Cait
Hello, and welcome to today’s episode of The Born to Rise podcast. I’m your host, Cait Scudder, and I am so excited to introduce our incredible guest today, Stefanie Adler, certified nutrition consultant, women’s hormone and fertility expert and wellness coach. Stefanie’s practice focuses on supporting those with cycling bodies and balancing their hormones healing their guts and all things baby making. She’s immensely passionate about giving women the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in the modern world. When she isn’t supporting clients, you can find Stefanie on a pottery wheel making noon mugs, hiking or reading a historical fiction novel. I am so excited to have you here. Welcome.

Stefanie Adler
Thank you, Cait. I’m so excited to be here.

Cait
Oh, it’s just so good. I feel like this conversation is so that we’re going to have we haven’t even had it yet. But I feel like it’s one that we’ve been having for months now offline off the record. And it’s just so important to think about the way that hormone health nutrition impacts what we’re able to achieve and accomplish as business owners. I mean, you and I have both been in the coaching industry for a while. I feel like more women now are waking up to like acknowledging that the body is not separate from, you know, our bank accounts, the money that we make the impact that we’re creating. Talk to us a little bit about like your how you got into this work and your passion for really bringing the conversation aboard about hormones about health into the coaching industry.

Stefanie Adler
Yeah, absolutely. Our body’s a tool for our business and like not in a negative connotation way. I mean, for me, I know that having the way I got into nutrition, generally speaking was when I was a kid, I was really sick. And you know, couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me in and out of doctors offices for a decade, like left with here are some meds, the side effects are probably worse than what you’re going through, like good luck. And I changed my diet, even though the doctors were like, this isn’t going to help you. And within three months, symptoms I’ve been having for 13 years went away. And so I was just like really aware of the power that food has to be a catalyst for dis ease in the body, or as a tool for medicine. And then I fast forward, you know, a decade after that I went back to school, because of course I couldn’t get a degree in nutrition the first time around, you know, I couldn’t listen to my mom and she was like, You should be like, What 18 year old? You’d be like, okay, Mom, you’re right. But now mama, you are very right. And you know, I just what I realized was when I went back to school for it is actually everything that we can create anything that we can do really has to come from a place of wellness in our body because of where it’s like an energetic thing. If we’re brought down by feeling sick, if we’re not imbalanced with our hormones, if we’re not happy and healthy in our gut, where everything comes from, you know what comes from disease or wellness, then we’re not able to fully actualize our potential, we’re not able to truly show up in the way that we are meant to in this world. And so many women are being gaslighted by so many of their practitioners. And also when it comes to women’s health, specifically, we’re just our powers in terms of our hormonal superpowers aren’t being brought to the forefront of awareness in the way that they should. And so so many women think that this is something that is actually disempowering them their cycles, especially if they’re uncomfortable, or they get really bad PMS or if it’s just something they view as shameful, when really, it actually can be our superpower to help bring us to our full or most full potential. Hmm, wow, I love that. And it’s such a I feel like this is such a conversation that we are only just now waking up to and it’s like brave women like you who are really leading the charge because I feel like for so long. You know, women who struggled with really bad PMS symptoms or painful periods or whatever like it. These were complaints or conversations happening in the dark, not something that women were like, hi, do I have to live with this? Like what’s the alternative rather than just like oh, yeah, you have like a heavy flow go on birth control for a decade. Yeah, exactly. And I’m so grateful that the world we’re living in is becoming more receptive to having the conversation you know, it’s something that I think that, you know, my if my great grandparents can see me now like, whatever I feel my ancestors with me and I’m like talking about periods at the dinner table with my, you know, entire extended family. They’re probably like what is going on? But I mean, I think this is really important and powerful. And if we actually go back many, many, many more generations before that I don’t think there was stigma associated with it. And so it’s really a returning, in my opinion to a much more matriarchal society.

Cait
Hmm, that’s so beautiful. I love that. So for our listeners who may be kind of new to this whole thing, and admittedly like, I feel like I’m very into all of this, but I don’t know a ton about it. To what is like, give us the most like hormone balancing for Dummies definition, like, what does it mean, to balance your hormones? Or when we hear like, you know, I feel like it’s very trendy to talk about the gut brain now. And I feel like I always like smile and nod when I hear that I’m like, Yeah, sauerkraut? Totally. But like, what does it mean? Like, what? What is the gut brain? Why, like, what does it mean to balance our hormones? Like, how do you even know that your hormones are out of balance? I’m just I’m really curious for somebody who is like, okay, so I’m feeling not optimal. In my body. I’m hearing this woman talk about hormone balancing and gut health and like feeling optimal as a woman? Where do I start?

