Hope Pedraza
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Marie: now onto today's [00:01:00] episode, grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let's get started.
Erika: Welcome to this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We are here with our guest, hope She is, um, she owns a business called Hopeful and Wholesome Wellness. Um, and I'm gonna turn it over to her because she has so many things that she could share with us today.
Hope: Yeah. So I am, yeah. I'm a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner, which I know is a mouthful.
Essentially means I, I use functional labs to help. People get to the root cause of chronic symptoms. And in addition to that, um, I incorporate a lot of different modalities into the work that I do. Um, I'm helping women, majority, predominantly women, put together the holistic, and I, I hesitate using that word, I feel like it's an overused word, but it really is putting together the holistic equation.
So I'm [00:02:00] helping them mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, putting all those pieces together so they can really thrive in their business and in their life. And then in addition to that, I also have a brick and mortar Pilates and. Wellness studio, um, here with a couple locations in San Antonio. And, uh, Pilates is, Pilates is always, say, Pilates is my first love I, this year I think we'll be like 20.
20 or 21 years teaching. And so, um, that's kind of where I got my start in kind of getting into like the wellness space was Pilates. So, um, yeah, that's what I do.
Marie: It's very elegant. I love Pilates. Yeah. I saw a meme on Instagram not too long about these bodybuilders, like, is this really hard? Yeah. And they're in, they're trying to do, um, Pilates and they're like, this is hard.
Like they. It just could not stretch. It was so funny. It's tricky. Yeah. It's sneaky. Yes, it's sneaky. '
Hope: cause it does, like on the out, we always say that like people looking on the outside looking in are like, what are they? They're not even doing anything. But it's, yeah. It's sneaky. Yeah.
Erika: Yeah. I think it's interesting that you mentioned the, um, holistic part of it.
And like being apprehensive to say [00:03:00] that I have seen even like financial people say that. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm like, what does that mean? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so what does that mean for you? Yeah. What, what does that mean? Great question. Yeah, no, it,
Hope: it is a good question. And, and to, to your point, I mean, because I do think that word is just so overplayed and overused and it, and it just kind of gets a little convoluted.
'cause then we're like, oh, what does it even mean anymore? And for me, and sometimes when I'm like writing content, I'll spell it like W-H-O-L-E, like holistic. Stake because for me, that's what it is and it's putting the whole body together. So like in the work I do in my online business, in hopeful and wholesome for me, I, so I started out, let me, I'll, I'll say it this way.
I. This has been kind of the evolution of my journey as a, as a health practitioner. I started out just doing basic nutrition coaching and I, I did that at my studio 'cause I wanted to provide, I wanted my studio to be the, this one-stop shopper. You can get everything in one place. And so I just did basic nutrition coaching.
Like I'll just give you some support, accountability. And the more women I worked with, the more I was [00:04:00] recognizing these things that the women are coming to me for. Yeah. Like, they're like, oh, I wanna drop 10 pounds, or I wanna drop 20 pounds, whatever like that. That's fine and all but. They really require deeper conversations than talking about calories or macros.
Right. And so for me, that was kind of when it clicked in my head like, okay, there's more to this than just the physical part, right? Yes. So that drove me into pursuing my certification as a functional practitioner and being able to do the labs and all that. And then it kind of alongside my own personal growth journey, I'm recognizing like, yes, this is great to get, still getting to the root cause of the physical symptoms.
But there's still more to that because now I'm working with these women, these, you know, high achieving women, and I'm seeing the, and uh, most of the women I work with, they've been to other practitioners before they've been to other functional practitioners or, you know, maybe it's conventional medical, medical doctor, whatever, but either their symptoms keep coming back or some symptoms keep coming back and maybe they show up in a different way.
So there, there's a reason for this. And so for me, I wanted to dive into. Why do these things [00:05:00] coming back? And it goes back to I, I am of the belief that everything physical that's showing up on our body has this energetic, emotional root cause. So there are patterns that are playing out in the subconscious that are perpetuating these physical things that are showing up in the body.
So that's for me, holistic. Going back to your original question, holistic is putting all of these pieces together because not just a physical being. Yeah, we have a mental body, an emotional body, a spiritual body, and it's really all of that is what encompasses our wellbeing. And so if we're separating that, we're really not a.
Dressing. Like there's, we're, we're missing out on pieces. Absolutely.
Marie: Well, I think a lot of times medical doctors wanna fix this issue with what, and not diving deep into other things. Right. Like what's causing it. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's always external versus looking internal. Mm-hmm. And I
Erika: think the intention is good.
Yeah. Because I think you come in with a symptom and sometimes it can be debilitating or sometimes it can really be affecting your day-to-day life. And so a lot of times I think doctors are like. I can get this, I can get this to be better Yeah. For you. Yeah. And it's like, cool. And that's great and we need that, right?
