The Shakti School

Feminine Form Sacred Technology

fertility

Ep. 192 Revolutionizing Pregnancy and Postpartum Care with Ashlee Sakaishi Wilkin

This is a picture of Katie Silox and Ashlee Sakaishi Wilkin. The text reads, "Spirit Sessions Podcast." It links to an episode of the Spirit Sessions Podcast about Pregnancy and Postpartum Care.

If you’re pregnant, postpartum, trying to conceive or know someone who is on a fertility journey, this episode is for you! Today Katie is joined by beloved Shakti School teacher, Ashlee Sakaishi Wilkin. Ashlee is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Birth and Postpartum Doula and prenatal yoga teacher. They discuss how we can change the culture of pregnancy and postpartum care to one where birthing people are deeply nourished and supported by their communities.

Learn Ashlee’s favorite Ayurvedic conception and postpartum care practices, foods, drink recipes and herbs to nourish yourself and feel supported throughout the entire birth journey!

Want to be part of the women’s healthcare revolution? Study with Ashlee, Katie and our other amazing teachers in our Divine Feminine Ayurveda School! Early bird pricing for our 2025 class ends on October 31, 2024. Register here to get the lowest price of the year!

In this episode about conception, pregnancy and postpartum care, you’ll hear:

~ Join Katie LIVE for our FREE Sacred Halloween Ceremony on October 31st! Sign up here!

~ What are the “Sacred Windows” in our lives?

~ Ways to prepare the body to conceive

~ Bringing the body into a receptive state through cleansing or Panchakarma

~ Why the lifestyle of BOTH partners is crucial

~ What to do when your partner isn’t living an Ayurvedic lifestyle

~ Balancing the desire for a “perfect pregnancy” with real life

~ Remothering yourself during pregnancy

~ Tips to improve digestion during pregnancy

~ Nourishing foods and herbal preparations for pregnancy and postpartum care

~ Ayurvedic practices for postpartum care

~ How to bravely build community and ask for support

~ Sign up for our free mini-course about Women’s Wisdom and Ayurveda!

Other resources mentioned in this episode:

~ Free Introductory Course on Conscious Postpartum Care

~ The Nest's Free Fourth Trimester Group

~ The Center for Sacred Window Studies website and Instagram

~ Watch the Fall Ayurvedic Cleanse workshop replay here

~ Follow The Shakti School on Instagram and Facebook

~ Book a free call with one of our coaches to learn more about Ayurveda School!

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Learn more:

Help Us Spread Our Pod Wings!

Did you love learning about postpartum care, pregnancy, and conception? This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It’s seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

From my heart to yours,

Katie

Continue Reading

The Secrets to Healthy Ovulation Part 2

Estrogen Dominance: Signs you may be estrogen dominant
& What to do about it

The Secrets to Healthy

Estrogen is an essential component of being a woman. It's because of estrogen that we ovulate, that we have breasts, that we have a libido, and that we maintain healthy bones and muscles. Estrogen is not the enemy. It actually regulates over a thousand genes in our bodies (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3783169/).

So, you don’t want to have too little estrogen, however, when we have too much estrogen, and not enough progesterone, it can cause a lot of unwanted symptoms.

Unfortunately, we are operating in a time where estrogen is at an all time high. Living in our environment today we are constantly surrounded by xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens are endocrine disrupting chemicals that mimic estrogen in our bodies. Xenoestrogens are in artificial fragrances, pesticides, plastics, unfiltered tap water, non-organic meat and vegetables, birth control, the list goes on... In our modern industrial world, it's difficult to escape the toxic overload of xenoestrogens.

Why don’t we want to have excess estrogen?

An overabundance of estrogen can lead to a number of problems in women (and men). If not treated it can cause things like hormonal cancers, thyroid dysfunction, autoimmune disease, candida overgrowth, and even obesity. And, as we age it becomes increasingly important to make sure your estrogen is as balanced as it can be.

Common Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance: 

  • Depression or Anxiety
  • PMS
  • Menstrual problems (heavy bleeding or light bleeding)
  • Sore, swollen, or fibrocystic breasts
  • Uterine Fibroids
  • Weight gain (usually in the hips/thighs/abdomen)
  • Loss of libido

Estrogen is metabolized through different pathways in the liver. If these pathways are blocked it can start to cause a lot of the negative side effects mentioned above. When it comes to balancing estrogen, your liver health is key. And, in order to keep your liver happy you have to make sure that your nutrition is dialed in, your stress levels are in check, and you’re getting an adequate amount of sleep. Other common causes of estrogen excess include: Perimenopause, impaired metabolism, and obesity.

Why don’t we want to have excess estrogen?

  • Reduce your exposure to xenoestrogens: check your personal care products carefully, avoid the use of plastics, buy organic, drink clean water, take walks in preserved lands!
  • Exercise to maintain a healthy weight
  • Get off hormonal birth control
  • Reduce inflammatory foods like cow’s dairy (cow’s milk causes your estrogen receptors to be hypersensitive)
  • Limit your consumption of alcohol
  • Incorporate more ways to decrease your stress: meditation, grounding in the forest, and limiting EMF exposure
  • Maintain healthy gut bacteria: Avoid antibiotics and eat in a way the supports your microbiome
  • Eat to support the liver: greens, cruciferous vegetables, sprouted grains and legumes, healthy fats, and organic sources of protein.

