Everything You Need to Know About Cycle Syncing | Hormones, Burnout & Women's Health (Ep 19)

Are women tracking their cycles wrong?

In this episode of the Thriving Loudly Podcast, we sit down with Monet Almaraz, Health Coach, Yoga Teacher, and Founder of Black Orchid Wellness, to discuss the truth about hormones, burnout, gut health, cycle syncing, and why modern wellness culture may actually be making women more stressed.

We explore:

• Why so many women feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and burnt out
• The difference between a man's 24-hour hormonal cycle and a woman's monthly cycle
• What cycle syncing really is (and what social media gets wrong)
• Why women feel guilty for resting
• The connection between gut health, hormones, and emotional wellness
• Signs your nervous system is overwhelmed
• The pressure of "healthy girl culture"
• Wellness perfectionism and social media wellness trends
• Burnout, stress, and the impact on women's health
• Realistic wellness habits that actually work
• Wellness trends: cold plunges, red light therapy, oil pulling, cortisol mocktails, matcha, supplements, and more

If you've ever felt like you're doing everything "right" but still feel exhausted, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Monet Almaraz & Black Orchid Wellness:

Instagram: @blackorchidwellness
Website: https://www.blackorchidwellness.com/

Follow Thriving Loudly:

Instagram: @thrivingloudly
TikTok: @thrivingloudly
Facebook: Thriving Loudly 

Don't forget to like, subscribe, comment, and share this episode with a woman who needs to hear it.

#CycleSyncing #WomensHealth #Hormones #Burnout #Wellness

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Welcome back to a Thriving Loudly podcast. I'm your host, Aisha.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

And I'm your host, Trinece. Today's episode is for every woman who feels exhausted trying to do wellness right. We've all been there, right? Because we're talking about hormones, burnout, gut health, emotional wellness, social media wellness, culture, and the pressure women feel to constantly optimize themselves.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Ooh, yes, yes. Such good points. And today we're joined by Monet, health coach, yoga teacher, and founder of Black Orchid Wellness. Black Orchid is breaking the mold of the modern wellness space, moving away from perfection, pressure in one size fits all formulas. It was created as a space where women can step outside the constant stress of trying to get wellness right and instead reconnect with their bodies in a way that feels real, supportive, and sustainable. Welcome to Thriving Loudly.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Thank you. Let's go, guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Before we get into all the wellness things and wellness culture, um, tell us a little bit about your story. How did Black Orchid get started?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Yeah, thank you. Um, well, I thought I was a very healthy person. I was an athlete, so I was dancing, I was a figure skater, and I was vegetarian at the time. So I just always thought I was super healthy, but I wasn't really considering like my food choices or anything like that. Cause you know, you're you're in your teens, you're in your like early 20s, you don't really care. Um, and then all of a sudden, and like like a flip of the switch, I started noticing I was getting really bad um bloating and like anything I eat would just like hurt my stomach. And I started getting really bad um yeast infections as well. I was having those like every single month, and I was like, okay, something's off. Like I don't, my body doesn't feel right, my body doesn't feel good. So I talked to my doctors and got tested for um some gut issue stuff, and it came back that I had candida, which is a yeast overgrowth, and SIBO, which is a bacterial overgrowth. So I had both of those happening in my gut at the same time. And it started me to really think cleanly about my diet because I went a more natural way with my doctor. I saw a naturopathic. And so I focused on diet, we focused on herbs and just like really cleaning up my health. So I cut out gluten, I cut out dairy, um, refined sugar, limited my alcohol, and really focused solely on what I was eating. Um, during this time, one of the recommendations was to go off birth control for my doctor, just because it does have some effect with gut health, and we just wanted a clean slate that anything could be causing issues. And during this, I went off of it. I was about on the pill since 14, 15 years old, and I had lost my cycle. I went six months and I didn't have it, and then I got some tests done, maybe like for PCOS or just my hormone levels. And it came back that I just had very, very, very low progesterone, and so I wasn't ovulating. And the doctors, the I remember the conversation, like the first thing they said was just, well, you were probably gonna be at risk of infertility, and that might affect your effect of having kids later on. You could be at risk for diabetes, and we just recognize and you go back on the pill, you go back on this thing. And I asked her, was like, is that the only option? I really don't want to. And I just felt really scared in that moment because at a 21-20 having to think about things like children or you know, all these. I was like, I'm in college.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

That's a lot of life. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Exactly. And I just I just felt really scared for my health and because I didn't know anything about my psych or my body, how it worked. I just knew that, okay, like we bleed every month, and that's it. Um, so I started reading, I started asking talking to my um doctors, just wanting to learn more, and I started sharing what I was learning on TikTok and my journey, just my personal journey, and talking to my friends, and you know, they were learning through me because they they didn't know either. And I was like, well, maybe I can make this a career. So I went back to school and I got my health coach certificate, and then I opened Black Orchid about a year ago and just did things through um Out the Valley, and now we're here. Yeah. Oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

That's awesome. Congratulations. You guys been home a year now. Yes, yeah. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for sharing your story. Um, a lot of people don't truly know like what a health coach is. Can you talk a little bit about like what exactly a health coach is? I guess maybe like what did you specialize in when you went back to school?

