Blossoming Through the Ages: What Whole Woman Health Really Means

In this deeply personal and powerful solo episode, host Tanya Ambrose kicks off a brand new series, "Whole Woman Health Across the Lifespan," with heartfelt reflections and a necessary conversation about what it truly means to care for ourselves at every stage of life.

Tanya opens up about a recent health scare and the wake-up call it provided about tuning into her body, especially as she gets older. From puberty to postpartum, perimenopause to menopause and beyond, our health needs evolve, but too often, we're not equipped with the tools, knowledge, or support to navigate those changes.

This episode is a call to action, a moment of reflection, and a loving reminder that women's health is about more than medical checkups, it's about honoring our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being throughout our life journey.

 In this episode, Tanya explores:

• Her recent chest pain scare and what it taught her
• The meaning of whole woman health
• How women’s health needs change over time
• Why it’s time to stop ignoring the whispers from our bodies
• What to expect in this empowering new series

Whether you’re just starting your health journey or well into embracing your evolution, this episode is for you.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Tea with Tanya
• 0:43 Graduation Reflections and Bittersweet Transitions
• 4:23 Introducing Whole Woman Health Series
• 5:32 My Personal ER Scare
• 9:54 Understanding Whole Woman Health
• 12:00 Health Through the Lifespan
• 17:14 Journal Prompts and Health Challenges
• 18:55 Episode Closing and Next Week's Preview

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 Tea with Tanya, your cozy space for real, honest and transformative conversations about health, wellness and promoting positive living. Today's episode is slightly pretty much personal to me and I hope it will be for you too by the end of this episode.

Speaker 1: 0:43

So this month? First of all, welcome to April. Can you believe it? We are literally in April, the fourth month of the year. I feel like March just came and went with a blink of an eye. But who's complaining? Because that means we are moving closer to the best month of the year, and that is May. And it's the best month because one.

Speaker 1: 1:03

It is my birth month, of course, but in the month of May, a little over a month, like a month and a few days I will be walking across that stage at the Colonial Life Arena in here in Columbia, south Camelina, for my graduation, and it is still bittersweet, like I would have mentioned on the podcast a while back. It is still bittersweet, it's still exciting. I'm getting all the projects in. It's literally crunch time for your girl and I'm already crying. I said, lord, please, if I'm going to get my makeup done, I don't want to have to be crying the day off because we have the hooding ceremony one day and then the graduation ceremony like a day or two after, and then I get to go home to Antigua.

Speaker 1: 1:43

But the thing is it is so bittersweet. I was having a talk with a professor the other day and I was just saying you know what is my life? What is my life outside of school? I don't know anymore. I've been going to school since I've been two years old at this point, and even when I took like a year off from school at one point in time during my undergrad season, I was still doing something, I was still learning something. So at this point it doesn't even make a difference. I've been learning and going to school for a very long time, but I just don't know what. Your girl is excited. Send me some good energies. You know, if you're out here listening and you've been through the grad school journey where you've graduated and you got to step into, you know, even your other big girl job. Just send me some tips and ideas, because let me tell you, it is a beautiful moment that I've been working hard for and I can't believe I can say I will be getting my master's in public health Like that is crazy. But then, on the other hand, it is also. It's bittersweet in the sense of what is my life going to be after I graduate, because I'm considering going the doctor of public health route. I'm considering going the doctor of public health route. We shall see how it goes, we shall see.

Speaker 1: 2:48

But when I look at the climate that we're in right now as it relates to even public health here in the United States, it's you wake up one morning, something is being pulled. By the time you go back to sleep, go to bed at night, something else has been pulled. So it's just, you just never know what you're going to wake up to. And I think right now, the field of public health, we're all sitting on edge right now for so many different reasons that I won't get into on this episode because I'm talking about that right now. But it's just a testament to be. You know, keep going no matter what, even when you are facing challenges, even when you know things aren't looking too bright as it relates to your field there still is.

Speaker 1: 3:22

I think this is just telling me you know what to your field there still is. I think this is just telling me you know what. There's still lots of work to do within the field of public health, and so I'm ready. I'm ready. It's again bittersweet in the sense of what is my life going to be like after school, but also bittersweet in the sense of why, you know I've worked so hard to get here, and now the field that I'm in is currently being threatened by the new administration for so many different reasons. So, but nevertheless, I am excited to be taking this journey and I feel like I've been talking about this on the podcast the last year and a half or two, and most of you have been sending a lot of positive energy. Congratulations and just keep keeping me filled. You know I'm full just knowing that I have you as my friend here in the tea tasting room, who consistently show up to Tea Tasting Room, and just feeling your positive energy. I absolutely, absolutely love and appreciate it, so thank you for that.

