Brittany Estrada 00:00:00 When we're young, it almost feels like there's not enough time, like we just constantly have to be moving in order to be progressing. And I think that as we get older, we kind of realize, actually the magic is in the stillness, because when we just are in this perpetual motion, we never get to stop and actually soak in where we are and how far we've come.

Erica Boland 00:00:54 Hey, loves, I'm Erica.

Brittany Estrada 00:00:55 And I'm Britt. She's a chiropractor and midwife.

Erica Boland 00:00:58 And she's a nurse practitioner and womb healer. Together we are bridging the sacred and the scientific to help you step into deeper alignment with the incredible wisdom of your body.

Brittany Estrada 00:01:09 We are mothers, soul sisters and women who are deeply devoted to serving the feminine collective. There is no topic we aren't open to exploring, and we are so looking forward to navigating this journey with you and our amazing guests.

Erica Boland 00:01:23 So settle in, preferably with a great cup of coffee. Put one hand on your heart and breathe as we dive in.

Brittany Estrada 00:01:30 Welcome to our community.

Erica Boland 00:01:34 Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us again today. It is cozy season, so let's take some time to just center it on our breath and come inside our own body. Drop back in out of all the thoughts and noise and to dos of the holiday season. Take a nice big breath in. Just notice how everything just starts to melt away as you center on your breath. Bring some space into your low back. So send that breath deep, deep, deep into your sacrum, into your pelvic bowl. Remind yourself that you can choose this breath at any moment. I encourage you to choose these breaths, especially during the more stressful times. It can be easy to get just up in our thoughts about all of the places we need to be, or gifts we need to buy, or food we need to make for this season. Make sure that you're choosing each day to be still.

Erica Boland 00:02:58 And when you find yourself up in your thoughts, big breath in through your nose, even shake your shoulders out a little bit. Do some neck rolls. Be right here. And choose peace. All right, friends, welcome to another episode of the Womb Woman podcast. We're going to just kind of like, touch base about what's going on with Brittany right now. And then we're going to talk a little bit about planning and organizing, which is a pro if you ask me. So yeah, Brit, what's been new? You've moved. You guys settled in.

Brittany Estrada 00:03:45 Oh my gosh. So we have been in our new house for about three months now and have pretty much had construction going on for at least the last two months. We did a big project downstairs, which wasn't planned, but we needed like a mudroom space because we're on all this land now and our kids and dogs track in a ton of mud. And, that has been so nice. So that is almost done. And so it's just like a really great space for the kids and just our extra stuff.

Brittany Estrada 00:04:17 And I just went through again and got rid of more things. So purging feels really, really good. But I'm like always shocked at how is there more stuff, how we accumulated more stuff even. You know, I did so much purging before we moved. And then I have been working on getting my back workshop done called The Womb Room, and that is going to be my home treatment space. I actually have an event coming up by the time this episode airs. I have already have had it, but trying to get everything ready just so we at least have a bathroom and a cozy space to gather when that event happens. So I am super excited for all that construction to wrap up and me to be able to fully move into the space and just start making it really homey and cozy and welcoming for everybody.

Erica Boland 00:05:03 Awesome. I'm so excited to see it in person, I cannot wait. Not that we have anything on the books plan for that, but it's gotta we have to make it happen.

Brittany Estrada 00:05:11 It's gonna happen 2025 for sure.

Brittany Estrada 00:05:13 It's going to happen.

Erica Boland 00:05:15 Yeah.

Brittany Estrada 00:05:15 What about you? Tell us about the birth center. What's going on there?

Erica Boland 00:05:19 We're in. I still have some things that I need to hang for decor. I just ordered a huge, dark, moody print for over the bed and the birth room. And I want to, like, put some wording on it, like white lettering over top of it. But yeah, we've had two births here now and the birth center, which is been so good. So the first was a first baby, and then the second was a feedback of vaginal birth after cesarean. And I think, you know, if you follow me on Instagram when that happened, you probably heard me share about I just get so almost like overwhelmed in a good way with the power of women and like, you're on this birth high, just living off of how much or I have for them. And the soundproofing worked, so that's good. It was actually pretty cool. So the birth happened like laboring all throughout the day.