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Yeah, so a health coach basically I love thinking of like a health coach as um someone that uh helps promote healthy lifestyle changes for like so if you were like my client and you wanted to improve your eating habits or stuff. I'm like, I'm your I say I was like a friend that helps you along your path, that helps you come up with smart goals to help you achieve the health goals that you want, helps you be an advocate for yourself and health and wellness, you know, giving tips and like providing things like that, like tips, um, you know, maybe some like nutritious recipes or things to help you along your health path. So I focus health coaching. For me, I why I wanted to do health coaching, was it was a good start for me to get into the health and wellness world. And for me, changing like it's all about changing your lifestyle, you know. Yeah, your health isn't just your eating, it's your sleeping, it's your stress, it's all of these things impact it. So I always say that like health coaching is helping people create a better, healthy life.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Yeah, it's a holistic approach.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so it's it's a little different than like, you know, doctor or anything like that, where I can't personally subscribe people, but I can help alongside with a doctor. And like with like say I have like a client that maybe does have PCOS. And so it's like working along her and her doctor to help her change certain stuff for her life because what I notice going on a health journey alone is it's very lonely. Yes, and you know that causes a lot of stress. And I wish that I had someone to kind of like be my cheerleader and help me like achieve all the health goals I wanted.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

I love that. Um, what's the biggest things um women are coming to you that they're like struggling with at the moment? What are you seeing? Is it PCOS? I know that's a huge thing I'm seeing all over socials and you know, people really talking about that. Um, is it in the five words? Yeah, that's another one. That's another one too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Yeah. I think what I'm seeing a lot is busy women, because you know, we are in a very amazing time where women can create their own career and do all these amazing things. And it's they want help back, like they want a healthy lifestyle. Um, but it's hard because we're so busy women. Like, I get a lot of them that are like, well, I don't have time to cook. Like, how can I take care of my health? And because I know it's important because I want to have a good cycle, I want to support my body with food and all these things. But I'm like, I'm working two jobs, I'm starting another business, I have kids, or you know, all the responsibilities that we have that it's hard to balance all of that. So a lot of them come to me with wanting to make realistic lifestyle changes, like how to start cooking is one thing. Then I get a lot of the people what to look for at the grocery stores, how to support my body, and how to like time management is another big one. And then I think as for like women's health-wise, it's um stress is obviously super huge. And um just learning about the four phases. I think just wanting education on it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

What would you say is like one misconception um people have about wellness?

SPEAKER_00 8:23

I think one misconception is that it's very cookie-cutter and that everyone is the same. It's I think you know, it's like uh for me, like okay, avocados are a great food, right? For me, they're bloated. They make me bloat. Like it's not like it's a great health food, but maybe not for me. And I think with wellness, it's like everyone posts, like these are all the things you should be doing. And you know, that's not the same for everyone. Health is so bio-individual. Yes, and that's what I like to coach with in my coaching, is like, okay, let's find a plan that works for you and your body. And because that's a lot of the thing that people get wrong is they just follow what other people are doing.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah, it's not one size fits all. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

And I feel like social media has made wellness feel like super overwhelming because you see these insane routines in the morning. Um, all the things, all the drinks, all the even the nighttime mocktails, all the things. Um so as far as social media, do you think social media has distorted wellness to an extent based off of all of that?

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Yeah, I mean, I definitely think so. I think as someone, like, like I said, I that's my first place I went when I was starting my health journey. I was like, okay, like I'm gonna Google TikTok, like signs of the, you know, like it's just the day and age we live in. Like, that's our Google. And I like so I have an interesting, like, sort of storyline where it's like I was that person who was like looking up everything and following like what these gurus said, and I wasn't taking account of my body, my problems. And I I felt overwhelmed because I'm like, yeah, okay, this person's saying to eat dairy, then this person's saying not to eat dairy, and always felt like I was doing the wrong thing. And I think with social media, there is so much noise, and also it creates like more expectation. Like, if you aren't doing these things that you're not healthy or you're not wellness, and I think when I was also just starting to find my rhythm, you know, and started getting into then posting about you know, health and wellness. I, you know, kind of f followed the template that everyone else was doing. And then I was like, well, I don't really like this. Like, this doesn't feel authentic to me. And this doesn't feel like what I would want to say. And so that's what I try to do with like Black Orchid now is like, okay, stripping away from that perfect because exactly like a 5 a.m. morning dude is so like not realistic. Like it's not, and it goes against also, in my opinion, women's bodies of like we're not the same every day. How do you expect to be waking up at 5 a.m. every single day of your cycle? When you're in your ludio, your mushroom, but you need actually more sleep, like you shouldn't be doing that. So it just creates like a lot of stress and expectations and puts more pressure on women when we already have so much pressure to be perfect.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

So I I think it I think the point is just listening to you in your body.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

I think so too. Yeah, I was gonna actually ask, like, has um the wellness culture become another form of perfection, perfectionism, I cannot say that way. Okay, because I feel like it has, you know, and I and I feel like the word wellness, everybody wants to attach themselves to it with all of the routines like we just spoke about. And it's like, are you actually doing it for your health or are you doing it to be perfect? You know, are you doing it for the aesthetic or are you truly, you know, doing it for your health?

