Hello everyone! Welcome to the first email in this series on women’s health! I hope you find this to be a helpful resource that provides you with valuable information for your health and wellness journey and a piece you bookmark for reference. Next week will be the Pregnancy Edition, so keep an eye on your inbox for that!

Please note that these emails may contain affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I will receive a commission if you choose to purchase through them. Thank you for supporting me and my business!

A couple quick announcements:

• For the locals: I'm excited to announce I'm offering in-person sessions at CrossFit Salty North on Mondays and Wednesdays. These are 1-hour one-on-one sessions where we go through assessments, personalized exercises, and a plan for moving forward. I recommend you do 3-4 of these to get the most out of our time together. Only $85/session! Book here.
• The Pre/Postnatal Fitness Specialist Certification is happening May 20-21st at Innergy in Wasilla. It's a hybrid where you get the online course as well as the live sessions. Sign up today to start working on the online modules.
• I'm going to be opening up my online course, Mindful Movement in Mere Minutes, for a second cohort in April!! Get on the waiting list now to be the first to know when the doors open.

Preconception is essentially the time when you're looking toward getting pregnant, and this could be after you already have kids or not. Whole body balancing is the name of the game here, and I'm not about overburdening you with resources, but providing the ones that I truly believe will make a difference in your life. And I want to provide a space for processing. If you've been going through a miscarriage or infertility or just having difficulty with your body, I see you and my dms and my email inbox are always open if you just want to talk. ❤️

Something to Read:

Article by yours truly: Restoring Body Balance for Preconception

For your listening:

• The Resource Doula Podcast Episode #1: Acupuncture and Preconception Health with Rachel Delaney, LAc Rachel and I had a great conversation about how Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and pre-conception health intermingle. I loved learning about how these modalities can benefit overall wellness and improve pre-conception health! You can go back and listen before I had intro music. 😅

• Are You Menstrual? with Amanda Montalvo - I LOVE this podcast and encourage you to listen, starting from episode one, as the first 10 or so build on each other. They talk about the nutritional side of hormone health and lots about minerals and nourishing your body well. (In case you missed it, I interviewed Amanda on TRD here)

• At Home with Kelly + Tiffany - this podcast is full of simplified health info about hormones, non-toxic living, and balancing your life in addition to birthing information! Highly recommend. (I also had Kelly & Tiffany on my podcast. Listen here.)

Books I recommend:

• Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden This book was revolutionary to me. Since reading it, I have loaned it out numerous times. Lara explains things in such a clear way, and gives practical ways to talk with your provider about the things you’re noticing about your period symptoms. It’s a large player in how I came to the conclusion that I have endometriosis. This book is a great one to have around for reference even after you finish reading it.

• Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler This book is great for understanding the nuances of your menstrual cycle and an introduction to the fertility awareness method (FAM), and how to precisely track your cycle signs. I will add that the nutrition advice and information on endometriosis is outdated, but that does not affect the tracking and FAM piece.

• Awakening Fertility by Heng Ou This is the sister book to the pregnancy book "Nine Golden Months" and postpartum book “The First Forty Days” and is a perfect blend of nutrition information, stress reduction strategies, and Chinese medicine inspiration. If you've been avoiding pregnancy like the plague and want to start thinking about trying, this book is a great place to start.

• Your Pelvic Floor by Kim Vopni As you probably already know, Kim is a mentor of mine, and amazing pelvic health advocate, and the one and only Vagina Coach. She has years of insight and research, and explains the pelvic floor really well in this book. Give it a read. Bonus points if you read it and then attend the certification in May - Kim's the one flying up to co-teach with me!

• Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols Lily is basically a food genius, and is my number one dietitian recommendation for food science and evidence-based information on nutrition. She’s a nerd about the research, and provides easy to understand information in her book about how to nourish yourself well during the transition to motherhood. Her recipes are delicious and simple, and great for nourishing you and your family regardless if you’re pregnant. In fact, the sooner you get your nutrition on track, all the better.

Easy swaps to make for a less toxic home and healthier humans (and more optimal baby-supporting habitats):

• Open your windows for better air quality
• Filter your air and your water
• Use glass or stainless to store food and water - and never microwave in plastic or styrofoam containers
• Switch to healthier cleaners like Branch Basics where you wouldn't have to worry if it's around babies or pets, or you! This covers laundry soap, hand soap, all cleaning solutions, fruit wash, and more with just one concentrate...I've used it for 3 years and will never go back to others.
• Think about what you're putting on your skin, and switch to less toxic products. My favorites are Sola Skincare, Alaska Tallow Co. (trainernatalie saves you 10%) and Araza Beauty (NATALIE15 saves you 15%)
• Switch to wearing more natural fibers rather than polyester (to avoid microplastics and the things your skin absorbs)
• Throw away any artificial fragrances and be mindful of excessive essential oil diffusing. What you breathe goes into your body.

Something to know: If this edition of the newsletter spoke to you, or if you have questions or suggestions, please just hit reply and let me know! I read and respond personally to every reply. 😌

Thank you as always for reading, and use the link at the bottom to refer a friend to this series. Get excited for next week: The Pregnancy Edition!

Warmly,

Natalie