Erica Boland 00:06:19 And then baby was born at like 530 at night, and I had about an hour later walked up to the little kitchenette and that we have up in the front. And one of our massage therapists was up there and she was like, did I hear a baby cry? And for a second I thought, Roro, if you heard a baby cry? And she said, nope, that's the only thing I heard all day. So I was just like, how cool is that for our staff to just hear this newborn life come present in this center? So yeah, it's good. And I think in those births is when I'm realizing, like, oh, we need this and we need this or this would be handy here. So just allow him to adapt and change and make some of those updates as they come.

Brittany Estrada 00:07:04 But like, what a beautiful journey because I remember, I don't know, eight years ago when we were talking about this, talking about how much we love birth. And you shared probably at that point that you had visions of maybe someday becoming a midwife.

Brittany Estrada 00:07:18 So how incredible is it to actually fully be in it? And you have your own birth center? Not just that you're, you know, a midwife, you actually have your own birth center. And two births have already happened there. Like, I'm just I'm so excited for you.

Erica Boland 00:07:33 Thanks. I appreciate just sitting in it. And I think that I'm allowing myself to celebrate that and have gratitude for that in a way that I typically don't. I typically just keep like pushing on to the next thing. And so I'm proud of myself for that growth as well. And I can see some of these other things unfolding that I'm just like, curious and we'll see how they go.

Brittany Estrada 00:08:01 Yeah, I think that's the wisdom that comes with our current age and stage in life. The thing that's really been present for me lately is, you know, I keep seeing this quote, like all over social media, but it's the person you were five years ago dreamt of, the person you are today or what you have today.

Brittany Estrada 00:08:18 And that has been so true lately. You know, we were on this house journey for so long just trying to find the right space for us. And now that I've really settled into our land, I just everything unfolded exactly how it needed to to get us to where we are now. And it's just it's really powerful to reflect on that. And the same thing really goes with my work. Like I felt for a long time. I was like, I don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. I am super interested in all these things, like, how am I going to really bring them together? And the thing that's been really present for me over the last several weeks is, oh, I'm actually really stepping into my mastery, which, you know, when you would have asked me when I first started my career as a nurse practitioner, like that seemed like it was never going to happen because one, I felt like maybe I went into the wrong field because I just really didn't agree with the way that conventional medicine treats women.

Brittany Estrada 00:09:14 And then for a minute there, I thought I was going to be a full time CrossFit coach and really focus on prenatal and postpartum fitness. And I just, like, didn't really know where the path was going to lead. And now I can see the weave of all these different things finally coming together. And me like, oh, this was all purposeful. This is how it was meant to be. But I had to go through such a winding path in order to get to this exact spot. And that is really cool. And again, something that I think kind of comes with age and with wisdom for sure.

Erica Boland 00:09:45 And just the ability to navigate the more intense seasons of life, knowing that there really, truly is purpose. There always has been. So when you're still enough, when we are still enough. Which is choice to recognize. Like, hey, I've been through some shit and I've made it every single time, every single time. And it's only on the post side of it that you really see the purpose.

Erica Boland 00:10:13 And sometimes we're blessed enough to see the why or the purpose more quickly and readily. But often times it takes time, sometimes months, sometimes years, like you said. So yeah. Cheers to wisdom, Brit.

Brittany Estrada 00:10:27 Cheers to us, cheers to us. And my white hair that I have earned in my in my long journey, I love it. I love what you said about the choice to be still, because I think that's so true. And I think when we're young, it almost feels like there's not enough time, like we just constantly have to be moving in order to be progressing. And I think that as we get older, we kind of realize actually, the magic is in the stillness. And so I love that you brought up that point because it's true. Because when we just are in this perpetual motion, we never get to stop and actually soak in where we are and how far we've come. Yeah, yeah. Really beautiful.

Erica Boland 00:11:11 Okay, so before we started recording, we were chatting about, you know, what's going on and when will this air.

Erica Boland 00:11:19 And Britt mentioned her like December is her time when she really goes within and gets a little more still and prepares for the upcoming year. And I would love to hear more about, like, what way you do that and the tools you use. I know you have a really great calendar and things, but what does that look like for your practice for your family?

