Hello Olivia, I would like to extend a very warm womb- felt welcome to you. I am so pleased to have you here. I have been following your story since we met in Cycle Coach school and always love seeing what you share as it is so heart led and authentic.
This is a virtual space where we can chat about all the Womb things and share where we are in our womb story.
I would love to start by asking where you are in the many cycles we are constantly moving within? (E.g menstrual, life, moon, 24 hour!).
I am currently on cycle day three of my 7th cycle postpartum, relishing in my inner winter magic. This is the phase of my cycle I feel most rooted and grounded in my being, and most aligned with my authentic self. While technically here in the northern hemisphere we are in Spring, where I live in the mountains of Colorado, flurries of snow are gracefully falling to kiss the ground – so it feels like my inner and outer seasons are aligned as well.
I know language is powerful and that the words we use to describe female anatomy can be loaded. I would love to ask you how you feel about the word womb?
I truly love the word womb; it gives me the sense of warmth & safety, yet is a powerful creator while simultaneously being my grounded anchor. The multidimensionality of our womb space is incredibly inspiring & fascinating.
You have been on a big transformational womb journey recently by birthing a human into the world! Can I invite you to describe your current relationship with your womb?
It truly has been a beautifully big, transformative journey. There were times in early pregnancy where I felt quite disconnected and out of touch with my womb. My menstrual cycle has been my anchor for many years now, so without it, I felt as if I were lost at sea. Pair that with no clear physical signs or sensations of pregnancy in those early days (i.e. no flutters of movement from babe, no sign of a baby bump yet) as well as the questioning all throughout the first trimester if this pregnancy would reach full term; it felt as if having this level of subconscious disconnect was a way to protect myself from getting attached should this pregnancy not make it, knowing the highest chances of miscarriage are within those first twelve weeks. I went into pregnancy with the intention of not wanting to spend my first trimester living in fear, but the subconscious mind can be quite powerful and with these fearful messages all around, it’s hard not to get sucked into it.
But as I moved into my second trimester, I could feel my relationship with my womb deepening just as my connection with my baby was deepening. The movements, the physical & energetic expansion, it was all so surreal. And then before I knew it, my time to welcome my baby into the world arrived. I had a beautiful (but long — spanning four days) home birth where I was lovingly held by my partner and birth team of three midwives. This was the most connected I’ve ever felt to my womb; so tuned into every sensation, surrendering and trusting my womb & my body’s ability to contract + expand to bring my baby safely earthside.
After he arrived, I feel like my relationship with my womb was grateful, but went dormant to allow her to heal and recover from such a transformative experience peacefully, in her own time. After a few months postpartum I began to notice some fear and disconnect sinking back in – I was so blissfully happy with my one sweet boy, and hearing stories of others accidentally getting pregnant during this time, I just simply couldn’t bear the thought. So I anxiously awaited my return to fertility so I could feel secure in my connection with my womb once again. And so it came, at six months postpartum, I confirmed ovulation with the Billings Ovulation Method of FAM & took the biggest sigh of relief and melted into my dreamy menstrual phase once again. Now I’m seven cycles in and have never felt more connected and appreciative of my womb and all she has done, and continues to do.
I am really interested to know if your relationship with your womb has changed? And if so how?
Well besides the changes described above, it has changed before pregnancy and birth as well. I spent seven years of my life on various forms of hormonal birth control, from the young, tender age of 14, until I was 21. Looking back, I’m deeply saddened by this experience, although this experience is what brought me to this work, so I embrace the duality of emotions here. I never had a connection with my womb until I was about 26 years old as I was never shown the possibility of connection before I got on hormonal birth control, and once I began hormonal birth control, my womb’s rhythms were shut down. At 21, I transitioned to the non-hormonal, copper IUD. I had a relatively positive experience with the copper IUD, except for irregular, ongoing bleeding in the early days which my OBGYN gave me birth control pills to “regulate” for the first two months (that should’ve been my first red flag). I didn’t realize how invasive this insertion of such a little device was to my womb space, so even though my hormonal rhythms were no longer stunted by synthetic hormones, this little device was still creating a major disconnect between my womb and me.