Stefanie Adler
Yeah, it’s a really good question. I think first, we have to go back to the difference between common and normal. So things that you might be experiencing in your body you might think of as normal, ie cramps, bloating, you know, brain fog, whatever it is being tired, whatever these symptoms are, especially when they come to our periods, right PMS, mood swings, painful periods, maybe sometimes headaches that come before after your period, food cravings, these kinds of things. We think of them as normal, because they’re actually very common, but common and normal are not the same thing. Okay, so that’s, I think the first thing we have to get down to is, are you having symptoms that might be common, but are not normal? And if that is the case, then you likely could benefit from balancing your hormones. And why do we say hormone balance instead of you know, fixing your hormones, healing your hormones, it’s because it really is a matter of it’s a balancing act. There are so many different hormones happening in your body. You know, when I’m talking about reproductive hormones, I’m primarily talking about estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, there’s some other ones that are in there, but for the sake of this conversation, slightly less relevant. Then there’s our thyroid hormones, which really connect to those reproductive hormones. And then there’s our adrenals, right, like our stress hormones, cortisol, things like that. And so all together they almost make a little like a barstool. Imagine like a three legged barstool. And if one leg of the barstool is short, or is wonky, the whole chair is unstable, right. And so when we’re talking about hormone balancing within each of those categories, there’s a balancing act. And then there’s the total balancing act of the barstool. And it sounds way more complicated than it really is. Because really, a lot of the lifestyle tips, a lot of the changes that we make to your diet, any of the supplements that we incorporate, oftentimes are really supporting each leg. And it’s not like we’re working on each system as an individual. So with someone who’s looking how to start, right, I think it really comes down to getting clear on what is your hormone imbalance because my hormone imbalance might look different than yours and might look different to someone else’s. Because wherever that barstool might be wonky, we need to address it. Specifically.

Cait
Yes, I think this is so interesting. So recently, I mean, obviously, I’m pregnant at the time of recording this episode, and I recently just got my labs back, I see a naturopathic doctor and midwife, as my care provider, and she came back and she was like, Woah, woah, woah, sister, like you need serious thyroid support. And I needed that the last pregnancy that I had, and I’d like forgot about it. And I got my labs kind of late in this first trimester. And it’s so interesting because I in my head, I’m like, Oh, someone with hypothyroid is like extremely sluggish has like a giant like Shrek neck. You know, like is like going to have all these external symptoms. But I think it’s interesting and I’m like, happy to share that information. But I think it’s interesting how sometimes we might not even realize that our hormones are out of balance until we see somebody and then it’s like, oh, you know, it made me then question her some of that stuff that I thought was just like first trimester, you know, fatigue may have actually been coming from a hormone imbalance. So anyway, now I have like a supplement to mitigate that. But I think it’s really interesting. And I imagine for people even who aren’t You know, women who aren’t pregnant. There’s a lot of times I find it fascinating how in especially in like the coaching industry in the online world, which is, you know, where our listeners, most of us anyway, our base, we talk so much about mindset and we talk so much about like getting your energy right but what you and I are talking about right now and I feel like what you’re bringing forward is really about like the conversation underneath that which is like what is happening in your body, like you can journal and do all the affirmations. But if one of your barstools is broken, it’s gonna be you’re gonna have to, like, work so much harder to like, prop yourself up to some kind of a baseline, it’s just really, like energetically inefficient?

Stefanie Adler
Absolutely. And, you know, for a woman who’s in a cycling body who’s currently menstruating, you know, her brain chemistry changes 25% over the course of her cycle. That’s super significant. So we’re talking about mindset, or we’re talking about energy or how to, you know, content strategy, hiring processes, whatever it is. I mean, if we’re not taking that into account, then we’re missing the point of what it means to be a cycling body.

Cait
Wow. Okay. So that I mean, that is massive, what you just said that a woman’s brain chemistry changes 25% over the course of her cycle for for those of us who are, you know, some of us may know what those cycles are. But for those of us who are just kind of like, Yeah, whatever I believe, once a month, I don’t really know when that is or what’s going on, like, talk to us about the female cycle and about what those chemical changes in the brain are.