Brittany Estrada 00:11:45 Yeah, I feel like this is going to be the year where I have been the most intentional about it, because I like to do this in December. Always, because I don't like to wait till January to start planning things. There's just something about the energy of January that doesn't make me want to do any planning. I think it's because we're fully into that, like dead of Winter and January is kind of this time when you want to hibernate. I find that in December. Yeah, we have a lot going on, but we're still kind of feeding off the energy of the fall. And the fall energy is a lot about planning for winter, because once we get to about the winter solstice like that, you know, December 21st this year up until the spring equinox, which is like my birthday, like around the middle of March, like that whole period, it's supposed to be a time for rest and hibernation.

Brittany Estrada 00:12:31 And so it's not a great time for me personally to do a lot of planning. So I like to take the energy that I feel in December and really start to think about what I want to call in and plan for in the new year. So I'm really not a Google Calendar girl. I really dislike it a lot because I just, I don't like having to constantly refer to my phone or my computer to see what's on my schedule. I really like to have everything mapped out, so there's a great calendar that I've been using for the last several years. It's just on kraft paper. It's a giant wall calendar. The company is called Stoked Designs, and I will actually link them in the show notes because this is my favorite calendar. So what I typically do, you can see the entire year printed out for you, I typically will go through and I like to chart out, like when the full moons are when the new moons are, and then that way I can go month by month and also plan out like family vacations, trainings when I'm planning on taking breaks.

Brittany Estrada 00:13:29 You know, one of the things I'm really interested in doing this year is really looking at my calendar more from like a seasonal perspective instead of month by month. And my good friend Doctor Melissa and I have now been running retreats seasonally, so we usually do one in the fall and one in the spring. So we already have our spring, one on the books and I'm going to go ahead. We usually do them about the same time every year. So I'm going to go ahead and put those on the calendar and then start to fill in with, you know, some of the other things that I already know are going to be happening. But also one thing I like about this calendars, I use sticky notes so I can kind of like I don't have to write it right on the paper. I can use sticky notes, so there's a little more flexibility to it. But that has been really helpful for me because again, I want to see the entire year all at once, and that just really helps my brain start to wrap my head around what it is that I want to be really intentional about.

Brittany Estrada 00:14:27 Because the other thing I find is when we don't do any planning for the year, it just kind of creeps up on us. Like this year flew by. I don't know if you all are feeling that, but one thing that I've been really aware of is basically since Covid, because 2020, let's be honest, was the longest year ever. basically, since then, it feels like every year just flies by. It's just like on warp speed. And so I find that if we actually spend time being intentional with our planning, it kind of slows things down and almost makes us feel like we have more time instead of less because, you know, time is so valuable. It's our most precious resource. And I don't think a lot of us really pay attention. Yeah, right.

Erica Boland 00:15:10 100%. When I led the check in this morning, like, you know, before we started, when I loved that submarine selfishly, part of it was I was getting out of my car at the office here this morning, and I knew I was going to come in and plunge and make some, like, hot element.

Erica Boland 00:15:30 And all of a sudden I was like, Holy shit, it's December. It's essentially December, and this and this and this. And then I was like, whoa, girl, bring it, bring it back. Because, yeah, it's crazy. And even one of our kiddos, our 14 year old the other day, he was like, the older that I get, like the higher grade that I'm in, the faster that the school years go by and I'm like, dude. Yep. Wait till you have kids. So and I noticed that with the boys. And so I'm really glad we're having this conversation, Brit, because this year I will have an 18 year old, and he will start his senior year of high school, and that's wild. And. Yeah. So I'm glad we're having this conversation.

Brittany Estrada 00:16:19 and I think this is such a valuable thing to teach them because, you know, especially culturally. And this is something Chad and I talk a lot about. We are just we've kind of taught our kids that it's normal to be in all the extracurriculars to go, go, go to never rest and never stop.

Brittany Estrada 00:16:36 So that's something that we actually have a lot of conversations with the boys about being really intentional about the sports we're going to be playing or the activities we're going to be doing and how we're building and time for rest, how we're building and time for play, and that was definitely not something that was taught to me because my parents were just like, both very high achieving, super hard workers, which is incredibly valuable. And I'm so grateful they were that way because it got me to where I am. And also, I think it's really important to model the need to slow down and how important that is, because that definitely is not something that I learned. And for me, it led to a lot of burnout. And also, I think it leads to a lot of just dissatisfaction with life. We talked about this with Doctor Jonathan Breitbart said in his episode. We'll have to link that one to. But just how? Especially for high achievers, like, we just feel like we're supposed to follow this specific path, and then we're going to suddenly reach this place where we've arrived, we've arrived, and we've achieved all the things.

