spend three minutes less on Instagram.

Right.

Whitney: Right, right.

Yvonne: yeah.

Whitney: Or you know, theoretically we have time by ourselves in the bathroom. You know, depending on the age your children are, sometimes that's, sometimes that's not true, but yeah. Yeah, that, thank you for that reminder. It is those really small habits that do. Just build up over time, and that's where things come from.

You know, it's easy to look at, you know, how hard things can be and maybe how we're so far from where we'd like to be that we think we're just gonna turn on a dime and change everything. But truthfully, you know, things didn't get like this usually, you know. Overnight and it's not probably going to be fixed overnight.

Um, I know that sometimes it can be easy even when, when we get labs back that show, you know, elevated this and decrease that, it can be easy to just think, well, what pill do I need to swallow? Um, tell me how much it costs, you know, even if it's a vitamin or an herbal, even if it's [00:28:00] something good. Right. And those things

Yvonne: Mm-hmm.

Whitney: their place.

I'm sure you use them in your practice, but you know, it's just one piece of. By itself, it won't get you very far. If our habits aren't supportive of what.

Yvonne: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So deep breathing is a big one. And then, um, and don't discount breathing like we. We need to breathe. Um, and the other one that I found that is super helpful is, um, grateful journaling. Just even if, if all you can put down is, I'm grateful for coffee this morning. I am grateful to have gotten four hours of sleep last night.

I'm what? Whatever it is. Like, sometimes you just need to write that first or second sentence and, and then it starts flowing and, and when you approach the day from a sense of. Of gratefulness rather [00:29:00] than all the, all the things that you can get, get to be thankful for versus all the things that, that might not look positive, that that can really shift an outlook and, and help, help with cortisol levels as well.

Whitney: Yeah. So breathing and, uh, the gratitude journaling. And sometimes I kind of make journaling, journaling more than it has to be. You know, like it can complicate things really well. That's how I work. And, uh, so I think, oh, I just need to sit down with, you know, the right book and all depends and do the thing, but then thing never happens.

Sometimes even just keeping a notebook by. In the kitchen, wherever you're gonna see it more often, just to jot things down is helpful for a reader and not make it a whole thing. Right. If you're are like me.

Yvonne: not have to be a thing. No, don't make it more stressful. That's

Whitney: Exactly. Exactly. [00:30:00] Yeah. Yeah. And it often sounds like your husband is really supportive of you. So having someone in our life. Who is aware of our tendencies or you know, what we need and maybe even what our goals are. You know, it doesn't necessarily have to be a coach if we can't or don't have that, but just having that relationship with someone to hold you accountable can be, can be helpful.

Yvonne: Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. I've been very blessed. I have, have a good one.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah, that makes a huge difference. So

Yvonne: really does.

Whitney: if someone, you know, tries these supports and is still, is not seeing the results that they're hoping for, when do you think it would be wise for a mom to seek an expert like yourself?

Yvonne: I don't. [00:31:00] Question for a while and like trying to think of when would be the point where you should see expert help or whatever. Um, but I think, you know, talking through with you too, of, of, of your experience, um, I think the sooner the better. Um, I think, you know, uh, my. My, my clinic, my business is, is called Alive Functional Wellness. it, it, and to me, wellness is not just, the absence of, of disease, but it really is truly thriving and being well, right? And so, um, think. Really most anybody can benefit from, from just figuring out what, what can I even just dial in a little bit? Right? But certainly, certainly, um, um, you know, chronic fatigue, sleeping well, feeling like you're dragging through the day.

Like you, [00:32:00] you have that afternoon just, ugh. I can't make it to bedtime. I can't wait till bedtime. Then maybe trouble falling asleep. Those are all very common cortisol dysfunction signs. Right. Um, so cer certainly, certainly any, any of those for sure. I. But I think even, even if you have an inkling of, you know, irregular, irregular cycles can be a, can be a big, big sign.

Um, fatigue, hair loss, um, irritability, mood swings, uh, joint pain, thinning of hair, skin um, weight gain or, or, um. know, increased body fat, uh, all kind kinds of things like that. But certainly menstrual irregularities, we've already talked about why that is. Right. Um, because it's a downstream sign of, of something else.

Um, in general I would say don't wait, reach [00:33:00] out. Um, you know, there, I think everybody can benefit from just having the conversation of how can I be not just good, but great.

Whitney: Yeah. Yeah. It's much easier to look at those things before they snowball. Um, yeah, the difficulty sleeping was a huge fine for me because, like you're saying, when I was having cortisol problems and adrenal issues, yeah. I. Couldn't wait till nap time, you know? But my kids were younger and so we had nap time and I could hardly make it till nap time and I would crash and, but then I would get a second cortisol rise and, um, which is I think to a certain extent, normal, right?

At a, at a, at a after lunch. But mine was so late in the day that then I couldn't go to sleep when it was time to go to sleep. I mean, things were just all, you know, all off kilter. But it's so good to know that you're there and. You know, just knowing I think that there's someone on your side is, is a huge [00:34:00] difference.

To know that there is someone who's a, who is truly invested in your wellbeing and who's cheering you on is, is a huge difference. So, yeah, don't, don't wait to too late. You know, thinking about wellness instead of a, you know, and even as I, I get older with aging parents, you know, I start to think, okay, well what can I do now to make my life healthier, you know, before I, I'm that age, you know, to start reflecting on those things as well.

So, so how can moms, I'm sorry, Yvonne.

Yvonne: yeah. Yeah. What, what? One thing I tell my moms that I, that I work with is, you can't put the oxygen mask on somebody else if you don't put it on yourself first. Right? That's a huge, like we can't, we can only take care of others for so long and if we don't take [00:35:00] care of ourselves, we're not going to do that well either. And so the sooner you can, you can stop and again, that course correction, right? And, and, and take care of you so that then you can be there better and longer for, for your children and their children.

Whitney: Right, right. We can put the forth the effort on the front end and enjoy it, or we can put forth the suffering on the.

Yvonne: Yeah.

Whitney: How can moms find you and connect with the resources that you have with functional wellness?

Yvonne: Yeah. So, um, we're, we're, we're on the internet, a live functional wellness.com is our website. Um, there's a little bit of information there. Uh, if you want to work with me, you can book appointments directly through that website. Um, we're also on Instagram and [00:36:00] facebook@allifunctionalwellness.com. Um, recently we've started, um, a series called Thursday Night Health Bites.

Uh, where it, it, it's a. Free evening, um, here at, at, at our clinic in Sonoa. Um, it's usually one or two Thursdays out of the month. I'm, I'm getting ready to come out with the new dates for the next, next few months and, and the topics, but we share common topics like, uh, thyroid health and gut health and, and to cortisol and inflammation and hormonal health and all kinds of different topics.

It's usually about an hour, two and an hour and a half long. and, and, uh, typically, you know, a, a lecture from, from my end or a, a colleague of mine that works in the, in, in the space as well. we always try to close with, um. My husband, um, is involved in the business as well. So he does kind of the [00:37:00] practical sides, right?

So the things that we talked about, what, what can you do, those little things. It doesn't need to be complicated. So he, he shares some, some practical helpful things that, that can be incorporated as well. And then usually there is some healthy recipes involved as well. So that's, that's the new thing. But yes, a live functional wellness.

So.

Whitney: I love that you're passionate about what you're doing and just really getting into the community and investing and empowering, you know, your clients and others in the community to be proactive about our health and we need more of that. So thank you so much for being here with us today.

Yvonne: Thank you so much for having me. This was so awesome. I'm, I'm really excited. I.