But we need to know why it's [00:06:00] happening. Right. And we need to know how to stop it from continuing to happen. Um, and I think that's the kind of disconnect, um, with the more modern traditional medicine. Agree.
Hope: Definitely agree. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. And, and that's really, I mean, it's. You know, to to, and I, I say this 'cause I don't want it to be like, oh, let's bash Western Medical, whatever, because we need, obviously we need doctors, but they're trained in medicine and surgery.
Like that's just what they're training in. Yeah. Yeah. So it's not about let's find out, like dig deep to why it's happening. It's just really, it's not what they're training is really. Sure. And so, yeah, I do think that that's like, if, if you're really wanting to create wellness and wholeness in the body, we have to get to the why.
And so it's, yes. I wanna know what's. Going on in your physical body. But then for me, I also wanna know what's going on in your emotional, energetic body to tell me why these things are showing up in your physical body.
Erika: And we're so often hearing like stress plays such a huge role. Mm-hmm. Right. Stress.
And we hear it all the time. I hear it. Stress can affect you physically. Totally. Right. But I don't know why and I don't know [00:07:00] how, and I don't know how to stop it. Right. You know? Or people are like doctor, regular doctors will often be like, what's your stress level? I'm like, A million? Yeah. Like, what do you mean?
I got a lot of. Yeah, it is like so much, it's overflowing. That's literally all I have. So like when they say that, like they wanna kind of know. Yes. And so then the, so then there's like a little bit of a correlation. So now I know, yes. Hey, my stress is affecting me physically, but it's never like, no one's telling me how to stop that.
How to manage it. Yeah. No one's really telling me, like, I guess I'm kind of person, don't be stressful. How do you, I'm the kind of person that needs like a little bit of science behind it. Like, why is this happening? Yes, yes. Um, and so when I don't get that information, then all I think about is how.
Stressed I am. And how I know this is making me sicker and then I get more stressed about it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's like a weird cycle. Yes,
Hope: yes. For sure. Yeah. And it's, and I think that is the, that's a big, uh, like missing piece of the conventional, like allopath that cares. 'cause yeah, maybe they'll ask you about your stress levels, but then.
That's it. It's like, oh, hey, well, don't be stressed. Like, okay. Like that's super [00:08:00] helpful. Okay. I'll just, I just won't be stressed and, and then there's no like strategy or like, okay, now what do I do about my stress level and what do I, how do I manage it? And yeah. And that's. For me, the piece, the big piece.
And so I incorporate things. So the, the work I do, I incorporate things like hypnotherapy. I'm a clinical hypnotherapist. I incorporate things like NLP, which is neurolinguistic programming, which is basically like rewiring your brain. And that's really the piece. It's like, okay, let's get into this subconscious mind to figure out why are you so stressed?
Like I, I just did a five part series of my podcast about how we as women tie our worth to our productivity and our output. We do Absolutely. And how that affects our physical health and the. Layers of repercussions of just that programming, that program. That's one piece of programming that so many of us as women have connecting our work to our productivity, our output, what we're doing.
That causes so much stress internally on our bodies.
Erika: Yeah. Yeah. Well,
Marie: how do we not do that? Well, I wonder
Erika: how do you not [00:09:00] worry? I wonder if it was always like that, and I don't know if it's more of a product of now that like more women are working and like doing those kind of things. I almost feel like, and this is me just like overanalyzing as I do, but I almost feel like it may be that like subconsciously we are like, Hey, it took us so long to even get what we have.
In terms of like what we're worth and like, you know, you know, job wise and that kind of stuff. Right. That I feel like we're like, Hey, it took us so long to get here and so now we have to really make sure that we kill it, you know? And so, which is so obnoxious. That's such an obnoxious way to think and be, but I think that's kind of where we're at.
And so I don't, to your point, I don't know how do you not, how to not do that? I'm always worried. Yeah. Like
Marie: I'm always worried about tomorrow. I'm always worried about did I make the right decision yesterday? We have other. People that we have to worry about. Right? That's right. Sure. Because they don't worry about themselves.
Sure. You know, our husbands and our children, you know, we worry for them. Yeah. And I, so I, I went to the doctor yesterday and I'm, I'm 45, so there's things that are changing in, I'm like, I don't know why I've gained weight in the last year. Like, I don't know what's [00:10:00] going on. He's like, oh, well just, how about the shot?
I'm like, I don't wanna shot. Like, I wanna figure out what's causing, I haven't changed anything. Um, sleep, stress, that kind of stuff. How do I fix those things? And they just want to give you a shot. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, Hmm. I, I'm sure that will help, but it won't fix it. Right. Like, I don't wanna be in the shot forever.