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Yeah, I think I think there's so much perfection around. I mean, one the wellness closure gave me like an eating disorder, like it it when I was going through it, because exactly it's like you need to eat all this. And I became so terrified to eat any like any kind of sugar, like fruit or any because I've seen like the videos like it's bad for you. And I was like, oh my gosh, like the I I couldn't, I was in such a fragile state that I didn't want to go back to having all these gut issues, and I'm seeing these gurus that are telling me not to eat fruit. Yeah, so I just became so scared and developed an eating disorder from it. And I I think it you definitely 100% puts that perfection. I think one of us has always been around. I my mom will joke with me and she's like, I remember when nobody would like talk about doing yoga or pilates, she was like, that was weird, and now it's like a status thing, really. Yeah, it is. It is, and I think it just yeah, it it puts too much pressure on us and to step away and to actually find what makes you feel good. It doesn't have to look like what the Instagram girlies are doing.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

I agree with that, yeah, because there's so much out there. Um, kind of bouncing off of some of this, some of these things. What's your thoughts about peptides? There's so many different peptides out there that, you know, obviously, you know, for weight loss, for inflammation, for there's so many things out there. Do you feel like that is a tangible step for women or even men to to utilize? Do you um suggest that in your practice, you know, for women who are suffering with, you know, PCOS or you know, weight loss?

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Yeah. Um, I will always be on the side of never tell a woman what to do with their body.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Um, you know, I've had that too. I've had women ask me, it's like, okay, well, you don't like birth control, should I go on it? And I'm like, there are pros and cons to every beautiful, amazing thing that's been invented, like weight loss for weight loss, for um fertility. There's all these amazing things. And I think there's pros and cons to everything.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

So I think it's something that you have to do your own research on. If it fits with your, again, your body and your health, I think that's what you should listen to and you shouldn't be listening to like I always tell them like this is my advice, and I I share health and wellness advice on shows, but I always say is like take it with a grain of salt. Because again, I'm speaking from my experience and my body. But if it's something that does work for you, the then that's great. I know the problem with some of these medications is that um our body will then arrive rely on it. Like I've heard that with um GLPM ones that after you stop it, you gain all the weight back. But I know they can be helpful for some people. So I feel like it's just up to the individuals.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Yeah, because I I feel like there isn't any full, I mean, obviously, GLP ones and all those things, they help people, you know, on their journeys, you know, what whatever journey that may be. Um, but also I think a lot of people use that as just almost like I'm not gonna say a band-aid, but they're just really solely relying on that and they're not changing their habits. It should be, I believe anything, whether that's GLP1s or just it other peptides, you know, even biohacking with biohacking with cold plunge, cryotherapy, you know, sauna, like obviously these are tools in your toolbox, but if you're not exercising and eating healthy, no amount of fixes are going to actually reactions. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

I will always say, like, and I like that too. That's why I think love um health is a lifestyle choice. Like, I'll get people that, you know, are like, okay, I want to like, I want to eat better. And I like to do like this, um, it's called like the circle of life. And you we look at them like, okay, well, like, how's your love life? And they're like, Well, how does that have to do with like what I'm eating? And it's like, well, I are you, you know, are you seeing anyone? Cause like then are you eating what they're eating? Are you, you know, are you going out all the time eating? Like, I feel like health and wellness is such like a lifestyle thing that you have to address the the core root of it. And that's why I personally love naturopathic or Chinese medicine, because it really focuses on that root, because that's where the symptoms cause. If you're super stressed, of course you're gonna have inflammation, of course you're gonna have problems with your weight, of course you're gonna have problems with your gut. Yeah, but if sleep, you know, skin, it all stems from one singular place.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

I agree. Yeah, I've recently got into Chinese medicine and so and I've seen a change just within myself with adapting some of those um philosophies. But um, kind of going back to some of this, one thing that I've done this year, I made sure to make it a point. Um, I don't know if you guys have heard of Tia, but I've been going to TIA. Um, and they're really good. So I like had them rent, I had them like do a full panel on me just to make sure you know everything was good. Yeah. And they came back, gave me some recommendations on what I could do. Um, they told me I I was inflamed a little bit and you know, some things that I can eat. And so if someone is doing that, is that what they would take to you as a health coach? And then yeah, like the results. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

I've had women that um, yeah, I'm like, do you um their hormone results, you know, their levels or you know, any of their, you know, do they have like diabetes or anything that I always ask, like, yeah, just share your your history with me so we can devise a plan that's specifically for your body. So that's how like the the working with other practitioners kind of works, where it's like you have exactly your main doctor that you go to for everything. Um, but you're like, you're like, okay, like maybe your doctor told you to like to if you were trying to like lose weight or something to go on this diet, but you're really struggling to like stick with it, that's where I would come in and help you like achieve those goals.