Stefanie Adler
Yeah, so I’ll give the Cliff Notes version of this, because this is like one of those things that, you know, you can expand and expand on some of the beauty of it. But basically, your belief is the most boring part of your cycle. Not that it isn’t beautiful, and like I have so much respect for the menstrual phase of the menstrual cycle. And like we can talk about that. But I think what’s really interesting for women is, that’s the part that we recognize, because it’s the easiest to see, you know, most of us don’t miss when we have blood coming out of our vagina. And so we’re aware of that. But really, there’s the least amount of hormone activity happening then comparatively to the rest of the month. And so while it’s the most obvious, it’s the least interesting. And really what’s happening over the next average, you know, 28, could be up to 35, and be a healthy cycle or as low as 26 days is so much in terms of those hormones taking, like one taking precedent over the other. So around day three of your cycle, day one being the first day that you believe estrogen starts to pick up in terms of production, okay, so your body starts to make more estrogen starts to say, okay, hey, like, let’s get ready to have another cycle, right? FSH, which is your follicle stimulating hormone is telling your body like, hey, get another follicular that’s hanging out in your ovaries ready to mature, because we’ll be releasing, you know, we’ll be telling you to release another egg soon. Because the whole point of this cycle is really, you know, for reproduction, right. So we can use it in all these amazing ways. But the body is very primal in its in its design. And so that estrogen starts to pick up but it’s relatively low levels compared to where it’s going to be later. So what ends up happening from day three to around, let’s say, day 11 of an average cycle, is going to be really clear headed focus with rising energy.

So there’s a lot that you can do with that. I mean, that’s like the best time for brainstorming. This is the right time for like getting all your ducks in a row before you go into a launch. Whatever it is, there’s so many applications here. And then right around the time that you are getting ready to ovulate, your body sends a signal with luteinizing hormone to your body like hey, it’s time to ovulate. You get a little kick in testosterone intention to make you horny, right? Because it’s almost time to reproduce. And you know, we always joke about men wanting sex all the time. And I think that that’s you know, a negative stereotype and whatever but it has some truth in it. It’s there for a reason that that extra bit of testosterone makes this morning and so we get an extra surge and testosterone estrogen peaks estrogen I think of her as like your fun and estrogen Okay, she’s like, you know, comes to town she’s like, do you live face Id do you want to go dancing? Like, you know, she’s like throwing back shots like she’s just like the cool fun and that you all want to hang out with? She’s confident she gives you energy she dresses well, that’s funny. That should Okay, so she peaks, you get an extra, you know, pink in your cheeks.

There’s actually some really amazing studies done on how people perceive others when they’re ovulating. And women who are ovulating are perceived as more attractive by men and women. As our facial structure changes and we’re actually especially if you’re in a room with someone releasing pheromones that make people more attracted to You so interesting. Super cool. And so I mean, also like they’ve done studies on strippers who are on birth control pills versus not those who are not on birth control and who are ovulating need more money than those who were not. It’s really interesting. And so like, you know, thinking about the applications of this, I mean, potential is limitless, right? You know, whether you’re going on a date that you really want to go super well, whether you want to be on a podcast, or do a speaking gig, whether you want to launch a new program, anything to be more attractive to the receiver, you’re also you’re most articulate at this time of the month, just words flow easier, you’re not going to be stumbling over your words like you might be a week and a half later, or a week and a half prior. And so there’s a lot of really neat applications there. And so what’s happening, you got this really big surge of all these hormones, your body releases an egg, hangs out for 24 hours waits to be fertilized, if it’s not fertilized, it dissipates. But the little, I am trying to think of how I can describe this without using my hands.

There’s like a little sack that is holding what was the egg? Okay, it’s called the corpus luteum. Now, in your ovaries, and it doesn’t know it’s like, it’s like walkie talkies with the ovaries but once with the egg, but once the egg dissipates, the signal goes dead. And so the corpus luteum doesn’t know that it wasn’t fertilized. Okay. So it’s producing progesterone, progesterone, think of pro gestation, okay. It’s the pro gestation hormone, really important for fertility. And it’s, you know, an on the other side of my practice when I’m not helping other coaches figure out how to use all of this amazing knowledge about their hormones to better their business. I also work with women for fertility, and this is a very common mis commonly missed hormone deficiency that I often see as a cause of people struggling to get pregnant. So sidebar, yes, but so this pro gestation hormone is really changing the way that we do things because it thinks we might be pregnant. And from a biological Remember, we’re super primal people wants to protect a potential growing baby. So it makes us more skeptical of others. It makes us have a more critical brain it also increases our cortisol levels easier, which is our stress hormone, because it wants us to be on a little bit of like high alert, right?

Cait
This is so interesting. So this is the phase after ovulation. This is is that luteal so it goes follicular. So menstruation, follicular, ovulation right and then luteal. Okay, so luteal is when you’re more like skeptical or you’re more kind of like withdrawn or something as as, as opposed to the ovulation phase where you’re just like out and magnetic and juicy to the world.

