Mentioned in this episode:

Episode 27 with Bess Matassa from Mojave Rising

Mission Loft in San Francisco 

Hello friends! After a 7 week hiatus from the pod, it feels SO good to be back. The break was needed as we gear up for Camp Wellness (are you coming?!) and other fun and exciting things happening but honestly, I missed this space. I haven't been 100% off the airwaves though. In prep for season 4 I've lined up an incredible array of guests that I know you're going to love. As promised, you will get your usual That's So Maven interviews and hot seat questions but this season we're branching out a bit. Not only are we exploring more of the business side of wellness, but also new modalities we've never chatted about before. From mindfulness meditation to breathwork to becoming a yoga teacher (!) this season is guaranteed to be the best one yet.

Any great season requires a great kick-off episode and I could not be more excited to share today's LIVE podcast recording with dosist. A few weeks ago in SF, a group of 25 of us gathered in the most beautiful home (hi Mission Loft!) for an evening of community, conversation and cannabis. Yes, you read that correctly: cannabis. This isn't a new topic to the show, but given that more and more states and countries are legalizing the plant, I felt it was due time to dive deeper into the topic and answer all of your questions - and mine!

On today's episode, we welcome Claire Anderson, the field marketing manager for dosist to the show to answer all of your questions about cannabis, how it's actually good for you and tips for getting started if you've never used cannabis before.

Here are some other things we chatted about:

• Claire's background and all about dosist
• What is the cannabis plant and how is it good for your health?
• Why has cannabis gotten a bad rap?
• What are tips for discovering or rediscovering cannabis?
• What is the difference between CBD and THC? How about Indica and Sativa?
• Different methods of consumption and how dosist is different
• What are terpenes and can they be beneficial?
• What Claire thinks is coming next in the Cannabis Space.

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

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Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow dosist:

Website: https://dosist.com/#

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meetdosist/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meetdosist/

Check out Lee's first episode on the podcast here: https://www.thehealthymaven.com/2016/12/thats-so-maven-episode-2-lee-hersh-from-fit-foodie-finds.html

Guess who's baaaaack! Now that we're almost 2 years into the podcast, it's been fun to bring some return visitors back on the show to catch-up about life and what's changed since we last spoke. Today's guest is no exception and likely requires no introduction: Lee Hersh from Fit Foodie Finds. I've known Lee for 5 years now after meeting through the blogging space and we've chronicled our friendship online and in our last podcast episode together. Today's episode is a bit different. We kept things conversational and open and I loved the result! A true reflection of our friendship but also some much necessary realness.

Lee reaches millions of visitors every month and has inspired so many with her recipes and body positive content. Today we're chatting about what it's really like behind the scenes of FFF and how things have changed recently.

Here are some other things we chatted about:

• Lee's recent trip and what she learned from going off the grid
• Expanding her team and how Team Fit Foodie has changed
• The term "influencer" and how she describes her business
• Body image and why it's a conversation we both don't find ourselves having
• Mental health and sharing your mental health struggles on the internet
• Her relationship with Mark and how he's helped to balance her out
• What she's looking forward to in the future and big projects she's working on
• The advice she wishes she'd gotten when she started out on this journey

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Lee + Fit Foodie Finds: 

Website: https://fitfoodiefinds.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FitFoodieFinds/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fit-Foodie-Finds/

Ladies! Buckle up because today we're chatting all about PERIODS. Yup, every woman's favorite monthly gift. But in all seriousness, menstruation is a huge indicator of a woman's overall health and when things are off, well the whole body is off. So I figured, let's not tip toe around the subject and get down and deep into women's menstrual health. Who better to bring on to talk about it than the author of Period Repair Manual and women's health naturopath Lara Briden.

Over the course of the last 68 episodes we've had a lot of really important conversations, but for women I think this one might be the most important. We've had conversations around Hypothalamic Amenorrhea and PCOS and from those episodes I've heard from you about how helpful these conversations have been so I thought we would talk about some of the challenges with menstruation but also how it benefits us. And well, we get down and dirty into birth control...this is definitely a great conversation!

Here are some other things we chatted about:

• Lara's journey and how she became a naturopath
• What is a naturopath and how is their approach different from conventional medicine?
• What is a period and how can you benefit from it?
• What are the types of reasons your period may not be normal
• PCOS vs. HA and is it possible to have both?
• The positive benefits of ovulation and menstruation and why you should be experiencing a cycle
• Endometriosis and signs that you may have it
• Why the birth control pill may actually be hindering menstruation
• Alternative options to the pill and how they compare
• Menstrual products and Lara's recommendations for a healthy vaginal biome

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Lara:

Website: https://www.larabriden.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/larabriden/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaraBriden/

It's been a long time coming getting this beautiful human on the show today. Some of you may know Bettina Bogar, but many of you may not even know that you know her. Bettina is an insanely talented photographer and behind pretty image every image you've seen on THM (with the exception of the one's C takes for me!). Just look around this entire website - I have B to thank for all these images! So today I'm getting her out from behind the camera and putting her in the hot seat to answer all of my burning questions.

