Happy Hormone Rituals and Holistically Clearing My Skin for GOOD

This week I'm coming to you with a solo episode and we're talking ALL about my hormone and skin health journey. This has been a long time coming and I can truly say in the past few months I've healed my hormonal acne from the inside out. It's been a total transformation and I'm dishing my entire "acne protocol" and all the rituals and changes I've made to rebalance my hormones holistically. 

On this episode we're chatting:

• hormonal birth control
• my acne protocol
• needle moving rituals
• balancing hormones 
• pleasure practices 
• supplementing & nourishing 
• manifestation 

Mentioned Resources
monthly archetype episode: Craft A Monthly Archetype 🎙️
hormonal acne 101 episode: Healing Hormonal Acne 🎙️
my iconic facialist Alicia: bbsoftskin.com

📥 Download Monthly Archetype Template
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💘 Let's be internet friends @thebedside and www.thebedside.co

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Transcript

0:00

Music. Hello everybody and welcome back to the bedside podcast. So this week I'm actually really excited to sit down with you guys and do a solo episode. I feel like I haven't caught up a one-on-one with everybody in a while and I've just been feeling so many different things percolating and yeah I've just been really eager to catch up and I figured honestly that we could talk this week about basically my kind of recap of having done the monthly archetype process for the past six months now, which is wild. And I'm just really excited to kind of catch you up on my process of using this archetype system and how it has truly changed my life in so many different capacities. And then also I've been so eager to chat about and give a little bit of a hormonal skin care acne update. Because as many of you who have been following this podcast for a minute and also are over on Instagram with us, I feel like I'm chatting all the time about my hormonal skin care journey and kind of the progress that I've taken to slowly rebalance my hormones and get my skin back to where it once was. And it's crazy because it's actually been working and I've seen the most insane transformation, that I've seen in years on my skin, honestly, and I've been getting a lot of compliments, which has just felt so good to like not only feel it and see it for myself, but have other people notice it. And yeah, I'm just really excited to kind of cover and lay the land with you guys on all the things. But I'm also cracking up because I'm just sitting here, it's Sunday, I'm recording, and I'm fully in a face mask, and I've got my matcha situation. I just had the most awesome day spent doing my thing. So... I usually spend the weekends hanging out with my partner, but every once in a while. He has plans or this week he actually had to go to work today. And so I literally had myself a field day at Target. And if anybody is in like a long-term partnership, I feel like you might relate to this in some capacity, especially like if you're dealing with a guy where I feel like. I don't normally go on target runs. I just went on, unless I'm alone or with one of my girlfriends, and I just had the best time because I took my sweet time. I did not have an agenda. Normally, I feel like when I go out and run errands with my partner, we have a list. We're trying not to deviate, but I just totally had a moment and it was hysterical because I was checking out with a cashier and I was on the phone with a friend of mine. I was checking out and I told the friend of mine while I was checking out, I was like, I definitely am splurging on a few things, but I feel like it's not going to go over $100, $150. And on the phone, my friend is like, you're joking, right? Every Target run is $300. And I was like, I know, but I think I restrained myself. I have a feeling like I kind of did some loose math. I don't think it'll be that crazy. Lo and behold, I am checking out and it's like $299.95 and the woman checking me out just looks at me, she goes, you want to throw a pack of gum in there to make it 300? I was like, I guess they balled out more than I was supposed to, You know what? I have to say, I got things that I have had on my list for a really long time, of which it includes refreshing all of my socks, that's a big fucking deal, and refreshing a lot of my sleepwear because I feel like my sleepwear has long needed an update. I did an episode with Celine and Jolene from Beverly Hills Lingerie and we talked about how how it is imperative to refresh your sock, underwear, and sleepwear drawers, at least once a year, okay, bare minimum. And ever since I did that recording, I was like, oh, I know, I really need to update my sleepwear game. And so it's been on the list. Anyways, I got some really cute sets. And then I also got some workout sets, okay? And I justified it because I was like, it's all part of the movement practice. It's a whole part of my wellness and my wellbeing. And I feel like this tees up really nicely into my update on my hormonal skincare journey. So to fill you guys in, or if you're new listening, I have dealt with hormonal acne for a while. And it was a couple months ago that I found this amazing practitioner. She actually works through ClearStem. And ClearStem is a pretty well-known acne practice and skincare and skin health practice based in San Diego. And I feel like they're like kind of celebrities in the skincare space, the founders, but I found this girl and she is in-house with them on their team as their nutritionist. So, ClearStem, I think, mostly specializes in... Topicals and then also I believe that they have a brick and mortar in San Diego. I could be so freaking wrong but I believe that they do facials and I think I think I'm pretty sure that's correct because I actually went and got dinner the other week with Celine and Jolene from Beverly Hills Entree and we were talking about this and Jolene was like I literally made my sister drive me down to San Diego to get one of the clear stem acne facials. So anyways this is like a renowned practice. People from LA make the trek to San Diego frequently to go