Innate Wisdom Podcast

What It's About:

Join Loren Sofia, Functional Fertility Coach and owner of Innate Fertility, and Noelle Kovary, mother and owner of Forever Healthy Hair, as they discuss the benefits of combining principles of Ayurvedic Medicine with a pro-metabolic lifestyle.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

-What Ayurvedic Medicine is
-The different components of Ayurveda
-The three elemental doshas
-How to tell which dosha you are
-Building the life you want tomorrow via action today
-The importance of aligning your body with the seasons
-Noelle’s favorite Ayurvedic herbs & their benefits
-How Ayurveda can enhance your pro-metabolic lifestyle
-Ayurvedic practices you can incorporate into your daily routine

Transcript:

[00:00:00] Loren: Welcome to the Innate Wisdom Podcast. I'm your host, Loren Sofia, healer of my own fertility and health struggles, mother, functional fertility coach to thousands of women, and owner of Innate Fertility. I believe your body is innately wise. And so is your fertility. Sometimes we just need the tools to unlock it in abundance.

I'm honored to guide you through each episode where we'll cover not just fertility, but how to rediscover the innate wisdom of your body, restore your connection with your physiology, bioenergetics and metabolism, and get back in touch with Mother Nature and ancestral traditions.

Welcome to another new episode of Season three of the Innate Wisdom Podcast. Today I have the opportunity to speak with Noel Covey. A beautiful soul, mother of two, and co owner of Forever Healthy Hair. In this episode, we'll be talking about Ayurvedic medicine. [00:01:00] If you're not aware, Noelle actually has a background in this ancient form of medicine that has its roots in India, and she's weaved principles of this way of living into her own life.

and her supplement and lifestyle line. I think that there's so much wisdom we can glean from looking at eastern medicine, especially an approach that has been around for thousands of years. There's obviously a lot they were doing right for a long time, and that's something to pay attention to. And, I'm actually a certified women's herbal educator and use a lot of Ayurvedic herbs in my own practice.

And my mother is actually studying to become an Ayurvedic practitioner too. So this approach has made its way into my life in many ways. And a lot of the herbs you may even use today that sound familiar Ayurveda, which you'll hear about. Noel and I chat all about Ayurveda and how you can incorporate some of its practices into your daily routine to enhance your pro [00:02:00] metabolic lifestyle.

These things are practical and easy to implement and I'm super excited to dive in with you. I hope you enjoy the show. All right. Well, today I'm welcoming Noel Covary. Welcome, Noelle. I'm so excited to have you.

[00:02:15] Noelle: Thank you so much for having me. I admire your work so much and appreciate everything you do in the online community for women.

So I'm really happy to be here. 

[00:02:27] Loren: Oh, that means so much. Thank you. I really appreciate that. And likewise, you know, I think, yeah, we need more voices. Like yours, and I, I really do appreciate what you're bringing as well. Thanks. Yeah. I'm super excited for today's conversation, but before we dive in, would you mind just telling us your story?

[00:02:48] Noelle: Yeah, of course. So I, Got into holistic health and healing when I was a teenager. Actually, I suffered with a lot of different ailments and illnesses and it really kind of forced me into Eastern medicine starting with Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, and then I kind of segued into nutrition and biological nutrition and herbalism and Just this whole circle of practices that I've kind of come to this place now, where I feel like I've taken from each of them.

And I had a brick and mortar practice where I saw clients. And then when I got married, I stopped doing that. My husband and I started our beauty care and supplement company, and then just had online courses to offer for people. And then on my Instagram account, I just shared. Information and content for free for women just because I.

I haven't had like a strong community, uh, in my real life and I still really wanted to help people. And so I kind of show up online in the capacity that my life allows me to, and our business now sustains our lifestyle. So I'm able to give freely and, uh, share everything that I've learned over the years and continue to learn, of course.

[00:04:09] Loren: Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you so much for everything you do. I admire all that you give. And it's really, you're quite the role model for so many women. So it's really cool to see. 

[00:04:23] Noelle: Thank you so much. I feel like I've had a lot, a lot of years, like, I said starting with holistic health like at such a young age to put all this into practice and I, I try to remind people that like I didn't just like start this, you know, a couple years ago.

So just to take from what I'm sharing and apply it to where they're at currently, I think is The best way to go about my content that I share. Cause I know some of it can be overwhelming a little bit. 

[00:04:50] Loren: Yeah. And you know, a lot of the things that are overwhelming or kind of like things that really go against the grain, you know, I'm like, Oh, I thought it was this way.

I can actually do it this way. Or, you know.

[00:05:04] Noelle: yes, absolutely. It's a, a lot of unlearning to relearn. And it takes patience and trust in yourself and your intuition about it all. 

[00:05:17] Loren: Mm hmm. I think that last part is especially true because we've been just conditioned to not trust ourselves. So that's a huge part, I think, and why it can be so difficult sometimes. 

[00:05:31] Noelle: Yeah, I know. And it's, it's hard to quiet all the voices around you when they're kind of just like a, whether they're in your friendships or maybe in your marriage or from your parents and all your social media, it's like, you know, it's hard to tune into, okay, but what's true for me and my life and my values and my goals, uh, because all that really matters.