Hope: Right, right, right. You still wanna know the why. Yeah. It is hard to get out of that pattern. And I, I think, I think that is a good point. I think it's where, and there's layers to this, like in, in my, this series, I talk about like the layers of this, because a lot of this is programming and a lot of this is generational.
I mean, for generations. I mean, we can, this is like a whole rabbit hole that we don't have to go down, but for generations, this is how women, this is how we've been perceived. And, and like one of the episodes I talk about like women's role for generations as the caretaker and the nurturer. So their only value was doing Yes.
Right. That was their only, the only thing they had. They weren't allowed no property, they weren't allowed to, they weren't allowed to do anything. But that was so that, so it's, this is a generational thing that [00:11:00] requires so much untangling. And I, I think that's the other piece with the holistic work that I do.
I think studies show that like you, you hold like up to seven generations of trauma in your body. Oh, yikes. And I really think it's more than that. Yeah. So when we're born, like we as women are literally born with this, like, and yes, a lot of it is with, you know, cultural and societal conditioning, but we're born with these things.
Yeah. That we have to, it's, it's just part of our existence of kind of untangling and rewiring some of this, these things that we're born with and being able to understand and own our own inherent value and not tie our productivity and our worth. And being so worried about the doing and the, you know, it, it's, it's, it's hard and it is hard 'cause you're right, we do have people that we have to take care of and we have kids or partners or spouses or whatever businesses, but they're still at the core of it.
Those things and taking care of those things are still not what your value is attached to. It's still you as a human, like having inherent value and that's, that's a hard thing [00:12:00] to rewire. It's, it's a challenge.
Marie: Yeah, it's hard. It's hard being a woman. Yeah.
Erika: It's, yeah. Um, so when someone comes to you, um, I just want our listeners to kind of get an idea of like how all of this works.
So when someone comes to you and like they've got some kind of an issue going on, like what are your first steps? What does that initial conversation look like?
Hope: Yeah, yeah. So the initial conversation is. Really like, let's just talk about what's going on in your body. Like tell me physically what's going on.
Tell me about what your life is like, your lifestyle is like, and similar question the doctor's, like, what's your stress level like? But I wanna know like where, what are your sources of stress? So then we can, I can have a better understanding of where the stress is coming from. From there. My protocol kind of goes into all of those areas of wellness we're talking about.
So I'm gonna look at the physical parts. I wanna do the labs and look at. Let's not guess and wonder like, oh my, my blood pressure's high. Or it's my like, let's not guess. We don't have to guess and wonder, I wanna look at the labs. I have empirical data. This is exactly what's going [00:13:00] on in your body. From there is where I wanna tie in all the other pieces.
So human design is one tool that I use, which is essentially your energetic blueprint. It's how your energy's designed to move through your body, how you're here to interact with other people and the world around you. And I, I like to tie this to the physical piece because if I can look at your. Your energetic blueprint, then I can say, okay, your labs are showing that your hormones are doing this, your gut is doing this, and your.
Adrenals are doing this, then I can look at your energetic blueprint and see, okay, these specific patterns are the reason that this, your physical body's doing these things. Okay. So I can kind of put the puzzle pieces together. Then we can do kind of the rewiring process. And so we can see, okay, where are the patterns?
Is it an overworking or approving pattern? Is it, um, a. I have to, like I was saying, do I have to work to prove or, uh, yeah, work to prove my worth? Is it a fear of abandonment issue? Is it a i i need to be seen? Like where, what are the patterns? And then we can go into the kind [00:14:00] of the subconscious work that I do with if it's NLP, the hypnosis, whatever, and then we start to rewire, reprogram.
And that's really the, like when I say holistic, that's the whole equation. We putting the physical with the mental, emotional, spiritual, putting all of those pieces together. Yeah, that's, I don't think anybody does that. I've never
Marie: heard of anyone talking about all the, in this sense, the four parts of putting it all together.
Mm-hmm.
Erika: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Because
Marie: it does matter. I mean, like when you're looking at your physical body, that's one thing, and then obviously your mental state. Mm-hmm. How does that play into, I mean, I feel like I've been, I. Super stressed and for, for the last five years. Yeah. Like it just has not stopped. Yeah.
Either. My business was doing great and there was so much business I just couldn't keep up. And then one day it turned off. Mm-hmm. And now you're worried about not having business Totally. And just trying to get it Yep. Right. For the last five years. So it's, it's been very stressful. Yeah. Yeah.
Erika: Yeah. I feel like we don't hear about these types of mm-hmm.
Like different avenues by which you can go. Mm-hmm. I feel like if I would go out into the world and say that someone would be like, get your tin tinfoil hat. Yeah,
Hope: totally. Yeah. Yeah. You, you. And that's, that's a great, and [00:15:00] I was doing a podcast interview. A couple weeks ago, and he said that like, what do you say to the people who are skeptic?