SPEAKER_02 18:06

Okay. Okay. Um, another question I have for you in terms of just like, you know, different fads as far as like, you know, the mocktail drinks and the magnesium drinks and the collagen drinks. Do you have any recommendations for women that you feel like you're like, these are great if you're suffering with sleep or inflammation? Do you have recommendations for anyone who's maybe has some of those symptoms and they want to try those things out, given they have a little bit of a foundation? You know, I guess I can use myself, for example. I work out, you know, I've been trying to be better with my sleep and stress. Would there be recommendations for someone who is on a fitness journey and they're looking for, you know, little things to add into their wellness routine?

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Yeah, of course. I mean, I think um that's like the best way to use supplements is actually there to supplement to help out. So, I mean, the ones that come to my head, I think for um that what helped me a lot with my fertility everything was inositol powder. Like I still take it. I've been taking it for like the past years. Um, and that really it's really helpful for women with PCOS. Um, but that was a great one uh for like stress and everything. That as someone who has chronically stressed still. Um, I love um Ashwagandha is good. I also uh Rishi Mushroom is a really nice one for sleep. Um magni I feel like everyone should take magnesium. It's just an overall like a great supplement. So I love, yeah, I love magnesium for sleep. Um another one that I really like is we have a um, it's local to Phoenix, but you can buy it online is Mount Sunny. They do um Chinese like tinctures, Chinese herbal tinctures, and I use their sleep one, and I found it has to be very, very beneficial for me. Um so I highly recommend checking them out and trying that one.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Because I'm a tea girl, that's how I go to sleep. Yeah, it's really nice. Chamomile and lavender tea.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Lavenders are really lavender's really good for sleep. Um, but those would be I've kind of cut down my supplements, but I I take the my inocetol powder, I take that, and I take um ashwagandha and um magnesium are kind of all that I'm taking right now.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

I love that. Those are such good picks. Well, let's switch gears. I really want to get into some cycle sinking because I think that that's so important. I think one thing that people are finally starting to understand is that women are not meant to function like machines every day, kind of like what we talked about. Um, what's the difference between a man's 24-hour hormonal um cycle and a woman's monthly cycle?

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Yeah, I mean, that's just it. Like that what you said is that we um, yeah, unfortunately, we live in a society that favors the 24 hour cycle. I mean, think about the nine to five workday that revived around the men's cycle. And a lot of this is just because of how our society is built, and also women were included into a lot of medical testing um for a very long time. I can't remember the year off the top of my head, but because our bodies were seen as too complex or too complicated. So we weren't really taught about our bodies in the different phases. And with men's cycles, is that it's 24 hours, so they're the same, their hormone levels are the same every single day.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Must be nice. I know. Jeez.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

I've been looking like a machine. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

So yeah, exactly, exactly. So there's The same, same everything, nothing changes for women. It's you know, they say the standard is 28 days, but again, very women to women, it can vary. But so, and that takes us a whole time to complete our cycle. So, we have four different phases within the cycle, which is um our menstrual phase, folic, ovulation, and then luteal. And during each of these phases, our hormones are at different levels. So that causes mood changes, that causes, you know, anything from your um digestion, you know, where we need to. There's a reason we want more food in our luteal phase, or because our body needs more calories. So it affects our sleep, our mood, our um everything. How like how we think, you know, our creativity levels, everything is affected and it changes between like the week-to-week basis within that month.

SPEAKER_01 22:53

So for women So we're not crazy. No, you're not.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

And that's what exactly like I when I learned with all this, I was like, Oh, I'm not crazy. I'm not like there's a reason why I feel bloated the time. There's a reason like that. I like my mood is off. Like, I you know, it just it like clicked in my head because I didn't, I thought we were the same every day.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Like, yeah, we're not, we're not clearly not no, we're not.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

And it just, yeah. So cycle sinking is basically when women live in accordance with their cycle. Okay, so they change their eating to every different phase, and that is just making sure. So, like if you are um, I would just love to use the luteal phase because that's where a lot of women struggle with like PCMS and you know, all of that. If you're in your luteal phase, it's helpful to eat more complex carbs or more calories because that's keeps you fuller longer. So it'll help those dips in your energy and it'll help those dips in your mood. Um, also then if you're in, you know, your philic your ovulation, it's more light foods. If you don't win with those nutrients, also changing your um workouts to fit to your cycle because during that time, again, it says our hormones change, our bodies are more sensitive to stress during certain times. So we shouldn't be like doing crazy cardio workouts every single day because when we won't have the energy to any kind of like our body thinks anything is stress, so that can cause more inflammation when you're in your period or your luteal phase. Okay. Um, and also it's just changing.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

