In this episode of The Hippie Martha Hormone Hour, Ashley sits down with integrative Physician Assistant and health coach Danielle Kepics, PA, who helps high-functioning, Type A women move beyond band-aid solutions and build lasting, root-cause health.

With over a decade of clinical experience and advanced training in counseling psychology, fertility awareness, nutrition, and fitness, Danielle blends physiology, psychology, and lifestyle medicine in a way that actually works—plus a little added spiciness this show hasn’t seen before 🌶️.

Ashley and Danielle dive into the powerful connection between gut health and hormones, why perfectionism often shows up as physical symptoms, and how supporting the body metabolically first can transform cycle health. They also talk about using menstrual charting as a clinical tool, honest thoughts on BHRT, egg quality, and what real self-advocacy looks like for women in midlife.

If you’ve ever been told “everything looks normal” while your body is clearly saying otherwise—this conversation is for you.

• Cycle check-in and listening to the body

• The gut–hormone connection: SIBO, dysbiosis & estrogen detox

• Perfectionism, nervous system stress & chronic symptoms

• Free + accessible ways to support gut health

• What “metabolic support first” really means

• Charting as a powerful clinical tool

• Honest conversation about BHRT

• Egg quality and long-term cycle vitality

• How to advocate for yourself in midlife care

• Our Guests Websites:
  • www.empoweredmindbody.co
  • www.unconventionalcollaborative.com

• Instagram:
  • @danielle.kepics
  • @empowered.mind.body
  • @empowered.medicine
  • @unconventional.collaborative

• Metabolic Audit Quiz:
  https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/preview/6971446cdf848c61724bd9e6

Thanks for listening to The Hippie Martha Hormone Hour!
Follow on Instagram → @thehippiemartha
Work with Ashley → www.thehippiemartha.com

Reminder: This podcast is not medical advice—just sound wisdom and education to help you ask better questions and know your body.

In this episode of The Hippie Martha Hormone Hour, I’m joined by Kenzie Jo— a fitness instructor, health coach, and FEMM Fertility Awareness Educator known for her grounded, “cavewoman” approach to movement and hormone health.

We talk about why traditional New Year’s resolutions often fail, how to create sustainable exercise habits for cyclical bodies, and what it really means to move in a way that supports your menstrual cycle instead of fighting it. Kenzie Jo shares her thoughts on cycle-aware workouts, overtraining and its impact on the menstrual cycle, daily micro-habits that actually matter, and how to approach strength training if you’re hypermobile or injury-prone.

This conversation is for anyone feeling burned out by fitness culture, healing their relationship with movement, or looking for simple, supportive ways to care for their hormones through movement, food, and lifestyle.

• Why New Year’s resolutions don’t work for cyclical bodies

• Sustainable movement vs. all-or-nothing fitness

• Cycle syncing workouts: helpful or harmful?

• Daily micro-habits to support hormones

• Over-exercising & menstrual cycle disruption

• Supporting your cycle with food & lifestyle

• Strength training for hypermobility & joint stability

• Beginner-friendly movement for people who hate the gym

If you’re ready to understand your cycle, reconnect with your body, start moving more, or learn fertility awareness in a sustainable way, private consults and charting support is available.

Be sure to give Kenzie Jo a follow on IG @kenziejofitness

or connect with her @ www.hellokenziejo.com

As always thank you so much for listening. Be sure to check out my Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠@thehippiemartha⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠ and to work with Ashley head over to her website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thehippiemartha.com⁠

*Remember this is NOT medical advise just sound wisdom.

In this episode, I’m sharing my personal journey with histamine intolerance and how cycle charting helped me connect the dots between migraines, PMDD-like symptoms, endometriosis, gut issues, and hormone shifts leading into perimenopause.