get these treatments. And so I found this practitioner on their team, Camille, and I've had her on the podcast, so I'll link the episode if you haven't listened already to it. It is amazing because she was the person who was for the first time ever broke down what hormonal acne was and what it is. And so I had her on and after the episode, we finished recording and I was just like, okay, you need to help me. I need you, I need your assistance. I need you to give me your protocol because I'm on board. And so selfishly, I feel like I recorded the episode to get all of the amazing insights for myself and of course you guys, because I know that this is such a real thing. But yeah, I had her come on, we chatted, And then I ended up enrolling in her six week program, which is all about healing hormonal acne from the inside out. Her course is called Clear Skin From Within. And basically that course completely changed my life. I'll share kind of all of the protocols and practices that have helped me. And I know I've been teasing this for a second, but we're absolutely gonna be having Camille back on to the show to talk more about this course and kind of like as a recap with her about, you know, her tips around treating and dealing with hormonal acne at its cause, at its root cause. She's gallivanting through Europe right now and having such a moment. So I told her, I was like, when you're back, we're gonna schedule a time for you to record. So stay tuned. That is something that hopefully will be coming down the line soon. But before I get into all of the, know thing practices and rituals that have really helped me and I've seen kind of the most, benefit. I kind of want to lay the scene of where I feel like I even got to a place where my acne felt a little bit out of control. So it was really interesting because I think looking back at my You know. Going through puberty and like having my teenage experience, I feel like I always had a normal bout of breakouts. Like it was never anything crazy. And, you know, I dealt with pimples here and there. And I did the classic thing a lot of us did growing up, which was like, I would get the like Neutrogena, like citrus pomegranate scrub. That scrub literally haunts my nightmares. But I did the thing everybody thought they were supposed to do, which was like, if you have acne, just scrub harder. and God, I mean, our skincare education was so bad, but I feel like that was kind of the era of skin treatments that I fell into as a teenager. So I would like use all of the drugstore products. I remember using like, oh my God, I can't remember. Was it like Clean and Clear? There was some sort of like zit treatment or something. And I remember having the craziest allergic reactions from it and basically my skin just got worse using these drugstore products because it was just irritating it more and more. But I feel like I kind of, you know, it calmed down on its own. I can't really remember how I just ended up going about things, but I probably like eventually transitioned to like Cetaphil, Cetaphil by the time that became available. And then I just, again, like I said, Like I dealt with acne here and there on kind of a normal cadence. But it wasn't until, dun dun dun, I went on hormonal birth control that I feel like everything shifted for me for the worse. So I went on the pill. I was only on the pill for three months. Which is really crazy. I had a really bad experience with it in terms of side effects. So I went on it and quickly came off of it as soon as I could, I basically went cold turkey. But I remember at the time telling my practitioner that I wanted one of the benefits of my birth control to clear my skin. So I got put on this generic form of Yaz. Which for those of you who don't know, Yaz has had so many lawsuits. I actually chat much more in depth about this on former episodes. I just had Kate Morton on from Funk It Wellness and I shared a little bit about my birth control journey and she shared a bit about hers. So go listen to that if you're like eager to hear more about people's birth control stories and kind of bouncing back and healing your hormones in that capacity. But essentially I went on this generic form of yaz, Went to hell and back. Just, it was awful. And, but the thing is my skin got really, really clear. But the second I went off of it, like a matter of weeks later, my skin exploded in acne. Like, it was like acne I had never seen before or experienced. So, immediately I was like calling all my friends, basically asking for their dermatologist recommendations, found this derm in New York City. She was great. She immediately put me on a prescription for Spirulactone and Tretinoin. Basically, ever since then, I have been on different prescription topicals. I think I did Spirulactone, which is... I also might be pronouncing this wrong, but it is like a pill. It's like an oral medication. I didn't do that for that long. I just kind of stuck on the topicals route. And then when I moved out to LA a couple years ago, I remember finding another derm and he was like, like, oh, you can up your percentage of tretinoin, which also has these benefits. Sidebar, tretinoin is this interesting topical and it apparently helps with just like skin elasticity and just helping with fine wrinkles. And I remember actually going to a pharmacy out here and just like picking up my prescription for tretinoin and then they were like, that'll be $80. And I was like, what? And they were like, oh yeah, your doctor didn't flag that this was for acne. So anybody over the age of 25 isn't considered somebody who deals with acne anymore, and we flag it in the system as for cosmetic use. And I was like, are you kidding me? That is so crazy. Immediately called my derm. I was like, please flag this in all of your systems that this is not a choice. This is not a cosmetic choice. So anyways, I digress, but I got my percentage upped on Trendnoan, and then I just felt like it wasn't doing anything. It kind of was like making it worse. I was still dealing with this acne that I just didn't love. It wasn't as crazy as it was. I healed the severity of it having, after the immediate effect of