Our favorite supplements for lowering estrogen:

Calcium D-Glucarate

Iodine

Banyan Breast Care Balm

Women's Support Tablets

“Healing begins when we start to live the life we really want to be living.” — Dr. Claudia Welch

It’s amazing what can happen when we choose to be open to healing. It can be difficult to stay positive, inspired, or creative when our health is feeling out of whack or weakened, but sometimes we get stuck with a “dis-ease” in the body when we aren’t truly embodying the life we are meant to be living. One of the most powerful medicines can simply be to choose the life you know you are meant to be living out. Maybe that looks like taking a sabbatical to work on the book you’ve always wanted to write, maybe it means quitting your office job to pursue wellness coaching, or maybe it simply means allowing yourself to eat that french croissant at your favorite bakery. Whatever the thing is, before you buy the next supplement, make sure to check in and ask:

“Am I getting in the way of living my best life?”

Continue Reading

The Secrets to Healthy Ovulation

IMG_1248

What is ovulation? Why is ovulation important? How do I know if I am ovulating? And, what are the tips for healthy ovulation? 

Ovulation is when an egg is released from the ovaries. The egg is released by a surge of hormones that is regulated by the hypothalamus (located at the base of the brain). So, it’s your brain that is the main decision maker when it comes to keeping your body ovulating. If the hypothalamus is unhappy, scared, or stressed this could be the reason that you’re not ovulating (and in some cases, not having a period).

As women it’s extremely important that we ovulate: ovulating is the only way that we make the ovarian supporting hormones estrogen and progesterone.

E S T R O G E N helps with muscle growth, it helps keeps your bones and brain healthy, and increases the long term health of the entire cardiovascular system. Estrogen aids in producing serotonin, which is why you’re more energetic in the days leading up to ovulation.

P R O G E S T E R O N E reduces inflammation, it keeps your immune system healthy, increases the health of your breast tissue, and your thyroid. These hormones are also responsible for making you feel good, they aid in sleep, rest and recovery, and help in the process of releasing Dopamine, Serotonin, and Oxytocin which are essential chemicals responsible for your happiness!

So, even if you’re not planning on having a baby, you still want to make sure you are ovulating in order to benefit from all the gifts that having a healthy cycle has to offer. And, this process is one that the female body absolutely expects to have in order to maintain optimal wellness.

--- In the women’s health world we talk a lot about “balancing hormones,” but the reality is that if our hormones were always in balance  we wouldn’t have a period, we wouldn’t have that juicy feel-good feeling, be outgoing or energetic, and we wouldn’t ovulate. It is necessary for our hormones to fluctuate because that’s what gives us a flow every month. The key to keeping things 'in balance' is to ensure that progesterone and estrogen are rising and falling at the appropriate time. We can best achieve this through living a healthy lifestyle, eating nourishing meals, managing our stress levels, eating the appropriate foods, and moving our body (preferably outside). These balancing habits are what we discuss in depth in Ayurveda School. But, for now here are some simple tips on how to get your hormones back on track.

Signs you are ovulating: your temperature rises (you'll know this if you're tracking your basal body temperature, which we recommend doing whether or not you're trying to conceive), you are getting a period, you have cervical fluid (cervical fluid is not always a clear sign, but it’s at least always a sign that the body is trying to get back on track).

Ovulation inhibitors: stress, inflammation, thyroid imbalance, being undernourished or underfed (are you eating enough? Are you too low on carb?), PCOS, taking the pill (more on why alternative health experts are calling the Pill chemical castration in part 2 of this series).

Supplements and foods to support healthy ovulation and healthy cycles in general: Check out our products we love page and our store for our recommended supplements in addition to these food sources.

Magnesium - regulates cortisol, improves sleep, activates Vitamin D, slows aging,and  fuels cellular energy, helps with period pain, pms, and PCOS. Sources of Magnesium: leafy greens, pumpkin seeds, almonds, mineral water, and organic dark chocolate (fun fact! Chocolate cravings around the time of your period is actually your body saying “Give me magnesium!”

For more information on Magnesium check out: https://helloclue.com/articles/cycle-a-z/magnesium-and-the-menstrual-cycle

Selenium - good for progesterone production (link pubmed). Sources of Selenium: Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, and seafood

Zinc - reduces inflammation, clears skin, regulates thyroid, blocks excess androgens, regulates stress response. Sources of Zinc: oysters and grass fed red meat (unfortunately, if you are vegan/vegetarian you are probably zinc deficient unless you are already supplementing)

Iodine - regulates thyroid, helps prevent cysts, reduces fibroids, increases progesterone, regulates heavy periods and pms. Sources of Iodine: seaweed, organic wild caught seafood, grass fed butter (but only if they are fed from nutrient dense soil), mushrooms and leafy greens.

Our entire team loves these supplements for optimal health and ovulation success: Trace Minerals, Trace Minerals Electrolytes, and Magnesium Natural Calm

Read Part 2 Here

Learn how to heal yourself
with Ayurveda

Continue Reading