I I have something. So when I tell my boyfriend on my menstrual cycle, I can't work out. There's a reason. There's a reason. I'm like, I was down and out last week. I swear. I was like barely getting to Pilates.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

It's hard and it's hard. The problem is that's they don't understand.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

No, I can't. My trainer is like, get on it. Like, you just don't understand. Not that week. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

So cycle singing all is exactly it's about living course with your cycle, like eating for your cycle, working out, and just change changing your different the little things that you can to fit your cycle and help have an easier period, help have an easier just time throughout the whole thing. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Can you just explain it like just a little bit more, like in terms of the window? So if someone wanted to follow the cycle. Yes, of course. Like the breakdown of it.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Yeah. Yeah. So it starts. So you can, if you're wanting to learn, basically I always recommend is tracking your cycle. So day one of your cycle is the menstrual phase. So it starts the menstrual phase first. So your first day would be is is day one. And during your menstrual phase, um, this is when your hormones are your lowest. So that's when we're very tired. So you need more rest. I was the first day, I love treating the first day of my period as like a rest day. No, I'm not doing anything. No one's telling me. No, it's like I'm your body needs rest. Um, because our hormones are at their lowest. Eating things like high iron, high magnesium for cramps. Um, so that's where chocolate comes in. Chocolate and kale are really good. Um, those things will will help. Iron will help your energy levels, um, complex carbs again for your happy hormones. And then after that, we hit the folicure phase. So now your um energy is starting to rise. Okay, so we're feeling we're we're back to it, you know. I also like thinking of these as like seasons. So your menstruals winter, filic or spring. So your um your energy is starting to rise up. So everything's feeling a little lighter. So estrogen is starting to rise. To help with having excess estrogen, it's a good thing to, you know, kind of like balance that out. So a lot of fiber is really good during this time. Um raw carrots, raw vegetables are really yummy. It's one thing I do. So you can start doing your more crazy hit workouts. Start, you might be not, you're more resilient to stress at this time. So you can have longer nights out. You can, you know, do more things, you're more resilient at this time. So for like my girls that are working girls, um, I love doing this time as like planning session. Like I'm doing the buttload of my work in my fullock here phase. So when I get to that menstrual, I don't have to really stress about having so much work. So you this is time you're feeling more creative, you have more energy. So I love doing a buttload of my work during this phase. Um, light foods, good, you can go on your crazy workouts. Ovulation is they call it um a phase, but it's really only one day of our cycle. But because of, you know, you might be feeling the effects before still like after you ovulate. That is when we are just feeling our our best, you know, where that's our summertime. Our um, that's when we're the most fertile. So we're feeling like really hot and sexy, we're feeling great. So I love like during this time, it's the same thing where you just want to eat nice light foods. Helping with stress levels can be really high during this time. So that's anything you can do to help the stress calm down is something that can happen with ovulation. Um, omega 3, um, like fish, any kind of oils are really good for the same thing. Beauty is one thing that I like to think about that. And um, same thing, same hit workout kind of vibes. After that, is we're gonna switch, is because we're gonna we're gonna crash. Unfortunately, we only the the good only lasts one day. It's horrible, it's literally like the worst thing ever. Yeah, but yes. So then we're gonna crash and our um progesterone is gonna start rising, but estrogen, testosterone, those are all gonna plummet. So when your progesterone is, that's your calm hormone. So during this phase, it is very prominent for women to experience mood swings, you know, tired it, all of those things. And what we want to do is we don't want to stress the body out anymore because our body becomes really sensitive to stress. So that's what I like to do is like eat one, a lot of complex carbs are my like go-to during this phase because compass carbs, you know, keep you fuller longer during your luteal phase. Please make sure that you are eating like you need calories during this time. Um, and high protein, high complex carbs for workouts. You want to do things that are not as intense. So if you're like weightlifting, you can do weights, but I would maybe go a little bit easier, you know, just take it a little bit easy because your body's starting to get tired during this phase. Um, and then we would go back to the menstrual. So that's kind of a little, there's so much you can get into it, but like those are the briefs.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

So I know um when we both attended your event a while back, you mentioned that you use like an oar ring to kind of track a little bit, like body temperature. Do you um do you do you recommend any other wearables or do you kind of like swear by aura ring for like, you know, kind of keeping track of like where you're kind of at in your in your cycle?