You know, it matters so much like where you want to head and, you know, choosing the right path for yourself is, is going to require silencing those voices and really trusting yourself, which is no easy feat. So if you're in the midst of that, don't feel bad. It gets better and easier. 

[00:06:16] Loren: I love that, and I agree.

And I couldn't have said it better myself, . Yeah. Well, today's conversation is maybe surprising for some people. . Yeah. We're gonna be talking about Ayurvedic medicine or Ayurveda and. You know, I love your background because you really mix a lot of different modalities into one and with a really big focus on bioenergetics, but you know, you do take from Ayurveda and that's not a common thing to see.

And so for those that aren't familiar with Ayurvedic medicine, could you help describe what that is? And also maybe give a couple of examples of what the different components are. Yeah, absolutely. 

[00:07:02] Noelle: Um, so Ayurvedic medicine is really a whole lifestyle system. So it's not just like nutrition. It's not just herbalism.

It's everything from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. It's a whole host of different tools that you can apply to your life to bring more balance and awareness. Yeah. And overall longevity to yourself. And the premise is it's, it's really rooted in spirituality in a way, focusing on the mind and focusing on your actions from.

that place, you know, where your, your mind goes, where your intentions go. And the idea is that our bodies are comprised of the elements of the earth and they're, uh, categorized into three different doshas. And those doshas are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. 

[00:08:00] And each dosha symbolizes an element of the Earth, the planet, essentially.

Um, everything that we are, we are made of. And so, when you look at a person's body, you can kind of, um, Decide, like, as a practitioner, you say, okay, this person has a lot of kapha, a lot of vata, a lot of pitta, and then you can start to find the root cause of their imbalances and things that they need more of, or less of, based on those elements.

So, vata is air and ether. So, ether is kind of like, The space between the spaces, you know, um, air is this very wiry, cold, sporadic kind of energy. Pitta is fire and water. So you're thinking about like a lot of moisture in the body and a lot of heat in the body. And then Kapha is earth and water. So it's very heavy and dense and moist.

Um, so when you think about your body as a whole, um, you can begin to see those elements come out, like whether it's in your skin, if you have a lot of rosacea or pimples, if you have a tendency more towards wrinkling and dry skin, um, if you have very thin skin. Thick skin, you know, some people are like, Oh, my skin's very thin.

You can see their veins, you know, others have very, very, very thick skin. Uh, you wouldn't be able to see their veins. You could tell a lot about a person's, their dosha balance based off of their, their hands, you know, the shape of their palm, the shape of their finger, the shape of their face. Kappa people tend to have much bigger eyes, much bigger facial features, lips, teeth, lots of hair.

A lot of people tend to have very thin lips and very slanted thin eyes and brittle hair and they're, they're tall and skinny and they have a tendency more towards the creative in them. 

[00:10:00] You know, they're usually the type of person you see, like kind of flowing through life, just like how the, the air element just Flows through life.

Um, and then Pitta is a very hard and fast sort of person. Someone who is a go getter, someone who has about a mid range body structure, tends to have a lot more muscle in them, and Everything's kind of in the middle in terms of their features. They have square palms. They are, have a tendency to be a little bit more fiery and feisty in their personalities.

So there is our dosha balance, which we are born with, you know, and then our doshas get pushed out of balance based off of our lifestyle choices, our foods that we eat in our relationships that we keep. And so the goal is to find your balance. And then go after that. Right. 

[00:11:00] So do things that help to push you more towards your balance as opposed to in the opposite direction.

And so, uh, Ayurvedic practitioners help to, you know, resolve those issues for people, teach them about how their body works and how you can implement different lifestyle practices to placate a symptom maybe, but to also at the same time, help your body come back into balance. Thanks. There is so much wisdom in Ayurveda.

I wrote a book on Ayurveda, actually, and I don't really talk about it. Yes, I don't talk about this much because, um, it's not what I practice today and it's not, um, the information that I share on my account anymore. So I tend to just not want people to, you know, just read that book and just think that that is everything because to me it's not everything.

Um, there is a lot of marks that I believe that Ayurveda misses. And that I learned through physiology and bioenergetic nutrition and how the organs function that is [00:12:00] like deeper and more precise than I think that the elements are. But there's still so much wisdom there and there's a lot that you can learn about yourself through Ayurveda.

Through the spiritual aspects of it, not religious, but spiritual aspects of it, you know, with your mind, body and spirit connected and how that energy flows through you and what you choose to do and how that affects every single thing in your life. And I think if you, you know, look at the information that I share, I talk about that a lot and how your, uh, your choices today affect your choices, you know, your life tomorrow.

If you want to build the life that you want, you have to start doing it today. And Ayurveda is very representative of that. And I've, I've taken that, um, with me, like in my life. Because it was just such a profound wisdom to me when I, when I learned about that and I learned to truly like tune into my body in that way.

And Ayurveda really has such a beautiful, I guess I'd call it an archive because there's so many different things you can do to help your body go back into balance just by your lifestyle practices and by like self care and herbal supplementation. I don't necessarily agree with the nutrition aspects of things, but you can see how different elements within your foods and within herbs can affect your body and help you during different times.