Stefanie Adler
Exactly. So you know, in the luteal phase is approximately two weeks long. And so oftentimes, we can break that two weeks until like week one and week two, week one, you’re still coming down from some of those original hormones and progesterone is taking a little bit of time to pick up. So the first week of your luteal phase is kind of like a hybrid between still out there and magnetic and you know, a little bit more withdrawn. But then the progesterone starts to feel have a skill, like pretty nasty, it’s like, okay, I want to be like, organizing my home, I want to be like, not out, meeting new people and talking to strangers. And it’s like, really, we have to be more committed to, you know, anti anxiety practices, things like that, because our body’s more on on edge and on alert.

Cait
That is so fascinating from a hormone level. And even just thinking about, like, you know, we talked earlier about like the, you know, the and I’m not going to say it’s like a shallow conversation in the coaching industry. But it’s, it’s almost it’s like an incomplete conversation to just talk about mindset or just talk about energy as opposed to like, really bringing in to the conversation hormones and what is happening on a biochemical level inside of your body. It’s really what I’m thinking about is the difference of how you might perceive you know, at your most confident, your most self assured, like in your truest essence. And I’m not saying the other phases aren’t, you’re not in your truth, but like in your fullest essence of power, the way that you think about investing in a program trusting yourself versus when your hormones and ludie like in ovulation versus when your hormones and luteal are literally getting ready to protect and hunker down and like Hide, hide your baby in a bunker of safety, you’re probably going to be a lot more skeptical.

Stefanie Adler
Exactly. Oh, it’s like truly once you get into the nitty gritty of it, of how it impacts, investing decisions, hiring decisions, mindset, stratefy, I mean, like to give someone the same tool to work on their mindset when they’re in their luteal phase. And when they’re in their follicular phase, it’s just doing them a disservice. Because I mean, I meditate differently. Depending on where I’m at in my cycle, and it’s massively radically changed my meditation practice, because everyone, even no matter how practice, you are gonna have days where you’re more antsy, or where this, you know, works better for you. And it’s like, okay, well, can we use an active meditation tool? When you have more energy to burn versus have more in it? There’s just so much there.

Cait
Oh, my God, I love that. Thank you so much for breaking that down for us. Because I feel like these are the like tangible specifics in the conversation that, again, most women just are don’t, we’re not having this conversation on the day to day and yet the impact of how it changes the way that we meet the world, the way that we meet our business, the way that we’re creating content, the way that we’re marketing, it’s huge. And it’s, it’s just, it’s massive. I’m curious for you what you have found to be the most helpful practices as a female business owner, you know, super successful female business owner impacting so many women running many different programs and courses, how have you personally found a rhythm for supporting your hormones as you move through your cycle and, you know, being able to create the most impact that you can in your business?

Stefanie Adler
It’s a really good question. Oh, there’s so many. I mean, I think the biggest thing for me personally, you know, when I was a teenager, I was, you know, I originally went on birth control for a decade, because I had such bad and disruptive periods. And you know, I was the girl like, calling my mom from the bathroom at school being like, you have to come get me like, I can’t do this. And so for me, I think the more that I have found my own balance with my hormones, and that I have been able to support my body through cycles thinking my diet, and my exercise has actually made me the best possible coach, because I no longer amount of commission. Yeah, at all, because of my cycle, you know, I have a pain free period, I have no kms. You know, I so I’m not feeling held back by anything in my body, which allows me to show up in all of the other ways, with my mindset with with everything else, in a cycle informed way, because it feels so, like, so easy. And I’m grateful for that. But it’s not that hard, which is like the really exciting piece of it just takes some like pretty significant, but not significant in terms of like challenge to your life, but it’s significant in terms of impact changes, to to find that rhythm and to have a normal period, which doesn’t have to be something that, you know, I look forward to my bleed every month, because it isn’t something that causes me to have to, you know, cancel calls, or like, whatever it is.

Cait
Well, and I’m thinking about this, like we’re recording this episode, a couple days into the new year, like we just started this new, you know, cyclical calendar year, but like, as women, we’re so blessed to have, you know, a refresh every single month, I mean, more or less every single month, like we get that clean slate that fresh start every single month. So what you’re describing of like anticipating and loving the start of your bleed, like, makes so much sense. And it’s so inspiring to hear that you found a way to have a pain free period. Optimize your energy at every single phase of the journey. I think that for so many women that’s very, super aspirational to think about that. And I yeah, when you were talking about like being in high school, or Yeah, being younger and having your have being on birth control, I’m just like thinking about oh my god, same with me, I was on the pill, and then I had a marina for nearly a decade. And it’s just like, it’s so refreshing to think that there could be another way. This is another question that I really wanted to ask you about, like the rhythm method. Is that real? Does that really work?