We talk about:
• What histamines are and how they show up in the body
• Why symptoms often flare before your period or in the follicular phase
• The link between histamines, PMDD, endometriosis, and perimenopause
• Why many women feel “allergic” to their own hormones
• How tracking your cycle can reveal powerful patterns

If you’ve been dealing with headaches, anxiety, heavy or painful periods, GI symptoms, or mid-cycle flares and feel like no one has connected the dots for you, this episode is for you.

✨ If you want to learn how to support a histamine-intolerant body through cycle awareness, nutrition, and lifestyle shifts, I’d love to help. Book a private consult through the link below.

As always thank you so much for listening. Be sure to check out my Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠@thehippiemartha⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (https://www.instagram.com/thehippiemartha) ⁠ and to work with Ashley head over to her website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thehippiemartha.com*Not medical advise just sound wisdom.

Blood sugar balance is one of the most overlooked foundations of hormone health — and during winter and the holiday season, it can quietly drive anxiety, fatigue, PMS, mood swings, and irregular cycles.

In this episode of The Hippie Martha Hormone Hour, we’re diving into how blood sugar impacts your hormones, stress response, and menstrual cycle, and why unstable blood sugar can increase cortisol, disrupt progesterone, and make hormonal symptoms feel louder during and after the holidays.

You’ll learn how blood sugar needs shift across the menstrual cycle, what balanced meals actually look like in real life, and how simple tools like post-meal walks can reduce blood sugar spikes and support metabolic and hormonal health. This episode also explores the connection between blood sugar, insulin, cortisol, and liver function — and why food is one of the most powerful forms of nervous system support.

This conversation is for anyone navigating PMS, perimenopause, cycle irregularity, emotional overwhelm, or holiday stress — and who wants a gentle, realistic approach to hormone balance without dieting or restriction.

Press play, grab your tea, and let’s support your hormones through the season.

As always thank you so much for listening. Be sure to check out my Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠@thehippiemartha⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and to work with Ashley head over to her website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thehippiemartha.com

*Not medical advise just sound wisdom.

What if it's not just your hormones that are the problem… what if your body just doesn’t feel safe?

In this episode of The Hippie Martha Hormone Hour, Ashley sits down with somatic movement therapist Angie, a Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist, Certified Movement Analyst, and Dynamic Embodiment Practitioner with over thirty years of experience working with the nervous system through the body — not just the mind.

Backed by neuroscience and grounded in hope, Angie helps people unwind tension “stored” in the tissues, repattern developmental movement, and rewire sensory processing. She specializes in birth and developmental trauma and how early imprints shape the nervous system, stress hormones, and even reproductive health later in life.

Together, we explore:

✨ Why hormones can’t rebalance in a body stuck in survival mode✨ How fight/flight and freeze impact menstrual cycles, fertility, and mood✨ What “safety in the body” actually feels like✨ How numbness, shutdown, and overwhelm are forms of protection✨ Simple somatic practices that build safety, regulation, and body trust

If you’ve tried lifestyle changes, supplements, mindset work, or “calming techniques” and still feel dysregulated or hormonally stuck, this conversation opens a completely new door into healing.
Want to try the practices we discussed today? Angie created a free download on:

• Yield, Push, Reach, Pull developmental movement patterns

• Tools for “in the heat of the moment” regulation

👉 Email Angie to request your free copy: [email protected]

🔹 Connect with Angie
Website: bodyredeemed.com
Email: [email protected]

📎 Show Notes

Find a practitioner near your at www.ismeta.org
Teacher of Angie’s birth trauma training: www.anniebrook.com

As always thank you so much for listening. For more happenings and bits of education or to work with Ashley, be sure to check out my Instagram⁠⁠⁠ ⁠@thehippiemartha⁠⁠⁠⁠  or head over to my website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thehippiemartha.com

Do you spot before your period? Feel unhinged the week before you bleed? Or crash emotionally every month like clockwork?

You might be dealing with Luteal Phase Deficiency — a progesterone imbalance that affects fertility, mood, metabolism, and early miscarriage risk.

In this episode, I break down the 5 most common causes and how your cycle chart can show exactly which one applies to you.