Bettina and I have known each other for several years now and besides being THM's official photographer, she's also one of my dear friends. I am eternally grateful to have her wisdom, work ethic and inspiration in my life. So it was due time I get to pick her brain and share all that wisdom with you. Since B and I know each other super well this episode is an especially fun one since it's a lot more relaxed and well, you'll also get to know me better too.

Here are some other things we chatted about:

• Bettina's childhood and growing up in Budapest, Hungary
• When she started to learn photography and how she knew she wanted to pursue it as a career
• What prompted her move to Canada
• Starting a creative business in a foreign country and building it from scratch
• How she built her client base and her best tips for networking
• What happened when her Instagram got taken down and what she learned from it
• Why she doesn't work for exposure and neither should you
• How she's working on self-care and finding balance between work and life
• The one health habit she can't live without

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Bettina:

Website: http://www.bettinabogar.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bettinabogar/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BettinaBogarPhotography

You know those people who are fiercely honest? Who hold nothing back in the most authentic, human way? Allow me to introduce you to Candice Kumai, the epitome of these traits. Candice is someone who I have admired from afar both for her compassion and willingness to grow but also because she doesn't glaze over the hard stuff. I'll be honest, I'm about to quote from a Queer Eye episode I watched this weekend but the sentiment resonates exactly with who Candice is: "Failure is not the opposite of success, it's a part of it". Candice has hard her fair share of failures but all of them 100% contributed to her success. Thank you Karamo for that nugget of wisdom!

Candice has written many books and cookbooks on the art of wellness, but her latest book and venture is a total departure from her previous writing. After a trip to Japan last year for her Grandmother's passing, she dove deep into the art of Japanese wellness and from this she's sharing what she's learned in her latest book, Kintsugi Wellness and her new podcast, Wabi Sabi.

Here are some other things we chatted about:

• Candice's upbringing with her Japanese mother and Polish-American Father
• Her career and how she went from Fit Modelling to ending up on Top Chef
• What it took to build her career in food and wellness and the struggles she faced
• Is success on social media really worthwhile and what it really means to get gritty
• Gaman, and what it truly means to be resilient in our modern-day world
• All about Wabi Sabi and accepting our imperfections as not only real but also beautiful
• Blue Zones and how they connect to Japanese culture
• What is forest bathing and how can it benefit us?
• The one health habit she can't live without

Mentioned in this episode:

• Today's sponsor, Kettle and Fire Bone Broth: https://offers.kettleandfire.com/thehealthymaven

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Candice:

Website: http://candicekumai.com/

Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wabi-sabi-perfectly-imperfect-podcast-candice-kumai

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CandiceKumai/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CandiceKumai

I'm so excited to welcome our first ever repeat guest back onto the show! It's crazy to think we're already on 65 episodes so I thought it was due time to bring back some of our highly requested and most popular guests from past episodes!

Dr. Will Cole made his first appearance on the show in episode #37 where we discussed a whole range of topics including what functional medicine is all about, adrenal fatigue and hormone health. We also discussed a little bit about inflammation, but since it's such a vast topic we couldn't cover it all. Luckily Dr. Cole was willing to come back on the show to expand on this conversation about inflammation and everything we need to know.

On today's episode we're getting to know Dr. Cole a little bit more as well as jumping deep into inflammation and discussing his new book coming out soon (!!!). Here are some other things we discussed:

• A little bit more about functional medicine and how Dr. Cole became a functional medicine doctor
• What is inflammation and why it's not all bad
• What constitutes stress and how mental, physical and lifestyle stress is inflammatory to the body
• The goldilocks principle and how to regulate inflammation properly
• The different ways inflammation appears in the body e.g. fatigue, brain fog, acne, joint pain etc...
• Why is inflammation there in the first place and how to test for it
• The microbiome and how it's related to inflammation
• Probiotics and how they can help your microbiome
• Foods that help inflammation
• MTHFR gene mutation - what it is and what to do if you have it

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Dr. Will Cole:

Website: https://drwillcole.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drwillcole/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doctorwillcole/

Thank you so much for your kind words on last week's episode. I know this past week has been tough for many people and mental health has been a huge topic of conversation (as it should be) so I'm glad the episode could help educate and hopefully encourage you to seek out your own support.

Speaking of which, this week's guest has spent the last year seeking out her own support system. Cassie Johnston, the blogger and entrepreneur behind Wholefully started developing some strange symptoms last summer. After many months of tests and new symptoms, she was finally diagnosed with Lyme Disease. It's been a long road since then.

