Brittany Estrada 00:00:00 And as I get into my early career and recognize like, oh my gosh, I'm a part of a system that is really designed to keep people sick because it's a business.

Erica Boland 00:00:15 The highest of the high that you could be. When I was growing up as a medical doctor, that is the only way to help people in. Now we have people in hearing to sit in high positions in our country and hopefully create some change. But our country is so sick. Our world is so sick. And like the people that are consistently fighting against actual health care is beyond my ability to comprehend. This feminine has always been here and has just been shoved aside by so many systems, but I feel it's resurging.

Erica Boland 00:01:16 Hey, love. I'm Erica.

Brittany Estrada 00:01:18 And I'm Britt. She's a chiropractor and midwife.

Erica Boland 00:01:20 And she's a nurse practitioner and womb healer.

Brittany Estrada 00:01:23 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 00:01:31 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.

Brittany Estrada 00:01:45 So settle in, preferably with a great cup of coffee. Put one hand on your heart and breathe as we dive in.

Brittany Estrada 00:01:52 Welcome to our community.

Brittany Estrada 00:01:57 Hi everybody. Welcome to this week's episode of the Womb Women podcast. We are so honored that you're here. We're going to start by just coming into our bodies. By the time you're listening to this, it's probably at least mid-February ish heading into Valentine's Day. We are so very close to getting out of winter. But just a reminder that we are still in this time where we need stillness and rest, kind of that hibernation energy. And soon we'll be able to kind of step more into that spring energy.

Brittany Estrada 00:02:34 But just for right now. Close your eyes. If you're able, soften your gaze and just really tune in to where your body is at right now. Do you feel any tiredness, any aches? Just really listening to how your body is showing up today. We get so consumed with all of our to do's that we rarely take time to just tune in and listen. And so sometimes our body has to scream at us with symptoms like a headache or a back injury. So just see what she has to tell you today. Bringing all of your awareness now to your breath. Sipping the breath in through your mouth and letting it move all the way down your spine into your pelvic bowl. And seeing an opening now at the base of your spine. Your foundation. Really connecting into the earth. And seeing if you can let all of the energy in your body that's not yours. Pour down into the earth. So thinking about the energy of other people that you're carrying. Conversations, emotions, just noticing what you want to let go of.

Brittany Estrada 00:04:18 And as you exhale, breathe it down through your root and into the earth so that she can receive it for you. Is really emptying out. And as that dissolves down into the soil. Start to inhale now through your root and breathe in the Earth's energy. Really let that fill you up. Let it fortify you. And just a couple more breaths here. When you're ready. Come and join us for today's conversation. Erica and I were kind of sharing some of the things that have gone down for this first month plus of the year, and it's been quite a wild ride so far. So we thought we would share some updates on what's going on in both of our lives and our practices. So. Hey, Erica. Hi. Oh, I love this check in style, too. And just appreciate getting to check in with you a little bit before we jump on.

Erica Boland 00:05:47 Recording and then, like, grounding and centering and then realizing, like, my mind is all over the place this morning. So we're going to have a guest on This Morning, but the guest canceled last minute, and I was up in the night for a while for an early labor last night anyway.

Erica Boland 00:06:04 And Brit, you just hosted. When did you host your spa day in your room room?

Brittany Estrada 00:06:08 I did a sacred spa day experience on Tuesday, so just kind of yeah, feeling into that and what I would change and also just really soaking in the fact that, you know, it's real and that's pretty cool that it actually happened.

Erica Boland 00:06:25 So yeah, I cannot wait to be there in person. I strongly feel like it will happen this year. I don't know, I've been thinking lately like, man, I have a lot of travel plans for teaching and stuff, which is exciting, but okay, what else is new? What's going on in your world? So okay, actually, I wanted to bring something up. Britt just told me she recorded a podcast. Tell me the name of it so I don't butcher it.

Brittany Estrada 00:06:51 Oh, I was on the Vixen podcast. That's v e n And we were talking all about womb healing. I mentioned yoni steaming, which is something that I have incorporated into my self-care practice off and on, and really love to use that as a tool for healing for my clients because it's super accessible.

Brittany Estrada 00:07:12 And so the title of the podcast is tea for My Pussy, which I was just cracking up when I saw that because like, of all the things we talked about, that was the thing that they decided to pull through and use as the title. But here we are.

Erica Boland 00:07:27 Attention getting though, it is really attention getting.

Brittany Estrada 00:07:30 It's true, it's true.

