by Brianna | Jul 31, 2023 | Perimenopause, Self advocacy
Self advocacy in medicine cannot be overrated. Doctors are not infallible. Medicine is vast and many only know their limited lane. Many also don’t believe women. Although my focus right now is sharing about perimenopause I want to share this story about postnatal care (or lack there of) to highlight why standing up for yourself is important. Addy’s birth was medical. I had gestational diabetes and spent months of my pregnancy having to monitor my food and put insulin in my belly. I was also 42. The whole thing was medicated and orchestrated. When I went for my six week check up I didn’t feel right. My doctor was like you are fine. The uterus is shrinking. Another week. Another appointment. Another week. Another appointment. I read about retained placenta. I felt into my body. I felt like that is me. Another week. Another appointment. He told me it was in my head. He told me to go home. But lucky for me I am also a bitch and I refused to leave until I received an ultrasound. I knew I was right when I heard the tech gasp. And there it was: retained placenta. I had a DNC to remove it. I took fistfuls of antibiotics. If I hadn’t of done that. If I hadn’t of self advocated. If the Baltimore Brianna who did not take shit had not risen in me I would be dead. I would be one of those postnatal statistics that we are all talking about. If you aren’t with a doctor that believes women go to someone else. I fired that doctor. Truthfully...
by Brianna | Jul 31, 2023 | Perimenopause
Perimenopause is not something anyone told me about. These past few years I have been struggling with a constellation of symptoms. They seemed disparate – migraines, UTIs, racing heart, brain fog, anxiety, sleeplessness, overall tightness and joint pain. I went to doctors. I did the scans. Did the meds. The yoga. The meditation. The Ashwaganda. I stopped drinking. I gave up sugar. I still felt awful. And monthly I went through a rotation of medical appointments. Last summer – and I am safe now, I am fine – I started to have an extreme issue after ovulation and I would fall into a deep pit of despair. Then my period would come and it would lift like a fever dream. Then the next month the circle would start again. At the time this was happening to me a friend, a beautiful woman, killed herself in a shocking way and it snapped me awake. I called my new to me OB (the old one was fired because of piss poor postnatal care) and she fit me in that day. She said all of this was perimenopause and prescribed progesterone. And in that moment I was in despair but two days later (before my period came) I was fine. I was just fine. All of my symptoms were one thing and all of them are gone. I have not shared this before because it is very personal. But the thing is – my friends are suffering. I talk to random women and they are suffering. And there is no need. Perimenopause is puberty in reverse and for many it is a...
by Brianna | Apr 19, 2021 | Chanting, Healing Yoga Practice, Kirtan, meditation
Chanting is one of my favorite practices. I have loved it for years now but it didn’t start that way. In the beginning the first time a teacher offered a chanting practice I picked up my mat and left. But once I discovered Kundalini Yoga where chanting is an integral practice – chanting became a regular part of my daily life. Music is a form of medicine and our nervous system is particularly tuned to the act of using our voice. This connection is due to the wandering nerve, also known as the vagus nerve or the 10th cranial nerve pair. This nerve innervates the vocal cords and the muscles of the throat (along with the heart, lungs, diaphragm, and digestive track – hence its “wandering” nickname). A sensory and motor nerve the vagus nerve both gives information to the body from the brain and takes information from the body back to the brain. It in many ways sets the tone for our overall resilience and in fact a healthy vagus nerve is one considered to have good tone. Chanting can seem intimidating but in actually it is just singing a repetitive verse or word (mantra). It may seem boring but there is known power in repetition – repetition can in fact relax us. This scientific reality was quantified by Dr. Benson at Harvard in the 70’s when he discovered the relaxation response by studying meditators who used mantra. The relaxation response, rest and digest response or parasympathetic activation (the peace part of your autonomic nervous system) is a zone of healing, peace and calm that is available to...
by Brianna | Feb 15, 2021 | personal growth, Power of Thought, reframing, Transformation, Willingness
Reframing is an art. One that requires a lot of presence to make happen. Everything really goes back to a willingness to be here, now. Without that willingness you can’t discern what is right for you. I have never liked cleaning. It has always been the chore I hate the most and I mean all cleaning. For years I hired it out and then the pandemic and now all the cleaning all the time. With a toddler it is impossible to ever have the whole house to rights. No matter what. No matter if I clean every day there will be more to clean. Give her a minute. The tricky thing is that when my house is dirty it brings me down. Like woe is me, down. Down below the ground down. So keeping my house moderate is a necessity and with toddler that means cleaning everyday. Every single one. This thought cycle was not helping me live my best life. I felt aligned with drudgery every time I had to clean. So I did a deep reframe and redefined cleaning for myself. For me cleaning of itself was not a win enough – but what I noticed by wearing a tracker is that I burned a ton of calories when I cleaned. Far more calories than by doing yoga or walking – even purposeful exercise was no match for cleaning’s calorie burn. Turns out cleaning is exercise. I love exercise. Ergo I love cleaning. Now whenever I clean I set my tracker to workout and I get it done. I exercise and feel all the good endorphins and...
by Brianna | Feb 13, 2021 | Healing, Healing Recipes, Simple Soup
If you know me you know that simple soups are my jam. I eat soup year round and often it serves as my breakfast. What ends up in the pot for my soups is usually veggie forward and made with things that are not at their full shine in my fridge. 1 head cauliflower broken into florets (leaves and core removed) 1 shallot 1 zucchini 4 cups veggie broth 3 cups water 1 TBL dried dill Add all the ingredients (excepting the dill) into the pot and simmer until veggies are cooked through. Remove the soup from heat, add dill and blend (I use a hand-blender directly in the pot but you can use a regular blender by blending in batches). Serve with a little salt and enjoy. This soup is also good...
