Embracing Whole Woman Wellness: Transform Your Health Journey

In today’s episode of Tea with Tanya, I get real about my personal wake-up call when I faced severe migraines and alarming cholesterol levels. These health scares forced me to take a long, hard look at my wellness practices and make some serious changes. I’m here to share my journey and how prioritizing holistic health, especially for women in Black and brown communities, has helped me regain control over my health and well-being.

Main Takeaways:
In this episode, I unravel the essential steps of whole-woman wellness, focusing on addressing the root causes of chronic illness through stress management, better nutrition, and consistent physical activity. From my own experience, I’ll explain the transformative power of understanding the mind-body connection and how you can start taking charge of your health today.

Key Points You’ll Learn:

1. The Importance of Self-Care: Discover how neglecting your health today can lead to chronic illness tomorrow.
2. Holistic Wellness for Women: Learn the key pillars of whole woman wellness, including nutrition, movement, and sleep.
3. Practical Strategies for Health: I’ll share practical tools you can use, like symptom tracking and aligning exercise with your menstrual cycle, to support your journey toward a healthier, more balanced life.

Ready to dive deeper into whole woman wellness? Download your FREE guide today and start your health journey!

Chapters

• 0:00 Transforming Health Through Whole Woman Wellness
• 6:32 Taking Control of Your Health
• 18:28 Optimizing Health Through Holistic Wellness
• 27:25 Tracking Hormones and Sleep for Wellness

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Tea with Tanya. I'm your host, tanya Ambrose, an average millennial navigating life as a maternal health professional, non-profit founder and grad student. Join me in the tea tasting room where we spill the tea on finding balance and promoting positive living. While doing it all, hey friend, welcome back to another episode of Tea with Tanya, transforming every aspect, your go-to space for real, honest and transformative conversations about health, wellness and promoting positive living. I'm your host, tanya, aka your wellness bestie, and today's episode is a special one because I'm sharing something that are personal to me. And today's episode is a special one because I'm sharing something that are personal to me, something that has completely shifted how I approach my health and wellness this year.

Speaker 1: 0:57

Now, my friend, I had a wake up call. Now, granted, I've had several wake up calls in my lifetime, but I really had to double down and really do what was best for me as a woman, essentially trying to conceive and just being in the best health that I can possibly be in. And for years, I've been helping others through my work, nonprofit and even the podcast, but I wasn't always paying enough attention to my own health. Now, I'm sure you've always heard that doctors or nurses, they make the worst patient because, again, they know so much or they always help other people that when it's time for them to get the help themselves, we don't always the best patient, myself included. And then reality, essentially, would have hit. I started experiencing even more severe migraines, like I've had migraines for over a decade now, or even longer than that. I've been experiencing migraines since I was in high school, honestly speaking, but they've become more and more severe and I just was not paying attention to that. I'm like you know, okay, I'm tired, I'm stressed. I'm in school Also, because my doctors would often tell me you know, you're a young lady in school managing all these different things, you have a nonprofit, you have X, you have Y, so your stress level is high. That's why you're having these severe migraines.

Speaker 1: 2:02

And then, after doing some checkup and whatnot, I was experiencing extremely high cholesterol and then fatigue. And when I say extremely high, like I'm talking about extremely high, like any number that is, over 240 when it comes to your total cholesterol, that is, you know, you're in the danger zone. That's very, very dangerous and for me my number was like 272. So I'm not even on the scale anymore when it comes to the cholesterol, like I'm off the Richter scale at this point in time. It's just I had to just stop and really take stock of what was happening in my body, because this is ridiculous. You know I don't. I'm not a person who eat badly and you know I try to eat fairly healthy when I do eat that that is, but to have cholesterol being 272, basically way off the scale at this point in time, I actually just step back and really take stock of what was happening in my body, and I know I'm not alone in this, because how many of us in our lives we push through exhaustion, we ignore symptoms or we delay any sort of doctor visits because, again, we're just too busy?

Speaker 1: 3:04

And I'm going to tell you this, my friend that has to stop today. That is going to have to stop, because we cannot continue living like this, especially in 2025, the way in which this world is going. No, we're going to stop and we're going to talk about taking care of our bodies. So in this episode, we're going to be talking about whole woman wellness, what it really means and why I'm making it my focus this year, and how you, my friend, can start taking control of your health right now. And, of course, I have a free gift for you, because I want you to start taking action today. So please stick around until the end and I'll tell you how to grab my whole woman wellness guide and checklist to help you start this journey. You don't want to miss this, so please stick around with me here in the tea tasting room just for a little bit longer, okay?