Erica Boland 00:07:32 I'm intrigued to listen to it, so you'll have to share that with us. We'll get it posted for you. If it's like if the link is out. Yeah, I'll.

Brittany Estrada 00:07:41 I'll add it to the show notes for sure, because I'm not even quite sure all the things that we talked about. But I did really appreciate the conversation because they were very interested in really chatting about the cyclical nature of women, which of course, you and I talk about pretty regularly and, you know, talking a lot about honoring the feminine and how that actually looks as a modern woman living in a world that doesn't necessarily honor the feminine and certainly doesn't pay a lot of attention to cycles and seasons and natural rhythms and all these things.

Brittany Estrada 00:08:18 So that was a really good conversation, and it got me to think a lot about the kind of path that has sort of led me here. I feel like a lot of last year was about really embracing the title of Womb Healer, which feels so well. It felt so weird and like almost taboo to say, which is so crazy. And I really just had to go all in on that. And now that I've kind of like, come out of the closet as you will and realize, like, actually nobody really cares. Like, I'm sure there are people that are like thinking I'm very weird and that's okay. They would think I was weird no matter what. I called myself and now I'm kind of trying to figure out, like, how do I communicate the importance of wound healing for all women in a way that is a little more accessible to everybody. So I'm really just kind of trying to play with that this year.

Erica Boland 00:09:13 Good. I love it. Yeah, it's such a huge part.

Erica Boland 00:09:16 I mean, we've talked about this so many times, but it's such a huge part of like true pelvic floor healing and getting into that in my pelvic gorgeous course. It's like such a missing link. I mean, probably my favorite appointment that I've had with someone chiropractic patient this past week. And she came in for a pelvic floor consult, and she was scheduled for pelvic floor PT at the hospital. But she's like, I don't know. Something's just like telling me I don't want to do that. And so we just started talking. And, you know, she's been on birth control for years and she's got all these. Well, as we started talking more here, her pelvic floor symptoms started when she got into this relationship and then like amplified when she got out of it. And so we got into the emotional and the physical and I it was just so fun to see her be in that place of like, oh my gosh, nobody has ever talked to me about this. And like true curiosity and true, just this thirst for understanding of her own body and her breath and how she can help herself.

Erica Boland 00:10:29 And that is so empowering. And I came out of that appointment and I was like, I love this. I could do this all day, every day. And it's supporting women into like being embodied and having the autonomy and making the choices and understanding that there's so much information out there that is often never even discussed. And so we got into the fact that, like, yeah, I didn't learn about my womb, if you will. Outside of childbirth, which you would think you'd learn a whole ton until I was pregnant with my third son. So my fourth pregnancy. And we've talked about that before too. But I love what you're doing, Brit, because it's so underdressed, so, so, so underdressed. The only thing I don't like about it is you're so far from me. I would love you to be closer to me.

Brittany Estrada 00:11:17 I know I would love to be closer to you too, but I do want to just share with you that you're the first person that ever got me thinking about the connection of our breath.

Brittany Estrada 00:11:27 That our breath is literally what connects the physical to the metaphysical, like it is the bridge between like, the heavenly realms and the earthly realms. And like, I had never thought about it like that, but just tapping into the full capacity of our breath is what creates so much healing in the body. And that is the thing that I have carried with me for all of these years. And every single patient that I see gets a full evaluation of how they are breathing, and that is in great part because of what I learned from you. So I have to thank you for that. That has been such a huge part of this evolution for me.

Erica Boland 00:12:05 Well, I mean, you are natural at it. So it feels like you've always done this because I think you've always been called to do this. But there's just something about, I think for both of us where we are in our lives that you realize, like, yeah, I'm freaking weird.

Brittany Estrada 00:12:20 And yeah.

Erica Boland 00:12:21 I don't give a shit.

Brittany Estrada 00:12:23 What.

Erica Boland 00:12:23 Other people, you know? I mean, I do care. I can't say I don't care because sometimes I do. But when we're in this work supporting women, it's like, okay, yeah, I can't care so much that it stops me. And what I've noticed is a really good friend said it this way to me recently. She was like, the people that are judging you the hardest are the ones that don't have any skin in the game. Yeah, and it just reminded me so much of like some of the stuff I've read from Brene Brown And, you know, just different circles of women that I've been in. And I would love to say that I feel professionally supported. Right. Like, okay. Yeah, women supporting women. And the truth is that shit can be nasty. Women can be nasty to one another. And so it's like stepping through that and really learning how to hold my boundaries, right. And know where my blind spots are and still carry forward for the highest good while not destroying my nervous system.