At 26 years old, I was going through a transformational time in my life, navigating a divorce and connecting deeper with my true authentic self, so I decided to have it removed and took the dive into the realm of the fertility awareness method for birth control (for those that aren’t familiar, FAM is an umbrella term for various methods of tracking your fertility biomarkers to either avoid pregnancy or use this information to successfully conceive). This is where I was enlightened and awakened a deep connection with my womb. I was captivated by the depths and intricacies of my cyclical rhythms and how my body was so clearly communicating with me, I just had to listen. It made me wonder what my relationship with my body would’ve been like all those years before had I not shut down my hormonal rhythms, but I didn’t know better. This is something many of us were taught to believe was an inconvenience, something to just deal with and go about our days and lives, but truthfully, it’s enchanting, we were just never given the chance to understand, and how can we appreciate something when we don’t understand? When we’ve approached it with fear?
As a holistic menstrual health practitioner how do you share womb wisdom with your clients?
I take a holistic approach to provide my clients the knowledge and education they deserve, yet were not given. I guide them through the depths of the intricacies of our hormonal system and rhythms, helping them understand the science behind the ebbs and flows of their cyclical experience. I find this education empowers my clients, where once they have this understanding, they breathe a sigh of relief, as it all suddenly makes sense to them, where they can finally live in flow rather than feeling like their cycle and symptoms are ruling them.
I combine my education in nutrition and hormonal health with my training in menstrual cycle awareness to provide a holistic healing experience rooted in nourishing the mind, body & spirit. I work with my clients to decipher the messages their body is sending them through cyclical symptoms and guide them to make the mind-body connection where they are able to intuitively address these symptoms through a root-cause approach with proper nourishment and lifestyle ‘rituals’. I find once my clients are able to address the ‘noise’ of these symptoms that have been leaving them feeling disconnected from their bodies and their wombs, they are able to sink back into their vessel and feel safe and at home again, and with time, their relationship with their womb and feminine energy begins to flourish.
It would be wonderful if you could share your top three tips for menstruators to reconnect with their womb wisdom?
I think my number one tip is to learn as much as you can about your body – the more you know, the more connected you’ll feel. Even if you’re on hormonal birth control, the more you can learn about your natural hormonal processes and rhythms, the more confident you can feel in your body as it takes away the fear of the unknown. I truly believe knowledge facilitates connection. If you don’t know where to start, or get overwhelmed from all you come across online, I highly recommend working with a holistic practitioner like myself who can support you in discovering your own unique rhythms.
My second tip – get comfortable talking about your body, your cycle, your period, your mood and energy, etc. I find that when we can openly share our experiences with our close friends, family, partners, and community, we empower each other and break the ideation that our menstruating bodies are taboo. You’d also be surprised how liberating it is to be able to fully speak your truth and stop censoring a big part of your being!
My third tip – allow yourself periods of rest, whenever and wherever you can get them. Allowing periods of rest allows us not only to replenish our energy and take time for ourselves, but also gets us out of the fight-or-flight energy that is activated when we are in a state of constant productivity. In my experience, many of my clients feel “stuck” and imbalanced in their masculine energy and have a deep desire to reconnect with the feminine because they don’t prioritize, or allow themselves, ample rest. It’s during these times of rest where you’ll be able to feel the connection with your womb space the most (in my opinion & experience), and from there, inspiration and creativity will find you & action will soon follow when your energy begins to rise again.
Thank you so much for being here in the chat womb with me. ♥️ I really appreciate your time and energy.
Before you go, please let readers know how they can get in touch with you.
You can connect with me on instagram @cyclicallyolivia or via my website www.cyclicallyolivia.com – if you’re desiring support in this work, I’d be honored to journey with you.
Check out this beautiful post from Olivia celebrating the first Birth-day!
Warmly
Hannah
CEO @ Womb Wisdom