On today's episode we're chatting about her diagnosis and some of the lessons she's learned along the way. It's definitely a raw and vulnerable episode and I'm so grateful for Cassie's openness. Here are some other things we discussed:

• Cassie's journey and how she started Wholefully
• Buying their hobby farm and why that was the right choice for their family
• The challenges that come with owning acreage and why it isn't right for everyone 
• Her diagnosis of Lyme Disease and what her initial symptoms were
• The challenge of getting diagnosed for most people with Lyme
• Some myths about Lyme Disease and what she wished all people knew
• Treating Lyme Disease - the different options available
• "Worry Time" and how therapy has helped her navigate her diagnosis
• An unexpected by-product of Lyme Disease and why you shouldn't comment on people's weight

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

I'm back! My first official blog post and podcast episode as a married woman! Okay that just sounds weird, but I wanted to acknowledge the fact that I've been gone for the past 2 weeks and that my amazing and wonderful team took over the blog to show off their skills. Clearly I'm a lucky woman having Tanya and Georgia by my side! Oh and C :) He's pretty great too.

Today's podcast episode is near and dear to my heart. I've invited the incredible Kat Dahlen onto the show to chat about therapy, how it benefits us and why everyone should have a therapist. Kat is a holistic psychotherapist who has her masters in Integral Counseling Psychology. She takes an individualized approach while incorporating the best of both eastern and western techniques. She's incredible!

Having been in therapy for most of my adult life, I can 100% vouch for its benefits. That being said, there is still so much stigma around therapy and mental health so I hope today's episode can help dispel the myths out there and bring some light to a very important conversation. Here are a few other things we cover in today's episode:

• Kat's journey and how she became a holistic pyschotherapist
• What is "holistic psychotherapy" and how does it differ from other types of therapy?
• Mental health stigma and why therapy isn't just for those who struggle with their mental health
• Who should be in therapy and when should you start going?
• How Kat incorporates eastern and western techniques into her practice
• "Emotional fluency" and why its important to identify your emotions
• Anxiety and why it isn't an emotional state but a clue to your emotions
• Isolation and why so many people struggle with anxiety and depression
• What advice she would give to her 20 year old self

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Kat:

Website: https://www.kdahlentherapy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therapywithkat/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kdahlentherapy/

Mentioned in this episode:

Mahalo Petal Mask: http://bit.ly/2Il8als

Blue Tansy Mask: http://bit.ly/2IEzXNc
Conscious Bride: https://amzn.to/2rKu47m

Hey guys! Welcome back to another episode of the podcast and the final episode before I get married! Fear not, there are still a few posts I have to share with you but since podcast episodes come out once a week, it just worked out that this will be the last one before we're married. Next podcast episode I'll officially be Davida Lederle. WOAH.

I thought since we're rounding things out for a little while that I'd do a solo Q&A episode for you and answer some of your most pressing questions as well as share some wedding planning details, a more personal take at my experience in yoga teacher training and some insider info on what's coming up next for The Healthy Maven.

Here are a few other things we cover in today's episode:

• Wedding planning and some challenges along the way
• Why I haven't shared that much about the wedding and what I plan to share afterwards
• Yoga Teacher Training and why I chose my specific program
• Doing yoga teacher training at the same time as wedding planning
• Do I plan to teach or how I plan to incorporate yoga content on The Healthy Maven
• Anxiety and how it's manifested in various ways in my life
• My best tips for growing a blog
• How to change and evolve when you have a digital platform without alienating your audience
• What advice I would have for a college student trying to figure their life out

Post: Why I Won't Be Losing Weight for My Wedding

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

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Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Oh man I've got a great episode for you guys today! I'm so excited to welcome my friend, badass business lady and new mama Ali Maffucci from Inspiralized onto the show today.

Ali and I have run in the same circle for a long time but have never had a chance to chat (or meet! - which is weird because this community is really small). We've been supporters of each other's businesses and passions digitally but I'm thrilled we found the time to connect IRL (well on Skype but you know!) and get to know each other better. What I discovered was just how thoughtful, compassionate and truly loving Ali is. This is not something new to anyone who has followed Inspiralized's journey, but with every great story there are behind-the-scene struggles that aren't always captured. On today's episode Ali is opening up about these struggles and how she is finding balance between self-care, her business and motherhood.

Here are a few other things we cover in today's episode:

• Ali's journey and how she quit her job to start Inspiralized
• Growing the brand and bumps and highlights she hit along the way
• Having her son, Luca and how that has changed her work-life balance
• Her own health journey and how that has shifted over the years
• Her diagnosis of Bell's Palsy and learning to manage her stress
• Self-care and what that looks like for her
• How becoming a Mom has shifted her perspective on health
• Her new cookbook and what's different about this one
• What advice she would give to her 20 year old self

Mentioned in the episode:

"It's Not Self-Care - It's Self-Preservation" THM post

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Ali and Inspiralized:

Website: https://inspiralized.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspiralized/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Inspiralized/

Mentioned in this episode:

This episode's sponsor, Kettle & Fire, who is offering That's So Maven listeners 20% off here

Mother Dirt Products

Credo Beauty

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Jasmina + Mother Dirt:

Website: https://motherdirt.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/motherdirt/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motherdirt

***

By now you all know I'm a skincare junkie. I love exploring green beauty products and indulging in my monthly facials. Skincare is totally my jam. But lately I've been wondering if there's too much of a good thing? Is it possible that we're actually too clean? That's what Jasmina Aganovic, founder of Mother Dirt and I are talking about on today's podcast episode.