Erica Boland 00:13:35 Yeah. And what that really means. And it's like, you know what's really cool? In the hardest of hard times as a midwife, as a chiropractor, as a mom, as a whatever, wherever you are in life. I'm like, man, I'm proud of myself because I'm at this point where I really like what I do the majority of the time. There's obviously pieces of everything that's like, oh, I could do without that. But I realized that if it wasn't available to me anymore, right. If something happened to the building or if something happened that I could, you know, physically couldn't practice or whatever, I'd pivot. It might be okay. And I think that I lived a lot of my life thinking, like, I have to have control. But, you know, that's about.

Brittany Estrada 00:14:12 Me.

Erica Boland 00:14:13 Probably more than most people. It's like I've lived so much of like, I have to have control in order to be okay. And now you go through so many life experiences that's like, yeah, that really, truly isn't a thing.

Erica Boland 00:14:24 And yet I've always remained okay. And you just realize, like, okay, I am going to start to create like how I want to live my life and make choices from there instead of all these external societal disruptions of the feminine.

Brittany Estrada 00:14:41 Yeah. And I think that, you know, we haven't had examples of what this can look like. Right? I really feel like we are the trailblazers in a lot of ways because especially for our generation, I know for me, in my house, it was really drilled into us like, you will get straight A's, you will have a great GPA, you will get into a great college, and then you will have success, right? And you'll work your butt off until you retire and then you can enjoy your life. Like that was really the narrative. And as I kind of got into professional practice, one I like for a long time didn't know what I wanted to be. I just kind of followed this path that I thought looked interesting. I love working with people, especially women and babies.

Brittany Estrada 00:15:27 I love holding space for people, and I definitely have a natural, you know, capacity for healing. Yes, and holding space for healing. And so nursing felt like the path, because that's the only example that I in my circle really had. And I didn't grow up going to a chiropractor or any type of other healer except for a traditional, you know, physician. And then my mom and grandmother and aunt were all nurses. So then as I get into my early career and recognize like, oh my gosh, I'm a part of a system that is really designed to keep people sick because it's a business, it's a corporation. And there is no incentive to really, you know, pour into prevention. And I knew that's kind of the route I wanted to go, but I was so just disillusioned by what I was learning, what I was seeing that then I'm like, screw this, I'm going to go and be a CrossFit coach because I love working out and I can. I have the capacity to be a pretty good coach, and I sure love to boss people around.

Brittany Estrada 00:16:29 And I'm interested in the body. So let me do that. And then, you know, that's not really doing it for me. Let me go and do this training and this training. There was just no example of what to do with all of this. Like I've just kind of kept following the thread. So I feel like at this point I can look back and say, none of none of that was wasted. It was all purposeful. It was all meant to be. Even though it was the most windy. Circuitous, crazy path that didn't make any sense to anybody else. I just kept following the thread, and now I use all of those things in my practice. And what I love so much is that I know when women come to see me, they truly get an incredibly holistic experience. Because I'm looking at their movement, I'm looking at their breathing, I'm looking at their emotions. I'm looking at their food. I'm looking at their bloodwork. And so we really get this, like bird's eye view of what is going on with the body, with the soul, and how can we bring those together to create incredible vitality.

Brittany Estrada 00:17:38 And that feels really cool. But man, it felt like I was never, ever gonna get there, right? And I'm sure you can share in that feeling as well.

Erica Boland 00:17:49 Yes. And I think that you are now teaching people that even the thought that we need an example is false. Right. You know, I know that those examples are within whatever higher power you believe in. It's like, be still with it and listen and surrender. And that's such a continuous practice. And then like, in retrospect. Yeah. Oh, okay. All of those things helped this align. And I am really fulfilled in like the piece of what I've chosen now and can start to put the pieces of the puzzle together. And I think that, like in full circle to what I was saying before, it takes those experiences like the really hard ones and the really beautiful ones, to start to realize some of that and just to have a bigger life perspective. And I hope that we can teach our boys that for sure, because, you know, with especially with our oldest two right now, they're getting to that age where they're considering college or this or this.

Erica Boland 00:18:56 And I think that the conversation that can come up with them is like, how do you feel in here? And just continuing to remind them, like, who are you doing this for? And how do you feel in here? Because, yeah, it was like the highest of the high that you could be. When I was growing up as a medical doctor in the health care field, something in the health care field like that is the only way to help people in now. Especially now, like this week, we have people in hearing to sit in high positions in our country and hopefully create some change. Whoever ends up there. But our country is so sick, our world is so sick and like the people that are consistently fighting against actual health care is beyond my ability to comprehend. Because how can we say things are going well and look around and see how sick people are? And like you said Brit, before we even jumped on here. People need that in person connection. They need to be in community with one another, and we're still feeling the effects of coming back to that.

