Phoenix Rising Integrative Medicine

MOTHERHOOD

Nearly 18 years of being a single mom, and without question, my daughters are the greatest blessings of my life 💞

It’s an honor to watch them grow into who they were always meant to be - beautiful, creative, kind, funny, and intelligent, already stepping fully into their gifts and becoming outstanding in their own crafts of artistry.

To watch your children become kind, passionate, capable humans is a feeling I can’t fully put into words.

I’m endlessly proud of who you are becoming. Being your mom has been the greatest purpose and privilege of my life. 🤍

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone who experiences motherhood in all ways. Much love. 💕

The recommendation to “eat less and move more” is actually working against most women.

It’s digging you deeper into a deficient hole that has already lead to significant hormone imbalance.

If you’re ready to learn WHY you’re struggling to lose weight, book a call so we can get the right labs ordered and get you on a plan that works best for wha your body needs.

Comment CALL 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 to book a strategy call 📞

Here’s the bottom line that TCM practitioners understand. The hormonal rollercoaster generations of women are experiencing is due to depletion and nervous system dysregulation (being stuck in fight/flight/freeze), often for a lifetime. This is not a lack of supplements problem, or “this is just aging”. Perimenopause was NEVER supposed to feel so erratic and hard.

In order to create balance and feel vibrant, we must fill our cup and to do so with intention and precision, not guessing.

If you’re ready to STOP GUESSING & finally gain clarity on how to move forward in life in a healthy way, with hormones supported, comment CALL and I’ll send you a link to book a call with me.

UNPOPULAR OPINION (Trigger Warning ‼️)

Jumping straight to HRT without understanding the full hormonal picture can do more harm than good. (I see it all the time in my clinic!). Hormones fluctuate erratically during perimenopause, and before we add anything, we need to know WHY & HOW they’re off in the first place, besides the “it’s perimenopause”.

Is it adrenal burn out? Progesterone steal? Poor estrogen metabolism? Gut health issues? The answers change everything. HRT has its place, but only once the foundation is solid. Otherwise, it’s a costly guess.

Comment CALL to book a strategy call 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 to see what your complete hormone picture looks like

Does this sound familiar? Exhausted, in pan, brain fog, no libido, weight that won’t budge, and a doctor that offers antidepressants or birth control?

Mary came to me in her early 40s, already well into menopause (we all thought), but after running the labs and finding the answers and thereby supporting her foundational health, surprisingly to her, cycle 🩸 returned.

We didn’t chase her hormones. We didn’t provide HRT. We discovered underlying issues and then focused on repairing and restoring.

Your symptoms are signals telling a story. With more insight, we can find a plan that works for you. There is a root cause. Comment CALL, and I’ll send you the link to book a strategy call. 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Healing wasn’t one thing. It was everything, all at once.
After sharing what betrayal did to my body — my adrenals, my thyroid, my immune system, my spirit — so many of you asked: but how did you heal?

The honest answer is that, like most abuse survivors, I’m still in it. But I’ve come a long way, and this is what has moved the needle most.

I stopped intermittent fasting. And it changed everything. This one is important, especially for women in their 30s, 40s and 50s. I had been intermittent fasting for a while before everything fell apart, and what I didn’t realize was that it was quietly setting me up for a complete full-body health collapse.

Here’s why: intermittent fasting raises cortisol. For some people in certain seasons of life, the body can manage that, but when emotional trauma hits — when betrayal, shock, and heartbreak flood your system all at once — your cortisol is already in crisis. You are already running on empty.

Fasting in that state is like pulling fuel from a car that’s already on fire. For me it meant blood sugar crashes, worsening anxiety and panic, cortisol spikes that pushed my already depleted adrenals further over the edge, and an exhaustion so deep I couldn’t cope with even basic daily tasks. My body needed nourishment, not more stress. It needed to feel safe.

So I stopped IF, and I learned how to cook nourishing, warming, blood-sugar-stabilizing meals at home. Meals that told my nervous system: you are safe now. There is enough.

In TCM terms, this was rebuilding Spleen and Stomach Qi — the digestive foundation that feeds every other system in the body, including our hormonal and immune health.

Herbal support for my adrenals and thyroid 🌿
I used personalized TCM herbal formulas specifically designed to rebuild Kidney Qi — the root of adrenal and thyroid function in Chinese medicine, which helped regulate my cortisol response. Herbs to nourish the blood, calm the Shen, and support the Liver in processing what felt unprocessable. These are personalized formulas, so you need an herbalist to get it right for YOU. What worked for me isn’t necessarily what you need.

More info in captions….

2026 feels less like a push and more like a permission slip.

Permission to slow down.

Permission to stop forcing my body to keep up with a life that no longer fits.

To honor the hormonal shifts that are asking for listening, not fixing.

So many of us were taught to override symptoms -
push through the fatigue, ignore the weight gain, normalize the anxiety, dismiss the sleepless nights.

But these changes aren’t failures.

They’re signals.

This year, I’m choosing to work with my body instead of against it.

To support my hormones gently.

To prioritize regulation over restriction.

To trust that healing doesn’t need to be rushed to be powerful.

If your body has been asking for something different lately, you’re not behind. You’re becoming more attuned.

Here’s to a year of steadier energy, clearer signals, and deeper self-trust ✨

So, is acupuncture a placebo? The short answer is no, but here’s why…
 
Acupuncture has been studied for decades, across thousands of trials (yes! actual research!) , and the evidence repeatedly shows measurable, physiological changes that cannot be explained by placebo alone.
 
Here’s why acupuncture is not a placebo:
1. Placebo cannot increase blood flow, but acupuncture can.
Real acupuncture creates measurable increases in nitric oxide and microcirculation at the needling site, seen on ultrasound and doppler imaging.
 
2. Placebo cannot change brain activity, but acupuncture does.
Functional MRI (fMRI) studies show that true acupuncture deactivates regions associated with pain and stress while activating regions associated with calm and healing.
 
3. Placebo doesn’t release endorphins and neurotransmitters.
Acupuncture reliably triggers the release of endorphins, serotonin, and endogenous (our body’s own) pain-relieving chemicals.
 
4. Animals and infants respond to acupuncture.
Babies, dogs, horses, and livestock show significant improvements, none of whom can experience “expectation-based healing.”
 
5. Acupuncture outperforms sham acupuncture in research.
Studies consistently show that real acupuncture produces stronger and longer-lasting effects than sham or superficial needling.
 
6. Physiological changes occur instantly.
Changes in heart rate variability (HRV), cortisol, and inflammatory markers occur within minutes—well before any placebo response could take effect.
 
7. The benefits are cumulative, not temporary.
Placebo fades quickly, but acupuncture builds on itself over time. This is why consistent treatment creates deep, lasting change.