I think that there's a lot of, well, in our, in our greater community. And a lot of the reason why it kind of moved away from that too, was because people were so strict about it. But if you read the ancient texts written by the Rishis, Ayurveda is everything. It's actually not meant to be a rule book, but it's been westernized and made into a rule book.

But if we actually don't take it that way, you can really apply that wisdom to your life, uh, in a way that truly serves you without having to, uh, design a new diet. You know, and I worked as a practitioner for a number of years and I was running an Ayurvedic retreat center. And what really pushed me away from that was just how I didn't feel like I was getting to the root cause of all of my issues.

And I felt that there was too many rules. And if something was truly helping me, then that was Ayurveda. You know, that was what Ayurveda set out to do is, is if it helps you, then it serves you. You know, if it's, if it's harming you, then it's not serving you. So regardless of what a practitioner tells you or what you read in a book, I think that the most wisdom that you can find in Ayurveda is that it tells you to tune into yourself and to trust your intuition and to find your center and, you know, know your body.

don't pay attention to somebody else's body and what they need. And I think in a world of where social media is just like at everyone's fingertips and people are looking for tips and information and tell me to do this, tell me to eat that, tell me what I should do, how to live. Ayurveda can really teach you the opposite, which is to trust yourself.

[00:15:06] Loren: Wow. Yeah. That is just, It's so uncanny that we were just talking about that, too. Being able to trust yourself. I didn't realize how, how much Ayurveda was more of a way of being. than anything else. And I think that's really, really cool. And I don't know why, for some reason, humans just love to just take a thing and then break it down into a bunch of rules.

And then, you know, we cling to these rules for dear life, even though, you know, it's making us feel horrible or, you know, Not working for us, but we're doing it the right way. Quote unquote. 

[00:15:46] Noelle: Yes. And you know, I made a lot of mistakes as a practitioner when I was first starting out, because you know, the school I went to, that was just really what was taught to you.

Like you just, you just do what's Ayurveda. You know, and if it's not that, then like you don't do that. And for me at the time, I, I needed to eat meat and I needed to eat a lot of meat and I needed to have raw dairy. And I, I needed to have way more sustenance than what was like really prescribed to me and my dosha balance.

And, you know, I started to consume meat. And I was working, you know, running this Ayurvedic retreat center with some, another woman. And, um, the community was like, you can't eat meat. It's not Ayurvedic. I was like, actually, Ayurveda is everything. And in Ayurveda, whatever it is that heals you is what you consume, you know?

And so I think the culture around it also kind of pushed me to dig deeper. Cause I actually, I got into this because I wanted to heal myself. I didn't get into this because I wanted to join something. I really wanted to just learn and help myself and help others. And I saw that, you know, there was like a gap there and something missing, but I think that it's such a beautiful, beautiful practice.

Like I implement so much of it in my lifestyle now and with my children and they, I mean, part of our lifestyle is really Ayurvedic in so many ways. Just my slow paced living, very intentional living. That's all Ayurveda. Namaste. You know, that's what it's, it's really all about. And um, Ayurveda really, it means the science and knowledge of life.

That's the definition of it in Sanskrit. So it's everything. It's not, you know, a diet. It's not just herbs. It's all that encompassing. And I think if you can, Go into learning about Ayurveda with this, with an open mind and without the intention to make it a diet, to make it something that it's not meant to be, you can learn so much and, uh, really better your life for it and better your mind and your body and, and truly like heal yourself.

[00:17:59] Loren: I love that. I think that's incredible wisdom coming from, you know, someone who's been through both sides of, um, the Ayurvedic, I guess, world. And I guess for, for someone looking to, you know, Explore more of the Ayurveda, you know, and I don't want to make this a counterintuitive thing where, you know, the conversation is going, how can you kind of like, you know, thinking about not necessarily subscribing to a specific diet or anything like that?

How can you use Ayurveda and the doshas to kind of help you figure out what's Where to go, sort of, you know, that you were talking about the hot and the wet and the airy and the fluttery, the earthy and the heavy. 

[00:18:48] Noelle: Yeah. Um, I think, you know, when you, well, you can look at your body and your state of mind, your state of being currently and see how the doshas, Uh, can work for you and the season that you live in and the environment that you live in, because all those things affect your dose check balance.

All those things affect your whole entire body. If somebody is living in a hot climate, you would not want to be eating hot foods. All of the time, because eventually you would have an issue there with overheating, likely, um, especially if you are somebody who runs really hot, um, are sensitive to spicy foods, you know, you would want to counterbalance that with cooling foods and cooling activities and grounding things, things that are gonna, you know, really calm your body down.

So I always tell people to take a look at your environment and your relationships and your daily habits. And, you know, when you're reading about Ayurveda, apply that to what you're doing every day. So right now, you know, we're moving into autumn, but I'm living in a warmer climate than I grew up in. So we're not like quite in fall yet.