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Yeah, aura ring is really great. Cause yeah, so for if you are trying to track like your ovulation, um the what happens is your basal body temperature will rise. So that's like one of the signs. Um, so that's what the aura ring, that's how it's tracking that. There's other good gadgets out there, um, like there's a thermometer if you um can do that one. Or there is, I think it's called draw, I'm really not sure, but it's one it's a wearable band that you can wear at night. Um, so there's many different things. Those are like the three things that I think are on the market right now. I like the aura ring because it tracks your sleep as well. Yeah. So I like to see how my sleep's doing and why I personally used the aura ring. Um, but though those are the other options that they're out there. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Yeah, I use a um period tracker as well. Like I pretty much track my cycle. Do you have any that you recommend or any apps?

SPEAKER_00 31:25

With apps, it's kind of hard. I don't always recommend them just because a lot of them are designed by men.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

So if you need to create your own girl, yeah, yeah, seriously.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

That'd be so good for you. Maybe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:42

Again, everyone's listening. Yeah. I would love to be able to. Um, yeah, that's the that's the thing. And they're, you know, so they're designed with that every woman ovulates on the day 14, 28 Diceagle, which again is not the case. So with they're not always accurate on tracking. Um, so I always recommend women to track it on their own time, like pen and paper, getting used to it, or with just watching exactly like the basal body temperature going up and down. And with the other signs of like ovulation, like your um your discharge and you know, mood and all these other things is how I would track it. There's one that seems pretty good. I've tried, it's called Eureka. It's uh female founded. Um, so I like that one is really nice, but I always try to just track it with pen and paper is the way to go. Yeah, I know that definitely makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

So I also think people underestimate how connected gut health and emotional health actually is. How does stress impact gut health and hormones?

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Yeah, well, I mean, uh the majority of our serotonin is curvated in the gut. You know, like gut everyone said like the brain and gut connection, gut feeling, like that, there's all a reason we have those. And when you're stressed, that can cause inflammation in the body and bloating and just puffiness. Um, and with the with the gut, if you have any sort of imbalance like how I was having of bacteria, you know, that can affect your your mood levels, your stress levels. So really taking care of your gut health is so important. And it should be a foundation of exactly taking care of your your stress. You know, a lot of people like to do all these things for stress, but then they're not eating healthy for their gut. And they're there's a you know, like there's a like talk to me is like the the parasite wants like the candy, you know that when it's like that's true, like our gut, like if we have bat bacteria in our gut, it's gonna want sugars, yeah, and unhealthy things, and so we need to kind of like cleanse that all out.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Detoxin, yeah. And then um, how can poor gut health um impact mood, anxiety, and energy? Like what um what are kind of the signs and just you know, how can people I guess you know, I guess, you know, solve that problem.

SPEAKER_00 34:18

I feel like, I mean, definitely with gut health. Um, other things like if you're looking for poor gut health, yeah, your um obviously like bowel movements are like a number one way of like determining your gut, like if you're really constipated or like you, you know, like these are little things that you can like spot that maybe something is slowing down or not working properly. Um with like your mood and stuff, I I've noticed a lot of people that have like a lot of depression have like really bad gut issues as well. So kind of like like, do you want to know, like to reframe like your question, are you asking um like for things to do for it?

SPEAKER_02 35:04

Yeah, a little bit of things to do, or you know, um, I guess signs that are related to poor gut health.

SPEAKER_00 35:11

Yeah, no, sorry, I was like, I was like, wait, I was like, I mean, I'm going off on something that I don't know. This is for um yeah, signs of like poor gut health. I'd say, yeah, um, your bowel movements, poor gut health. Also, if you are like bloated after everything you eat, you know, or bloating is the always feeling bloated, is you know, can a sign that can be something is off. Um things like stress eating at another one, or always craving like sweets isn't really big of you're always like you you're always craving it. And that could be that could be a sign that something's off. Um, but also, yeah, just high stress. That was for me. I always say that like my stress caused bad gut issues because it might not necessarily like you think it's one thing or the other, but it could really like the you could have high stress and that causes bad gut issues. Because again, our body's in a fight or flight demands. It doesn't know when we are stressed about something at work or if we're in a stressful situation. So it kind of like causes our our body to not function properly, you know, or put some things on hold. So I always try to say like do whatever you can to help your stress and also help feed your gut like good bacterias or good like probiotics. Yeah, probiotics, prebiotics, you know, both of those, nice nice and fiber, I think are really good. Making sure that you're drinking water, making sure that you're staying away from processed as much as you can from processed foods, I think are just little things that people can do to help their gut health and which eventually will help their their mood.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

I love that. Yeah, sauerkraut. Yeah, I always like yogurt. I love yogurt.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

Yeah, I always say like before supplements, always like whole foods. And also it's like way cheaper. Um, but yeah, for like probiotics, like anything that's fermented is really, really good for you.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

So good. Why are so many women exhausted all the time?

