Generative Cycles

A Series on VITALIST PRACTICES for cultivating INNER 🔥 in times of Seasonal Transition ~

My constitution is cold and damp. I'm at my most vital in Colorado's warm and dry summers. So when the seasonal transition from autumn to winter comes around, I start to feel energetically vulnerable — heavy, sluggish, deficient, and fatigued. I lean heavily on ancestral vitalist practices and herbal allies this time of year to help cultivate my inner fires.

Growing up, it was not uncommon to have arroz caldo (savory chicken rice congee) or a leftover chicken tinola (chicken soup with moringa) for breakfast. I always feel love and warmth from my late mother as I consume these savory soups in the morning. I am revitalized and fulfilled.

Do you have any practices to connect with the elements and cultivate warmth during this transition? Share below 👇🏽

I started my clinical herbal practice straight out of herb school during the pandemic in 2020. I named it Common Ground Wellness and aspired to help everyone and anyone within my scope of practice. I soon found out that I had a knack for working with gut health and complex hormonal problems. The 2 years that Common Ground was up and running was a steady one. I had the honor of supporting clients in feeling more at ease in their bodies and to be seen and heard in all their complexity. I saw the magic that herbal medicine + whole foods nutrition could do in transforming health on a slow, yet deep level.⁠
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In 2021, after a traumatic birth, I became a mom. And after experiencing a deeply challenging postpartum period, it changed the course of my "why." (It's always good to reevaluate your "why" regularly in doing the work that you do.) And for me, I realized that the womb is a both a miracle and a mystery. And, I wanted in on the mystery. After all, the womb is a portal into existence. I felt transformed by the act of giving birth, as though I had tapped into the mystery and come out the other side changed. Generative Cycles is the new iteration of my practice, inspired by the mystery of birth and the deep-rooted knowing that the health of our planet relies on nurturing the root of humanity: the womb.⁠
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Women & folks with uteruses need more practitioners who are bridging the divide between conventional and traditional medicine. Postpartum parents need community and a village of support now more than ever in this hyper-individualized capitalist world. Folks need more than the pill or synthetic hormones to feel at ease in their menstruating bodies. Folks looking to optimize their fertility and start a family need more than an OBGYN and expensive fertility clinics. Both women and gender-expansive folks with uteruses need care that is gender affirming and validates their experience. My hope is that Generative Cycles can fill the gaps in reproductive and generative health where modern medicine can't.⁠
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