going off of the birth control over a couple of weeks, maybe months. But I still kind of have just been dealing with it ever since. Anyways, cut to this past year, as I was crafting my master manifestation lists and kind of like really getting after my annual goals, I remember writing down, I was like, I want to heal my hormonal acne, and really get to the root cause of it, which is where Camille came in and her course and my interview with her, because I was just like, okay, I need to educate myself around this. And not only do I need to educate myself around this, like I need to find practical and intuitive steps to healing this from the inside out, because I'm sick of the topicals. They're not working. like we just keep increasing the percentage of. Topical steroids or whatever the heck they are, and it's not working. So I put it on my list, and I'm just so happy I did, and this will kind of segue into the six-month review of the monthly archetypes, because I swear, this process, breaking works, and I need everybody listening to get on this if you are somebody who's in the manifestation, who's into really feeling like you are in charge of your life and living to your fullest potential. So we'll get there in a moment, but I had it on the list. I ended up taking Camille's course, and I want to share a few of the things that I feel like have made the biggest difference. And like I said, we'll have Camille on the show to go in even more depth around this. But I just wanna give some high-level takeaways of the practices that I've kind of implemented to rebalance my hormones and, you know, in tandem, have it affect my skin. And I think that is really the point that most excites me because to me, the appearance of my skin is almost the final frontier. And it means that with the healing of it, I've healed so much internally. And that is what is so cool to me because I'm like, okay, if my outer appearance is showing what the work has been doing. I can't imagine just how well everything is kind of running and how good other things feel. And I mean, I know I say I can't imagine, there is a part of me that's like, wow, there must be so many cool things going on in my system. This is like the science nerd in me, but also I feel it. I feel it from the inside out. Like I truly feel just this like amazingness that I haven't felt in a really long time because I'm finally kind of putting things into balance. So the reason why, what's cool about Camille's course is she helps everybody with acne. It's not necessarily hormonally triggered, but for me, we were able to quickly deduce that it was a hormonal situation because I had kind of tell all signs. Of where my acne was located and what it was indicating. So, I believe there are these like face charts out there. You can look it up. I'm sure a lot of people are aware of this already, but you can look up based off of where acne shows up on your face, what it might be an indicator of. So, I clearly remember I was dealing a lot with acne on my cheeks a bit, but mostly on my jawline and neck. And that is really a sign of hormonal imbalance. And so it was so funny because I remember at one point in the course, Camille goes over diet and kind of, you know, a protocol for anybody who's acne prone, really like what they should be looking out for and how they should tweak how they nourish themselves and how it kind of shows up on their skin. So I remember at one point in the course. There she tells you if you struggle with acne to moderate your dairy intake. And I feel like I was doing everything right in this course, like I was following her protocol, except I was like, I literally confessed to our group. I was like, you guys, I haven't cut out dairy. I can't do it. It's so good. I love cheese. And everybody was like, thank you for confessing. And Camille was like, I hear you out. But she was like, listen, where is your acne? And I was like, my jawline and my neck. And she was like, that's a direct correlation to hormones, which is directly related to dairy because dairy is pumped with so many hormones. And she was so sweet. She's like, if If you really, really can't cut it out. Make sure you're at least having raw dairy. So anyways, I heard her out. She also was like, you won't miss it when you cut it out. I promise, I know it sounds weird. It sounds like I'm lying, but she's like, I haven't had dairy in years and I don't really miss it. Cut to, I now don't really have dairy that much. My cheese drawer is, it's like vacant. There are like tumbleweeds. And it's so funny because, you know, My partner and I end up eating obviously pretty similarly because we like both cook meals together and we eat meals together. And so he's actually gluten-free. So for the most part, I eat gluten-free because of him. But now that I've been weaning back on dairy, he's also like not going out there and buying cheese. So we were like cracking up. We were like, what do we put in our cheese drawer now that cheese doesn't live here? But anyways, so that was just like a very funny instance. But I think I guess where I'll start with is food, because that was a really important pillar of, of what. I learned a lot about. And I think fundamentally, with balancing hormones and dealing with any sort of imbalances, I had never really understood the impact that certain foods and certain. Vitamins and supplements had on our balances and on our skin, which was so wild. So, So this protocol was so beneficial for me because what happened was I feel like what I see on the internet is all of these different wellness things. People are podcasting, like this one, about all of these different regimens and rituals for health and optimization. And it's really exciting to hear all of these things, even like, I don't know if you guys listen to Huberman, he's all up on optimization and lifespan and all of these really great topics. What I felt kind of confused and just, you know, maybe at a standstill about was hearing all of these different like wellness things, but then being the person who was like, I can't implement all of these practices into my life. Like I can't be the person who's like up at 5 