Lulu Ge is the co-founder of Elix Healing, which is a brand that combines the best of ancient wisdom and modern research for a holistic approach to health and menstrual health. Lulu co-founded Elix alongside her friend Nicole, who  is a board-certified acupuncturist and herbalist, with a doctorate in Chinese Medicine and women’s health. Lulu went to Nicole when she was experiencing debilitating cycle-related symptoms and she helped Lulu with a personalized herbal treatment. They joined forces and started Elix to help other women have better access to personalized herbal medicine.

Lulu and I talk about so many great topics today including the importance of democratizing access to holistic health, something she set out to do with her company. Holistic health, functional medicine, herbalism, and even fitness classes should not be something that only a select group of people from a certain socioeconomic background can afford to access -- and Elix is a company that is truly helping make this happen through education and resources that anyone can get on their website.

We also talk about the importance of decolonizing wellness. If you don't know what decolonizing wellness means, Lulu explains it in the interview today in terms of her own experience as a woman of color and a Chinese immigrant.

I know this conversation made me think, reflect and want to learn more -- so I hope it does the same for you.

 

Topics we discuss:

11:42 - Lulu's background and story behind Elix

19:10 - How Lulu joined forces with her friend, Dr. Nicole

19:50 - The importance of the tongue in Chinese Medicine

22:30 - How your cycle is considered the "fifth vital sign"

25:30 - The statistics behind what symptoms Elix is seeing reported since the onset of COVID-19, like an increase in women reporting burnout, fatigue, mood swings, and extreme pain during their periods 

28:00 - The connection between mental health and hormone health

37:20 - Lulu explains what democratizing access to holistic wellness means

44:15 - Wellness brands' responsibility to educate and not just sell products 

46:06 - What Lulu says the wellness industry can improve upon when it comes to diversity and inclusion 

49:20 - The roots of skepticism in herbal remedies 

49:55 - Systems of oppression and the connection between systemic racism and sexism 

51:45 - Explaining decolonizing wellness 

54:00 - The clean beauty industry's roots in communities of color 

Links:

Elix Healing Website

Elix Healing Instagram

Lulu Ge Instagram

My meditation resource: Ziva Meditation 

 

More on Wellness Unedited:

Wellnessunedited.com

Instagram: @wellnessuneditedpodcast | @merceylivingston