Brittany Estrada 00:17:41 Right. And I think part of that is this conditioning to just like, put your nose to the ground and just work really hard. But then you come up for air and you realize, oh my gosh, all this time has passed. And like, did I actually soak any of that up? Did I actually enjoy that? Right. And I think that's so true as well. When we think about the way we've kind of been taught, you just work your butt off really, really hard until you're 65 and then you can retire and enjoy your life. Like by the time you're 65, your life is pretty. I mean, the average life expectancy is like 78. So you're just gonna, like, be miserable and work super hard and, like, never pause until you're retirement age. Like, that's not going to work for me.

Erica Boland 00:18:24 I know, man, I'm just soaking all of this into thinking about so many of my deeper thoughts come when I'm driving now, probably because I drive so much.

Brittany Estrada 00:18:34 Also, it's maybe more quiet. And you don't have children all the time. Yeah, it.

Erica Boland 00:18:38 Depends, but I was thinking even this is probably cyclical. So when we talk about What our parents did. And you think about, like, the generations before us and the generations that were very present on their homestead and farming and like, you know, all of the things you think about that and like how we're starting to try to return to that because we are feeling this burnout. And I think, Brit, that you and I, being similar age, but our children are very like opposite ends of the spectrum in age. Right. Like your oldest is younger than my youngest. And I see our especially like the older two kiddos. They've been raised that way where we just are like working our asses off and we're involved in all of the things. And I have tried to grasp some sort of relaxation, but now just figuring out that, you know, like just coming into my own wisdom around that and letting it all be okay, but also knowing that in any moment you can make that change.

Erica Boland 00:19:55 And it has been a challenge to start to slow down a little bit from the rat race and the hamster wheel, because even just like the go, go, go hockey, for example, I think youth sports, I can get so negative about youth sports and like the amount of time and energy and money and like all those things, the demand on a family. But we are the family that is either going to continue to choose that or not. And it's pretty dang uncomfortable when you're so far in it that now you've got to say, no, we're not going to XYZ, we're not going to miss some big family event for a sporting event type of thing. Yeah. So I do see, especially in our oldest, like he's going to have to figure that out. And then for the second oldest that's like he's got a job already if I work X amount of hours and yada yada yada, and I can save up this much money and I'm just going to work my butt off and tell. He just told me the other day, I'm going to work my butt off until I retire.

Erica Boland 00:20:53 And then when I retire. And I was like, oh, okay. So but what I have learned as a mother is I can tell them so many things, but unless we show them and I know it sounds cliche, unless we're living it and they're feeling that and starting to feel in themselves the difference of peace for stress and the choice that they have, they're not going to know it. They won't know it just by us telling them. So yeah, it's wild. And I think like we will return to this slowed down lifestyle and then it'll probably pick back up and go through a whole nother cycle of slow. And, you know, it's like we go through these cycles each month or these cycles each week, especially as females. But if you like, take a step back and look at the big picture of the habits that cycle through us as humans across generations.

Brittany Estrada 00:21:54 But I also think that one, you have to give yourself a lot of grace because, like you were in a different stage in your life, right? And your business, and you were just kind of, I mean, you were trying to build your business and survive when you had like little, little kids.

Brittany Estrada 00:22:08 So, yeah, just to your point, like, that's what you're modeling because that's what you needed to do at that time just to like get by. And yeah, I mean, that's just we're constantly growing and evolving. And now you're younger too. You're kind of in a different place. And it's so interesting to reflect on this. And, you know, we're growing alongside of our kids. And for better or worse, yeah, they're going to catch us at different phases of growth that, you know, we may not be our prime. Chad and I were talking about this because when we first started dating, I mean, we were in like our early 20s. And I mean, he said to me back then. It's like I'm going to just work my butt off until I'm 45 years old and I'm going to retire. Like, basically I'm going to like, kill myself until I'm 45. And then my plan is to retire. And it's been really, really beautiful to witness him in fatherhood because he's realized, like, I actually really love coaching Little League and taking the boys to football games.