Speaker 1: 3:48

So what do I mean when I say whole woman wellness? It's not just about eating salads and hitting the gym. No, ma'am, no, no, no, no, no. It's about taking care of your entire self. That means taking care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually at every stage of life. And I want to emphasize every stage of life, because sometimes we tend to focus on one stage of life and then forget the other, and then, when we get to that stage of life, we're not figuring out. Oh wow, nobody told me about this.

Speaker 1: 4:18

So we definitely want to ensure that we're taking care of ourselves at every stage of life, because, let's be real, as women, we wear so many hats, so many many hats. We take care of families, we have our careers, you know, our communities, our partners so many different things, but how often do we truly take care of ourselves, and I know I have some close friends who are all about their self-care, their self-love. It's like a non-negotiable for them. They don't care who you are, what you are, what you're doing. They're going to make time for themselves. But some people, some of us, like myself included we don't often make that time, so we definitely got to do better when it comes to that Like. Here's the truth If you don't make time for your wellness now, you'll be forced to make time for your illness later. I'm going to say it again, my friend, in case you didn't really understand what I'm saying If you don't make time for your wellness now, you'll be forced to make time for your illness later, and we're not trying to have any of that in 2025. You know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 5:13

So, whole woman, wellness means knowing your body and listening to it, not ignoring the signs it's giving you. It's about understanding your unique health needs, from puberty up until to menopause. It's about prioritizing preventative care because, again, waiting until something is wrong is just not the move that we're trying to go for at all anytime right now. And, of course, it also means balancing physical health with mental and emotional well-being, because stress and anxiety and even burnout, affect our health more than we realize. And we know that stress is a silent killer. And I've seen too many young people around me essentially are dying as a result of two distress levels that they have not been able to cope. Because, again, let's be real, we live in a society where so many people's lives are being threatened just for how they show up in society. And again, the stress of it all, the anxiety, the burnout, it definitely will affect someone's health if it's not getting under control. So you definitely want to be able to live your life in the sense where you're taking care of your body from a holistic standpoint. So that's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about what whole woman wellness means. So today I want to take you through a roadmap for getting started when it comes to your whole woman wellness. So let's break it all the way down. Okay, we're going to break it all the way down here in the tea tasting room.

Speaker 1: 6:32

Now I'm going to be honest with you, my friend. Like I mentioned earlier, I've had several wake up calls in my life, but 2024 was one of the biggest wake up call for me, across our boards. For months I was feeling off low energy, constant severe migraines. I'm just not myself, especially in the first half of 2024, for so many different reasons. But one thing I would do, even feeling like this, I would push through because, again, I had so much going on. Does that sound familiar? I do a lot, but I would always push through because, again, I had just too much going on.

Speaker 1: 7:08

So then I had a routine checkup with my doctor and I was told that my cholesterol levels were too high. Like I mentioned earlier, it was off the Richter scale at this point in time. It was too high. Now, listen, I know, and I'm sure you probably can relate, when we hear about high cholesterol, we often think that that's for older people. Now, raise your hand if that was one to you. Maybe you've gained the knowledge now, so you know. But raise your hand if at some point in time, when you hear high cholesterol, you always thought about that it was for older people. No, let me tell you, this is a real. This is very, very real, and it's happening to younger women as well, especially in Black and brown communities. Because we know again, everything has to do with today. There are statistics Black women are often more prone to so many different things than their white counterparts as well. So high cholesterol is legitimately running in our Black and brown communities, especially amongst our young men, and even women as well, you know.

Speaker 1: 8:05

So it made me realize that I personally was neglecting my health. I was skipping meals, not managing my stress properly and not getting enough movement in. Now, mind you, I started the gym in the first half of 2024 because, again, that was my way, or my out, for me to gain mental clarity, also for me to just stay fit, build endurance, but also it was a way for me to take care of my body. But did I do that? After what I stopped? It took me a very long time for me to even go back to working out. It took me at least eight months, I think six to eight months and I'm now back in the gym working out because, again, a girl got so many things she got to do. But that was one of the steps that I decided to take as it relates to moving forward and taking care of my body, because I wasn't taking care of my body, because I wasn't managing my stress properly and not getting enough movement in. So that's when I basically said enough is enough.