A few months ago I discovered a line of skincare products that's made to be "biome-friendly". I'll be honest, I'd never heard this term before. I know about the microbiome as it relates to our gut (if you haven't read my last post of gut health and probiotics, DO IT!) but never how it applies to skincare. It's a brand new topic to me and has opened up a whole new world of skincare that is both expanding my knowledge and also decreasing the steps of my typical routine.

So I figured I'd turn this week into an unofficial "microbiome week", where chat about all things gut health, skin bacteria, inflammation and how to support your microbiome holistically. Jasmina is a wealth of knowledge on all these subjects!

Here are a few other things we cover in today's episode:

• About Jasmina and how she started Mother Dirt
• The skin's microbiome and why it matters
• Should we be wearing deodorant and what it does to our skin
• The ecosystem of our skin and how to balance it out
• The development of biome-friendly products and the future of skincare
• How your skin conditions are related to your immune-system
• The AO+ Mist and how to add good bacteria to your skin
• How to be more "biome-friendly" and what to replace to encourage a healthy microbiome
• What advice she would give to her 20 year old self

It's been a while since an episode has made me emotional. Maybe it's the PMS but after listening back on the episode I found myself crying. It felt cathartic to let out some things I've been keeping in. I have today's guest, Simi Botic to thank for that.

Simi is a health coach, author and speaker who helps women struggling with disordered eating, overexercise and other perfectionist tendencies learn to let go of control and accept and love yourself exactly as we are. Something I know I'm still working on everyday. Simi's new book, Letting Go of Leo jumps head first into this topic through short stories based off of Simi's own experiences growing up. The book really hit home for me. So much so I finished it in one night!

Today on the show we're digging into these perfectionist tendencies, talking about how they manifest differently and ways to embrace self-love, especially when life feels out of control

Here are a few other things we cover in today's episode:

• Simi's story and her journey to self-acceptance
• Rejection and how it can deeply affect our self-worth
• The college transition and why it was so tough for both of us
• The underlying root of disordered eating and exercise
• Coming to terms with her eating disorder and binge eating disorder
• Recovery and what that looked like for her
• Perfectionist tendencies and how to let go of trying to control
• How to block out the noise and listen to your body with so much external influence
• What advice she would give to her 20 year old self.

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Simi:

Website: https://www.simibotic.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SimiBotic/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimiBoticCoaching/

Book: https://www.simibotic.com/book/

Feng Shui! Probably one of the most requested topics for the podcast. We've talked a lot about how to care for your mental, emotional and physical health on the show, but what about your spaces? We spend a lot of time at in, at work and indoors in general so understandably, how we organize and decorate them has an impact. That's the topic of today's episode.

Anjie Cho is an architect and Feng Shui expert. She helps to build homes and decorate homes in accordance with Feng Shui principles to help maximize the energy and flow of your space. Her focus is to create a nurturing and supportive environment for each of her clients, tailoring her practice to each person's specific needs.

Today on the show we're going back-to-basics with Feng Shui and some easy principles everyone should know to help maximize and balance their space. It's a fascinating episode for those who are new to Feng Shui and also for those who are already familiar.

Here are a few things we cover in today's episode:

• About Anjie and why she went into architecture and Feng Shui
• An intro guide to Feng Shui and how it started
• The different Feng Shui "camps" and how they differ
• Ways you can build a home using the principles of Feng Shui
• Tips for designing a home using the principles of Feng Shui
• The importance of spring cleaning and keeping clutter out of your home
• Plants and why they're important in Feng Shui
• Tips for implementing Feng Shui on a budget
• Numerology and how numbers play into designing your home
• What advice she would give to her 20 year old self.

Mentioned in this episode:

BTB Feng Shui

https://www.anjiecho.com/holistic-spaces-blog/2014/4/28/feng-shui-101-the-bagua-map

https://www.thehealthymaven.com/2014/07/know-secret-skinny.html

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Anjie:

Websites: https://www.anjiecho.com/ and https://www.holisticspaces.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anjiecho/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticSpaces/

I can't help but love the episodes where I get to welcome my friends onto the show. This week's is no exception. It's been a long time coming so I am EXTRA excited to have my dear friend, Megan Faletra from The Well Essentials on the show today.