Like it's bubbling under the surface, although technically it is fall. So I change the foods that I eat based off of how it is for the day. You know how I'm supposed to eat for like the entire month, but just like what's the weather like for the day? So like I can have a very warming and grounding breakfast but like my lunch is maybe a lot lighter with a lot of fresh fruits and You know, maybe some drier meat not not necessarily like a hearty stew so that I I've taken from Ayurveda, which I think is so so helpful is to really just like Look at what's outside and then apply it to yourself.

So like increases like, so if you are in a hot climate and you're eating hot foods, you're going to be hot. And if you're in a cool climate, eating cool foods, it's going to cool your body down. So if you're in a cold climate and you want to be warmer, You're going to eat warming foods and that's very intuitive to people most of the time, you know, but sometimes not so much because if you have a very severe imbalance in your body and you are extremely disconnected from yourself, from your environment, you're living just like outside of your body.

You're just going through the motions. You're not really doing anything intentionally. You could be just like, Having cold smoothies all day, every day, and not thinking about how that's affecting your body. And for me, this is actually very much the case because I was doing all the Ayurvedic things, you know, doing the air quotes, because I don't think that it was truly Ayurveda, but it was what everyone was doing.

It's like, I'm juicing and I'm having smoothies and I'm having all these, like, very light foods because You know, at the time when I was in school and I was practicing, not eating a lot was like the thing to do, you know, that was like more common than not. 

[00:22:00] So for me, that actually hurt my body because I had Hashimoto's, I had low thyroid, I needed to have more calories. I needed to have more nutrient dense foods. I needed warming things. I need to bring my body temperature up. So you could run into an issue where you are consuming all these foods that, you know, are being prescribed to the specific dosha, but you have a very strong imbalance or you're in an environment that doesn't support that.

Um, and it can push you out of more. So I think that With the knowledge of Ayurveda, you could really apply it to everything, your everyday life in that way. If you're choosing to have like a warming beverage with warming spices and herbs in it, or a cooling tea, even if the tea is hot, but the energetic of that herb is, is cooling, it's still going to cool your body down.

So I think it's cool to learn about those elements and how they can apply to all the different things that we do. Even our activities, you know. I know a lot of women who are just super into, uh, hot yoga, Bikram yoga, and they'll just like do that full force. But there, that's a, it's a personality to just like to do that all the time.

Cause you just want to be fiery and you just want to like sweat and move and, and you know, something be very, very strenuous to you. But those people actually probably need to just Go walk in the grass barefoot and just slowly breathe , you know? Um, so I think that you can kind of look at yourself and ask like, Hey, like, what is it that I truly need?

Not what I think that I should do, but what do I need and what would feel good? And for the most part, when something is right for your body. You just feel good. It's effortless. There's no force. You don't have to think about the reasons why you want to do it or why you should do it or like, this is going to be healthy for me.

You know, it just feels good. Ayurveda can teach you a lot about how to find that for yourself. 

[00:24:01] Loren: Yeah. I love that. And I think It goes back to, you know, I think where the work is would be reestablishing that connection with yourself and following that intuition. But I feel like once you can get in tune with that and also incorporate your environment as well, I think it's just so interesting how.

It's so, Ayurveda is ancient and there's so many parallels with how traditional tribes and ancestral traditions were practiced in terms of like seasonalities of foods and, you know, really paying attention to, um, The cold weather. Okay, we're going to be having broths and you know, incorporating that yourself into that as well.

But, um, it's just so interesting because we can have anything we want at any time right now. And we can have a smoothie in the middle of winter. We can have fresh pressed, you know, fruit that's only available in the summer in a very specific region. It's Really, anytime we want in the dead of winter too, and, you know, we can have whatever we want in the summer now.

Um, but just because we can, doesn't necessarily mean it's biologically maybe matched. And I think that's kind of like what you're saying is to really think not only about what you need as terms of like the way you're expressing in the world, but also the way the world is expressing. 

[00:25:29] Noelle: Yes, absolutely.

That's something that we always tell my son. It's like, you can do whatever you want, but is it helpful or is it harmful? You know, is it helpful to you? Or is it, is it just helpful to you? Is it helpful to the cosm of our family? And, or is it harmful to you? You know, and that, I, I've taken that from Ayurveda quite a bit and really infused that into parenting and it's super helpful.

That's so cool. 

[00:25:58] Loren: I, maybe we can have another conversation about that. That is pretty cool. Parenting the Ayurvedic way. 

[00:26:09] Noelle: I don't know if there's a book on that. I'm sure that there is because. There's, I think that the, the most wisdom from Ayurveda comes from like the lifestyle elements of things. Um, and what's called your Dhinacharya, which is like your daily routine.

And that's what you decide to do from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep. And that was like my, to me, that was the most healing aspect of Ayurveda was like, Oh, I, I just need to shift what I'm doing in my life. Like I don't need to, I mean, I need to shift my foods, but it was more important what I was choosing to do every single day rather than obsessing over my foods.

And I, I loved learning all the different practices that Ayurveda has to offer. Uh, one being self Abhyanga, which is like a self body massage. 