I'm like, if we're skeptic, then it's not for you. Totally. Like you have to have an open mind going into doing something that might sound, woo, we're out there. Whatever. You have to have an open mind. Yeah. To go into it and wanna try something different.
Marie: Well, nothing else is working. Why
Hope: not? Totally. That's my philosophy.
You haven't found anything so far. Like what? What harm is it gonna do? Yeah. Yeah. I bet that's
Erika: a ton of your clients. I bet a ton of your clients like me have tried every single thing and gone to every I I have rheumatoid arthritis. I went to my rheumatologist and I have something where like my joints are like hyper flexible.
Mm-hmm. It's just like it's genetic. Mm-hmm. My aunt has it. Everybody has it. And so I went there and they were like, your joints do this, and it's like causing some problems with your arthritis. It's like making it worse. And I was like, oh no. Like what do I do? Right? And he was like, I. Just don't, just don't do that.
Like, don't extend your, your limbs as far, and I was like, I'm not doing this on purpose. I've never done this. I didn't even know it was a thing. And so like when, when I say I feel like I've tried everything and like had every con [00:16:00] every like, erroneous conversation Yes. It has been everything. Yeah. And so I can only imagine that a lot of your, a lot of your clients are my, are me Yeah.
Are exactly like that. Yeah. And so they come to you and they're like, hope. You know what else? Yeah, right,
Marie: right. What else can I do? Yeah, that's it. Yeah. Yeah. I know in the class that you gave us not too long ago, you talked about the different types of labs that you do. Mm-hmm. And I don't know if anyone doing the types of labs and go, I, I'm a data person.
Yeah. If I can see the data, I can make it something work. Mm-hmm. Like, and no one, I mean, yes, they, they draw blood and you're within a normal range, which they did yesterday. Full blood. I'm in within a normal range. I'm like, it's not normal. Like maybe it's not normal for me. Right, right, right. I don't feel normal when I look at people's financial situations.
Everybody's different. I can't say this is normal because that's, there's no normal. Right, right, right. So how it's all subjective, I'm assuming. So I love the fact that you have these extensive tests that you're able to do and have that data to make an educated decision on something.
Hope: Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and I do get a lot of people like that too, who.[00:17:00]
They're analytical minds at work here. Right. So I do get a lot of analytical mind, especially, I've worked with plenty of men before. It's usually it's like my client's husbands or brothers or, you know, working with, and men are very like, they were like, I need to see the data. So they're very analytical and, and we get the analytical data.
But I think that is helpful too, because we can do the labs and see what's going on. Then we can, you know. Do all the things and do all the work, then we can run the labs again. And it's like, okay, if you need proof, here's the proof. Yeah. Your labs are moving in a different direction. Yeah. So it, the, the data is important.
It is important.
Erika: Let's talk about some of the labs that you do run, because I do feel like, um, what you're doing, like be mentioned, is different than what we may get just from a typical doctor.
Hope: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So I run, I run functional labs and I have three foundational labs. I said three, three foundational labs that I run and, uh, I like to be able to collect.
And a good amount of data so that we have, it's not just looking at one lab being like, okay, here's the problem when, when it's, I need to be able to connect dots. So the three foundational labs I run, I, I, the first one I do is a [00:18:00] hair, tissue and mineral analysis, which is literally sending and some of your hair.
So it's a hair analysis and it's measuring couple dozen different minerals, heavy metals, toxic elements, and it's looking at the relationships between the minerals. And this is one that. I really love the most. I talked about this a lot in the workshop that I did. I love this one the most because it's, it's a really inexpensive lab and it provides a whole lot, uh, just a, a ton of data.
And so just the minerals alone. Well, the other piece is, is just the importance of minerals in general. Minerals are considered the spark plugs in the body, meaning that everything in the body, every reaction that's happening, it starts with the minerals. So whether it's. Minerals or the catalyst or the co-factor, they're involved in some way.
Well, they've
Marie: taken a lot of the minerals that naturally you would've gotten out in your food out. Yeah. Right. They're taking it out. We don't get 'em anymore.
Hope: Right. That's, and that's another thing. It's stress. Of course, stress is gonna deplete our minerals, but then it's, yeah, it's our, you know, the conventional ways we're getting our food.
It's the soil is depleted, right? Yeah. That's just a fact. And so there are holes, there are a lot of [00:19:00] gaps. And if there are already gaps in our nutritional source, and then we live in the Western world, so you know, 99% of us are stressed out all the time, then of course we're gonna have imbalances and.
Depletions and all that. So the minerals are a big piece. The second lab that I run is a Dutch test, which is a really comprehensive hormone test, and it's, yes, you can go to your doctors and get a blood lab, but this is, it's a dried urine test. You just pee on some paper. It's really easy to do, but it's gonna give.
