The Cyclical Doula Podcast: Fertility Awareness, Charting Cycles, and Reproductive Health Education

In today's conversation, Emma sits down with birth doula, childbirth educator, and founder of A Brighter Birth Charleston, Natalie Karasiewicz.

In this episode, we explore:
✨ How Natalie became a doula and why she’s passionate about informed, confident birth
✨ The purpose and vision behind A Brighter Birth Charleston
✨ What families actually need from pregnancy through postpartum (and why it’s often missing)
✨ How doulas shift the emotional, physical, and informational experience of birth
✨ The role of community care in maternal health
✨ How cycle tracking supports motherhood, personal regulation, and daily rhythms
✨ Why body literacy matters for birth workers and families
✨ The intersection of intuition, education, and empowerment in pregnancy


Connect with Natalie & A Brighter Birth Charleston
Website: abrighterbirthcharleston.com
Instagram: @nataliekarasiewicz_
Instagram (Collective): @abrighterbirth.charleston
Email: [email protected]

The Trolley Room
Flexible, multi-purpose rental spaces perfect for professionals, creatives, and community events.

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Join Emma's free 14-day Charting Challenge inside Circle, a simple way to begin charting without overwhelm. Join here! 
• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch
• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here
• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text Emma at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

In this conversation, Emma sits down with Laura Martinez, neuro-shamanic healer, neuroscientist, and spiritual practitioner, to explore what it truly means to heal by listening to the body.

Laura shares her powerful origin story — including discovering that her great-grandmother was a curandera who performed limpiezas and healings in secret — and how ancestral wisdom, neuroscience, and modern trauma-informed care now converge in her work.

Together, Emma and Laura unpack how healing happens not by forcing change, but by regulating the nervous system, honoring cyclical rhythms, and reconnecting with the body’s innate intelligence.

In this episode, we explore:

• What neuro-shamanism actually is and why it isn’t a religion or belief system
• The bridge between neuroscience, neuroplasticity, and shamanic healing
• Why trauma work must begin with nervous system regulation
• The role of visualization, inner child work, and soul retrieval in healing
• How women experience feeling “stuck” when disconnected from creativity and desire
• Why honoring the menstrual cycle and cyclical energy supports emotional and nervous system health
• Practical, accessible rituals to calm the nervous system
• Why healing requires integration, not quick fixes or peak experiences
• How awareness is the first and most powerful step toward transformation

🔗 Connect with Laura Martinez

• Website: https://theneuroshamanichealer.com
• Instagram: @theneuroshamanichealer
• Insight timer: https://insighttimer.com/lauramartinez

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch

🎙️ Get Involved with the Podcast:

• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here

📌 Stay Connected:

• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text Emma at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

In this episode, Emma sits down with trauma therapist, doctoral researcher, and holistic practitioner Danniel Worthen Cullumber, MSW, LCSW, founder of Willow Medela Wellness. Together, they explore how trauma, chronic stress, and cultural conditioning shape the way women understand and inhabit their bodies—and how healing often begins with rebuilding a relationship with our own internal rhythms.

Danniel shares her integrated approach, blending somatic awareness, meaning-centered storytelling, nervous system education, and a decolonizing lens. She explains how the body “remembers” what the mind tries to outrun, why cycles and biorhythms matter in trauma recovery, and how awareness—not perfection—is often the missing link in healing.

They discuss:
• How trauma disrupts connection to the body’s natural signals
• Why nervous system regulation and cyclical awareness are inseparable
• The role of cultural narratives and decolonizing frameworks in women’s healing
• How grief, burnout, and life transitions show up in the body
• Why self-observation is more powerful than self-judgment
• Practical ways women can begin rebuilding trust with their bodies

This conversation is validating, gentle, and deeply human. If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your body, dismissed in your symptoms, or unsure how to begin healing after trauma, this episode is a grounding place to land.

Connect with Danniel Worthen Cullumber:
Website: www.willowmedelawellness.com
Email: [email protected]

A First Step Toward Cycle Confidence
Join Emma's free 14-day Charting Challenge inside Circle, a simple way to begin charting without overwhelm. Join here! 

Support the show

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch

🎙️ Get Involved with the Podcast:

• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here

📌 Stay Connected:

• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text me at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

This week on The Cyclical Doula Podcast, Emma sits down with Terri Kozlowski—author, speaker, soul-centered life coach, and proud Native American woman from the Athabascan, Tlingit Raven Clan. Terri’s work blends emotional awareness, spiritual wisdom, and embodied healing to help women move from fear and self-protection into deep self-trust.
Together, we explore what it means to reconnect with your body after trauma, burnout, or years of self-neglect. Terri shares why awareness—not control—is the starting point of healing, and how honoring our natural rhythms can become a spiritual, emotional, and physical reset.