[00:27:00] It is so beautiful and I do it to my children. I do it to myself and you warm oil up and you focus on your lymphatic system and you just basically give yourself like a nourishing body massage.

And You can look up ways to do it on YouTube. There's so many different videos and they can teach you how to do it. But I actually used to do that to other people. I used to do Ayurvedic body massages for other people. And it was one of the most healing activities, I guess, that I experienced. Giving that to another person was just such a gift.

And I really saw the profound effects of these body therapies and, um, how they could just mentally heal somebody, not just help their body relieve pain or relaxation, it just shifts you mentally touching body touch is such a great tool for yourself. And I think it's. Wonderful to do it to yourself.

There's plenty of spas and different things around now, but they're still, like, harder to come by. But doing it to yourself every single day is, is a really beautiful practice, and can, and it can really connect you to your intuition, and just be a sacred time for yourself. And I don't have that alone time anymore, but I do it with my children now, and it's just so great.

That my son just like picks up the oil and like does it to himself and talks about it, you know, and how it feels so good and how he, it helps him sleep better. And, you know, and, and I've, I've seen that trickle down to him and he'll carry that into his life, which is, you know, So wonderful.

[00:28:52] Loren: Hi everyone, it's Loren. If you're interested in learning how to use herbs to regulate your cycle, support progesterone production, uterine lining thickness, thyroid health, blood sugar, gut issues, recurrent loss, breast milk supply, while you're trying to conceive and more situations, I invite you to check out my pregnancy prep e course, Conscious Conception, where I will walk you through the exact herbs and steps you can take to address these issues and goals.

Visit innatefertility. org. Get pregnant for more information. And if you're loving the show, don't forget to leave a review. Now back to the episode.

That is beautiful. Oh, that just goes to show how much Ayurveda is rooted in the mind, body, and spirit. You know, it's, it's all connected. You really can't separate these things. 

[00:29:44] Noelle: Yeah, that is something that people can really take from Ayurveda is that connection. You know, those three things, um, being one as opposed to separate, which is like a very Westernized view is like, Oh, the, the mind is different than the body, just like how dentistry teeth different than they're not like a part of like your health or something.

It's just so interesting to me how, um, people will compartmentalize health when it's just like, okay, we have one body here. It's the whole thing. You know, your mind's not somewhere out there. It's in here. Um, so treating everything as one is, is so, so important. 

[00:30:19] Loren: So one of the things I think that probably most people who are familiar with Ayurveda, they have an understanding that there's definitely a set of herbs or, you know, not a set, really, it's, it's quite the library of herbs that you can utilize in your day to day.

And I'm wondering if you You know, have any particular ones that you like? And I, I, I do know that you do, especially, you know, the ones that you use in your product line as well, like probably some of your favorites too, and for very good reasons. But, um, are there any particular ones you'd like to share about that you find to be the most helpful for not just any particular element, um, elemental dosha, but like for most people?

[00:31:07] Noelle: Yeah. I love herbs so much that that was something I really drew an affinity for in my studies and a book that people could get to read about it is called the yoga of herbs and it's such a wonderful little glossary and it's all ayurvedic based. Um, so if you are interested in that, it's a great book, but my I mean, I have such an apothecary of herbs that I dive into, and I take for all different things, but one of my favorite, which is actually not an herb, it's an herbal formula, and it's Siobhan Prosh.

And I talk about this a lot on my account for fertility and for pregnancy and postpartum. A lot of brands will say, like, don't take it during pregnancy, but It's been taken for, you know, millennia basically in Ayurveda for fertility and during pregnancy and postpartum, but it's a rejuvenated tonic. 

[00:32:00] It's what they consider a Rastayana, and it's like a jam. It's a mixture of a whole bunch of different types of adaptogenic herbs that are balancing to all of the doshas. And it's made with sugar and honey and jaggery and Amalaki, and it has shivajit in it, and it's just such a good. A nourishing, beautiful formula, and it can help to really bring the idea that it brings you back to life.

So it's something that I use, especially now in my birthing years, I use all the time, every single day. I just take a little scoop of it, um, every day and it is an adaptogen. So it is very helpful for all three doshas and can pretty much be taken by most people, but it's wonderful. For postpartum, like I mix it into raw milk and you drink that and you just feel this like sense of grounding, like it's healing your tissues. 

[00:33:00] It's such a, such a wonderful formula. But again, that's not, it's not a single herb, but you can make it yourself or you can buy it. Uh, and it's, it's really palatable. I think it just tastes like, Kind of just like a berry jam. I also am like pretty used to like weird things. Like I don't mind the taste of shiitake, so most people think that that tastes awful, but it's, it's a really great herb.

And I also talk about this all the time, but, uh, ashwagandha and specifically KSM 66 ashwagandha, which is that name is just, it's a patented way of making the ashwagandha and then like re retailing it, but. Traditionally, it's, you know, the way that you make it is you soak the ashwagandha roots in milk and it helps to reduce the toxins that we can't usually process.

So I had really poor experiences with ashwagandha, taking it just like as an organic root powder for many years. And I didn't really realize that there was a connection between the way that ashwagandha was prepared and your liver health. and your thyroid health. And so a lot of people have poor responses to ashwagandha because of the oxalates that are in it or the chemical compounds that they, they basically can't process and then end up using, like utilizing, uh, the herb itself.

