Welcome Vulva Villagers! You are in for a treat this episode, full of golden nuggets and pearls of wisdom, check the summary below:

Dr. Jessica Cialella, a doctor of acupuncture in Chinese medicine, discusses her journey into acupuncture and the principles behind it. She explains how acupuncture works by activating the central nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system, helping to reduce stress and promote relaxation. Dr. Cialella emphasizes the importance of individualized treatment plans and the integration of acupuncture with other forms of care, such as herbal medicine and lifestyle interventions. She also discusses the role of acupuncture and herbalism in supporting the motherhood journey, from preconception to pregnancy to postpartum. Dr. Cialella highlights the need for a more holistic and collaborative approach to fertility care, taking into account the emotional, mental, and physical aspects of a person's health. The conversation explores the importance of self-advocacy and collaboration in reproductive health. It emphasizes the need for individuals to understand their bodies and work together with healthcare providers to achieve their goals. The discussion also highlights the impact of stress on reproductive health and the importance of managing stress levels. The conversation touches on the need for better support for postpartum mothers and the importance of honoring the different phases of life. Overall, the conversation encourages listeners to embrace the journey of life and find empowerment in their health decisions.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

06:47 The Role of Acupuncture in Stress and Emotional Health

15:23 Supporting the Motherhood Journey with Acupuncture and Herbalism

33:19 Understanding the Impact of Stress

39:22 Honoring the Phases of Life

You can find Dr. Jess on instagram @innatawellness or her website https://innatawellness.com/

Exploring the Vulva Village World:

Click here: https://phoenixpt.thinkific.com/courses/body-after-birth

Want to be featured or Have a Pelvic Floor or Birth Question? Leave a voice message on the page and it may be included in the next Q&A episode!

Sending out love to all of our villagers!

To Your Vulva,

Dr. Zazu DPT

Get ready for a powerful journey during this podcast, from the transformational healing power of pregnancy and birth to the spiritual and conscious aspects of this time in life, I could not have been more excited to dive into this discussion with the creator of the organization We Heal For All and Author, Liz Moyer Benferhat!

Here's Liz's background and how to connect with her:

For Liz, MPA-DP, RYT-200, healing at the personal and collective levels is at the heart of her work. That’s why she has dedicated her life to the subtle interplay between how our inner transformation feeds the outer transformation needed in the world.

Through We Heal For All she offers Circles, writing, courses and more that support people with the many normal feelings that come with being alive and attuned to the changes in our world. Things she herself has needed as a longtime change maker in the fields of sustainable development and social impact. She has had the privilege of studying with spiritual healers such as Ron Young and Anneke Lucas, emotions educators like Hilary Jacobs Hendel and Sarah Peyton, and evolutionary thought leaders like Otto Scharmer, Duane Elgin and Thomas Hubl.

She is Lila’s mom and Anees’s life partner and wife, both of whom are her world.

Connect with her on Substack and Instagram. Look out for debut book in 2024, “Collective Healing for our Complex Times: How to be in relationship with the world’s pain.”

Want to join in on the FREE Pleasurable Pregnancy Challenge? Join me on my IG channel, Integrated Mamas Inner Circle where I will be giving you 1 exercise a day for 3 days to start more intentionally connecting with your pregnancy in pleasurable ways! The winner of this challenge will get a free ticket into my Birth Dreamshop Experience!

If you want to learn more about the Birth Dreamshop, check out THIS POST

This one is for all my moms who come to see me and are surprised to find out that they have a vulva AND a vagina, and that there are a lot of other muscles down there that can make life awesome, or can completely derail your pees, poops, and sex.

In this episode we dive into the Pelvic Floor Basics, we play explorer around your pelvis to find your vulva, vagina and your pelvic floor muscles!

Learn where your pelvic floor is, what it does and why it's important to know these things so you can help yourself get the support you need and deserve.

To Your Vulva,

Dr. Zazu Cioce, DPT

In this episode, I discuss the importance of finding credible, caring and compassionate people to form your Vulva Village. We dive into how the old ways of both passed down beliefs or attitudes from our social environments AS WELL AS some well-meaning health care providers can send you down a path of struggle and feeling defeated. But learning how to gather information and create a village for yourself is the next new wave of self care. So come on in, we are going to talk about real experiences, how to learn from them and how to write a different story for ourselves and our future generations. Welcome to the Vulva Village!

* I mention that we are using a mixture of words such as female, male, woman, man, parents, people with certain genitalia or reproductive organs all interchangeably in an attempt to be inclusive of as many folks as possible, no matter how they identify themselves.