Megan and I met through the interwebs and I don't know what exactly clicked when we discovered each other but somehow I felt like I had always known her. When we met in person last year at Expo East that feeling only intensified. It was like meeting my long lost soul sister who lived on the opposite coast. Literally everyday we discover something new that we have in common. It's these scenarios that make me LOVE social media. If it weren't for instagram, we never would have met!

Back to Megan...Megan Faletra (MS, MPH, RDN) is a global health dietitian, humanitarian, and founder of The Well Essentials where she is devoted to helping others create a sustainable healthy life that supports a healthy body and planet. She has worked on food security and global health issues around the world, and advocates for a reconnection to the world around us. She believes that by rethinking the way we choose to consume we can change how we view the world and most importantly how we can impact it.

Her life motto is to “live with purpose”, which guides virtually every way she lives her life. Megan lives in Boston with her husband where she also runs a nutrition coaching practice, when she is not working you can most likely find her with a passport in hand planning that next great adventure. --> VERY true. I am constantly in awe at the cool places Megan visits.

Here are a few things we cover in today's episode:

• About Megan and how she became a Global Health Dietitian 
• Why Megan went to school to become a registered dietitian and got her masters in public health
• Food culture and why it's the missing piece to the way we eat
• How to cultivate a food culture if you didn't grow up with one
• Teaching kids where food comes from and the importance of doing so
• Organic food and why most of our food is not organic
• Food security and why it's a major problem in North America
• Pesticide use and why organics and regenerative agriculture is so important
• Why it's better for the planet to buy organic food and other organic products
• What advice she would give to her 20 year old self.

Mentioned in this episode:

https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic

https://www.thehealthymaven.com/2018/02/does-organic-really-matter.html

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Megan: 

Website: https://www.thewellessentials.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewellessentials/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewellessentials

Thank you so much for your positive words and support on last week's podcast episode with Nourishing Minds Nutrition. It's so encouraging to me to hear how many of you are embracing intuitive eating and ditching the calorie counting and endless diet cycle. Meg and Victoria are such an inspiring team and incredible resource for learning how to listen to your body and embrace your intuition.

Speaking of inspiring and intuition, I'm so excited to introduce you to today's podcast with Kait Hurley. Kait is a movement and meditation teacher and entrepreneur based in Portland, OR. Kait struggled with meditation until she found that by moving her body beforehand, she was able to get in turn her attention inward and calm, focus and center the mind for a meditation session. Realizing this powerful synergy between movement + meditation, Kait was inspired to create a digital platform to help women connect with themselves in a deeper, more meaningful way through mindfulness and motion.

On today's episode we're chatting about intuitive exercise, embracing your anxiety and using movement and meditation to help harness it for good.

Here are a few other things we covered in today's episode:

• Intuitive exercise and how she found balance after years of overexercise
• Kait’s panic attacks and how she discovered she was struggling with an anxiety disorder
• Meditation and how meditation has helped her to manage her anxiety
• Her meditation journey and the obstacles she was challenged with along the way
• Kait’s anxiety and how she sees it as a benefit in her life
• How meditation has helped her work through the shame of her anxiety
• Who Kait looks to for inspiration and how they inspired her movement and meditation platform
• Why combine meditation and exercise
• Why “less is more” when it comes to meditation and exercise
• What advice she would give to her 20 year old self.

Mentioned in the episode:

Kate Fagan and her book What Made Maddy Run

Podcast survey - http://bit.ly/2GhcEom

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Kait:

Website: https://kaithurley.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kait.hurley/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hello.kait.hurley/

We're over 50 podcast episodes in and truthfully, I don't know why I waited this long to bring these two beautiful women onto the show. Victoria Myers and Meg Dixon are the pair that makeup Nourishing Minds Nutrition and the hosts behind the Nourishing Women's Podcast. They're easily the most bubbly fun-loving women I follow but they're also a huge wealth of knowledge when it comes to nutrition and holistic wellness. They're my intuitive eating soul sisters and kind of make me want to jump on a plane and move to St. Pete's Florida.

On today's episode I wanted to bring Meg and Victoria on to chat more in-depth about eating disorder recovery, why calorie counting is archaic and how to get back to listening to our bodies. This is one of the most important conversations we've had on the show and I hope it can inspire everyone to live a bit more intuitively. This episode is all about cutting out the noise and the best ways to do that to get back to your body's individualized version of health.