Erica Boland 00:20:00 So we need one on one time to help open up and express those deepest parts of ourselves that we might not even be aware of. But then we need to come into community with other women so that we realize we're not alone in this. And like, okay, this feminine has always been here and has just been shoved aside by so many systems, but I feel it's resurging again. It might be because I'm weird, so my circle tends to be weird too.

Brittany Estrada 00:20:28 Amen.

Erica Boland 00:20:29 Yeah, so. And I mean, like I said, I had mentioned, like I don't not feeling professionally supported and I should correct that because across the board that's not true. Like, I am beyond blessed that the local community midwives, we have a group like we support one another through thick and thin. There's no judgment about questions. There's like referral, all of that stuff. But in the broader scheme of it, I think I can tend to have rose colored glasses about collaborative care. And I'm in this space right now where I'm really having to reimagine or be curious about.

Erica Boland 00:21:07 What does that actually mean? What does collaboration really, truly mean? And how can I further show up for my clients or patients with no business agenda? Yeah.

Brittany Estrada 00:21:22 It's hard.

Erica Boland 00:21:23 And it doesn't mean not accepting money or, you know, like trading energy and being paid for what you do. That's not what I mean by that at all. But I think your intention with things goes a long way.

Brittany Estrada 00:21:35 Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So I want to talk about what's going on with the birth center and what are like the main trainings and things you're offering this year because you mentioned you have a ton of travel coming up. Let's dive into that.

Erica Boland 00:21:49 Yeah. So the birth center is going well. We have two mamas due here in the next week. So we'll see when they have their babies. And it's kind of cool to see my practice fill up and lots of lessons. Some good some really hard already this year and trainings. So in April actually. So I am Lindsey Mumma and I teach a course with Gestalt the movement.

Erica Boland 00:22:19 So it's for chiropractors treating prenatal through postpartum. And due to the fact that we apparently overlooked that we booked it on Easter. And based on my client's due dates, we're going to have it here in Wisconsin.

Brittany Estrada 00:22:33 Oh, amazing.

Erica Boland 00:22:34 Yeah. So that'll be April like 12th and 13th, the weekend before Easter, whenever that is. And then, I mean, next weekend I'm teaching for the Chiropractic Society of Wisconsin in Wausau. So this will be released after that, I'm sure. And then in the fall, I'm hosting a Breach Without Borders training. Christine, Lori is coming September 16th and 17th, and then I'll teach at Palmer later that weekend for homecoming, I think. And yeah, that's Martina and I are still trying to figure out when she will come back. This year. She'll be back for sure next year, but we might try to do another DNS Perinatal summit here this year. We want to, but she's going to be a grandma soon. So she's planning around her busy travel schedule and then her family growth.

Erica Boland 00:23:23 So yeah, that's if you have met me. You know that I just love to teach. And I think it is because exactly like I was talking about in that patient experience, I just love to see people be in that curious state and start to really grasp some of these things in a way that means something for them and helps change their life or their trajectory and get them closer to what is really in true alignment for themselves. So we'll see beyond that. The pelvic gorgeous course is module one is officially launched. And there is a lot, a lot that is still being added. And I think I have to remind myself that a lot of people don't have access or don't know this information because I can get and this like, oh, maybe people already know this, but just the bonus material alone. I'm so excited for participants to have access to and give to their clients. So yeah, that's what's coming up for me this year. I might do a pelvic floor dry needling course in March as well.

Brittany Estrada 00:24:21 Oh, like you'll teach it.

Erica Boland 00:24:23 Oh no no no no.

Brittany Estrada 00:24:25 Oh you're gonna take it. Take it. Yeah.

Erica Boland 00:24:27 Okay. I might meet Mel for a couple days to take a dry course. I've not learned dry needling yet, and there isn't a prereq for it. And I, you know, like, I know pelvic floor anatomy, so that's good. But, yeah, you can do an intro course with it. So I was like, man, that would be awesome. Just to learn more about. I always love hearing people explain things differently too, so.

Brittany Estrada 00:24:48 I think that is probably something that we share where I what I love about myself is I am really curious and I love to learn, and sometimes I can go a little bit overboard. I was looking at like how much I spent on trainings last year. I'm like, maybe I should dial that back just a little bit so I keep a little more of my business profits, like actually in my bank account. But I really, truly love to learn.