a.m. journaling, meditating, cold plunging, working out, sauna-ing, like my entire day would be filled, with all of these amazing rituals and practices if I dedicated myself to them, which that would be great, but I think what sometimes can be really overwhelming in general with the wellness community, with sexual wellness, with all of these different categories around health is feeling like there's just like the paradox of choice. It's like, it can be so... Confusing. It can be so there's just too many things to do. And so what I loved finally was actually having someone let me know a protocol and give me ideas for rituals and practices and ways to live that actually resulted in an outcome that I was looking for. So that is, I think, what was so great where I was like, okay, you know, I was asking her all the wellness questions, But, you know, she was the one helping me to be like, you know what, that's a nice have, but it's not really gonna affect anything around your hormonal health, right? Like I even was like, what is cold plunging do around your hormones? And she was like, you know, it's nice, but it's definitely not imperative, as something that you integrate all the time. Though, sure, it's great for like nervous system regulation, all of those amazing things. So anyways, I get into this program and I feel like my biggest takeaways are, and have been around diet, supplementing, skin care, and around stress management and. Basically mindfulness. So I think we'll start there and I'm sure a few other. Things will come in there. Okay, so starting with diet. I have found, like I mentioned, one of the biggest shifts for me around eating has been really noticing what foods cause. Inflammation and any sort of flare-ups. And I think this really came down personally for me, in a trial and error way. So I limited my intake of dairy, of gluten, and specifically for me, of any sort of fried foods that's just always been a trigger any sort of like really oily foods so, I decided to cut this out. It was also part of my protocol to limit this. And I truly can't explain to you. I also limited seed oils and any sort of nut milks that had seed oils in them because even to this day, I swear I feel like that causes me personally so much inflammation in general. And I'm all about kind of like the gut connection, which Camille talks a lot about in her course as well. I also, guys, have a soy allergy. So this doesn't sound fun from what I'm saying, but I don't want it to sound restrictive in any way. This is just kind of how I initially went in. I was like, okay, I have a soy allergy, I want to be mindful of all of these different categories of foods that trigger me. That being said, it's not an all or nothing. It's more about kind of rebalancing how I indulge and how I nourish myself with these types of foods. So I personally kind of switched up my diet in general, which has helped so much in really like my energy levels and feeling really good and specifically feeling really satiated. So I'm a girl, like I love carbohydrates, I love cheese, I love all of the things. And I can fall in the habit of eating those foods because they taste so good and they comfort my body. And honestly, like I don't, aside from any sort of like inflammation, I just like feel really good eating that sort of stuff. And so I realized that I was kind of filling myself up on more of these food categories that actually were causing me acne and causing me inflammation. And so the biggest switch I made was really eating more protein and vegetables as my main and substituting with gluten-free options and any sort of like vegan cheese options as I started. To this day, I actually... Like now have implemented certain cheeses back into my protocol and I have gluten when I like really want a treat like I'm never someone to restrict myself if I want something it's just a treat like I'm not gonna have like a dozen donuts in the house or like a huge selection of loaves of bread in the house it's more like if I really want a sandwich and I'm out I'm gonna get it like I'm gonna have the good ciabatta bread okay so I feel like that is like a bit of what I began to reframe around what I had in the house, what I saw as more of a treat, and what I was actually sustaining myself off of. So that was kind of a major shift that I cannot explain how much has affected my skin. And really just how I feel through and through. I also, like I mentioned, I've been trying to transition to cleaner options with no seed oils of any sort of nut milks because I actually am someone, I've never loved dairy or settled well with it. So I had never fucked with milk ever in my life. And so like dairy-free options have been really important to me, but I've just been a little bit more mindful about when I go to the store trying to get ones that are. Not including any seed oils or if they do include any like other additives that they're just smaller ratios than something else that I would just arbitrarily pick up. So that has shifted so much. Diet, major major and it just I feel good. I just feel less inflamed and also again like limiting any sort of fried foods has been really helpful. That truly has a direct effect and then you know it's interesting too like I'll notice if I'm you know following my acne protocol in terms of what I'm consuming. And then if I end up having a fun night out and getting a slice of pizza, I'll be really mindful the next morning and be like, oh yeah, I'm seeing one or two outbreaks. Okay, that makes sense based off of what I ate the other night. So again, it's not restrictive, it's just more information and kind of tweaking off of that information with more knowledge. Okay, next up, supplements. You guys, this has changed the freaking game for me. If I could honestly pinpoint two things, it would be supplements and stress management, but we'll get there. So I did not know this, but if you are someone who is acne prone, you have to be really, really mindful of the daily values of certain ingredients and vitamins in your supplements. So there are specific things, and I'll have, like I said, I'll have Camille on the show to get into the nitty gritty of everything, but