So the KSM 66 ashwagandha has been prepared in that way where anyone that has like issues with it can Use it. No problem. And it's a beautiful herb. It's, it's an adaptogen. It's used for metabolic health, for blood sugar issues. Diabetes, of course, falls in that category. Fertility, stress. I mean, as an adaptogen, you know, it works on, on many different levels, but that's primarily what I use it for.

[00:35:00] And I find it very, very helpful in motherhood. Like I, I've been able to take it regularly and just see how, when I don't take it, my response to the stress in my lifestyle, like, especially in motherhood, because there's certain things, you know, before you become a parent where you can like control, like you can control your relationships.

You can choose to leave your job and get another job. You could, Choose to not be in a relationship that is harmful to you. You can choose to not engage in toxic or harmful activities or no drugs or drinking. You could choose to eat better foods, but once you're a mother, there is no choice but to care for your child and to respond to them in a way that is I mean, of course, some people choose not to, but I mean, we're talking about, I guess, more healthy, balanced people, regulated people who want to, um, be parents and they want to help their children.

[00:36:00] So, you know, when your child is having maybe an outburst or is having a moment where they aren't able to express themselves properly. Maybe. And. It really just helps you stay in a regulated state, so you can be that container for your child, so you can help them through life, you know, like, that's our purpose.

We're helping them through life. We're helping them do the things that they can't do on their own, and that's a stress. Like, that is stressful. You give up a lot of your self determination as a mother. So having some tools that, that can be, you know, in support of you, it's really wonderful. And I have found that the KSM 66 Ashwagandha has been just so, so, so helpful for me.

We also included it in our thyroid plus formula because it all across the board. I mean, basically every person that's ever tried our thyroid plus loves it, but, um, you know, they've responded really, really well to it. And I actually was introduced to that from my husband. 

[00:37:00] So I didn't learn about that in my herbalism school, oddly enough, um, and I'm so glad that we found it because it's, it's, it's really helpful.

So I take that pretty much every day. There are times where I will cycle off herbs. Like if I'm taking it for a very long time, I do think it's important to not take something for a bit and give your body a rest and then reintroduce it. Um, Um, but there are days where I skip taking it because I, I either don't have time or I forget, um, or it's just not right there.

I ran out of it, something like that. And I consider that like a break. So I try to be pretty consistent with it. And one of my other favorite herbs of all time is Brahmi, Brahmi gotu kola. It's actually monks usually chew on the leaves, the Brahmi leaves before they meditate, because it helps you like, Supposedly reach like a higher consciousness, but it's really, really helpful for like placating Vata in the mind.

And I feel like most people, like I could say that the majority of people that I've ever worked with have a Vata imbalance, like in their mind, they are, you know, struggling with anxiety, they need help figuring out their life and they're kind of all over the place. And, You know, the Brahmi really helps to center you.

It's, um, I mean, it's a multi use herb. It's that it's still, it's an adaptogen as well. So that would be helpful for mostly everyone, but I specifically use it for the effects that it has, like on the mind and the spirit, you know, in centering yourself and helping you be more resilient to stress as well, and more balance and maintain a.

Clearing quiet mind. I would say 

[00:38:37] Loren: That's so cool. Thank you for those suggestions. I, I have heard you speak of Siobhan Prash Ashwagandha KSM 66 and Brahmi. I don't think I have heard of that one, but that is really cool. And I feel like the mental side of things, the mind spirit, uh, can be one that's hard to tame.

So that's really cool. That, You know, there is a tool out there that exists for this. 

[00:39:04] Noelle: There's, um, where we used to live, uh, in Michigan in the town that we used to live in, they had Rami trees around and it was so cool because, and a lot of towns actually have it. I don't know why they, if they plant it for a specific reason, like if it's, um, just cheaper or something, but you can collect the leaves and that's pretty cool cause, uh, you could drive them out and make some to yourself.

[00:39:24] Loren: Yeah, that is really cool. Yeah. Look it up online. And then, you know, if it's, if it's not in a place that, you know, is like, yeah, heavily sprayed. I would probably just buy it from a reputable source, but, um, you know, if it's growing in your backyard and you don't spray then, 

[00:39:45] Noelle: yeah, that's cool. It's a pretty cool thing.

There's a lot of houses I see that have it and I'm always like, Oh, they have a brownie tree. I wonder if they know. 

[00:39:55] Loren: Super cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I would love to ask you, you know, because this conversation has been about Ayurveda, but you do have such a strong background also in bioenergetics and, you know, pro metabolics, and I'm just wondering how, Maybe there's crossover, if you could describe the crossover and things that might enhance your pro metabolic bioenergetic lifestyle that you've taken from Ayurveda, and you know you've talked about a lot of them so far, but is there anything in particular that stands out?

[00:40:31] Noelle: Yeah, for me, it's um, So lifestyle aspects of things that I really kind of took from Ayurveda, but I also took the herbalism. Like, I think that there's so so much that herbs can offer us. And then in terms of diet, I, I didn't really take like the food combining. I didn't really take like the energetics of the food.