SPEAKER_00 37:19

I think honestly, it just comes down to like the society that we live in. Um and again, talking about like the male cycle of 24 hours, again, that's kind of been the foundation for the you know, just it's the foundation that women haven't put in this box to like fulfill that. And we put the pressure on ourselves to be like the man. And if we're not, if we're not hustling 24-7, like that's we don't see ourselves as worthy. Um, and I know I fell into that as well. And also with seeing like things like on social media of women doing all these things or you know, having perfect routines, that causes uh the pressure of us because we we want so desperately to uh feel taken seriously, you know, by maybe ourselves, by maybe our parents, by maybe like our job. And I think that's why. I think it's really that just because society that was not founded on women's bodies and we were not seen as like important, that it creates all this pressure to try to be like the men. And we have to stop trying to be like a man and try to be like a woman. Yeah, yeah, very different, different bodies, different. And it's a good thing, and yeah, it's a really good thing. And I think we hold a lot of like power in our own body and how it works. And yeah, I think when you stop trying to work like a man, you know, eat like a man, like stop trying to live like one, you'll you'll be more your power.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

I agree, and that's something that I'm working on right now. Embracing embracing our womanhood, femininity. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:03

I feel like we've kind of strayed a little bit away from that over the last, you know, probably decade or so. But you know, I think, you know, to your point, you know, we are very different, and that's a good thing. You know, we we need to embrace that and you know, take our power back with our own femininity, and I love that.

SPEAKER_01 39:20

Yeah, we have our own strengths, our own power. You know, there's things that we're great at, you know, that we should be focusing on, not focusing on masculinity. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Yeah, I really think it just kind of just you know stems from oppression and society and all of that. But now, Zach, we're in a time that women are embracing it, and I think that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 39:40

Yeah, I love that. And I love that your brand talks about realistic wellness instead of perfection. As far as you know, the next question, what does realistic wellness actually look like? Is there something tangible our audience can take away? Because I know it's a lot of information, especially with cycle syncing. I know for myself, I'm like, okay, I want to do it, but it's a lot. You know, it can be overwhelming to track and write it down. Is there anything that they can take away to get themselves started on their wellness journey?

SPEAKER_00 40:11

Yeah, I think it definitely like again, like from being as someone that was in that position of like, okay, I really, yeah, it's like when I first started cycle singing, I'm like, hey, I'm gonna go to store and buy this, I'm gonna do this, and I'm gonna do it. And it's like, ah, it's crazy. But I think it comes down to just baby steps.

SPEAKER_02 40:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

You baby step with anything, really. Like if you have a health goal in your mind that exactly say you're a woman that wants to start cycle singing, maybe just start with figuring out your cycle. Like, how long is it? You know, and don't change anything, but like maybe start there. And then maybe adding one thing at a time or any like health goal that you have, breaking it down to baby steps will really just help you get there easily and feel less stressful. Also, like other realistic things that you could do that are really beneficial and not a lot is I always I don't really have a morning or night routine, but I always make sure I get like sunlight first thing in the morning. Like at least five minutes, you know. If I like I that's the first thing I do. So getting like sunlight, you know, eating whole foods, um, making sure you're getting sleep is another one. I just think those basics are the easiest place to start. But yeah, just break it down, really, just take baby steps.

SPEAKER_02 41:31

Yeah, I really like that. I agree. Okay, so we're gonna do a rapid fire before we close out. We have to talk about all the wellness hacks online right now. So this is in and out. Okay, so vibration plates. Out, you don't need it.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

Really? I'm so sold on the vibration plate. I see it all on TikTok shopping.

SPEAKER_00 41:59

Yeah, I listen, I am a consumer at heart. I am a consumer, but like just just dance in your room. Like, just like do like tapping, just jump up and down. Like, you know.

SPEAKER_02 42:10

Probably the same result, right?

SPEAKER_00 42:12

It's literally the same thing. It's just a get like you do not need it. Just note it. Okay, just jump up. It'll save you a lot of money too. Like, just jump up and down, you'll be good.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

Red light therapy masks.

SPEAKER_00 42:26

I love those. I really, as I get closer to my 30s, I really am trying to take better care of my skin. So I love it, it has a lot of benefits.

SPEAKER_02 42:36

Oil pulling.

SPEAKER_00 42:37

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

Can you kind of quickly touch on like a one benefit of oil pulling for people who don't know?

SPEAKER_00 42:44

Well, so like anything, when you sleep, um, all the bacteria and stuff from your gut can come into your mouth. And so if you like just brushing your teeth gets rid of some of it, but then you have all think about it, then you're just putting it back in your gut. Like it's like a constant routine. So oil pulling really helps to remove that excess bacteria, a clean mouth. And so I I like it. I'm not really good at doing it all the time, but maybe like once a month I'll do it. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 43:14

Yeah, I live by it. So it's good.