Stefanie Adler
Yeah. So there are a few different forms of non hormonal birth control. And I think it’s really important that we distinguish between the rhythm method and fertility awareness method. They’re oftentimes confused for one another. So the rhythm method is also sometimes called the calendar method. And it’s basically looking at a calendar and if you have a very, very regular cycle, then it works. Okay. And basically, it’s just looking at okay, if I typically bleed here, I typically ovulate at this time until like five trying to not get pregnant, I’m going to avoid unprotected intercourse during you know, the time where I could typically get pregnant. And the problem is, and apps will do that sometimes for you too. The problem is our bodies are not algorithms and the apps and also just old fashioned calendar method is treating it as one. And so all it takes is a really stressful period and not period have in terms of bleed, but like a stressful period of time in your life, and where your body’s like, hey, it’s not actually a good idea for me to ovulate right now, because she’s really stressed out. So she’s probably not feeling like getting it on. And so you delay ovulation for a few days. Most of the time that anyone this is like the something that I remember being like what when I learned for the first time was, you know, when you have a late period, it’s not usually that your period is late. It’s that you ovulated late. Right. And so the body is very smart and intuitive and doesn’t really want to ovulate unless it thinks that you’re going to have a good chance at reproducing because it worked really hard to to mature that egg. And so the rhythm method doesn’t work that well because it doesn’t account for I was traveling or this happened and now I’m ovulating late, but fertility awareness method which is similar to the calendar method, but uses a lot more tools that give us biofeedback. And it’s actually something I’m going to be teaching in cycle important coaching. So I think it’s the best way to track our cycle is really looking at you know, cervical position cervical mucus and temperature plus, we can sometimes use, you know, ovulation strips if we want another tool in there. But really getting biofeedback every day of like, where am I out of my body? What’s happening with my cycle, to have a clearer picture and that when used appropriately, you know, can be over 97% effective.

Cait
Wow, that’s incredible. That is so so cool. And I love that you are teaching that in your program, because I think that yeah, I’ve I have never used that I was like, way too scared to use that. But then it’s it’s so funny to think about like how I mean, funny not in like a haha, Isn’t that hilarious kind of a way, but like, it just makes you realize the the narrowness of the conversation for so many of us, I mean, millennial women, when we were girls, and like going through puberty, it was like, Oh, you have a painful period go on birth control, oh, you’re bleeding for more than seven days go on birth control. And we weren’t taught this. So I just think it’s so beautiful that you’re bringing these tools back to women who were girls who were just thrown on the pill

Stefanie Adler
And it’s I mean, something I’m incredibly passionate about now, because with the work that I do in fertility, what I see is all of those girls who went on birth control 15 years ago, 10 years ago, eight years ago, whatever, who come off of it, who don’t want have any education on like, what is it now mean, to try and conceive. And then also, you know, usually birth control if you went on it because of heavy, painful, bad, whatever periods, it’s covering up whatever was going on in the first place. So now we have to address that initial hormone imbalance, plus how it might have potentially gotten worse. And something I love about the fertility awareness method, is it the light switch, you turn it off? If you don’t want to get pregnant? And you turn it on? If you do, right, like it’s using the exact same tools, which I think is just really empowering to women, especially one in six couples these days. So you know, struggles with fertility. So I think it’s important that we give women and young girls these tools earlier.

Cait
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I’m so curious in the work that you do with fertility and supporting women and supporting couples, like, what are some of the most important, I think that’s a really interesting observation of how you know, women who are girls who went on birth control, there being a really strong correlation between struggles with fertility now, obviously, you know, no shame, like so many women that I know have struggled with fertility in one way or another. I’m curious, what are some of the ways I mean, you know, I feel like for a lot of people, the conversation is like, Oh, you struggle with fertility I IVF or IUI, or whatever. But I’m curious from a more like natural and holistic perspective, obviously, you having that, like hormone balancing background, what are some of the ways that you see that women can naturally support themselves to or receive support in cultivating, you know, better chances of having a child?