Like I will pay attention to my body. Like if I'm, you know, Not eating something that's agreeing with me, but for the most part, and this is an Ayurvedic perspective as well. If the body is in balance, you can consume any food in any order at any time. And that is the idea is to maintain this balance. And so then you don't run into the problem of like, Oh, you can't have fruit with dairy and you can't have meat with dairy and all these different rules.

Um, so, uh, bioenergetic nutrition and, you know, being more pro metabolic actually helped heal that for me. Um, And then I was able to eat any kind of food in any combination. So for me, the lifestyle components were kind of more of what I integrated. And I've realized that, you know, and, and come to study and see it in practice, that, In order for the teachings of bioenergetic nutrition to really work, you also have to work on the mind spirit as well.

And that's super interconnected with the, with the diet too. Um, so you need to regulate your nervous system. Like you're not going to digest food. Food very well if you're always like in a stressed state and functioning from this fight or flight kind of place. 

[00:42:00] And so the daily practices and the more like calming, nourishing, and grounding exercises within Ayurveda.

Are very supportive to be pro metabolic lifestyle, because if you have digestive upset all the time, then maybe you do need to take your food and eat outside in the sun in the grass because you need to calm your body down. And that's something I took from Ayurveda is like, you know, The setting in which you eat and you digest in.

So if you are constantly eating in a very stressed environment, you're probably not going to digest your food very well. Uh, so in that case, it doesn't matter what you eat, because you're not going to absorb the food. Um, or the nutrients from the food. You'll, you know, you'll still digest the food, but it just won't be optimal.

And I think that the daily routines are just so complimentary to bioenergetic nutrition, like waking up with the sun, um, it's all very helpful for your metabolic system, for your metabolic function, you know, um, and the way in which our nervous systems really work and function. Optimally having these nurturing exercises like a cell Fabianga or clearing your nasal passages with a nausea.

That's another sort of lifestyle tool I would, I have implemented still it's, you know, a neti pot and then you use a specific type of oil that actually has Brahmi in it and you dip it into your nose and you kind of massage it around and that. Actually helps to clear your mind and sort of clarify things for you, but it also helps to lubricate your nasal passages, which supports optimal breathing, which helps your thyroid and helps your digestion and just all of it is like very interconnected in that way.

Another thing is like tongue scraping that helps to get your digestive juices going in the morning. I find that that's very supportive to eating [00:44:00] within 30 minutes. You know, you get your digestive juices going and then you eat. That's what you do instead of getting your digestive juices going and then fasting where you're not, you're producing all this acid and it's just eating away at your stomach lining and you're causing more stress to your body.

So there are a lot of things that, um, when you look at Ayurveda and the practices that they do, it's, you know, Very in alignment with metabolic and bioenergetic nutrition in that way. They, like I said, they complement each other in a, in a beautiful fashion. When you are supporting your thyroid, you're really, you're, you're regulating your nervous system.

And in order to support your thyroid, you have to regulate your nervous system. In order to regulate your nervous system, you have to calm down and you have to, you know, really kind of combat that stress and create a lifestyle for yourself that feels nurturing, that feels safe and peaceful for you, for your body to thrive. And, you know, we need to be in environments where our bodies can thrive. 

[00:45:00] So you're gonna have a really hard time if you are living in a place that you hate that makes you really stressed out, in a relationship that makes you really stressed out, to heal your body and to even maintain health, because you're always going to be battling against that force.

And so, yeah, those practices are, are really, really wonderful when you're. looking at things as a whole and they tie into bioenergetic nutrition super well. And like I said, I don't think I really took much of, and I don't really teach much, much of Ayurveda from the point of their nutrition lens, but in terms of lifestyle as a whole, it's, it's pretty much all supportive there and they, they're very interconnected in that way.

[00:45:44] Loren: Yeah. Thank you so much for that. I think that's beautiful and it really draws a lot of. How each one can benefit each other and I know that a lot of people can get really fixated on the pro metabolic nutrition aspect [00:46:00] and then just kind of tunnel vision like, oh, I'm eating all the right foods and like, you know, but it's just so much more than that.

And again, it goes back to tuning into yourself and your environment, which makes a huge difference. 

[00:46:15] Noelle: Yeah, I definitely think it's so much more than that. I get a lot of messages all the time. Like I eat exactly like you do and I feel awful like, okay, well I didn't always eat the way that I do. You know, sourdough is not technically pro metabolic.

It's not technically, you know, there are certain things where you have to look at it, you know, as your body, like what, what can my body handle? What does my body need the most of? And that's why, you know, there's no specific diet and there's, it's learning how your body works. Seeing how your environment is affecting your body and all these other aspects and then choosing things from there.

So, yeah, I think that, um, they complement each other very well and I, and I hope that, you know, through this conversation and through these little tidbits about Ayurveda that people are able to kind of connect more dots in that way and, and how I sort of function throughout my day and how we've created the lifestyle that is very supportive to us.