Speaker 1: 8:51

I started taking stock of my life, honestly, like my habits and what needed to change, and that is what led me essentially to focus on whole woman wellness. And I will give a shout out to my web designer, narsha, because we were talking about this from a holistic standpoint woman and what we go through. You know she's a mom, a single mom. I'm here trying to educate and empower people in my community, and so the idea of just whole woman wellness because, again, sometimes we tend to focus on maybe just pregnancy and we leave out menstrual cycles or whatever you know, breast cancer, whatever the case may be. But my goal is for us to really and truly think about wellness from the whole woman perspective.

Speaker 1: 9:28

So, my friend, I have a question for you, so make sure you answer this question, ok, when was the last time you really checked in with your body? Have you been ignoring something that's been trying to get your attention for the longest? Now we're going to have to really and truly think about taking stock of your health and where to start. So I want to get into some practical steps. If you're listening, knowing you're thinking okay, tanya, here she go, but where do I even start? Here's what I want to do and I'm going to encourage you to get a book, pen and a paper you can put in your notes that. But this is what I want you for you to do Get real about where you are, and I had this conversation recently with my sister. I had to tell her, you know, you need to be honest about where you are in your health and wellness journey. So think about what areas of your health you have been neglecting. That could be nutrition, it could be movement, stress, sleep, mental health, reproductive health. Whatever it is. What areas of your life have you been neglecting?

Speaker 1: 10:22

Think about journaling or even voice notes voice noting your thoughts. Because let me tell you this, I just discovered the iPhone, the notes app. You can actually record things and leave it there. Because one thing about me I'm always talking to myself. I'm always recording a podcast episode in my car without even actually recording. So to have that feature now with the notes app where you can just record your voice into the app, I do encourage you to do that. You can ask questions or even answer questions like how do I actually feel in my body? We call that voice note. Keep it right there.

Speaker 1: 10:54

Try to understand the mind-body connection. Mental health affects physical health and vice versa. Sometimes we don't often think that, but this, when we talk about the whole woman body, this whole body, this is so interconnected that everything is connected to one other thing. So, yeah, to ensure you understand that mind-body connection so that's step one Get real about where you are when it comes to your life. So get a notebook, and I will encourage this Get a notebook and do what is called a body check-in.

Speaker 1: 11:23

Again, how do you feel? What symptoms have you been ignoring? For me, I have a migraine journal. I don't often write in it these days because at this point neither me or my doctor know what essentially triggers my migraine, sadly. But I have a migraine journal that I will usually write in there and say okay, at 6 am this morning I woke up and by 6.10, I started feeling symptoms of what was going to be a migraine, or at 3 pm this day. So in that way, when I'm talking to my care provider, I'm able to tell them they can see the patterns of, let's say, maybe you're likely to have a migraine in the morning versus the evening or vice versa, and you know what day of the week. These are different things. So you definitely want to keep a notebook specifically so you can do a body check-in. We have all these journals that we write in and you can call it your body journal. But you want to take note because, again, when you go see your primary care provider, whenever that checkup may be, and you have these questions to ask, you have the full information as to what it is that's going on in your body, because, again, nobody knows your body better than yourself.

Speaker 1: 12:22

The second thing is to know your numbers. When was the last time you got blood work done? Have you checked your cholesterol, your blood pressure, blood sugar and hormonal levels? These are things that you want to look into. Have you scheduled your annual pap smear, your mammogram or any other reproductive health checkup? Think about that. So know your numbers. For me, like I said, my cholesterol numbers right now, my total cholesterol number is 272. So I'm living in the danger zone as it relates to that. Definitely do not recommend having such high cholesterol. My blood pressure a normal blood pressure is usually 120 over 80. Mine is 110 over 70, still fairly in the normal range, and I did an episode previously about you know checkups you should be having and how to know about your body. I will link that in the show notes as well.