Here are a few other things we covered in today's episode:

• Meg and Victoria's journeys and how they met and launched their business
• Eating disorder recovery and what to tackle first when it comes to healing
• How to let go of calorie counting and why it's not accurate assessment of nutrition
• What is intuitive eating and how to learn to trust your body as a traditional eater
• Binge eating disorder and how to stop the binge-restrict cycle
• What is orthorexia and how social media perpetuates it
• Food intolerances and can you eat intuitively while eliminating foods?
• The Brain-Gut axis and how to know the difference between intolerances and anxiety
• Supplementation for nutrition and wellness
• Hormones and why so many women are struggling with hormone disorders

Mentioned in this episode:

Simply Organic special discount code for 20% off PLUS free shipping: maven18

Georgie from In it 4 the Long Run

Chris Kresser

Christy Harrison

Megan Faletra from The Well Essentials

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Nourishing Minds Nutrition:

Website: https://www.nourishingmindsnutrition.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nourishingmindsnutrition/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nourishingmindsnutrition/

Podcast: https://www.nourishingmindsnutrition.com/podcast/

Join the THM Stress Relief Challenge --> http://bit.ly/2D3crT5

I think there will be no surprises here that we have a second episode dedicated to my absolute favorite company, Saje Wellness! Last year, we featured the co-founder of Saje, John-Pierre LeBlanc (episode #29) and on today's episode we have his daughter, Kiara LeBlanc. Kiara is the Creative Director of Saje Wellness and the mastermind behind their gorgeous branding. If you've ever been into a Saje store you know what I'm talking about...

On today's episode I wanted to get deep with Kiara about what it was like to grow up within Saje Wellness (she was 2 when they started the company) and how essential oils have impacted her life. I also wanted to learn more about the vision behind Saje Wellness and why they chose to take such a unique approach toward essential oil sales.

Here are a few other things we covered in today's episode:

• Kiara's journey and how she ended up working as creative director of Saje Wellness
• What it was like growing up with Saje and how she felt different from other kids
• Her career transition and moving from her acting career to working for Saje
• Their vision behind Saje and how they took Saje more mainstream
• What it's like working with her parents and how her role has evolved
• What makes Saje different from other essential oil companies out there
• What makes an essential oil "quality"
• Why essential oils are so individualized and how to maximize their adaptogenic properties
• The one health habit she can't live without

Mentioned in this episode:

Saje Goddess Blend

Saje Tranquility Blend

Saje Starter Kit

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Kiara and Saje Wellness:

Website: https://www.saje.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sajewellness/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SajeWellness

Podcast: https://www.saje.com/podcast.html

I don't know about you, but I've always had an infatuation with the moon. When full moons appear in the sky I have a deep pull to gaze at them and have always had so many questions about how the moon cycle impacts our human experience. Cue to discovering Ezzie Spencer and her incredible work with Lunar Abundance. It was like finding the holy grail of all things moon knowledge. Suddenly I could have all my questions answered!

What I've also discovered is that I'm not alone in this curiosity around the moon. So many of you have reached out that you feel intense sensations around different times of the moon cycle. And I'm not just talking lady cycles - Did you know there are more visits to the ER during full moons than any other time of the month?! That is precisely why I wanted to bring Ezzie onto the show to share some of her lunar knowledge with all of you and hopefully answer some of your burning questions.

Here are a few other things we covered in today's episode:

• Ezzie's journey and how she discovered moon cycles and launched Lunar Abundance
• The moon in history and how its been used in different ways
• The difference between the yin and the yang phases of the moon
• Each of the 8 phases of the moon and how to use them to manifest different intentions
• What is an intention setting practice and how to sync it to the moon
• Why Ezzie recommends setting only one intention per moon cycle
• Using the moon as a guide for your menstrual cycle
• Planning a new moon or full moon ceremony
• Using the elements like water and fire during your ceremonies
• The one health habit she can't live without 

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Ezzie + Lunar Abundance:

Website: http://www.ezziespencer.com/

Lunar Abundance: http://www.lunarabundance.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ezziespencer/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ezziespencer/

It's always fun to welcome friends to the show! This week that friend is Marc Champagne, the co-founder of Kyo, an online journaling and daily gratitude app. I've discovered Kyo (and Marc!) through a friend of a friend and immediately upon meeting - digitally first and then in person - I knew he would be a source of inspiration for me now and into the future.

Besides the hard work and commitment he's put into getting Kyo off the ground, he's an advocate for journaling and the short and long-term benefits it has on your health. He's hoping to make journaling mainstream and not the daunting task we make it out to be. This isn't your average "Dear Diary" situation...

I am obviously a huge fan of journaling, both on paper and digitally. In many ways I consider THM to be a journal. Of course it's a journal that's read by hundreds of thousands of you, but I do put my thoughts to keyboard and oftentimes feel the same sense of catharsis that I do when I'm writing privately.

But sometimes I don't want to or it doesn't feel appropriate to pull out my journal. Though I do travel with it to most places, I love that Kyo allows me to write down thoughts or do more targeted daily affirmations and intentions when I'm on the run. On the bus, in an uber, on a plane. Places where many of us find ourselves. He's making journaling accessible and that's one of the many reasons I'm excited to welcome him to the show.