SPEAKER_00 43:16

It really does help. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:18

Tongue scraping. Also, yeah. So speaking of, yeah, that was ton I tongue scraped. You scraped this morning. You should be doing that for the rest of your life.

SPEAKER_01 43:27

Really?

SPEAKER_00 43:27

It's good. I mean, like, yeah, you see that was something that when I was struggling with candida, they told me to do because like it all like the candida on your tongue and everything, the yeast, if you have get it all.

SPEAKER_02 43:38

You get that out, yeah, every day. Yeah, cold plunges.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

I don't like cold plunges.

SPEAKER_02 43:44

Because it can be kind of a shock to the body and the nervous system.

SPEAKER_00 43:47

I don't again, if you are gonna do it as a woman, do it in your flicker face, definitely not in your Lugo, definitely not in your menstrual. It's just it's it's yeah, it's shock. Your body and it can cause inflammation and actually have the opposite effect. So I, as a woman, I don't do it and I don't recommend it.

SPEAKER_02 44:08

Oh, interesting. Cortisol mocktails.

SPEAKER_00 44:11

I mean, they're fun. I think they're fun. I love, I love any kind of fun mock tail with adaptagen that can help. Um, I had this one that had covet and it didn't say, and I felt the benefits of it and I loved it. So I'll give that one. Yes. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

I know we kind of touched on this a little bit, but 5 a.m. morning routines.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

No. 6 a.m. If you can do a 5 a.m. morning routine, props to you. But I I can't. And it's it's not realistic. So not every day. No. Not do what works for you. You know, just get some sunlight in the morning. That's all you need.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

Walking pads.

SPEAKER_00 44:53

I like them. I I work from home. So I love, you know, if physical activity, any way that you can get it, I approve.

SPEAKER_01 45:02

I love mine too.

SPEAKER_00 45:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:04

I have one too. I need to use it more, but it's there. It's there. It's there. Uh matcha over coffee.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

Yes. I love matcha. I prefer matcha over coffee because it has L-thenine in it. So again, that cortisol spike is not as harsh as just drinking coffee. Um, I will say if you are drinking coffee or matcha or anything in the morning, make sure to have a little breakfast before. So it can also help lower that blood sugar spike, that cortisol spike first thing in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

Um be better with that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Yeah. It's, it's, it'll be way just you're, you won't have the the 3 p.m. crashes.

SPEAKER_02 45:49

And then last rapid fire supplements or supplement recommendations.

SPEAKER_00 45:55

Um, I love supplements. I think, first of all, if you're shopping for supplements, always look to see because they're not regulated by the FDA. Yeah. So always do your research on the company that you're buying it from. And but I love supplements. I think they're fun. Yeah. Love that. Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 46:15

So we are going to wrap it up. What's next for you and your business?

SPEAKER_00 46:20

Yeah. Um, well, what's next for us is that we are continuing to just help educate women throughout the valley in Phoenix. So the best way to find out about like more events that we're doing. Um, we do dinners, we do little like talks, we do, I do little wellness women's circles that are coming back. Um, so they're monthly meetups that happen around the valley, and we just get to like talk about anything about womanhood, about you know, um supplements, you know, little things that like any woman have questions on. We get together and we talk. So those happen throughout the valley. So anything events or anything black orchid to see what's coming new, just go to blackorchidwellness.com. Um, and yeah, we'll be adding. I just finished my yoga teacher training, so we'll be adding some yoga events in there too. Um, but yeah, those are the news.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

You have your newsletter too.

SPEAKER_00 47:19

Yes, yes, that's a newsletter. So I always like to say if you want to be in the loop, if you're not ready, like you don't want to do health coaching or anything yet, always just say, like, sign up for the newsletter because it's free and you're gonna get health tips and also just the best way to see when we're having our next um event. I love that. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 47:37

And then um, what are your socials for people to follow you?

SPEAKER_00 47:42

Everything is just black orchid wellness. So we are on Instagram and on TikTok.

SPEAKER_02 47:49

Nice. Okay, so we're gonna close this out. What is one thing you want women to take away from this conversation today?

SPEAKER_00 47:57

I would love for women to just which I need to be better at is stop uh try like trying to be like we said, like the man or the hustle hustle. Give yourself peace, give yourself rest, and be like be nice to yourself, you know. I think exactly put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do everything every day and just just be kind to yourself. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 48:27

I love that too. Take care of yourself, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:29

Really just take care of yourself, just be kind to yourself. I know it's hard. Again, I I'm not perfect on any means by it, but it's something I try to remind myself.

SPEAKER_02 48:40

Okay, guys, if this episode resonated with you, share it with a woman in your life who's been feeling burnt out or overwhelmed, and make sure to follow Monet and Black Orchid Wellness. And yeah, and obviously. Go ahead. Oh, yeah, go ahead. We're being we're being silly right now.

SPEAKER_01 49:03

And as always, you can like, share, follow us on social media and all platforms. As always, keep riding loudly.