Stefanie Adler
Yeah. And just to say, you know, I think that IVF and IUI are incredible tools. And I’m so grateful that we have that technology, and that, you know, I work with people who decide that technology isn’t the right fit for them. And there’s so much we can do naturally. And that’s always so exciting when, you know, a doctor says to one of my clients, like, there’s no way you’re gonna get pregnant naturally. And then six months later, we’ve got a positive test. And we can be like, bye, Doc. And you know, like, that’s really exciting. And also there are times you know, and I do work with people who are in IVF. And a lot of the work that we’re doing is helping that process be more successful, because it’s a really painful and challenging process, no matter who you are. And if we can make it more successful and faster and easier, like that is so powerful to so I mean, I think the biggest thing people can do is treat their bodies well. And I mean, I know that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people and they There’s so many ways to go here. But I mean, one of the biggest things that I see, especially when we’re speaking to, you know, really, women who are high powered care about their career is really, you know, type a kind of like I want to succeed, I see a lot of those people in my practice, and a lot of times are waiting until later to have children, which is beautiful for our careers and beautiful for life experiences. And also, if we’re not really conscious about it can be challenging for our fertility. And so supporting. When we support fertility, what we’re really doing is supporting health on a cellular level. And so what we really want to do is focus on anti aging practices and foods that are going to support just like they would any other cell in our body, like we all want beautiful, fresh young skin, you know, whatever it is also supporting those cells that are going to then turn into future children. So this can look like you know, really focusing on high quality food, really focusing on very nutrient dense food, whether that’s like traditional fertility foods, like liver, I’m going to lose some people here, you know, but like things that are like, way more fertility focused in terms of they’re very, very nutrient dense, and also looking at deeply pigmented foods. So that’s like really high in antioxidants. So I say wild blueberries, these things that are you know, are anti aging or antioxidants are really supportive for egg quality.

Cait
Yes, I remember watching your stories once and you like posted about wild blueberries, and we were trying to conceive our second and I was like, Babe, we got to get back on the smoothies, like get those blueberry smoothies going.

Stefanie Adler
Totally and, and if you don’t like smoothies, you can do jam, and like cooking them actually increases some of that content too. So I mean, there’s a lot of different ways to do it, and I am. And then also from like a hormone perspective, you know, every person’s fertility is different. And that like, again, like I mentioned that low progesterone is like highly under diagnosed. And so you know, not always because it varies a lot. But a lot of people in my practice, you know, we have them supplementing with progesterone, while they’re in their luteal phase until the first you know, 10 or 12 weeks of pregnancy, to support a healthy beginning of pregnancy and getting that baby to full term. And so it really just like varies on every person’s individual case. But the best thing you can do is just take care of your body move, but not too much. Like if you’re doing cycle sinker movement, that’s like a really easy way of explaining it. Sleeping is so underrated, but like sleeping a solid, you know, seven to nine hours a night. Really focusing on high quality food, not eating processed food. Just eating real whole good food for you is one of the best things that you can do for your fertility. And then of course, it gets, you know, nuanced based on numbers.

Cait
Right, that is so beautiful. I so appreciate you sharing this. And I you know, I know that I reached out to you. And we were having a conversation about this. I also feel and I’m curious what your perspective is here. But I feel like there’s also an energetic thing. And for so many people you know, who really struggle with infertility, it’s obviously more than like mindset, energy, but even just the way you’re describing the way that stress impacts our hormones, which impacts like, biologically what’s happening inside of our bodies, like when we were when we decided that we were available to start trying for our second I think that there was a lot of me that was like, Okay, I had a lot of expectation and there was I think some like anxiety or stress about this has to happen now and then it didn’t happen and then next cycle like same thing, okay, I’m tracking my ovulation like doing I didn’t do the like, ovulation strips, but like looking at like cervical mucus and all that. I was like, okay, cool. I think I’m ovulating. Let’s go. And again, like nothing happened. And I and then I got like, really in my head. And that initiated such a process of like, letting go and surrender. And I feel like fertility in such a, in a big way is like the ultimate manifestation practice of like having conceiving a child feels like the ultimate thing. And if you’re putting off the vibe of like, this has to happen. I mean, it’s the same of like, I have to make the sale or I have to sign this client. That’s kind of like a repelling energy. But I really went through this process of like, okay, if this is gonna be if we have to do you know, if you ever have this is going to take half a year or a year or I just I really had to get to this place of like, it is not my doing trying, calendar timing, that is going to bring this baby into the world. It’s like, divinity. It’s his own babies like spirit. And I felt I feel like I really I was initiated into this lesson of surrender. And ironically, that’s when we found out that we were pregnant. So I’m curious if that’s like a common thing that you hear with women in their fertility stories of like needing to kind of let go and like, go a little bit more into that yin and not treat getting pregnant, like an accomplishment or like a task to be achieved. If that really support that was my personal experience for the my second child, but that I’m now pregnant with but I’m curious if that’s something that you see as like a common thing.