A much deeper look and a much more comprehensive look at your hormones, how they're interacting with each other, how they're being converted in your body, how they're being cleared from your body, your cortisol pattern, and how your cortisol's moving through your body, how it's being cleared. So there it is, just a bigger look at your sex and steroid hormones.
And then the third lab that I do is a GI map, which is a poop test, and it's a really comprehensive look at your. Gut. So with all of these, I can start to connect dots. 'cause we can see, okay, well these things are on this lab and these things correlate with these. So we can start to connect dots and kind of put the puzzle together.
I love puzzles. So this is, I think it's everything where I love the labs. So you're [00:20:00] putting the puzzle pieces together to try to, uh, have your, like your symptoms, what you're experiencing in your body, and then let's, you know, find the correlations with the lab work. I
Marie: think it's important because I don't think anybody, I, I obviously do blood tests, but that, I didn't realize it until we went to your workshop that it talk, you know, that's only like a snapshot in time.
Right. It's not over a long period of time. Right. Obviously with the hair and the other type of tests that you, that you do mm-hmm. You can see overall Right. Versus just at that moment.
Hope: Yeah. Yeah, and I think that's the one of the biggest. Um, benefits of doing labs like these is because, yes, and, and I'm not opposed like totally anti blood labs.
I'll look at my client's blood work, but I'm never gonna only look at their blood work. Like, they'll say they'll go to their doctor and get their blood lab, 'cause insurance will pay for it. So that's always a plus. And then I can, I can put that together with the other labs I'm looking at because you're right, I, I could do the same lab tomorrow and it could say something different and it's just not giving you a good and that, and it's only one lap.
It's only one lap. Like for the minerals, for [00:21:00] example. It's, I, it's, it's such a different, luckier because you can get your minerals tested through a blood lab and most doctors will, but it's gonna be a totally different picture. And it's, it's not to get too sciencey here, but with, when you're looking at minerals, a lot of mill minerals are intracellular, meaning they're supposed to be in your cells.
Yes. When you're looking at blood. It's not giving you the right, it's not what's going on in your cells. It's not what's happening at a cellular level. So it's really not giving you the accurate picture that you want of how, how the minerals are interacting in your body. So, so yes, that I think it does make a big difference.
Yeah.
Erika: Do you feel like the depletion of minerals that we have now also is. Like affected by the water that we drink. I watched, I watched this documentary, and I don't know if it's really or not, but I watched every documentary that ever exists, and so it was something about how like, because of the way that we filter everything out, like, like you should almost be drinking like natural spring water and stuff, which of course is more expensive for some reason.
Yeah, yeah. Even though they're doing less to it. Natural. Yeah. It's outta the, yeah. Um, but that's, the documentary is [00:22:00] basically saying like. The natural springs like have all these minerals right in them. Right. And those things are good for your body. Yep. But because we like hyper filtrate our water, um, we're not getting those things in.
Totally.
Hope: Yeah. Yeah. And it's such a slippery slope with the water because it's like you want your water to be filtered 'cause you don't want all the crap that's in it. Yeah. The chemicals and all that. But then it's like, well you're all so stripping away minerals that are the Yeah. So it is, it is a tricky, and I, I, I do think that that could definitely.
Be, you know, an aspect that contribute because it's just, I mean, it's just like our food too, right? I mean, it's, it's the same thing. So it's, I definitely think that could play a part in it. It's, everything is processed. And again, it's, it's kind of like with the water, it's like, well, I also don't want this crap in it.
So it's, it's, it's, that's a tough thing. And like, yes, unless you're getting the, the mineral water, but the natural is always best, Larry. It's just like, it's like you'll have a conversation about salt all the time. With my clients, I have a whole podcast episode about salt, but it's the same with salt. It's like, okay, table salt and sea salt are two different things.
Table salt has been stripped [00:23:00] of every. Mineral in every nutrient. Yeah. And it's just the sodium chloride. If you have the sea salt, then you have all the minerals. Like nature gives us what we need, but then we just kind of mess things up and then it gets all stripp away. We're getting more stressed. Yeah, getting more stressed out.
Don't get stressed. We can, we can replenish these. Well, the more of the story's so much. I mean,
Marie: I mean, I think with, with the. New wave of stuff, right? Mm-hmm. I think we're just being more aware. Yeah. I mean, growing up, I, I mean, we didn't eat a lot of processed food, but I felt like it was probably more prominent.
My kids don't, they don't eat any of, they, they never have, and it wasn't something that I tried to do, but I realized that I. It was something that wasn't good. Mm-hmm. Like if something lack, like I remember milk used to go bad, bread used to go bad. Mm-hmm. And then I'm like, we've had this bread in this drawer.