Speaker 1: 13:08

But I definitely want to schedule these things, to know what your body is, what is your blood sugar, what are your hormonal levels, so that you can always tell okay, it's dropping, it's low, it's high, it's stable, whatever the case may be. It's very important for you to do that, and I do know sometimes, when we go to the doctor, doctor and they're taking temperature, your pulse rate, your heart rate and your blood pressure they have a tendency of not necessarily reading your numbers to you. We're not going to have that, my friend. Whenever you go to a checkup, you're going to ask them what was my blood pressure looking like? Or was my whatever they were taking? You ask that question Even though it's for their record. It's your body. You also need to know what's in your record as well. One thing I know we have MyChart and everything. That's how we create the conversation between the patient and the provider. Well, let me get off of that soapbox real quick, because we're not here to talk about that.

Speaker 1: 13:54

The third thing is to build a wellness routine that works for you. So I will say start with one small sustainable habit, that is, to drink more water. For me, that's my goal is to drink at least a liter of water a day. That may not be enough for some people, but for me, right now, it's what I can manage Because, again, we're supposed to be essentially drinking our body weight. But you definitely want to just think about one small, sustainable habit that could be drinking water. For me, that's what it is. That could be to move your body. That could be walking 30 minutes in your apartment complex, in your yard, whatever the case may be, and that could just be to add a leafy green to your meal, if that means, you know, adding some lettuce, some spinach, whatever it is. Think about something that you can just keep incorporating one day, one step at a time. Granted, you don't have to be perfect. All I'm asking is just to be consistent.

Speaker 1: 14:47

Find what brings you joy in your health. Like taking care of our health, of our body, should be fun as well. So find what brings joy, what's going to bring you joy in your health and wellness journey. You know that could be dancing. You know you're burning calories there. That could be weightlifting, that could be yoga, pilates, or that can just be having a long walk after a long day, or even in the morning, just to get your body and all everything flowing, but the end of it all.

Speaker 1: 15:10

Just, honestly, find what works best for you. I think it comes on to that because sometimes too many times for me, I remember years ago when I was heavily in social media and looking at the influencers and I'm thinking, okay, here you are, out, here, you're working, you're losing weight, you just had a baby and the snapback body and these different things, but you're not necessarily showing me the process and what I realized, what would work for the person that is watching on YouTube, is not going to work for me in my own life as well. So just remember to find what works for you Because, again, wellness is not a one size fits all. You hear me, my friend, it's not a one size fits all. So these are some practical steps for us to understand. So we're going to get real about where you are, know your numbers, build a wellness routine that works for you.

Speaker 1: 15:58

Now let's break this down into five key pillars of whole woman wellness. Pillar number one is going to be nutrition and eating for longevity. We know by now what you eat fuels every system in your body, your hormones, your energy levels, mental clarity and even your skin and hair. All will reflect what's happening inside, because that's what we see on the outside is a reflection of what's happening on the inside. But here's where a lot of us tend to go wrong. We focus on calories over nutrients, and I think we need to shift nutrient. We need to shift to nutrient-dense foods, foods that's going to give our bodies the vitamins, the minerals, fiber and the healthy fats.

Speaker 1: 16:43

Now, for me, I'm going to share a list of inflammatory foods to avoid and the reason why I'm sharing this because, for me, right now, I deal with a lot of bloating. I don't know why. Like I said, I've been to the gastroenterologist. I'm just going everywhere trying to get answers, but I think, you know, I do need to think about what I'm putting into my body, which is why I'm probably more inflamed or whatever the case may be. So I'm trying to work on a anti-inflammatory diet and, as I continue working towards this, I will definitely share more of that in the tea tasting room.

Speaker 1: 17:12

But until then, the thing that I'm going to be avoiding, going forward, as it relates to inflammatory foods to avoid, that's going to be refined sugars, such as your soda candy and pastries. I'm not really a soda person, so that was an easy one for me to give up the candy. I got to be in the mood, and that's usually never Pastries. Now I'm having to work on that. But again, these are what we call refined sugars and they tend to cause blood sugar spikes and hormonal imbalances as well. And there's the processed food fast food, chips, frozen dinners. These are very high in preservatives and they tend to disrupt the gut health as well. So you definitely want to avoid a lot of these processed food. You know, avoid having excess dairy, especially highly processed cheese, because these can increase mucus production and inflammation, and we're trying to avoid that, my friend. And then you also want to avoid vegetable oils and trans fats, such as canola oil, margarine, fried foods, because, again, these increase inflammation and they can also have an impact on your heart health. So these are some of the inflammatory foods that we're going to be avoiding, and you'll be able to find this in the guide as well. So, again, stick around so you can know where you can go to get this guide from the Whole Woman Wellness Guide and Checklist.