Stefanie Adler
Yeah, I mean, I think, absolutely mindset. And what I often call it spiritual fertility is so huge when it comes to any single person’s fertility journey. And oftentimes, depending on where you’re at, in your fertility journey, that’s going to look super different. And I actually oftentimes see, I see exactly what you’re talking about in the surrender, but it’s almost depending on how long someone’s been trying. Oftentimes, what I actually see is people like not wanting to get their hopes up, not wanting to get excited about it, not wanting to connect with the idea that this could be the month because it’s a defense mechanism, you know, when you’ve been let down enough times, it’s really common for you to be like, I don’t want this to work. Or if you’ve experienced miscarriages in the past, you know, to not want to feel attached, because you’ve learned the lesson that like not every pregnancy equals a baby and like, Oh, what a painful lesson to learn. And also, you know, I actually recently was working on this with a client and now she’s, honestly, she’s probably 10 weeks pregnant at this point, and you know, past the point where we would need to be concerned, but she hadn’t had an ectopic pregnancy and then had a miscarriage. And we it was really like a big thing that we worked on for months before she got pregnant to be able to get excited and attached to this, this baby. And you know, to really, you know, you and I have talked about spirit baby in the past and like to really connect with that, because I think for each person, the mindset work is different when it comes to fertility. But the fact remains that it’s 50% What we’re doing in the body. And that part, if you’re really committed to it, it’s like, it’s pretty easy to do. For the most part. Now it depends on an individual situation, if its endometriosis it’s PCOS, I mean, we treat them differently. But the body stuff is, you know, relatively you do X you do y and it equals z. The mindset work is really so, so nuanced and so rich, though.

Cait
Yes. And that’s so beautiful. I really appreciate you bringing that other side up, because I didn’t even think about that. But they’re both defense mechanisms, right? Either the like, hyper, let me control this entire situation, or the like, let me you know, not get attached to it as a way to protect myself. It’s like, we’ve got to be in that middle sweet spot for the magic to happen. Oh, this is so good stuff. I just appreciate you and your wisdom so much in bringing these conversations to women. I want to shift gears here and talk about you know, you were talking before we had this beautiful in depth look before it our cycle. And you were talking about the ways that that impacts our coaching, I want you to share with us about the program that you’ve created for coaches on the cycling from coaching certification and just what Tell us how that was born and what the program is all about. Because I feel like so many women in this industry like this is the revolution that the industry has been waiting for is to like, have a bigger conversation about what’s happening in our bodies as women and how that impacts the work that we do.

Stefanie Adler
Yeah, thanks, Cait. I I’m just so excited about this program. Like I wake up every day now right now just being like, oh my god, this is happening. This is the world and you know, I I really think that it was birthed from a place of more women needs to know about this more women like this is how we changed the world. Like it’s truly feels like a revolutionary act. And you know, I knew I wanted to create more impact in a way that wasn’t necessarily from me coaching every single individual person to know about this work. But it wasn’t exact. I didn’t exactly know how it would look but when I started working with more entrepreneurs over the past year and a half, and you know, months after we would work together I get these emails being like oh my god Stefanie, this is like so radically changed my business. This is so radically changed my relationships, the way I communicate all of these things. I finally feel like I’m the truest expression of myself, right? You know, everything is just flowing easier. Everything is becoming more abundant, because it all just is flowing. It feels easy. It just came to me I was like this is how we do it. You know, we give not only all these incredible entrepreneurs The tools that they need to do this in their own business with their own lives and their own relationships for their own, you know, pleasure, whatever it is, because it impacts all of that. But then we give their clients these tools. And then their clients can give these clients these tools. And this is how we have the ripple effect, that’s going to really, I guess, bring that divine femme energy, I think, to the, to this coaching space, and then beyond. That is so beautiful. I love that so much. So tell us a little bit more specifically, like what this program entails, what someone will learn who it’s for all of that good stuff. Yeah, so this program is for anyone who works with women in a coaching or an advisory capacity. So you can be a consultant, you can be a therapist, you can be a teacher, as long as you are working with women in a way that you would feel comfortable saying, hey, you know, I have a strategy, I have tools I have whatever you want to use, you know, as your modality to support you and X thing that could be anything from mindset and body meant business, wellness, fitness, sex, relationships, etc. By utilizing and maximizing and optimizing your cycle, as long as you are comfortable talking with your clients about that this is a program that you can get benefit from. And what it’s going to entail is really having the first part is broken into three parts. The first part is really getting an understanding of this knowledge. It’s the learning, it’s the breaking it down, really getting an education on everything that we were talking about in this first part of this podcast episode, you know, through workshops, and having a deeper understanding of the unfreezing and rhythm, which is the hormonal cycle that women go through every month, and how women are impacted by each phase of this cycle. So really just becoming an expert in this topic. Phase two, is where you’re really going to start to embody this for yourself, really start learning what this looks like in your own life in your own practice, and how to how do you incorporate this into your coaching? How do you use this knowledge to better the lives of your clients to better your client experience? And we’re going to be doing that by looking at the coach first client experience with this, like, how do you as a coach interact with your clients through this knowledge? And vice versa?