Yeah. For a month's happening. Why isn't it moldy? Like I, and I started really thinking about it. There it is, looking
Erika: back at you. And I was like, what is
Marie: happening? But then I remember taking a class and I remember what this professor said, she said. If it goes bad, it's good for you. Yeah. Let it go. Like, and I'm like, that's true.
Nothing goes bad anymore. Mm-hmm. Like, things last a lot [00:24:00] longer. I'm like, why is that? Like, wait a minute, what's in it? And then I started reading labels. I'm like, what are all the things I can't say? Mm-hmm. Like what it, it should just be creamer. Like what? What is this? Mm-hmm.
Erika: Yeah. I laugh because at the back of like my container of almonds, it'll say like, contains almonds.
Hope: Like
Erika: yes, but that's what you want. It's what you want. The almond say almonds. Yeah. You don't need other things in there. Um, I would love to touch on just really quickly, um, I know that you deal with a lot of people in business and that kind of thing, and just briefly on our workshop, you had touched on the fact that there are certain things as women that we can do.
You know, during different times of our cycle mm-hmm. That may actually benefit our business. Mm-hmm. And I find that part so interesting. Mm-hmm.
Hope: Yeah. Yeah. This is a big piece for me and, and a big piece of kind of that like energetic, emotional piece with, for when I'm working with clients is that it's like tying to your natural hormonal cycle.
It's tying to your energy cycles through human design. And so with your menstrual cycle, like this is. I mean, really, I think this is a woman's superpower is [00:25:00] being able to understand and utilize this. It's the whole adage of working smarter, not harder. Like this is, this is it. This is how you do that as a woman.
And it's understanding your hormonal cycle. Your menstrual cycle. Understanding your, your mood and your energy fluctuations within each phase of your cycle and being able to use that to optimize your energy, your productivity, your creativity, and knowing. You know, when do I need to slow down? When do I need to, when can I push more?
And, and that's, I mean, that's, that's really how we hold onto our energy is this smarter, not harder thing. Mm-hmm. So I'm not forcing something to happen in a part of my cycle where your body's like, no, stop. I don't wanna do this right now.
Marie: That makes sense. I think I, I, I don't, don't teach you that. I mean, they, they, you know, when you learn about your, your cycle and people are like, it's a bad thing.
And I'm like, I'm glad I still have one. Like, no, I want it to go as long as I can't. Mm-hmm. It's your, uh, someone told me it's your. Fountain of youth. Mm-hmm. Like for, for a female or for a woman, that's how you stay. That's where your body's [00:26:00] supposed to be. Right? Right, right. And, but until you explain the different.
I guess seasoned or, or, you know, in them I was like, oh, that's right. Maybe this is the week that we're kind of off because there's a certain, there's a reason. Yeah. Let's talk
Hope: about the different seasons. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can go through 'em. So basically I, I like to, it's what I explained in the workshop. I like to use the seasons to explain the phases.
It's just easier to grasp and understand in your mind. And so if you think of the Four Seasons, every phase of your cycle corresponds with that. So your Min, the menstrual. Menstrual phase of your cycle would be winter. So this is, and you think about winter, like what does nature do in the winter? Like, it, it, it goes inward, it hibernates it, it gets cozy and it rests.
And that's really what we're designed to do during our menstrual phase. And so during your menstrual phase, it, you are designed to slow down and rests your creative brain kind of shuts. Down, and maybe it gets, and maybe you've noticed this before, like it's a little foggy. Like for me, I always feel like it's like a static, so it's like it gets a little foggy, staticky.
So we're not designed to be super creative at this time 'cause it's, it's our time to go inward. And I explain this in the workshop, but I, I love this part [00:27:00] of it, but essentially the right and left hemispheres of your brain or talking to each other more clearly during this phase of your cycle. So your intuition is stronger.
Like this is the time for you to really reflect. And I have my, my clients, like if you're not big on journaling journal during this pa phase of your cycle. Like see what comes up, what intuitive hits. Do you get like what divine downloads come to you during this phase of your cycle, but use it to reflect and kind of prepare for the next season?
'cause we know the next season is spring. Spring is when we're going into our, uh, our ovulation phase. And so it's like on the way there. So it's like the latter part of your follicular cycle, so you feel your energy's coming back. Right. Our hormones are kind of on the up and up, so we feel our creative brain kind of.
Come back online. And so this is the time where I can be more productive. I can get things done. I'm kind of energized now, and I'm, I can act on these things that maybe I came up with during the winter phase of my cycle, so now I can act on them. And then from spring, you go to summer. Summer is ovulation, which I.
Ovulation technically is just a one day event, but we feel the effects of it for longer than one day. 'cause it's when your, your hormones are at their peak. And this is a time where we're [00:28:00] feeling, uh, outgoing and sociable. This is when like doing the networking and the interviews and we're, we're doing all the things to put ourselves out there.