As always thank you so much for listening. For more happenings and bits of education or to work with Ashley, be sure to check out my Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠@thehippiemartha⁠⁠⁠  or head over to my website at ⁠⁠⁠www.thehippiemartha.com

*Please note there is a trigger warning of miscarriage and early loss

TRIGGER WARNING:
This episode contains detailed discussion of miscarriage and pregnancy loss. If today isn’t the right day to hear that, please honor your heart and return when you’re ready. This space will be waiting for you.

In this episode, Ashley takes a compassionate but clear look at what miscarriage actually is — beyond the dismissive phrase “just bad luck.”

She walks through:

• The different types of miscarriage and how they present

• What to expect physically and emotionally

• Options for care and recovery — whether you’re currently experiencing a loss or navigating one in hindsight

If you’re seeking understanding, language, or simply validation for your experience, this episode will meet you where you are.

✨ Part 3 is coming soon — a full deep dive into progesterone, the luteal phase, and how to prepare your body for healthier outcomes moving forward.

As always thank you so much for listening. For more happenings and bits of education or to work with Ashley, be sure to check out my Instagram⁠ ⁠@thehippiemartha⁠⁠  or head over to my website at ⁠⁠www.thehippiemartha.com

Before we begin, I want to gently offer a trigger warning: this episode contains personal stories of miscarriage and pregnancy loss. If today isn’t the right day to listen, please honor that. This conversation will be here whenever you’re ready.

In honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, Ashley opens her heart and shares the story of losing her baby at 15 weeks — from the early signs she brushed off, to the moment everything shifted in the middle of a hospital shift, to the long road of grief that followed.

This episode is for every woman who has carried quiet heartbreak, been told to “move on,” or walked through loss without answers. You are not alone. And there are ways to better understand your body, support your hormones, and protect future fertility.

Follow Ashley on Instagram @thehippiemartha or learn more about working together at www.thehippiemartha.com.

Thank you for being here. If this episode speaks to you, please reach out — you’re part of this community now.

Perimenopause isn’t the end — it’s a powerful beginning. In this episode, Ashley and Erin share how The Midlife Mavens Circle was born —a space where women can gather in person to learn, create, and connect through this season of change. Together they talk about how art can be therapeutic, identity and hormone shifts through midlife, and the beauty of finding community during this season of life.

✨ If you’re local to the Grand Rapids area and looking for a space to just be, connect or reserve your spot here for the Midlife Mavens Circle.To learn more about Erin you can give her a follow on IG @erinreinholtzart or connect with her via her website at www.erinreinholtzart.com

As always, thank you so much for listening. For more happenings and bits of education be sure to check out my Instagram ⁠@thehippiemartha ⁠  or head over to my website at ⁠www.thehippiemartha.com

Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, yet many wait years—sometimes over a decade—for a diagnosis. In this episode of The Hippie Martha Hormone Hour, I sit down with RN and FEMM fertility awareness educator Morganne Skinner to talk about her personal journey with endo, how it took 15 years to be diagnosed, and what she’s learned along the way.

We dive into:

• Why endometriosis is so often dismissed and overlooked

• How fertility awareness charting can reveal red flags and empower women in their care

• Morganne’s favorite herbal allies for symptom support

• Practical steps to take after receiving a diagnosis

• Listener Q&A on finding the right doctor, menopause myths, and resources for learning more

Whether you’re living with endo, suspect you may have it, or just want to better understand your cycle, this episode is full of wisdom and encouragement.

Endo resources talked about in the show:

Excision doctor or endo providers-icarebetter.com

Book-Finding Peace with a Devastating Disease: Reflections on Endometriosis by Amy Corfeli

You can find Morganne on IG @fertilitydefined or her website at www.fertilitydefined.com She also has a FREE Guide to Endo you can check out as well!

As always thank you so much for listening. For more happenings and bits of education be sure to check out my Instagram ⁠@thehippiemartha⁠  or head over to my website at ⁠www.thehippiemartha.com