there were certain vitamins that I was taking that were like 500% over the daily value of vitamin B or 500% of the daily value with biotin in it, which biotin, by the way, is an ingredient in a lot of hair, skin, and nail supplements that is super acne-triggering. So if you have anything with biotin in it, get rid of it. I was taking a lot of supplements that ended up just causing me more harm than I realized. Even I was taking a supplement with a lot of ashwagandha in it, which is a really popular Indian root powder that is very holistic. And I didn't know this, but apparently it is actually acne triggering if you are prone to it. So to make sure to not go over any certain daily values of ashwagandha. And personally, I actually just ended up cutting it out and finding another supplement that kind of had similar effects, but without any sort of triggering things in it. So. I am now on a really great protocol that entails omega-3 fatty acids. So I take like a fish oil. I take a mineral, it's a CT mineral supplement. And then I take a vitamin C supplement, I believe. Oh my god, I could be lying. No, it's definitely a vitamin C. And then I take these other ones called Happy Bees. So, the minerals are really crucial because a lot of our food is actually stripped of, the minerals that naturally are occurring. And that just has to do with how damaged our soil system is, our water system is. So, supplementing with the minerals that we should naturally be getting in foods is and has been really important for me. And then also, I really think the fish oils have helped so much because I just notice such a difference when I take them, especially with my skin elasticity and my energy levels. So my supplements, like my supplement game went crazy. I don't know if before this I really believed in supplements that much. Like I kind of did here and there for like certain benefits, but you know, taking like certain daily vitamins, I was less on that groove. And that has totally shifted. The game. I also forgot to mention, and I feel like this kind of goes in with supplementing and in with the food conversation, for me a major category of this has been also integrating seed cycling. So for anybody who menstruates, the concept of seed cycling is consuming seeds during your different phases of your menstrual cycle that help with your hormonal balances. And I I mentioned this earlier, but I recorded an episode with Kate Morton from Funkit Wellness, which is a seed cycling company. And that episode is phenomenal. She like really, really goes into why seed cycling works and how it works. But this has been so great for me in terms of, I kind of like pair it as I look at it as kind of my supplementing protocol because it's like in that same, I have a little wellness pantry where I keep all of my goodies and the seed cycling protocol has just been so great because I put these seeds on my oatmeal in the morning, I'll blend it into smoothies. It's just such a great way to put it, like put these amazing nourishing nutrients into my diet that I know are helping out with my hormones immensely. It is wild. So anyways, I'll link the episode in the show notes with Kate and she like gets into all of how seat cycling works on a very granular level. I don't wanna like front here and say that I know like the ins and outs of the scientific way that seat cycling works, but I mean, it's been a game changer. Every person who menstruates really should go on it. I think you can use the code BEDSIDE if you go to Kate's website, funkitwellness.com. So yeah, go try it out, shameless plug. Anywho, so... That has been really great in terms of supplementing and eating and consuming. And what I really love about this, it's been really targeting everything at a root cause. And getting and working from the inside out and working with the gut and working with the microbiome to heal my acne and heal my hormonal imbalance. Imbalance and we discovered that my hormonal imbalance and all I'll cut right now to stress and hormones and then we'll talk about topicals but we figured out that my hormonal imbalance was mostly caused done done done because of stress so for me I think stress is a little bit genetic for me like I think everybody has a different stress response and I definitely run a little bit more stressed but I have never seen it in a bad way like I haven't looked at my stress and been like that's super negative and it's really really harming me though in the past it's definitely led me to burnout but I find like I'm. Someone who as my human design is I am a generator I am such an energizer bunny I'm so passionate about a million things. I'm always after and doing something. And so, I naturally, I think I just, because of that level of busyness, I realized that my cortisol was really affecting the rest of my hormones. And when it comes to hormone balancing, when one facet of your hormones, whether it be your thyroid, whether it be your cortisol, whether it be testosterone, is out of balance, it's going to affect the rest of the system. I just kind of had this deep intuition. I also did Dutch testing, which is where you like, pee on this stick and you pee through different intervals of the day and it helps you, deduce, once you send it in, any sort of hormonal imbalances. I also tested around this and it It turns out that a big imbalance for me was my cortisol levels. And this, knowing this knowledge, I mean, it's something I had an intuitive hunch around, but actually like seeing it on paper, I was like, okay, you know, if we're looking at, like the four horsemen when it comes to. Like fatality. One of the biggest causes of death is related to stress and I feel like I was just like not only do I want to do this for my skin but I want to do this for my longevity. I really care about living a well-balanced and happy and healthy life and yeah I don't want to feel stretched thin and I don't want to feel out of balance because of any sort of like pressures or the things that I'm up to. And so the way I really looked at it was like, I want to take my life into control in terms of how much I'm balancing what I'm doing with how much I'm like receiving