Brittany Estrada 00:23:06 And like, I think he's enjoying that aspect of fatherhood more than he ever realized he would. And also recognizing, if I want to be present for these things, I can't actually maintain the work schedule that I thought was going to be required of me. So maybe I don't care that much about retiring when I'm 45. Maybe I actually want to create more balance in my life so that I have the time and the energy to be present with my kids, while also being able to, you know, make a living. Yeah, it's been really cool. So I'm curious, for 2025, are there any specific things that are already on your calendar that you're kind of making some plans around.

Erica Boland 00:23:48 Yes. So I am teaching a few different times in 2025, and similar to you, I usually do a seminar for my mentors in the spring and then in the fall. So we'll do that. And then working to get a DNS Perinatal Summit on the books again. That'll for sure happen again in 2026. We're going to see if we can squeeze it in in 2025.

Erica Boland 00:24:14 And then February and March. I have teaching for chiropractic. One is like a Wisconsin chiropractic organization. And then in March is down in Florida for Palmer. So because of my midwifery schedule now a lot is planned around that. And then we have a couple of times a year that we typically take a family vacation is like, you know, always around the same time. So this year it's going to be a balance of figuring out what does that look like? Because I'm going to have to have some coverage for midwifery. And I absolutely love to teach, which you know, and I don't want to give that up, but I also want to make sure that midwifery clients and chiropractic clients feel well supported. So now that we're in and things are kind of like settled into this new location, I'm excited to see what this year brings. As far as just being more intentional about our schedule coming forward. And it's been really cool to be in this space with Kyle, too, because there was so much hustle and grind this past year that I look forward to seeing what the next year brings for him and him coming into his, like, how do you want to live and how do you want to be? What do you want your practice to look like? How do we want to spend our family time? And then probably a lot of making sure that we have good time and intention with the oldest as we prepare for him to.

Erica Boland 00:25:43 Kind.

Erica Boland 00:25:43 Of spread his wings.

Brittany Estrada 00:25:45 Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. You'll have to keep.

Brittany Estrada 00:25:48 Us posted on all of that.

Erica Boland 00:25:50 Oh, my gosh, I already can't talk about it without getting like, oh, but he's so much like me that it's beautiful and painful all at once.

Brittany Estrada 00:25:57 So,

Erica Boland 00:25:59 Yeah, he's good at teaching me my lessons. Yeah, but, yeah, I need to order one of those calendars, Brit, because I am like you. I mean, it's kind of hilarious because one of our oldest son, his friend, is helping us with the younger boys. When? Because we want to be present for Terrans games and for cannons games and for their, like, different school events and stuff. And that means that we have to have somebody else to run the littles or cook for them or whatever. So the boys were pumped to have Dom help them or watch them, if you will. And I am notoriously fly by the seat of my pants, but Dom text me like three times within a week and was like, do you have the schedule ready yet? Do you have it? So I put everything for this season into the cozy app, but still, I'm like you.

Erica Boland 00:26:42 I got to write it out.

Brittany Estrada 00:26:43 And yeah.

Erica Boland 00:26:45 Just the piece, though, that I've felt for when our family asks like, hey, what do the boys have going on? Or like, hey, what is? And I can just pull that app up and share it with them, but I, I need to write it down and seeing the big picture. I'm such a visual learner. So for those of you that are visual learners, I think what Britt is recommending is huge because you can look at it and perceive it, and you do feel more peace when you have control of your schedule while maintaining flexibility. So I love the idea of the post-it notes and it doesn't control you. Then you have so much more intention behind how you're spending your time.

Brittany Estrada 00:27:22 And there's just something about actually writing it down with a pen versus trying to type it into your phone or your computer. It just for me, that makes a big difference, and it almost like solidifies it in my brain. And to your point, you know, having grown up just with so many structures and systems and really kind of push more into that.

Brittany Estrada 00:27:42 Like, I don't even know that I truly am a type A personality, but because that was so valued and ingrained in me, like, that's really what I lived by for so many years of my life. And so I kind of really got away from that and got a little more loosey goosey and motherhood because I won. I had a lot of flexibility with my work schedule, and I was home with two little kids for a lot of my day, so I didn't have to have so many structures in place. And now I'm kind of like remembering, like, it is so beautiful to have the balance. It's so nice to have that flexibility. And we need that masculine container, the structure, because that makes us feel safe. That's like the whole intention of that whole masculine energy is to help provide safety and security. And for me, that's really what the calendar gives. And to your point, I love being able to just like, quickly reference it and let someone know exactly what is happening.