Here are a few other things we covered in today's episode:

• Marc's journey and how he found the courage to quit his corporate job and take on Kyo full-time
• When is it the right time to quit your job?
• Marc's morning routine and how he's found it beneficial
• The different types of journaling and how to find one that sticks
• The benefits of gratitude journaling
• Why an app and what was their vision with it?
• How they chose the design of Kyo and why they went "design-forward"
• Why they chose to release design packs for mental fitness
• The one health habit he can't live without

Mentioned in this episode:

Butcher's Box with code: HealthyMaven 

Zen Habits

Tim Ferriss

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Marc + Kyo:

Website: http://kyoapp.com/

App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kyo-daily-reflection-journal/id1218663401?mt=8

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyoapp/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kyoapp

Welcome back to episode #50 of the podcast! Can't believe there's been 50 episodes. Honestly, it feels like there's been so many more but 50 is big and feels monumental. I'm so proud of this little pod and the community we've built around it. Here's to 50 and beyond!

On today's episode we have the incredible Latham Thomas of Mama Glow and the author of Own Your Glow on the show today. Latham is a pre and post-partum doula, maternal lifestyle maven and wellness coach. Beyond that, she's just such an inspiring human helping women and men alike reframe the fertility and birth process ad well as helping non-pregnant women embrace their feminine instincts and glow.

This episode was really interesting for me as I learned a lot about how I've mistakenly interpreted the birth process and where I could use some reframing. I also learned that when that day comes, I am 100% reaching out to Mama Glow! Don't hold your breath Mom...it won't be anytime soon!

Here are a few things we covered in today's episode:

• Latham's journey and how she launched Mama Glow
• Her calling to become a doula and what that experience was like
• What is a doula and why she recommends getting one if you're pregnant
• What advice Latham has for expectant Moms
• Reframing the narrative that birth is painful
• How to prepare your body for pregnancy even if it isn't on your radar right now
• How self-care ties into fertility and why you must care for yourself first
• How to cut out the noise and focus on what YOUR body needs 
• Developing your own "glow time" practice

Mentioned in this episode:

Tonya Lewis Lee + Movita Organics

Black Lives Matter

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Latham + Mama Glow:

Website: http://mamaglow.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glowmaven/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MamaGlow/

Book: Own Your Glow

Happy Valentine's Day lovers!

Today I have a very special guest on the podcast...its someone you might be familiar with. I'm welcoming my fiancé, known around here as "C" onto the show to chat about love. Well, we get into more than just love but in honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I would share the hot seat with my love.

Now I may be biased, but I'm pretty sure Curt might be the wisest person we've ever had on the show. I've never met anyone who is so deeply content with their life but also strives for so much more. He's a dreamer by nature and his taught me so much about what it means to create the life you want to live.

I could not be more honored (or thankful!) to have Curt on the show today.

Here are a few things we covered in today's episode:

• Curt's own journey and how we met
• What he does for a living and how we make it work living and working under the same roof
• Long distance and how we did 2.5 years of it!
• Being in a relationship with someone who is more emotional and extreme than you
• His involvement with THM and what he thought when I first started a blog
• His best tips for training a dog
• His version of self-care and how he takes care of himself daily
• His favorite and least favorite things about me
• Random facts you may not know about me

Mentioned in this episode:

Iceland Trip Video + Post

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

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Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

By now you know that I don't shy away from exploring taboo topics on the podcast (or really just in life!). From my own mental health journey, to cannabis awareness and now today's episode all about relationships and sexuality, having conversations that we're told to keep private has become my personal mission.

A few months ago a couple of you requested that we bring a relationship coach/expert onto the podcast and after Georgia and I jumped into the research we discovered Susana Frioni. Immediately I know we had to have her on the show. Susana's journey has taken many unexpected turns and from this she's built Love, Sex, Desire, a podcast and coaching business that has helped thousands of women come to terms with their own sexuality and relationships. I'm honored to have her on the show today.

Beyond her sage wisdom, Susana's approach towards life is both calming and encouraging. She is the reminder we all need to be patient and to quiet the noise and listen to our intuition.

Here are a few other things we discussed on today's episode:

• Susana's journey and what led her to found Love, Sex, Desire
• Her personal awakening and experience at Vipassana 
• What her upbringing was like and how she felt about exploring sexuality growing up
• The end of her marriage and the start of her relationship with a woman
• How to have conversations around sexuality with our current or future partners
• Exploring your sexuality without feeling judged by those around you
• What she wishes was being taught in sexual education
• Sacred dance parties and what that experience looks like
• The one health habit she can't live without

Mentioned in the episode:

Vipassana Meditation

Sacred Dance Parties

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Susana:

Website: http://susanafrioni.com/

Podcast: LOVE SEX DESIRE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanafrioni

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanafrioni/

One of my favorite parts about being a part of the podcasting world is getting to chat about topics that we often feel scared or shameful about. Whether it's our use of cannabis to support our health or how our expectations of fertility are forced to change amidst unexpected circumstances, having a platform that allows me, my guest and you to feel comfortable opening up about these things is by far the most rewarding part of my job. When I started The Healthy Maven many years ago I did not expect my business to look like this. Although to be honest I did not expect it to be a business at all...though I will say I'm pretty damn proud of what we do!

This week's episode is no exception. Sonja Overhiser, one half of the duo behind A Couple Cooks is on the podcast today chatting about her own struggles with infertility, adoption and getting a cancer diagnosis. Her story is nothing short of inspiring and I'm honored to share this episode with you today.

I could go on about how incredible Sonja is, but I'll let the episode speak for itself. Here are a few other things we discussed:

• Sonja's background and how she launched A Couple Cooks with her husband, Alex
• Her cancer diagnosis and how that changed her perspective on health
• Miscarriage and coming to terms with her own fertility
• Adoption and what that process looked like for her
• Her advice for anyone struggling with fertility or family planning
• Writing a cookbook and getting their newborn son Larson at the same time
• How Sonja and Alex make parenting and running a business together work
• The one health habit she can't live without

Mentioned in this episode:

Food Matters by Mark Bittman 

Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Sonja + A Couple Cooks:

Website: https://www.acouplecooks.com/

Cookbook: A Couple Cooks - Pretty Simple Cooking

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aCoupleCooks/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acouplecooks/

A Couple Cooks Podcast 

I think the title of this post really gives away the topic of the podcast this week...Yes, you read that correctly! We're chatting Ganja Yoga with the incredible Dee Dussault and also about how cannabis can actually be good for you.

This is a topic of conversation that has come up frequently in my friend groups lately, so I figured it was about time we discuss it on the show. I know there are a lot of opinions around cannabis use and all I ask is that you go into this episode with an open mind. So much research has come out in the last 20 years showing the benefits of cannabis use so we'll be focusing on those, but also some of the reasons cannabis-use has been stigmatized. As more and more countries and states legalize it, I truly believe education around cannabis will become increasingly important and my hope is that it can start for some of you on the podcast today.

Besides Dee's knowledge around cannabis in the wellness scene, she is also an experienced yogi with over 20 years of teaching experience under her belt. She has a deep understanding of the human body and the importance of supporting it holistically. She's also super articulate and I truly feel she did the best job explaining ganja yoga for all to understand.

Here are a few other things we discussed in today's episode:

• Dee's background and how she launched Ganja Yoga
• Her first experience with cannabis both with and without yoga
• How cannabis can enhance your yoga experience
• How to break the stigma surrounding cannabis use 
• How legalization of marijuana will change our use of cannabis in yoga
• The difference between THC and CBD and why choose one over the other
• Which strains to use if you're just starting out with cannabis
• Sexyflex yoga and how to use yoga to get in touch with your sexuality
• What's next for Ganja Yoga and how you can try it at home

Mentioned in this episode:

Dee's book - Ganja Yoga: A Practical Guide to Conscious Relaxation, Soothing Pain Relief, and Enlightening Self-Discovery

MoonMans Mistress paleo-centric edibles

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Dee and Ganja Yoga:

Website: https://www.theganjayoga.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theganjayoga/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ganjayoga/

It is no secret that I adore Imperfect Produce. Besides the fact that they save me SO much money each month on my grocery bill, I love that I get access to fresh fruits and veggies, all while saving the planet. Yes...it is THAT amazing. It's one of those companies that seems so obvious in concept, you wonder why it didn't exist sooner. But more on that in the episode...

I wanted to bring on a member of the Imperfect team to not only share all about IP's mission, but also talk about the huge issue that is food waste in this country. It's not as simple as those soggy carrots at the bottom of your produce drawer. It goes so much deeper than that. So today's episode is talking about the many points of intersection when it comes to food waste and how to manage it in this country.

Reilly, who is the hilarious voice behind IP's brand is on the show today to talk about all of these points, but also about root to leaf cooking and tips and tricks on how to reduce your food waste individually, while IP tackles the issue on a larger scale.

Here are a few other things we discussed in today's episode:

• How Imperfect Produce got started and why tackle food waste?
• How big is the food waste problem and how Imperfect Produce is tackling these issues
• Why so much food goes to waste even when it's great quality
• Eating sustainably from a food waste perspective
• Does local and seasonal make a difference and why we need to rethink seasonal
• What is the "New Year No Waste Challenge" and how to preserve, reuse and eat all your fruits and vegetables
• Root-to-stem eating and other healthy habits to reduce your food waste
• Where to next for Imperfect Produce!

Mentioned in this episode:

Vegetable Stock recipe using veggie scraps

My Imperfect Produce Unboxing video

Join The Healthy Maven Tribe to ask guest questions and to find out who will be on the show before anyone else!

http://facebook.com/groups/THMTribe

Please don't forget to rate + review in iTunes if you love the podcast. Your comments and subscriptions help us make the podcast best for you!

Follow Reilly and Imperfect Produce:

Website: https://www.imperfectproduce.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imperfectproduce

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imperfectproduce/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Imperfectfruit