and resting and nourishing. And I think like, it was just a bit of a reframe to be real with you. I was just like, I kind of can see where this road is heading if I continue doing this. And I don't wanna do that. I want to feel like I am resting and playing equally as hard as I am working and passionate and getting stuff done. So one of the prescriptions that I was given by Camille and that honestly, like I kind of prescribed myself was lowering my cortisol and by doing that. Not only through different like supplements that I've been taking, but I have just been really taking movement into consideration in ways that help me to de-stress, to offload, and I have gotten so into yoga again. Which has been gorgeous in every sense of the word. I have always been somebody who, and shout out to my mom, She brought me to yoga classes. Early days. I remember going with her at a young age and then all through high school I would do yoga and I almost got my certification. I feel like still it's on the list. I'd love to get certified if I ever end up having a little bit more bandwidth to do the teacher training hours and all of those things, but maybe one day. But I found this great studio and I have been doing yoga and meditating much more. I now meditate every morning. I wake up, I immediately go downstairs, I meditate, I journal, and then I make my coffee and I sit outside. And this has been such an important thing that I feel like I've been able to gift myself because I've honestly just been in like a deeper sense of communication with myself. I feel like I've just been having more dialogue with myself around how I'm doing and constantly checking in and I feel like. This ties itself so well into the concept of establishing a pleasure practice, which I know we chat about on this show a good amount, where I feel like I have just deeply been in so much more rich conversation with myself, really asking myself, what do I need in this this moment and like, you know, having a little bit of time to self reflect, have a bird's eye view of whatever it is that I'm up to and kind of, you know, adjust where need be. And it's just been so cool to see the effects of that because I have not only like physically felt my cortisol go down, but I have also just kind of been really loving this much more balanced way of living that I have integrated through this whole process. And of course, it's had an insane effect on my skin and my stress levels and just how it kind of has manifested in its physical form. But I truly feel it in such a deep way. And I've been learning and been doing such a better job of even like when I look at my schedule of kind of always asking myself, how can I offload? Or if I do have a busy day, what is required of me to reset and rebalance from this? And I share this as a tip because I know a lot of us have experienced burnout before, we have experienced some type of adrenal fatigue. And I find it so important that. To just have moments of reflection of being like, okay, well, if I'm putting in this much, how can I also receive this much? And what is it that I need to do to have a little bit more balance in the system and not go one way or the other? And this kind of goes into the balance of masculine and feminine energetics, right? Where we don't want to ever be going too hard into the masculine or too hard into the feminine in a long-term scenario. And we want to learn how to strike the balance of working with each and seeing where each has its role in your lifestyle and in your day-to-day. So the cortisol management has been monumental. It's been so great, like in so many capacities. And then I would say following that, the final thing that has been really beneficial has been going into really the nitty-gritty of the topicals that I've been putting on my skin. So I've chatted a bit about this before in terms of sexual wellness because I've just been so passionate about clean ingredients for sexual health and making sure that we're not putting anything inside or around our. Or intimate areas, our vulvas, all the things that is harmful. And there are a lot of products out there that are just not so great. For your sexual health and for your vaginal microbiome, but I never really did like the same audit, or at least I thought I was using clean skincare and clean products for the most part. But what my favorite thing to have learned about is all of the acne-causing ingredients that can be found in makeup and skincare. And Camille shared with us, and you guys like have access to this, it's just on ClearStem's website, you can actually use their product ingredient search database, it's a tab on their website, where you just copy and paste the ingredients in any product that you use, and their system flags whether or not it is acne causing, like if there are any acne triggering ingredients. So I just did an entire audit of my skincare and makeup makeup and basically had to throw away a few key products that I was using on my skin that actually were causing acne. One of which was if you are acne prone any ingredients that have like coconut, coconut oil, any sort of coconut base in them can be really damaging to any acne prone skin or it can just like heighten the problem. It can inflame the problem more and one of my main moisturizers that I was using additionally with some other sort of like eye cream had this in it and same with one of my hair conditioners. So that was really crazy. I also, I still have yet to do this. It just reminded me of this when I spoke of shampoo and conditioner, but. Apparently water and the making sure that you, you know, I don't know if it's like, yeah, just basically the water that you use for in the shower to wash your face, even to drink, it's really important to have specific filters on it. I'm like so-so, I'm not fully there yet. Again like this is a. Whole protocol that i've been on and it's kind of been integrated over time. It's a very step-by-step process I've really been wanting one of those joely shower heads. I'll keep you guys posted, But I think that will have a really good benefit on my skin health overall But yeah, I did a complete product overhaul which was really