Brittany Estrada 00:25:15 And I think when you're so passionate about the work that you do, like you want to keep going more and more and you just want to keep expanding your skill set so that you can continue to serve your clients, which is not a bad thing, but that is a that is a practice for this year. I'm trying really hard to like, okay, I'm going to just tone it down a bit and, you know, really just let my self enjoy, like having some money from my business in my bank account and see how that feels for change.

Erica Boland 00:25:44 And with having your own space over it. You can leverage that to be hosting things that you're learning and, you know, like essentially a trade there. So I don't like to say like you are getting it for free because you're not. It takes a lot of energy to host and you're paying for the space that you host.

Brittany Estrada 00:26:02 Absolutely. So I am actually hosting holistic pelvic care at the room. Yeah. So that'll be the first weekend of April.

Brittany Estrada 00:26:12 And that's awesome. Yeah I'm super excited for that. So I've taken that course and have been practicing all of those skills for the last couple of years. But I am excited to expand and do level two, which is more about the energetics, and that would be great. And then I'm really excited because my nurse is going to take the course and get trained so that she can start offering holistic pelvic care sessions to our clients. There will be two providers that can offer that, and I am really excited and I've had lots of questions about it. And I will say that we learn a lot about internal pelvic floor work, but so many of the things that we learn don't require you to do any internal work, or you can teach your clients how to do the internal work. So. Right. You know, there were definitely a few chiropractors in my class that never planned to do internal work because of their licensure restrictions, and they really enjoyed the course and got so much benefit from it. So definitely something to think about if you do any kind of women's health pelvic floor pregnancy postpartum, because it's just such a huge need and it's so underserved.

Erica Boland 00:27:22 I'm just secretly hoping that you have one spot open still in the clients have their babies in the appropriate time that I can just hop on a plane. I was just looking at this last night while I was up in the middle of the night, actually. I'm like, oh, okay. I can't like, plan in advance to go to that one because of due dates. However, if things fall right, I might either drive or fly real quick.

Brittany Estrada 00:27:44 Oh my gosh, I would love it.

Erica Boland 00:27:46 I'm putting that into the universe. And also I would like to hire another chiropractor. This year we're planning on hiring another chiropractor this year, so I appreciate you saying that about like the two people to do that. And we have someone that's going to come and be a student with us for a little bit in June and that'll be great. But yeah, it's a need. My schedule is full and it's going to be a lot fuller with how full my midwifery schedule is this summer. So look at us.

Brittany Estrada 00:28:13 Look at us for you in it. We're doing.

Erica Boland 00:28:16 It. Yeah, I was thinking before while my mind was going everywhere, when we were checking in, I was like, okay, this will be good to check in. So people know that, like, you know, we don't have our shit together all the time. Things are still up in the air and they're here and they're there. But as we talk, I'm like, man, I'm proud of us. Even when it's like chaos, it's good.

Brittany Estrada 00:28:34 Yeah. And I think it's really important to share this perspective, because all we really see on social media is all these people who appear to be wildly successful and have all of their stuff together and are just making all this money and traveling around the world and doing all these things. And it's just like, that is not real. It took so much time and energy and effort for most people to build their business, and most people have to go into debt and most people have to take out, you know, loans and, you know, scrimp and save and do all of this crazy stuff to make these businesses happen.

Brittany Estrada 00:29:11 And I think that's really important for us to, like, be real about that, because it's not a conversation that I think is very widely shared.

Erica Boland 00:29:21 Agree. Cool.

Brittany Estrada 00:29:22 Okay.

Erica Boland 00:29:23 Thank you. We'll see you next time.

Brittany Estrada 00:29:25 All right.

Erica Boland 00:29:26 We should do like a submit questions post. I'll do that. And we can get some questions from the audience for what they want us to cover.

Brittany Estrada 00:29:32 Coming up. Yeah. Well, we do have some guests that will come on, and we're gonna have some great, great conversations.

Erica Boland 00:29:39 You don't just have to listen to us.

Brittany Estrada 00:29:41 Thanks for tuning in, everybody.

Erica Boland 00:29:42 Thanks, everybody. Bye.

Brittany Estrada 00:29:47 Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Womb Women podcast. We are thrilled you joined us today and hope you found the conversation as inspiring as we did to connect with us further. Follow me, Britt on Instagram @thebrittestrada and Erica @thmovementmidwife. For more information on how to work with us, check out our websites linked in the show notes.

Brittany Estrada 00:30:08 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 00:30:31 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.