Um, and of course the things that I choose to do, like are not necessarily going to be for everyone. No one has to go and create a farm and have a homestead. No one has to like birth the way that I do or have a pregnancy the way that I do. These are just things that I choose, but I am choosing them based off of the information and the knowledge that I've learned over the years and that has helped me create the lifestyle.

This, um, lifestyle of abundance and ease. And I do believe that that is possible for everyone. And you know, you, you just have to choose it, and you have to be open-minded to that information and, uh, seeing how it can fit inside of your little bubble inside of your life and, and yourself. 

[00:47:59] Loren: Well, that's very well said.

Thank you so much, Noel. And this conversation has been super, super enlightening, hopefully for the audience. And yeah, I have the same wish for, for them to, you know, for everyone to just find their own path. And I think that's really important. And to, to look inward instead of outward so much. Yeah. Well, I have one last question.

And, you know, you've shared so many pieces of wisdom in this. You know, conversation, but I have to ask it because this podcast is called the innate wisdom podcast. So is there any, anything that you'd like to share with the audience that they can start today doing today, um, to start to unlock the innate wisdom of their body?

[00:48:46] Noelle: There's, there's so many things that come to mind, but you know, when I think about things that affect my everyday life, I always ask myself, how is this serving me and how is this serving my family is a question that just always comes up for me as I make choices throughout the day, as I commit to things and as I choose different foods and different practices.

Um, and it starts to just really bring awareness to everything that you're doing. The more aware we are, the more tuned in we're going to be to ourselves and that innate wisdom that is inside of us. So taking a step back before reacting to something is important and asking yourself that question, uh, I think would be very helpful.

very helpful, uh, to get you on that path of finding what it is that is right for you, whether it be diet, lifestyle, job, you know, purpose in life, all of it is really comes down to what is my Cosmo in my life? Like, is it my family? Do I have kids? Is it my husband? Is it me? Is this serving me? Is this serving all of us and how can we make this work? You know.

[00:49:55] Loren: I think that's beautiful advice. And I think for those listening, you might be surprised at the answers to those questions when you actually start to ask yourself that, and in a good way, but also it can be, it can be hard, but it can also be really good in the long run.

[00:50:11] Noelle: Yes, I think that, um, The unraveling of this self is such a difficult path to take.

And, um, my mom has always told me that, you know, whenever I come to like, uh, a point that I am struggling and I share with her, she's always reminding me that, um, you know, it's not easy to choose to do what you're doing. And this is why people don't do that. And so, you know, you just really have to dig deep in yourself and just know that like, it's okay to be wrong.

Like, it's okay to learn. It's okay to not know everything. And that's something that I learned at a very young age that, um, I'm wrong, like a lot. And like, that's actually helpful to me, you know, and, and hurting is okay. And, and not being right and not knowing everything is like, also, okay, like, you can just, you know, Um, you can grow more when you start to get really honest with yourself.

And um, I think it's just, it's refreshing and it feels so good when you finally do get super honest with yourself. 

[00:51:16] Loren: I love that so much. Well, thank you so much, Noelle. I have one last question. I lied. How, how can everyone find and support you? 

[00:51:28] Noelle: So I'm on Instagram at at Noelle Covery and then our business page is our products.

That's where we have all of our beauty care and supplements, which are all like pro metabolic, um, inspired and really helpful for anti aging and metabolic health and fertility. And that's at forever healthy LLC. And you can find both of those on Instagram. And then we also have our blog and our website, which is, um, Forever healthy hair.

com, which is confusing, but we were originally going to be like a no face hair company and then that didn't work out for us. So we just get the website because everyone knows it, but yeah, um, that's where you can find us. And, um, I love interacting with people in my comments, my DMS, and, you know, I try to get to as many questions as possible.

So, if you hear this podcast and you want to reach out, please do on the chance that I have the capacity to answer your questions. 

[00:52:28] Loren: Yeah. Thank you so much. No, I'll go give her a follow. And yeah, I love your products. They're they're amazing. Thank you. So much. Yeah. They're so luxurious too. I just love the way they make me feel so glad.

[00:52:43] Noelle: Well, thank you so much for having me and making this time and space. 

[00:52:48] Loren: Oh, thank you so much as well. Likewise. And I know, I know you're a very busy mom. So, and you got a lot going on, but, um, I still appreciate you making the time and, um,  honored to have been able to chat with you. Thanks so much. We'll stay in touch.

Thank you so much for listening to the Innate Wisdom podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please leave us a review and share the podcast with someone who you think might benefit. If you're new here, we can't recommend enough that you take advantage of my free resources like the Get Pregnant Yesterday Checklist, Psycholiteracy Guide, Prenatal Primer, and Spine Health.

And if you're trying to conceive now or in the near future, I invite you to join my pregnancy prep e course, Conscious Inception. Make sure to follow me on Instagram too, at innate underscore fertility, and consider joining my newsletter to receive exclusive content related to fertility and so much more.

A friendly reminder, the content shared on this podcast is for informational purposes only, and should not be a substitute for the advice provided by your doctor or other healthcare professional. It is not intended to be, nor does it constitute healthcare or medical advice. for listening.