Speaker 1: 18:28

The things that we want to essentially focus on are the nutrient dense foods, such as your leafy greens. That could be kale, spinach, swiss chard, because these are rich in iron and magnesium for energy, and we know, as women, we're going to need our energy because we have one good week, if that much, out of a month, to actually be living the way we want to live. But you definitely want to consume a lot of food rich in iron because, again, it's going to help to boost our energy levels. Think about fatty fish like your salmon, your mackerel, your sardines. These are packed with omega-3 for brain and heart health, so you definitely want to ensure that you're having something like this on your plate throughout the week.

Speaker 1: 19:06

Think about our whole grains. You know, the quinoa, the brown rice and the oats. I'm going to be honest, I am not a brown rice girly. I'm not there yet. I feel like I've had quinoa for so much, for such a long time back to back, that I'm just sick and tired of even saying quinoa. What is it quinoa? Now? I am still a basmati rice girly and one day I will get to the brown rice. But you know, again, try and incorporate more whole grains so that we can have steady energy and fiber for digestion, and we all know here, tanya needs a lot of fiber in her body. Okay, you also want to include our colorful vegetables. We often talk about making your, you know, eating the rainbow, so you think about your carrots, your bell peppers, your beets. These are antioxidants and they help to fight inflammation as well. Then there's healthy fats, like your avocado, your nuts and your olive oil. These also aid in hormonal balance and brain function as well. So think about that as it relates to pillar number one, that is, nutrition and eating for longevity, and one of the actions that I want you to take away from this particular pillar is, the next time you go to your shop, add at least two to three whole, nutrient-dense foods to your cart and see how that makes you feel as you go about your daily living and the foods that you're eating as well.

Speaker 1: 20:17

Pillar number two is movement and listening to your body. A lot of us sometimes have a hard time listening to our body, Like I often tend to teach, like to teach my classes. Who's going to know your body better than yourself? Because it's not going to be a doctor, because you're going to them for help. You know what I mean. So pillar number two is going to be movement and listening to your body. I want for us going forward.

Speaker 1: 20:39

Let's shift the conversation about exercise from losing weight to, more so, gaining life, because movement isn't about punishment. It's about longevity, flexibility and energy. And some of the common mistakes that we make when it comes to exercise is we're doing workouts that we hate because someone is telling you, oh, it's going to burn the most calories. So you're going to jump to doing exercise that you can't even stand because someone told you, oh, this is going to burn the most calories. Or you're ignoring body signals that is working out despite pain or exhaustion. Like I said, one thing we're going to do we're going to listen to that body. If we're too tired, we're going to rest. If we're in pain, we're not going to push that body to do what the body can't even do at that point in time. And then we're over-exercising without recovery because, in that sense now we're causing more harm than good. So you definitely want to move smarter, and I will say this how can you move smarter?

Speaker 1: 21:32

Let's think about cycle syncing workouts. So this is where it comes in. It's very important for us to understand our menstrual cycle or even our reproductive health, so I will touch briefly on this, but there will be an upcoming episode when we're talking all about cycle syncing, how to track our cycle, what we should be doing as it relates to our menstruation, our menstrual cycle, but also there was another previous episode that essentially touching that and I'm going to link that as well in the show notes, one of our Tea with Tanya podcast episode. But anyway, cycle syncing our workouts. Now let's be real, our menstrual cycle is more than just our period. It's honestly, it's legitimately the blueprint for how we feel, how we eat and even how we exercise, and I found this fascinating when I first came across. You know what it means to cycle sync a couple of years ago and it really does. It's important.

Speaker 1: 22:20

So when you think about during the follicular phase that usually starts on the first day of your period and lasts for about 13 to 14 days, during this phase, your energy is extremely high, so this is going to be the best time for intense workouts like running or weightlifting, so you can. You know your energy is high. You get to do more during the follicular phase and then there's the ovulation phase, which is usually days 14 to 17. So it lasts about one to two days, but that's when your body is going to be craving antioxidants. You want to think about the berries, the citrus and the green leafy vegetables as well. And then in the luteal phase, that's the phase that is the last phase of the menstrual cycle, and that is from day 15 to about day 28, 29.