exciting and then the coolest part was that I just happened to this summer go to the midwest and visit one of my besties in Chicago and she was like girl I need to take you to this Korean skincare store and I was like say no more. I'm there so we went to this Korean skincare store and I. Kind of had a field day in there and I ended up switching most of my products Timing just aligned because I had had to throw away a lot of my products and then I was on this trip shortly after and so I Replenished by getting a lot of Korean skincare where I just firmly believe a lot of Korean skincare is so ahead of the curb I mean, I'm not even kidding. I have found the best SPFs and sunscreens from Korean skincare brands. Also not to mention like these brands are like a third of the price. Like I swear I'm not going back to Sephora and doing those hauls like I used to. Korean skin hair has just been such a hack. And anyways, that was like a complete product overhaul. So yeah, I hope that gives like an interesting glimpse into some of the lifestyle changes that I've made. I've just found it to be really important to integrate over time and not overwhelm my system. Or feel like I had too many steps to follow. You know, it's been very much a step-by-step progress. And when I get familiar and comfortable and feel integrated with one thing and have the bandwidth to like step into the next thing, that's kind of what I did. And truthfully, it's what I'm still doing. I think the things I'm still excited to get behind are looking into different water filtration systems, like I mentioned, and also I personally have been craving, a bit of a switch up and up level of my own movement routine. So that has been something that I have been kind of playing around with and finding different modalities. I've found yoga, which has been so great, but I've just been like really craving, And I do go to the gym to like lift weights, but I've been kind of craving to take that to the next level. I just have been like, you know, intuitively following the. Downloads that I've been receiving. I've also been getting a little bit of a download to start jogging again. And I stopped because I always ran. And then over the pandemic, I kind of only had running as an option or modality of exercise, as many of us did. It was so limited. And then by the time, you know, workout classes started opening up again, I was like, screw this, I'm so overrunning. And so it's always been a really great part of my life, but I've been really excited to integrate that back in. So anyways, I'll keep you guys posted, but I have to say my skin has never looked better. I've never felt better about it. I have been going to an amazing facialist. That's like one of the treats I've given myself as a pleasure practice in this and as part of my own like regimen around my acne protocol. I've been going to see this amazing facialist, BB Soft Skin if you are in the LA area. Alicia is incredible, like I can't gatekeep her. She just has single-handedly helped in really nourishing and making my skin feel so, so delicious. And it's so funny, because now we go to yoga together because we live in the same neighborhood and she'll be like, your skin's looking great. And I'll be like, thanks girl. She's so funny. Or she'll be like, oh, you need to come see me. I love her so much. So anyways, it's been really, really awesome. I feel so good finally getting behind it and really feeling like I am taking strides to. Help my, not only my skin, but really nourish myself and just like take, taking care and my well-being to the next level. And also, a way that I really was able to stay on top of all of these practices and rituals for myself, you know, hold myself accountable, but also get really excited about it, was I ended up utilizing the monthly archetype system that I developed to keep track of what my current protocol was at the time. So I feel like this is kind of getting into this part two of my six month in review of using the monthly archetype system, which is a basically a manifestation system of vision boarding your life on a monthly cadence. I also love this system because I strongly believe that as we are people who are continually seeking to live our most authentic lives, as we are people who are continually after living to our fullest potential, it's not a one-size-fits-all, and it's something that you're working with in sort of an ebb and flow. And with the monthly archetype system, it's embracing the fact that we are ever-changing beings and that we get to kind of change our vision and change our goals and change what we're working toward on more of a cadence than like an annual check-in, which I feel like that's where a lot of us go wrong when it comes to – or like not us go wrong, it's It's just where the... Ways of the world and the systems around us have maybe like shared with us tools that might not have served us the most when it comes to like creating annual goals or like having new Year new me goals. I really get excited about the monthly archetype system, specifically with its cadence of, adapting and pivoting and integrating Manifestations and you know really what you are working toward kind of in a quicker timeline. I feel like it's what helps me and anybody who uses the system to kind of quantum leap. I have an episode explaining more about what, I keep like plugging episodes in this solo, but I feel like it's helpful. If you are new here and you're like, what the heck is a monthly archetype? I have a episode where I break down what a monthly archetype is, why I work with crafting a monthly archetype and how you can do it too. So I will link to that as well, just for anybody new who's listening, who's like, what the heck is going on? But I swear that this system has been so integral to just my happiness and wellbeing and my growth and my quantum leaping and just how good I feel from the inside out. And as part of my monthly archetype, I craft these out on Notion, which is a digital task manager. I have a free template for anybody who's like, I use Notion too, or like, I kind of want to potentially explore what this is and what this could look like for me. So