Gender bias in medical care is real— it’s disempowering and entirely unnecessary.

Our current medical paradigm is failing women by seeing the female body as problematic, defective, out of control and needing constant supervision, regulation and rescuing.

This is clear in the domain of reproductive health. Puberty, birth control choices, conception, pregnancy, birth and menopause, are too often over-medicalized. It’s rarely questioned when a doctor says that this pill/procedure/device/intervention is the best option.

We live in wonderful, yet challenging times. No matter how new age or free-thinking we are, the fact of the matter is we’re influenced by our culture - and our current culture is still stuck in old paradigm thinking.

If you’d like to learn more about your menstrual cycle and fertility, I have a special free mini-course called Cycle Alchemy.

Sign up over here: https://moonschoolcourse.com/cycle-alchemy

Ovulation is the main event of the menstrual cycle and fertility. You cannot have a true period without ovulation. It is what allows us to produce one of our main hormones, progesterone. The hormones involved in ovulation have mental, emotional, and spiritual effects on our beings. By understanding what these are, you can leverage them in your everyday life.

You also can be forewarned to the challenges that can present themselves at this phase of the menstrual cycle. I'm also going to share my favourite naturopathic self-care tips to make sure that ovulation is a smooth process for you.

In this week’s blog, I wanted to take a dive into the science of stress: what’s actually occuring in our bodies in both the short term and long term. And I’m also going to open up on my thoughts and observations of how stress can be used as a spiritual invitation to transform aspects of our minds and hearts.

To read the blog that accompanies this episode, go to: https://www.mediatrixwellness.com.au/science-of-stress/

Urinary tract infections (also known as UTIs) are one of the most common infections women experience. It is also one of the most common presentations to doctor’s offices. They are unpleasant and if not treated, can lead to much more serious problems. It astounded me the number of antibiotic scripts we filled for women suffering common UTI from my time working in an integrative pharmacy. Whilst some situations require antibiotics, they are not needed for all.

The old saying “you are what you eat” is very true in many regards, however, “you are what you absorb” is truer still. If our digestive system is not functioning properly, many of the healthy nutrients that we consume cannot be broken down and absorbed into our bodies. Modern living involves many factors that can disrupt the optimal functioning of the digestive system and our microbiomes.

Period pain has plagued women for centuries. A rather unfair tax paid for being life creating creatures! What a lot of women assume is that it is normal. That it is a necessary part of being a menstruating woman that needs to be endured. But it's not and there are plenty of ways to support your body so that your periods are not a time of dread and pain, but one of rest and replenishment.

Natural Family Planning is one of the most simple, powerful and overlooked aspects of preconception preparation. The beauty of it is you can use it as a mode of birth control before trying to conceive and then return to it throughout your entire childbearing years. It’s often overlooked by mainstream medicine, and it’s a skill that every woman has the right to know. The way we use our knowledge of our fertility allows us to choose when we’d like to conceive, and when we don’t.

I walk a sensitive line in my work as a naturopath when it comes to food. I help people to heal chronic illnesses through the healing virtues of food, but in a cultural environment when there are so many stigmas and hangups around body image and “diet” it can quickly become a minefield to navigate.

In recent years I’ve realised that as a clinician, I hold a significant amount of responsibility to help people heal their relationships with food and foster a love for their body whatever their size or shape, not push wellness pin-up ideals.

I’d love to share what I’ve learned so far in dismantling this as both a clinician and as a 30-year-old woman who has grown up in a culture obsessed with skinniness.