Speaker 1: 4:10

The countdown is on. So a month and change before. Your friend is a graduate of the University of you know what you'll find out in the next episode. How about that? All right, so this month we're starting a new series here in the tea tasting room and it's all about whole woman health across the lifespan. So I'll be talking with amazing guests and sharing solo episodes like this, like this one, to help us better understand what it means to take care of yourselves, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, spiritually and holistically at every age and stage of life. Because I think over the years, or over the last seven months this year, since we've been back in the tea tasting, we've talked about whole woman health essentially, and if you have not, click on the show notes, head to the website and download the whole woman wellness e-guide and checklist as well, what we've been talking about whole woman wellness, what it means to me, what it means to you. But this month I want to talk about, you know, whole Woman Health across the lifespan, and I want to kick things off by just getting a little vulnerable, just a little vulnerable with you.

Speaker 1: 5:16

So not too long ago, like literally not too long ago, before I'm even recording this podcast episode, probably a week ago, almost a week ago I was at work and just, you know, going about my normal day, doing what I got to do, and I suddenly started experiencing chest pain. Chest pain, shortness of breath. You know, it wasn't it wasn't necessarily like a sharp pain, but it was very uncomfortable enough to even get my attention. It was. It was so. It was to the point where every time I would inhale it would hurt and at first, me being me, I brushed it off. Don't recommend you doing that. But I brushed it off because you know how we do. Sometimes Maybe it's just gas. That was my first thing. I'm like you know what? You woke up a little bit late that morning. You were rushing, so I had to skip some of my morning steps, to be honest with you. So I'm just tired, because the girl has been tired.

Speaker 1: 6:04

Since that time I already went back. I've been tired. I've been up working tirelessly all things non-profit, to be honest. So I'm thinking, you know, maybe I'm just tired, but something in my spirit told me girl, please do not ignore this. No, I'm the person that I will tell everybody around me go get this checked. I don't care. If you have a pain in your finger, go get it checked. But me, on the other hand, sometimes I don't always practice what I preach. That's me being vulnerable to you Because I make the worst patient. I'm like you know, I can care for everybody else, tell everybody how to care for themselves, but when it comes to me I'm like I'm going to see, let me go ahead and monitor it. But no, I couldn't ignore it.

Speaker 1: 6:37

So I ended up going to the ER. Well, first I went to the urgent care, where they ended up sending me back to the hospital where I work at to go to the ER. Don't ask me why I left my place of work to go to the urgent care only to be sent back to the ER. But honestly, to be honest, that moment really shook me. You know, they ran all sorts of tests. They did the EKG, the blood work, the chest x-rays, the whole nine. Like when I say thorough, thorough and thankfully, essentially everything came back normal. But they still referred me to a cardiologist, just to be sure about something that they saw on the CT scan. And I'll probably shame about that once I have my visit with a cardiologist and we'll see how that goes, because we have an episode coming up talking about heart health as well as it relates to women's health, but they still referred me to a cardiologist just to be sure, and I remember thinking while I'm sitting in the hospital, because, again for me, I often joke and say, oh, I'm too young to be sick, or I literally cannot afford to be sick in this country, because, you know, the health care system is a whole different thing we can talk about again too, but I remember sitting there thinking, well, I am too young to be dealing with this.

Speaker 1: 7:41

But then I'm like, am I, though? Because the truth is, as we get older, our body starts sending us messages. Some are loud and scary, others are quiet whispers that are overlooked, and, as women especially black women and women of color we're often conditioned to push through pain, to downplay symptoms, to not put ourselves first, but let me tell you, my friend, that ER visit reminded me my body is not something I can afford to ignore. So the days when I'm saying, oh, I can't afford to be sick in this country, I can't afford to be sick, honestly, that trip was like a wake-up call for me before, because I'm thinking you know what? Yeah, you're relatively healthy. Everything always checks out. The only thing that I would essentially say that I struggle with is just having high cholesterol and I've been making the changes to get that back within the normal range as well. But that trip to the ER, my friend, listen, I'm just sitting there like wow, I have no family here, you know, thankful for my community here who were able to come and sit with me while I was there, just offer some sort of words of encouragement. But it showed me that I needed to slow down as well. My body was telling me girl, first of all, you're not in your 20s anymore, we're not about to do that. So definitely my body, your body, is not something that we can afford to ignore.