Getting on camera, you're feeling really energized, so you wanna maximize that time. And then from there we would go into fall. So fall is your luteal phase when our hormones kind of start to go down, right? 'cause we're getting ready for winter. We're getting ready for your menstrual cycle Again, menstrual phase.
So for the luteal phase, your home hormones are in an interesting place where you still have some energy to get things done, but it's gonna feel a little bit different. So for me, I explain to my clients this is the time where this isn't really the time to be super creative, but it's the time to get stuff done, like check things off your to-do list.
Like for me it's admin, admin tasks. To what you do during your, your luteal phase. Can you do the things that don't require a whole lot of creative power and just things I need to check off my list? So for me, I plan like I'm gonna do my, like, QuickBooks stuff during this phase. I'm gonna, you know, check the things off that, that's when I'm doing luteal phase and it's a good time.
If you think about fall, it's like, okay, we're, we can start to [00:29:00] clean out things, right? Preparing for winter. So this is the time to, to kind of reflect on what's serving me now. In, in, in my business and my life and, and what's not. This is a good time to do that. And then, and then we head start back over to winter.
So if you can plan your month, okay, I'm resting in this phase, or I'm reflecting, I'm being intentional with my time. Like for me, I mentioned this in the workshop, I don't do, I don't do interviews. I. During that part of my cycle, I don't schedule interviews. I, I don't take, I mean, unless it's like a one off thing.
I don't do sales calls. I don't do that during that phase. That's the time where I'm gonna slow down and I'm gonna maximize that time and reflect, and maybe I'm planning, you know, doing some planning and, you know, brainstorming, whatever. And then going into spring and then using spring and summer to like, this is my get stuff done.
I can get. So much stuff done in that time. My cycle, like I'm like a, like an energizer bunny. So like using that phase and then using, okay, I'm, I'm not gonna do, because I don't wanna waste my creative power on doing admin tasks. When I could wait and do that during my luteal phase, I'm gonna wait and do the things that I wanted to check these things off on to do lists, but I can save [00:30:00] those for this week.
So really it's just organizing your time. And energy in a way that you are maximizing what's happening in that phase.
Marie: Yeah, I love that. But I think it's understanding yourself. Yeah. I think most people don't know, they just kind of fly by the theater pants. They don't keep track of their cycle. Yep, yep.
They don't know what's going on. And I know there's a lot of apps. Right. And you can kind of use them and I, I realized when I was using one, when we were, we, when my husband and I decided we went, didn't wanna have. Children anymore that we needed to plan things better. Mm-hmm. So where I, I started to learn a little bit about it, but there's a lot of ways to track like, how do I feel today?
Yeah. And I didn't understand why was it asking that? Like, but if you go and I went back after your class, I went back. I'm like, I, because I kind of started answering the questions when I was tracking and I'm like, oh, there's like, it's kind of similar in every single time when I did answer the questions, it was very similar.
I was saying the same things. You know, and I, time didn't, never paid attention to it. Yeah, yeah. Never.
Hope: Yeah. I think that's a big thing. It just, the awareness, just understanding that part can be [00:31:00] so empowering. Like, I actually understand how my body works now. Yeah. And now I can, I know how to Yeah. That, that's a, that's a big piece of it.
Just the awareness.
Erika: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so I think we wanna mention coming up, um, in May you will be doing a workshop here at Working Moms of San Antonio. All about that, all about your cycle, um, and, and business and how to sort of like make it work to your advantage.
Hope: Yeah. Yeah. So tying in, so my two favorite tools for women are understanding their energy are human design, inter menstrual cycle.
So in human design can be. Such a powerful tool. Like it's, it's, I mean, it's, it's changed my life, understanding human design and understanding how your energy is designed to move and understanding your energetic blueprint. And there's, there's so much to it. And so I, I think we'll break it up into a few parts, but there's so much to it.
But this, I mean, this can change the trajectory of your business and change is. How and how you feel doing business. That's the other thing. I mean, it's one thing to have a successful business, but you feel like trash while you're doing [00:32:00] it. Yeah. It's another thing to actually enjoy it while you're doing it, and that's for me the power of understanding.
You're a human design and understanding your energetic blueprint because now I can do things in a way that feel good and I can feel good physically and mentally while I'm doing it. I can, I can enjoy the journey. And, and, and really that that's, I mean, that's how we all start business because we wanna have, we wanna make a difference, we wanna make, have an impact.
Yeah. And you can't do that if your body is like ripping at the seams. So I always tell my clients, your body, oh, you can't. Yes, I know. Right? Right. Yeah. I tell my clients all the time, your business will only ever be as strong and healthy as your body like. Your body is the vessel. You get one vessel and your body is the vessel that is going to carry your mission forward to the collective.