I'm. On my Notion have a little section as part of my monthly archetype, which is titled My Acne Protocol. And there I list out all of the different practices and rituals that I do on a daily basis that facilitate my acne protocol and my hormonal balance. And it's literally like a checklist. It's like, did I seed cycle today? Did I take my vitamins? Did I eat according to my acne regimen? Did I move my body in a particular way? Did I manage my stress? Did I take time to journal and meditate? Like all of these little practices that I get to take off. And guys, by no means am I perfect every single day. More often than not, I'm like, oh, I didn't follow my acne diet protocol, but that's okay. Like I was happy to have whatever. And so it's less of a like rigid approach, but it's more something to keep me in check and keep me working towards. And if I don't, if I miss something one day, if I forgot to take my supplements, I'm like, okay, whatever. Tomorrow's another day. So anyways, I love this system because it helped me to integrate, the changes that I wanted to make in a paced way. So I worked up to this checklist that I eventually, have been working on and like have as my daily check-in, but you know, it started out simple. It started out with one or two line items. Did I meditate today? Did I take my supplements? Check check? Okay, acne protocol done for the day and it's been so great and I'm just like such a systems gal. It's so funny because I. Someone like recently was like I see you're doing like these monthly archetypes like are you super type a or like do you have a lot of Capricorn in your chart and I was like So not type A and. I have no idea where Capricorn is in my chart, but it must be somewhere like kind of prominent in the terms of like creating systems, but I, in terms of horoscopes, I'm a Libra, then I'm a double Taurus, Moon, and Rising, and I feel like it's the like Libra in me, the like checks and balances, the masculine and feminine energetic side of me that like wants to strive for that, and I just really like to have kind of a digital hub to keep everything organized, which is why I use the template on Notion which you guys can access. And I really like the customization to it and the way that it can be so playful and creative because I am just, I'm always in my play and creative era. That's just like part of my innate DNA. And it just makes it a really fun place for me to kind of like hang out. I love, I love chilling on that digital homepage. But I'm realizing guys, this episode is running so much longer than I anticipated because I'm just outpouring with so much about my new hormone. Findings and kind of the lifestyle things that I've implemented and changes that I've implemented into feeling better and glowing from the inside out. So stay tuned because I clearly need to record a part two and on that I will dive into anything I feel like I've missed on this episode or that I want to explore a bit more and then we'll also get into the monthly archetype six month review and how you can start integrating this system to work for you, how you can start, crafting a monthly archetype, and really how I have seen this transform everything in my life, Like, truly, like, my happiness, my relationships, my sex, my intimacy, my connection to self, the friendships and social life that I have, the career goals that I'm hitting, like, it has been... So cool to just truly watch and experience firsthand. And I want this for everybody. I feel like I have been placed on this earth to help people tap into their desire, tap into their sexual energy, tap into their life force energy to live to their 110%. Like to be here and do everything that you saw and see for yourself and envision for yourself. And I'll have to like stop myself here because I feel like I'm about to like go right into it, but I'm really excited. So stay tuned. I'm so happy to have chatted with you guys today. I also like didn't even get to tell you about my crazy Korean spa experience. So we'll have to get back to that because that was a whole other saga and wild experience that I had that kind of changed my life in the best way possible. So I'll share that with you guys soon. Anyways, I hope that this helped you. I hope that you're feeling excited, inspired, and yeah, if you're anybody who just feels like you wanna get your hormones in check, you're just like, hmm. I feel like some of this might have resonated with me. I highly recommend taking charge of that, looking into that for yourself, and really gifting yourself the solution here because it has just helped me so much connect to so many different things. Even my menstrual cycle has gotten better ever since I have decided to really, really take a deeper look into my happy hormones and my healthy hormones. So with that said, guys, I hope you have an amazing week and I will catch you soon with a part two. If you loved this episode, be sure to share it with a friend, leave a rating, leave a review. Reviews help get this show out to so many people. It really, really helps just bring awareness, get this show to the front of people's podcast pages, so it would mean the world. If you love this episode, if you just love our show, love our interviews, to leave a review, leave a rating, and yeah, text this episode to a friend if you think it'll help. All right guys, I will chat with you next week. We'll talk soon. Bye! Music. Thank you for listening to The Bedside Podcast. I hope you loved this episode as much as we did making it. If you have any feedback, questions, or suggestions for future episodes, or if you just want to chat, don't hesitate to reach out to us at The Bedside on Instagram and TheBedside.co online. You can also find us at by the bedside on TikTok. To stay updated on our latest episodes, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on your preferred platform. And if you found this episode valuable, I would so greatly appreciate if you could leave us a rating, a review, text it to a friend, share it to your Instagram stories. Let's get this message out there loud and clear. Until next time, thank you so much for tuning in, and I'll see you next time. Music.