Speaker 1: 8:54

So what do I mean by whole woman health? I'm not just talking about going to the doctor or getting your annual checkup. That's very important, even though it's very important. I am talking about a comprehensive whole body, whole life approach to health. It's the awareness that our physical, emotional and mental and spiritual health are all connected. I know you've probably heard that many times on the podcast, but it honestly is all connected. It's understanding how our environment, our stress levels, our relationships, our diet and even our boundaries affect our health.

Speaker 1: 9:30

Whole woman health is also about equity, and I would not be me if I didn't say that it's about equity. It's about, you know, access to care, representation, culturally competent providers. It's about education and empowerment. It's about knowing your body, advocating for it and giving it what it needs, whether that's rest, therapy, joy or movement. We're having to give what our body needs on any given day and I think you know there's so many changes that we experience as we age. And I'm talking to you here and I'm actively going through them as well. When you think about, wow, me at 34, the me at 21 and the me at 24, two totally different people from an emotional intelligence standpoint, but physically two completely different people. But one of the most eye-opening parts of this journey is realizing how much our bodies change over time, and it's not just about the wrinkles or metabolism, it's more than that. So let's take a little walk through life together, just a little walk, it's not going to be too long, my friend.

Speaker 1: 10:33

In adolescence we're learning about our periods, hormones are ranging and we're often thrown into womanhood with very little preparation. And I will say this that's one of the reasons why I have my non-profit Scrub Life Kids, because you think about when I was 10, 11, 12, we didn't have certain conversations growing up, you know, especially in the Caribbean, from a Caribbean household. There were just certain conversations that were just off limits, like no, we're not having a conversation because you know, no, it's just not going to happen in our culture. To be honest, and that's one of the reasons why I always emphasize the educational, the comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education within my organization, but also even just from a whole woman standpoint, from the minute you hit puberty, from eight to when you're experiencing menopause. We are covering that health education throughout the lifespan Because, again, in today's age, you know, a lot of things are being threatened, especially when it comes to a woman's body. So we also, we definitely want to ensure that we provide a comprehensive health education, especially reproductive and sexual health education, here at Scrub Life Kids Because, again, we want to get in early.

Speaker 1: 11:37

When you're going through puberty, you want to be able to be able to advocate for yourself, understand what's going on in your body. I don't care if you're five, six, seven or eight months, you know. Of course, you got to do it from an age appropriate level, developmental level as well, but during that time, you know, we're learning about our periods, our hormones are all over the place. We can't even control it. We don't even know what's going on. And then here we are, without little preparation. So again, that's one of the most. One of the things that I'm proud of at Squab Life Care is for being able to provide that education to individuals from puberty right up to those who are experiencing menopause.

Speaker 1: 12:14

And then in our 20s and 30s we're navigating fertility, sexual identity and reproductive health. Sometimes we're doing that with clarity, sometimes with confusion. We're doing that with clarity, sometimes with confusion. So again, wanting to ensure that we know about our body from a young age so then, when we get to our twenties and our thirties, we're able to have a better understanding of how our body works and that way we can advocate for ourselves and we won't be as confused. Because, let me tell you, many of us in our twenties child, if I could do over my twenties, let me tell you, if I could do it in my 20s, there would be so much more that I would have done differently. But also the experiences that I had in my 20s and in my early 30s also shaping how I'm approaching life now, in approaching my mid 30s, oh my goodness. But then you have.

Speaker 1: 12:58

Then you get to your 40s and beyond and we start seeing, you know, permanent pause, sneaking, the mood swings, the fatigue, the unexplained weight changes. Let me tell you that, okay, all right, the anxiety. And then we're often told to just deal with it Again, going up on a Caribbean culture or deal with it, or go to the pastor. You know, let's pray it away. Or you know, sometimes they will say you know, you're too young to be experiencing certain things. And then we get labeled as either crazy or this person is fast, or whatever the case may be.

Speaker 1: 13:28

So all that simply because the lack of access to the health education that we need so we can be better advocates for ourselves and our bodies. So by the time we get to our 40s now, we don't even know what to expect. You know, we can't even explain. Okay, you know I'm moody today. What's causing that? We don't know, because, again, we weren't equipped with that knowledge and the education to even understand that. And then there's menopause, a phase that should be celebrated but is so often stigmatized and misunderstood, you know.