Inside this episode, we explore:
Why women disconnect from their bodies—and how to return gently
Fear, perfectionism, and people-pleasing as protective patterns
How nature and mindfulness help us hear our body’s wisdom
The spiritual significance of cycles and feminine flow
What it means to befriend your body as a sacred ally
Practical tools for staying present and rebuilding inner safety

Terri’s story is one of resilience, reclamation, and returning to wholeness. You’ll walk away feeling grounded, validated, and invited back into your own body with compassion.

Connect with Terri:
Website: www.TerriKozlowski.com
Instagram: @TerriKozlowski
Free Resource: Staying Present Guide — https://page.terrikozlowski.com/stayingpresent

A First Step Toward Cycle Confidence
Join Emma's free 14-day Charting Challenge inside Circle, a simple way to begin charting without overwhelm. Join here! 

Support the show

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch

🎙️ Get Involved with the Podcast:

• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here

📌 Stay Connected:

• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text me at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

In this episode, Emma is joined by embodiment coach Sarah Laverty, whose work helps women move out of their heads and back into the deep knowing of their bodies. Together they explore the surprising truth that procrastination isn’t a flaw or a failure of willpower — it’s a messenger offering guidance, boundaries, and information we’ve been taught to ignore.
Sarah shares how years of anxiety, OCD, and panic shaped her 20s and how discovering embodiment work completely transformed the way she relates to her body and her life. She breaks down why so many women feel stuck in cycles of procrastination and shame, how productivity culture disconnects us from our inner cues, and what becomes possible when we learn to trust our body’s signals instead of overriding them.
You’ll hear:
• how procrastination shows up somatically, not just mentally
• why the body often slows us down for reasons that make sense
• the procrastination archetypes Sarah has identified — and how to recognize your own
• what cyclical, non-linear working looks like in practice
• simple embodiment tools for moving from freeze back into flow
• how rebuilding self-trust creates unshakeable confidence in the long term
This conversation is a gentle, grounded invitation to soften the inner critic, listen deeper, and allow your body to participate in the decisions you’re making every day.
Links & Resources Mentioned:
• Procrastination Archetype Quiz: https://www.embodimentwithsarah.com/quiz
• Procrastination First Aid Kit: https://www.embodimentwithsarah.com/procrastination-first-aid-kit
• Sarah’s Website: embodimentwithsarah.com
• Instagram: @embodiment_with_sarah

A First Step Toward Cycle Confidence
Join Emma's free 14-day Charting Challenge inside Circle, a simple way to begin charting without overwhelm. Join here! 

Support the show

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch

🎙️ Get Involved with the Podcast:

• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here

📌 Stay Connected:

• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text me at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

In this episode, Emma sits down with Gigi Hunt — a cycle alignment mentor and neurosomatic practitioner who helps high-achieving women move from burnout, spiraling moods, and “luteal rage” into grounded clarity and emotional steadiness.

Gigi shares her powerful story of postpartum depletion, chronic stress, and feeling like a stranger in her own body — and how she eventually realized that her hormones weren’t the problem. Her nervous system was exhausted.

Together, Emma and Gigi unpack what’s actually happening during late-cycle intensity, why the luteal phase is a truth-teller (not a flaw), and how emotional patterns reveal unmet needs, boundaries, and intuition.

They explore the deeper layers of cyclical living, the symptoms we tend to dismiss as “just PMS,” and the cultural conditioning that teaches women to override their bodies instead of listening. Gigi also describes how her RN background, her work with embodiment and energetics, and her own healing shaped the Bloom Method — her framework for helping women regulate their stress response, reconnect with their cyclical rhythm, and feel safe in their bodies again.

You’ll hear practical tools for nervous system regulation, daily rituals that support emotional steadiness, and gentle guidance on how to start if you’re feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, or lost in your luteal phase every month.

This conversation is grounding, validating, and full of permission to work with your body — not against it. If you’ve ever felt overstimulated before your period, held yourself to impossible standards, or wondered why you can’t “just handle it,” this episode will help you breathe deeper and reconnect with your own wisdom.

Links & Resources Mentioned
• Gigi’s Website: www.gigihunt.com
• Instagram: @gloflo.withgigi
• Gigi’s Free Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1DAKzhqL3f/

A First Step Toward Cycle Confidence
Join Emma's free 14-day Charting Challenge inside Circle, a simple way to begin charting without overwhelm. Join here! 