Speaker 1: 23:04

And during this time, please honor your body because you're going to feel sluggish, so you can opt for something like, maybe, yoga, walking, you know, and load up on a lot of magnesium rich foods like dark chocolate and nuts. So when you have something, when you have that little sweet tasting oh, I have a craving, yeah, that's your body telling you, you know what it's time for me to slow it down and just give the body what it needs. So you, you know, of course, when you're in your menstrual phase now, you want to think about restorative yoga, stretching, walking. So do you see how your cycle is your superpower? It's so. Your, you know our menstrual cycle is more than our period. It's the blueprint for how we feel, eat and how we exercise. So one action step I want you to take away from this phase, from this pillar, is to choose one to two types of movement that feel good for your body and just start small. I'm not telling you to go do a Simone Bias type of exercise or workout. Just definitely start small and just add one to two types of different movement to your routine. Then there's pillar number three. That's going to be stress, mental health and our hormones.

Speaker 1: 24:07

Now, my friend, did you know that chronic stress throws your entire body out of balance? I'll share a story that I shared with Gianna on the episode before this. One day I was under some serious stress. It's been a while since I've been that stressed out and my period was delayed. And I'm here thinking girl, what is going on? You know, the first thing you do as a woman, regardless, is you think you're pregnant and I'm thinking OK, you know what, maybe God is going to make me, maybe 2.0. But that's when I realized that I was just so, so, so stressed, that my body, for the first time in a long time, was just out of whack. It didn't even know how to respond, and that delayed my period for a little bit over a week or so.

Speaker 1: 24:54

So some of the effects of chronic stress you know. You think about hormonal imbalance that's going to trigger. It triggers excess cortisol in your brain, leading to you feeling fatigue. You know that could result in weight gain and also even having irregular cycles as well. When you think about another effect it has, it has on the heart health issues it's going to raise your blood pressure and that's going to also increase the risk of heart disease as well. You know, the other effect that it has on our body is digestive problems. That's going to slow down metabolism. It's going to end up causing bloating, acid reflux or even constipation Hello me, you know.

Speaker 1: 25:25

So that's when I also realized that I had to really take a step of my life, because all of some of these things that I'm calling to you here is because of my experience and the conversations that I've had with my care provider. And then, of course, another effect of chronic stress is the weight fluctuation. So high cortisol levels is going to equal to a very stubborn belly fat storage. So when you're wondering, like myself, why am I looking like I'm six months pregnant? Why is my belly so big? It's also again because your weight is fluctuating because of that stress in your body, because the stress is honestly throws off your entire body out of balance.

Speaker 1: 25:59

So when we talk about, you know you want to minimize stress I know you're probably thinking, girl, the society that we're living in right now, how am I going to eliminate stress? And I know it's hard, but you definitely want to make it a priority and you can just do so by practicing. You know, having some mindfulness practice to help reduce the stress. It may not remove all the stress of life because, again, life is just life, but I encourage you to try some mindfulness practices to reduce your stress, such as deep breathing, gratitude journaling. Write three things you're grateful for. That could be in the morning or in the evening, whenever you find the time during that day. You know, think about nature therapy, take a walk outside no phone but I take that back when I say no phone because you know safety is important as well. But take a walk outside, just go be in nature. You'll be surprised how much just being outside for a few minutes can do for your body and for your mental health. And I think you know the 10-10 rule for me is, you know you do 10 minutes of stretching, 10 minutes of being quiet and 10 minutes of journaling. So think about that, the 10-10-10 rule 10 minutes of stretching, 10 minutes of quiet and 10 minutes of journaling. That is something that you're going to practice as it relates to your mindfulness. So the action step for this is to pick one mindfulness habit and practice it every morning. Granted, if the mornings are not for you you're not a morning person like me then you can also do that in the evening. But just pick one mindfulness habit and practice it every morning or evening, whatever time works for you in that given day.

Speaker 1: 27:25

Then, pillar number four, of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't talk about reproductive and hormonal health. Now, understanding your menstrual cycle is like having a natural health report every month, and I'm pretty sure that you know we've talked about why is our menstrual cycle important. When you have that menstrual, when you're understanding your cycle, having that natural menstrual cycle important, when you have that menstrual, when you're understanding your cycle, having that natural keyword, natural health report every month is key. So you think about how do you track your cycle? You want to do your basal body temperature, take your temperature every morning before getting out of bed, because, again, that's going to help essentially as it relates to you, for you knowing where you are in your menstrual cycle. And I will have an episode that's going to be diving deep, very deep into that as well, because I know many of us, some people are trying to conceive.

Speaker 1: 28:12

Some people just want to know about their body. So when you hear the term BBT, that is essentially your basal body temperature and it is it will be your lowest body temperature at rest, and tracking this scale you can pinpoint your ovulation period. You know that means, obviously, which is your most fertile time for your cycle. So if you're someone who you're trying to conceive and you're practicing to take your basal body temperature, you know when it's really high that you know what ovulation is happening. Let's do what we got to do because obviously we're trying to conceive a baby as well. So that's one thing you definitely want to do. If your temperature doesn't rise, you may not be ovulating, which can signal a hormonal imbalance that also needs attention as well. So that's a whole different thing that I'll talk about on another episode.

Speaker 1: 28:57

You know you think about one more thing. You think about your cervical mucus, and I know this is probably TMI, but I mean, if not us, if not me, then who? If not us checking our bodies, how are we going to know? So now, when you think about your discharge and your cervical mucus, you check that essentially throughout your cycle. That can also let you know when you're most fertile. So every day, when you go to the bathroom and you're wiping, notice your cervical mucus consistency. Before ovulation, that's going to be thick, sticky or creamy mucus. That means not fertile. During ovulation, that's going to be like a clear, stretchy egg white-like mucus. That means you're fertile. And then after ovulation, usually it'll be like a dry or thick white mucus. That's also resulting in you telling you being not fertile as well.

Speaker 1: 29:44

So those are some ways that you can check as it relates to your hormone or health. It's very important. It may sound some people tell me oh, that's a ghost. No, it's your body. It's your body's way of telling you what's happening in your body at some given point. And then cycle journaling. I'm going to bring this in. You want to be able to track your mood, your cravings, your energy levels.

Speaker 1: 30:05

Now, if this is going to be too much for you, there are resources online where you can find a cycle tracker. Again, sit, you can see how you can download the wellness guide, but we can just tick off. Okay, I've been angry today. My mood has been good. I crave this today, definitely, again. Keep these things because when you, when you see your doctor for something that may be happening that's unusual or just in general, they'll be able to have a better understanding of your body, to see what your health status is as well. So it may sound like a lot of work, but it's not, I promise you.

Speaker 1: 30:37

So you definitely want to ensure that you're tracking these things because you have some individuals like myself. We're pre-menopause. We're in our early 30s to 40s. Fertility is still high, but our cycles may end up shifting. Then there are perimenopause a woman mid-40s and up Then you may start having irregular periods. Night sweats, mood swings, hormone fluctuations are going to begin, and then you know menopause 15 up, but there's no, and the menopause is no period for a full year. Your estrogen levels are going to drop. That's going to be also under the risk for, like bone loss, heart disease and these different things. So you definitely just want to be more in tune with your body as you go through different and every stage of your life. So the action tip for this is to start tracking your cycle this month using a notebook or you can use the app there's several apps that I myself use as well that you can track your cycle during that as well. If you don't want, if you're worried about data being compromised and you get your book at your calendar and you start tracking that cycle every month, so that way you know what is happening in your body at any given point in time.

Speaker 1: 31:42

And then pillar number five, the last pillar in this, and that is sleep and recovery. Why is sleep your secret weapon? Because it detoxifies the brain and body, it helps to regulate weight and metabolism and it supports heart and immune health. Okay, sleep is important. I should be the last person talking about sleep, but I promise you, my friend, it is very, very important. I should be the last person talking about sleep, but I promise you, my friend, it is very, very important.

Speaker 1: 32:10

I have seen the effect of me, of, you know, a poor sleep pattern For me. Again, I'm in grad school, full time. I am a chronic migraine person at this point and the medication that I take. I have to take a medication every night to prevent myself from having a migraine the following day. However, this migraine med makes me extremely drowsy. And if you're someone like me you're a grad student, you work full-time, you have a nonprofit organization, you have a podcast, there's so many hats that you wear, you know your mop, whatever it is.