Speaker 1: 13:58

So we definitely want to break the barrier as it relates to even talking about this in the open, when we're talking about whole woman, health throughout the lifespan. So when you think about it, my friend. Our needs evolve. What worked in our 20s may not work in our 40s, may not even work in your 30s, and yet so many women don't feel supported or even seen by the healthcare system or even by those closest to them Because, again, we're not equipped with the knowledge to really and truly advocate for ourselves but also show up in a way for our people, how we can show support, because, again, when you don't understand something, you can't do anything about it.

Speaker 1: 14:34

If you're being honest and that's one of the reasons why I created this series that's what is going to be happening. That's going to be happening for the next two months or so, because I really do believe that we deserve to talk about these things openly and honestly. I believe that, whether you're 16, whether you're nine and just getting your first period, or you're 35 and thinking about pregnancy, or you're 52 and navigating menopause, you should have the knowledge and tools and support to care for your whole self. So I'm going to be talking to guests who specialize in adolescence health, reproductive health, fertility, mental wellness, menopause care and also holistic practices and more. We're going to be covering it all because we deserve it all, my friend. So, before I close.

Speaker 1: 15:20

I want to ask you to ask yourself a few questions, and I definitely want to hear these answers in my inbox or tagging in your stories. But ask yourself a few questions and I definitely want to hear these answers in my inbox or tag me in your stories. But ask yourself this when was the last time I really listened to my body? So we can use this as our journal prompts for the next couple of days. When was the last time I really listened to my body? What part of my health have I been ignoring or postponing? What does whole health look like for me right now, in this season? Not what it could look like in the next season. No, what does whole health look like for me right now, in this current season of my life? And let us want to lovingly challenge you to book that appointment, my sis, book that appointment for your annual.

Speaker 1: 16:01

By the time this episode is going to be aired, I would have had my appointment with my gynecologist. We're going to be talking about so many different things. I am going to be talking to her about the possibility of also egg freezing my eggs and there will be an episode about this as well. I'm excited to talk about that too, but I'm going to talk about. You know what's the possibility of freezing my eggs? You know why am I more tired? Or what's been the determining factor with my weight gain minus? You know, of course, the cortisol levels being really high. But definitely I'm encouraging you to book that appointment.

Speaker 1: 16:29

Take that walk, drink that water, my friend, or have that hard conversation, even if it's going to be uncomfortable. Have it because your health is too important to put on the back burner. We're not doing that too many times. We're so busy hustling trying to get to the next job or trying to get to the next goal that sometimes our health gets put on the back burner. We don't have time for that. Let's bring our health to the front burner. You know, sometimes the front burner depending on what kind of stove you have, the front burner may end up being the best burner that you cook all your food on. I mean, I know you can understand what I'm saying. So let's go ahead and bring our help to the front burner and not in the back, because we're tired of being in the back right now. It's time for us to really take charge of our health. My friend, that's all I got for you for today as we prepare for this upcoming series. Thank you for holding space with me today.

Speaker 1: 17:18

This episode should be a person for us to reflect on our personal life and our goals. You know because, like I said, my trip to the ER, spending a couple of hours there, I was like, wow, girl, you really got to take stock of your life. This is not it Granted, you know, I don't know what would have essentially caused the pain in my chest then, but I've never experienced that at all, and for me to even experience it, I was like girl, no, the talking, you're talking. Yeah, you're putting a lot of action behind some of your words, but we really don't got to make sure that we're getting back on track as it relates to our health. So definitely want to encourage you to just take stock of your life. We all have stories, we all have wake up calls and we all deserve the kind of health and care that helps us blossom not just survive, but to blossom as well. But to blossom as well.

Speaker 1: 18:07

Okay, don't forget to share this episode with a friend or sister and auntie, someone who needs that reminder that their health or her health matters. All right, if this episode resonated with you, of course, dm me, email me or leave a review. I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Let me know what you want to hear me talk about during this series. Again, we're covering whole woman health throughout the lifespan, from puberty. If you're someone with a daughter or son at 12 or 10, you want them to hear this episode. You want us to address certain things? Let me know, because I'm here to serve you at the end of the day.

Speaker 1: 18:34

Next week, we're going to be diving into periods puberty and power with a very special guest that I'm so excited to even talk to or for you guys to even hear. So make sure you are subscribed, because you don't want to miss it. All right, until then, take care of yourself, your mind, your body and your soul. Be well, friend. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Tea with Tanya. If you like 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.