And, and that's how it's gonna do that. And so if we are not prioritizing and being intentional with our energy and how we're using that in our business, then it's not sustainable. Like you can, you can go on the up and up for a little while, but eventually you're either gonna hit a. Ceiling or a [00:33:00] plateau because your body's gonna be like, I, I can't do this anymore.
Mm-hmm. So that, that, this is like the, the holy grail for me, it's this, just understanding your human design, your energy, and using that in every aspect of your 'cause. 'cause the other thing I love about it too, it, it can help you in your relationships. It can help you with your team if you have a team or if you have employees that work with you or you work with.
Again, I just understand those dynamics too, and understanding why people are doing this the way they do things. Why do I do the things the way I do things? So it's, it really does just change. All different aspects of your life. Yeah.
Marie: I think people might think it's kind of hokey 'cause of the, the wording, I think like when, when you like the energy this and there, there's science behind it.
Oh, yeah. So it's not hokey. Yeah. Yeah. Like it really, it really feels like, I think people just kind of, oh, it's just, it's. I know I, my younger sister's really into her chakra. She mm-hmm. And I don't understand the terminology. And at first I kind of put it to side, but then I started listening about, I'm like, Hey, no, there's science behind this.
Yeah. This makes sense. Yeah. Like it really does have some val, like, and you, if you put it all together, [00:34:00] like it, it can make a difference. Yeah. Like you can use all aspects of it, but I think it just, if it has nothing else has worked, try this.
Hope: I mean, you might as well. And if the energy part and, and it, you're right, the energy part, the ener, like the word energy.
It's, it's to make people feel a certain way. Like especially we're talking about chakras. I dunno if you're familiar with Joda Penza, Dr. Joe Dispenza. I've read all of his books and I've been a couple, been to workshop, but he, um, he talks about this, but he talks about energy centers because he feels like the word chakra can, like polarize people.
But he has done, like, if you wanna know the science, go look up Dr. Joda Penza. He has done, I mean, it has to be thousands of studies at this point. Thousands and thousands of studies on people's energy, how it moves in the different energy centers on their bodies, and how like he's help doing this specific type of meditation and breath work to help rewire people's brains.
But there's studies about the energy flow, so there are like energy when we talk about energy. Like you can't dispute energy exists. Yeah. Because it's scientifically proven. And, and there are [00:35:00] studies that show how, like we have an ORIC field, we have an energy field, like there are studies that can measure your energy field.
So it, I think people don't, it's, it's like because you can't see it, it's something that people don't understand because you can't see it, it doesn't exist, and we can't see our energy. But it's been measured and studied time after time. And so I, I think it's just, I, I do think the tides are changing a little bit.
People are more receptive about talking about energy and, you know, they're, you know, that kind of thing. Vibe, the energy. But it, it still can trip people up because again, 'cause it's not something we can see in front of us. There's a lot of things you can't see. Gravity can't see this there. Yes, yes we do.
I mean, feel
Erika: it. How often have you been. Like, you walk into a room and you're there with somebody and they're kind of close to you or whatever, and you just feel yuck. Yes. Because they are yuck. Yes. They're feeling you, you feel
Hope: the energy right away or, or the opposite. You walk
Erika: in and like that person's like having the best time and you're like, oh shit, I'm having the best job.
Yeah. There's people, you know, I love being around that
Marie: person. There's great energy. Yes. I love being, they, they, they pull me into their energy, so there is, there's something there. You can, I don't know what it is, but there's something there. You can feel it. You [00:36:00] can
Hope: feel it
Marie: because you know, we've talked about like, hey, there's people we love that when they come to our, our networking, they just.
They bring it. Yeah. And they feel it.
Erika: Yep. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Um, well I'm really excited for that workshop. Me too. Yeah. I wanna know all the things. Yeah. Um, and this whole conversation has been so interesting and I feel like I could talk forever and ever. It could. Um, but. I want you to, uh, have the opportunity to kind of share with our listeners how they can get ahold of you, um, for all of these services.
Hope: Yeah, yeah. So you can check out my website, it's hopeful and wholesome.com. Um, most active on Instagram, it's at the Hope Praza. And then I also have a podcast with the same name, hopeful and Wholesome, where if you, so if you just wanna learn more about what I do and disconnect, that's probably the best place to get started.
Um, it's all things, health, wellness, inspiration, spirituality, all for high achieving women. So. Me there. That's awesome. And we'll put that in our, our show notes. Yeah. Excited about our workshop. Yeah, same.
Erika: Same. And then I'm also gonna thank our listeners for tuning into this week's episode, and we will catch you guys next time.[00:37:00]
Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of The Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We hope you love today's chat and found a little inspiration to take with you into your week. If you have a podcast topic suggestion or a question you'd love for us to cover, definitely send us an email at hello at working moms of san antonio.com.
We'd love to hear from you. And until next time, see you in the community.