Support the show

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch

🎙️ Get Involved with the Podcast:

• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here

📌 Stay Connected:

• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text me at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

In this eye-opening conversation, Emma sits down with holistic practitioner Isabelle GianDomenico, Board-Certified in Holistic Nutrition and founder of Sunrise Wellness & Holistic Health. Isabelle shares her personal experience navigating endometriosis and chronic illness, and how those challenges shaped her commitment to changing the narrative around women’s health. Together, they explore the realities of medical gaslighting, the importance of understanding the root causes beneath symptoms, and how nutrition, supplementation, nervous system support, and lifestyle changes can help women reclaim their well-being. Isabelle breaks down what she wishes every woman knew about their cycles, inflammation, and self-advocacy and offers simple, accessible strategies to begin supporting hormonal balance today. If you’ve ever felt dismissed, unheard, or confused about your symptoms, this episode will help you feel validated, informed, and empowered.

Connect with Isabelle:
Website: www.sunrisewellnessholistic.com
Instagram: @sunrisewellnessholistic 

A First Step Toward Cycle Confidence
Join Emma's free 14-day Charting Challenge inside Circle, a simple way to begin charting without overwhelm. Join here! 

Support the show

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch

🎙️ Get Involved with the Podcast:

• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here

📌 Stay Connected:

• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text me at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

In this conversation, licensed acupuncturist and women’s health practitioner Stephanie Mattrey shares her lived experience with anorexia and bulimia and how it informs her work helping women recover from food addiction and disordered eating. We explore the brain-based nature of addiction, why some 12-step frameworks help (and where rigidity can harm), and how faith became an anchoring part of Stephanie’s recovery. Stephanie explains cycle-aware patterns—why cravings and coping often intensify in the luteal phase, what perimenopause can feel like when cycles stretch or sleep shifts, and how to support yourself with steady protein, simple meals, and data-gathering without obsession. We also touch on postpartum nourishment, practical ideas for meal trains, talking with teens about bodies in a matter-of-fact way, and the daily rituals that keep her grounded (a short morning prayer sit and planning food the night before). If you’re feeling shame or fear around food, Stephanie’s message is clear: it’s not your fault—and recovery is possible, compassionate, and worth it.

Stephanie Mattrey’s practice & The Pulse Project: https://www.shinerising.com/membership

The Pulse Project Podcast 

A First Step Toward Cycle Confidence
Join Emma's free 14-day Charting Challenge inside Circle, a simple way to begin charting without overwhelm. Join here! 

Support the show

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch

🎙️ Get Involved with the Podcast:

• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here

📌 Stay Connected:

• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text me at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

Licensed therapist Dr. Ashley Hudson joins Emma to explore how purity culture has shaped sexual beliefs, body awareness, and intimate relationships and what it really looks like to reclaim pleasure, autonomy, and connection. We explore how identity shifts, hormones, and nervous-system changes impact desire after kids, and why many women actually experience better sex as they reconnect with their bodies and rewrite old scripts. 

Dr. Ashley Hudson @pearlinprocess | pearlinprocess.com

Great Sex Rescue | She Deserves Better | AASECT directory | PSI directory | Kristen Mule with Sex Ed Reclaimed | Center for Faith Sexuality and Gender | God's Design for Sex |

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.

Today I’m sitting down with Registered Dietitian Aderet Hoch, founder of Dining with Nature, for a grounded and refreshing conversation about nourishing our bodies across the fertility-to-family continuum—without falling into diet rules, comparison traps, or perfection pressure. We talk about honoring cycles (menstrual, seasonal, and life phases), building a peaceful relationship with food, and why sustainable nourishment starts with self-trust and compassion, not restriction. Aderet shares practical ideas for simple, nourishing meals during busy seasons, the “Venn-diagram menu” trick for feeding a family without turning into a short-order cook, and one incredibly simple habit you can try this week to feel more nourished without overhauling your routine. If you’re prepping for pregnancy, navigating postpartum, or simply craving a gentler, more intuitive way to take care of yourself, this episode will feel like a deep breath.

Connect with Aderet

Website: https://diningwithnature.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/diningwithnature

Newsletter: https://aderets-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Work with her 1:1: https://diningwithnature.com/services

A First Step Toward Cycle Confidence
Join Emma's free 14-day Charting Challenge inside Circle, a simple way to begin charting without overwhelm. Join here! 

Support the show

Emmamma Resources + Links:

• Book a Free Inquiry Call with Emma
• Join Matriarch

🎙️ Get Involved with the Podcast:

• Ask a Question for the Podcast: Submit here
• Leave a Review + Get a Gift: Claim your gift here

📌 Stay Connected:

• Website: https://emmamma.com
• Instagram: @cyclicaldoula
• Email: [email protected]
• Text me at: (854) 220-0218

The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Cyclical Doula Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Emma Goff or Emmamma LLC. This podcast is intended for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice.