If you're a woman in her late thirties or early forties, you've probably Googled (or at least wondered) "how do I know if I'm in perimenopause?" With the visibility of perimenopause and menopause bigger than they've ever been before, women today are eager for information on how to thrive—and not just survive—through the transition to menopause (especially those of us who saw our mothers struggle through it with little to no help).

In today's episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast, Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Teresa Kenney (co-host of The Hormone Genius Podcast, and author of The Happy Girl's Guide to Being Whole) sits down with Grace to answer all our questions about perimenopause (which she calls "reverse puberty"), including:

• What is perimenopause, anyway?
• When does perimenopause start, and what are its signs?
• How can you safely and effectively manage the most common and disruptive symptoms (including hot flashes, disruptive sleep, vaginal dryness, and more) of perimenopause?
• What are the benefits (and the science) behind hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and why are bioidentical hormones so important to seek out over synthetic ones?
• What are the pillars of good health during perimenopause, and what can they do to help mitigate perimenopause symptoms and protect our health long-term?
• + much more!

As Grace mentions in her opening statements, perimenopause isn't on most women's radar—until it is. And then, it's usually because things are starting to go sideways from a health and fertility/menstrual cycle perspective. But thanks to this episode, you don't have to wait to start preparing yourself well for this important transition—you can start today.

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Have you ever blown up at your significant other, only to realize that your period is due to arrive any day? You might wonder if you can chalk up your extra irritability to being in your luteal phase, and the premenstrual syndrome (or PMS) that often accompanies it—and then you might wonder how much PMS is too much PMS.

While we're at it, what exactly is PMS? What causes it, and is any part of it "normal"—or is it always a sign of something wrong? What about PMDD? What role does your overall hormonal balance have to play in how you experience your luteal phase each month? Is birth control the only solution to PMS, or are there any lifestyle changes—especially when it comes to nutrition—that can help you mitigate that monthly creep of fatigue, irritability, cravings, breast tenderness, and more?

These are all the questions Grace Emily Stark poses to nutritionist Ginny Noce (aka "The Women's Health RN") in this episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast. If you, like millions of other women, are looking to make your luteal phase a bit more manageable each month (for yourself and your loved ones!) and ease your PMS symptoms, you do not want to miss this deep-dive into all things PMS on The Natural Womanhood Podcast.

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Anyone who's practiced natural family planning (NFP) in their marriage for even a few months knows that it comes with its challenges—and that sometimes, the rose-colored lenses many of us start out with can get taken off pretty quickly.

In fact, for those in the early years of marriage navigating TTC (that's "trying to conceive," for the uninitiated), TTA (trying to avoid pregnancy), and—everyone's favorite—postpartum NFP, using NFP for years on end (and dealing with the abstinence it periodically demands) can seem like a daunting prospect. And yet... couples who practice NFP statistically enjoy lower rates of divorce than those who use contraception, and we know from our own research at Natural Womanhood that couples who use NFP seem to enjoy a unique level of understanding, trust, empathy, and respect for one another. Why is that? What's the real story behind what NFP does to sex and intimacy?

In this episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast, Grace interviews Mike and Alicia Hernon of The Messy Family Project. Married for over thirty years, still very much in love, and with the practice of NFP now in their rearview mirror, Mike and Alicia share their candid, beautiful, and sometimes hilarious insights on NFP, sex, and true intimacy.

For more on NFP and Fertility Awareness Methods (FAMs), and their impact on relationships, sex, and intimacy, click here.

Are you interested in Natural Womanhood’s full report on the lived experience of couples who use NFP? Visit this page for more details.

Click here for more information about the Messy Family Project.

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In our previous episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast, we learned about the promise of photobiomodulation (aka "PBM," aka "red light therapy") for health and fertility from expert Tracy Donegan. It only made sense to follow an episode about how we should be utilizing our waking hours (i.e., sunlight) to promote good circadian rhythm, mitochondrial health, hormone synthesis, and more, with an episode about how to make the best of our nighttime hours to do the very same.

In this episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast, Grace interviews Dr. Lynn Keenan, MD, a physician board-certified in both Sleep Medicine and Internal Medicine, whose life's work has been to "bridge rest and reproductive health." A longtime pioneer in both sleep medicine and restorative reproductive medicine, Dr. Keenan (who currently serves as the President of the Institute of Restorative Reproductive Medicine of America—IRRMA) shares with Grace the science behind why sleep is the critical foundation for reproductive health.

Together with our red light therapy episode, you'll come away from this one more convicted than ever before of the importance of good sleep for healthy cycles, fertility, and every other aspect of your reproductive health—and even more importantly, how to get it.

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By now, many of us have seen the Instagram reel of the woman absolutely terrifying her kids by coming around the corner with a red light therapy mask on her face. If your reaction was also to jump and think something along the lines of "What the heck could that possibly be for?!", then this episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast is for you.

As it turns out—and as we learned from interviewing midwife, doula, and red light therapy expert Tracy Donegan in this episode—red light therapy is about so much more than gimmicky face masks, and it has a surprising amount of data to back it up, especially for women's health and fertility.

Better known as "photobiomodulation" (PBM for short) in the scientific literature, the science of light therapy has everything to do with how much our mitochondria love sunlight—and how little of it they get nowadays. And don't worry, if all you remember about mitochondria is that they're "the powerhouse of the cell!" Tracy explains the science of PBM in a way that's clear, convincing, and—best of all—actionable (and, spoiler alert, you don't need a fancy laser to take advantage of many of the benefits of red light—just more time outside, and less time under artificial lights staring at screens).

You don't want to miss this timely, fascinating episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast. (P.s.: Do yourself a favor, and listen to this one outside!)

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We've all been there before: You laugh a little too hard, and you pee yourself. A hard run leaves you damp in more areas than your armpits. The lingering cough from the cold you had last week has you dribbling. Or maybe you went to a trampoline park with your kids, only to find yourself peeing a little with every jump. That's all normal, right? Wrong.

While all the above scenarios are incredibly common, they're not normal—and they're certainly not optimal! So what's the solution for women who want to live their lives without fear of constantly peeing themselves? Is the best way to treat incontinence—as a recent article from The Guardian suggested—really to get an injection of a plastic-based goo into your urethra every few months for the rest of your life?

Pelvic health expert Dr. Kayla Borchers doesn't think so, and she's back on The Natural Womanhood Podcast to talk with Grace about the healthy, holistic ways women can truly treat incontinence, stop peeing themselves, and get their lives back (and no, it's not about doing your kegels).

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Some pregnant women run marathons, and some barely have the energy to get off the couch.

Some women can hardly wait to return to their normal physical activities after having a baby, and others like to take their time getting back into the swing of things.

Who's got it right? How much should we be exercising while pregnant? Are there any kinds of exercise pregnant women absolutely shouldn't be doing? And just how important is postpartum exercise, and how much should women be aiming to get in the year after having a baby?

In this episode, Natural Womanhood's Editor in Chief, Grace Emily Stark, interviews pelvic floor physical therapist Dr. Kayla Borchers on all these questions and more. In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Trimester-specific exercises and focus
• What kinds of exercises to do when you just don't want to do / don't have the energy to do anything while pregnant
• What to do /where to go when dealing with pregnancy aches and pains
• Any exercises you should absolutely avoid while pregnant
• The importance of exercise postpartum: How to do it safely!
• When and how to begin exercising again postpartum (and how to fit it in!), and how much is too much?
• What problems can postpartum exercise help mitigate (back pain? PPD? Diastasis recti?)
• When to know you need more help healing postpartum, and where to go
• How to play "catch up" if you didn't have / weren't able to have a very physically active pregnancy
• Preparing better for your next pregnancy

Want to watch this episode on YouTube? Click here!

Want to work with Dr. Kayla? Click here.

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The "hot girls have stomach problems" social media trope is grimly funny, probably because so many of us can relate to the phenomenon of "oh, I can't eat that, or I'll be in the bathroom the rest of the night," (and even if you're lucky enough to not be personally familiar with that feeling, you've undoubtedly heard similar sentiments from your sisters or girlfriends).

But Ginny Noce, AKA The Women's Health RN, is here to tell us that your "tummy troubles" are actually your gut trying to tell you something about your health, your hormones—even (and perhaps especially) your menstrual cycle. And the most interesting part of it? It's a two-way street. That is, your cycle may actually be able to tell you a thing or two about your gut.

In today's episode of The Natural Womanhood Podcast, Grace and Ginny take a deep dive into all things gut health, and the way it impacts our overall health—including our cycles and fertility.

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