Speaker 1: 32:40

Sometimes sleep may, you may not get the full eight hours sleep that is recommended for us for our health and wellness, but at least try to ensure that you're getting adequate sleep, because sleep, my friend, is your secret weapon. So some some sleep rituals that you can, you can think to try and incorporate, again one step at a time, is to set a sleep alarm one hour before bed. For what I do is I try to make my bedtime be between 10 and 11. It depends on what day of the week it is. So my sleep enriching is not necessarily as consistent as some may be. You may go to sleep at 8 or 9 pm every night. I was once that girl, but I wear many hats. So my days, my evenings, aren't always the same.

Speaker 1: 33:25

But one thing that remains consistent is I'm going to sip on some chamomile tea before winding down. You can guarantee that I will be drinking some tea before bed, but definitely you want to set a sleep alarm one hour before bed, sip on some tea. My favorite tea of choice is going to always be chamomile tea before winding down. And then you know you can either use blackout curtains or you can just have the temperature in your house be cool. Me I'm always. It's always hard finding the balance between what is hot, what is cold in my apartment, but for sure, have a cool temperature. That's going to essentially help you to sleep better as well, because sleep is very important, my friend as well. Because sleep is very important, my friend. I know we have a lot going on, but we must rest because it's your secret weapon for overall health and wellness.

Speaker 1: 34:16

Okay, my friend, now for the action step for this is just set a consistent bedtime and wake up time For me. I get up at no. I'm getting up at 5.45 every morning, and that is because usually it was five. But because my sleeping, the time that I sleep every night, it varies based on what I have going on. I had to. I go to bed a little bit later, so I have to extend my wake-up time. So now I wake up at 5.45 every morning. Granted, sometimes my body does wake me up before that, but my alarm is set for 5.45 every morning. Now, again based on what time I go to bed. So just think about setting a consistent bedtime and a wake-up time that's going to work for you. Me, waking up at 5.45 may not work for you. Maybe four am might work for you, or even 6.30 and 7.00. But just set a consistent bedtime and wake up. That way you'll get into the habit of you know it being a routine and it becomes part of your daily ritual. So then you know that you know what I'm taking care of myself, because I'm getting X amount of sleep every night.

Speaker 1: 35:21

Now it's time for the post-it note takeaways. You know that's something that we're working on in 2025. We're going to have while we're on our whole woman wellness journey. I want to encourage us to start using some post-it notes that you can put little affirmations on where you are in your house, at work, in your car, wherever so you can have that reminder as well. So if you're listening in the car or you're on a walk and you're even laying in bed, you know, just let these words that I'm about to share, let them sink in and, like I say, I encourage you to write them down and place them somewhere visible, because the more you see them, the more they become part of your reality.

Speaker 1: 35:54

So the three things that I have that I want us to write on our post-it notes today is wellness is not about being perfect. It's about being consistent. Small steps lead to lifelong changes. Your health is your foundation. Prioritize it. So I'm going to list those three post-it note takeaways for this episode. Wellness is not about being perfect. It's about being consistent. Small steps lead to lifelong changes. Your health is your foundation. Prioritize it.

Speaker 1: 36:27

All right, my friend, we have made it to the end of the episode and it was a bit jam-packed, but I hope you're walking away with something, with a plan to prioritize you, you, you, you. And because your wellness bestie wants to see you doing well here in the tea tasting room, I want to help you to take action. So that's why I created the Whole Woman Wellness Guide and Checklist. Now you can go to my website, that's tanyakamrosecom, and grab your free copy and be sure to sign up to the newsletter so you can get a lot of Whole Woman Wellness information straight to your inbox. I promise you I won't spam, but I will leave that link to the website in the show notes and definitely, like I say, subscribe to the newsletter, check out the whole woman wellness guide. It's much more thorough than what I shared here today and I took my time my friend working on this guide. So it's free.

Speaker 1: 37:17

The amount, the information in this guide is free. Anybody would tell you, girl. Well, you have. Why are you giving this away for free? But the point is just ensuring that we are taking the necessary step towards our whole woman wellness in this year and beyond. So go to the website TanyaKAnbrosecom, grab your free copy and don't forget to tag me on social media and tell me one small change you're making for your wellness this year. I love you for listening. Remember again your health is your foundation. Take care of yourself, because what happened, my friend? You deserve it. I will see you back here in the tea tasting room next week. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Tea with Tanya. If you liked this episode, be sure to share it with a friend. Don't forget to follow on instagram at tea with tanya podcast. Be sure to subscribe to the weekly tea talk newsletter and, of course, rate on apple or spotify and subscribe wherever you listen. See you next time. I love you for listening.