Cait
Oh, interesting. So it’s like, you’re not only learning like how to bring in more cycle informed methods into your coaching practice, but also learning as a woman who cycles how to adjust the way that you coach in accordance with your cycle. Is that right?

Stefanie Adler
Absolutely. Yes.

Cait
That’s amazing. That’s so interesting. I want to just ask a question. I know you’re gonna talk about the third part in just a second. But is this just for like, wellness coaches, like only for women who work with other women in the realm of wellness? Or is this for coaches outside of just like health and wellness coaching as well?

Stefanie Adler
No, this is absolutely for any coach who works with women, generally speaking, so this could be business coaches, relationship coaches, mindset coaches, you know, sex coaches, you name it, really. Business. And also, you know, you could be a business consultant, like, it doesn’t actually also have to be a coach, as long as you are someone who’s in an advisory capacity, it could be a therapist, you know, really, anyone who’s working very closely with women who are is giving them guidance on how to better some area of their life is going to get a lot of benefit from that.

Cait
That’s so interesting, especially as we were talking earlier about, like the way that your biochemistry in your mind is changing at these different times, like business coaches, being able to inform their clients about money making decisions, launch strategy. Yeah, I love it. So good. Sorry to interrupt you. But I want to hear about the third part. But I wanted to make that clear. So people know that this is not just for wellness and health coaches, this is also for business coaches, money coaches, all of the above.

Stefanie Adler
Yeah, career coaches, you name it. I mean, the, the benefits are limitless. Right. And you know, and we’re going to talk about how do you help your clients track their cycle? Like, what does it mean to live cyclically, all of that is happening in the phase two, which is the actualization phase. And then we move on to phase three, which is the practicum piece, this is a part around, you know, like, how do you feel confident going out into your coaching world being a cycle informed coach, and so you’re going to be taking a program that you already have in your business, whether that’s a one on one coaching program, a good group coaching program, an online course, and presenting to me and the group and building out what that looks like, in a way that is cycle informed. So how do you interact with those clients based on where you’re at in your cycle and or how to, you know, adjust any sort of advice that you are giving your client any sort of topic that you’re teaching on to bring in that cycle informed practice? And so I think it’s really important to know No, this isn’t something where you’re like, have to throw away all of your coaching programs to build a new, you know, in a cycle in one way. It’s really how do we help you layer this in? How do we help you bring this as an addition to what you’re already doing successfully, to make it even better.

Cait
I love that, oh my god, this is so good. And this is honestly I am just so pumped about this. I hope every business coach in the industry takes us as well as like all the other coaches listening to this. But I feel like specifically, understanding the way that our cycle shifts, the way that we think the way that we launched, the way that we lead. The way that we communicate is such a powerful tool, and I am so pumped for the women who are already inside of this for you, because I feel like and for all of us for their clients for the impact that that’s going to make for the ease with which that means they’re going to be able to generate more results in their business, and probably feel a whole lot better in their bodies as well.

Stefanie Adler
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, the impact that it’s going to have on your body, your brain and your bank account, when you are cycling formed, is so transformational. So I’m really excited for it. I love that.

Cait
So there is a link in my bio and not not yet not my bio, and in the show notes of this episode that you can click on with all the details on Stephanie’s cycle informed coaching certification program that kicks off on the 20th of this month. Is that right? Yeah, 20th of January. Okay, beautiful. I love that. And if you have any questions, you can send Stephanie a DM on Instagram. But all the info is going to be at the link in the show notes on this podcast episode. Thank you so much for coming on here today, Steph, if there was one piece of advice that you had to give our listeners about living more optimally rising into their fullest potential as women, what would that be?

Stefanie Adler
Embrace the superpowers that are already within you. I think so often we go out looking for something externally, when really, we have the power, we have the tools, we have the magic within us. And so embrace what’s already within you and just you know, let it let it shine, let it become more clear.

Cait
I love that that is so beautiful for our listeners who are like so turned on by this conversation who want more on all the things fertility, hormone balance and cycle informed coaching. Where can people stay connected with you?

Stefanie Adler
Yeah, come say hey, on Instagram. My handle is Stephanie with an F Adler wellness. And that’s usually the best way to get in touch with me. You can also check out my website, Stephanie adler.com also with an F and yeah, come say hey, and you know, let me know what interests you about this episode. I love connecting with new ladies who are passionate about this work, too.

Cait
So beautiful. Thank you so much for this conversation. Stephanie. So good. And as a reminder, guys, 70 cycle informed coaching certification kicks off January 20. There’s a special link in my bio, you can go check out and I am excited to see you there. I’m going to be taking this and it’s going to be magic. So thank you so much for coming on today stuff and for all the incredible work you’re doing for women.