Brittany Estrada 00:28:35 And to like one of the things that Chad and I started doing a couple of years ago that has been super helpful. and we're actually getting back into the routine a bit since moving because we'd kind of fallen off, but we have a weekly meeting. We just moved it to like Monday mornings, usually like 630 in the morning. We sit down and have our coffee together and we talk through like, what's happening with the week. I love.

Brittany Estrada 00:28:55 That, yeah.

Brittany Estrada 00:28:56 It's been so helpful because we talk through like, who's got games, what's going on with childcare. Like who needs to take the kids where. And then just like anything that's come up, that's just like our time. That's like outside of date night when you're, you know, supposed to be romantic and enjoying yourself. Like, yeah, I don't want to have those discussions during that time. So having this structure of a weekly meeting, kind of it gives us that opportunity to really talk through logistics so that we don't have to do that on date night 100%.

Erica Boland 00:29:29 I'm so glad you brought that up. And I think, like, okay, if you're taking away two things from this episode to practice in this season right now is to look at your year ahead and just get the things that you already even know for sure, get them down, and then think about like, how do you want to feel throughout this year? Where is your intention? Where do you want to spend it? But if you are married or with a significant other to put a meeting for these logistics and and a date night, I think that that has saved our marriage. Honestly, not that we would be divorced without it, but the way that we have grown together and also allowed one another to grow in our own individual ways. Since we started spending more time and attention on date nights being about the two of us as a couple, it's so powerful and we've been doing it for years now, and I think maybe I shared before that, you know, I would get all like, oh, Kyle doesn't schedule things.

Erica Boland 00:30:37 I always have to be the one to schedule date night, yada yada. But I was the one that wanted that. Like, I knew I needed that and then it did evolve into him also realizing like, oh, hey, if we work on this, this is pretty good. So then him having the desire for that time together to so if you are not in a relationship, then take that time for yourself, because it is still important for you to have the time to like plan in the logistics of what is this year like? What is this week like? What does my day look like? But then also, like we said so many times throughout this episode, be still like romantically with yourself even to and decide how you want to show up. Like, what are those desires? Not just the work checklist or the daily to do's, but where are your dreams and taking the time to feed into that for yourself or as a couple?

Brittany Estrada 00:31:33 I.

Brittany Estrada 00:31:33 Love that you brought that up, because one of the things I am really working towards is if I want to go have a facial, like I want to put that on my calendar and make it a regular thing, not just like two days before realizing, oh, I haven't taken care of myself in a while and I really enjoy getting a facial.

Brittany Estrada 00:31:49 Let me just see if I can, like, fit this in somewhere. Like, no, actually, sit down and look even three months ahead and kind of schedule those in. I think that is such an important practice and one that we really forget about as women, because we just we don't prioritize our own needs and they just kind of fall by the wayside. And then we're like, oh, I had this little window. Let me try to like, fit something in. But what if we actually put that on our calendars first and then then filled in with the work stuff and the obligations instead of the reverse? Like, I think that would be really powerful.

Brittany Estrada 00:32:22 Yeah.

Erica Boland 00:32:23 100%. Okay, so you'll link the calendar in the show notes.

Brittany Estrada 00:32:27 I'll link the calendar in the show notes. Yep. And I will also link Jonathan's episode. So perfect. Yeah. Thank you all for joining us for this episode. And we look forward to seeing you in the next one.

Brittany Estrada 00:32:41 Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of.

Brittany Estrada 00:32:43 The Womb Women podcast. We are thrilled you joined us today and hope you found the.

Brittany Estrada 00:32:47 Conversation as inspiring as we did.

Brittany Estrada 00:32:50 Connect with us further. Follow me, Britt on Instagram at the @BrittEstrada and Erica @themovementmidwife. For more information on how to work with us, check out our websites linked in the show notes. We can't wait to have you join us for the next episode, but until then, we invite you to step into your power and embrace the wisdom of your body. Bye for now.

Brittany Estrada 00:33:26 Just as a reminder of the information shared here is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your health care provider for any medical questions or concerns.