August 28, 2023 • 41 mins
After suffering health challenges that resulted from focusing on everyone and everything but herself, Dr. Alex's work turned towards helping other driven women navigate the world of fatigue, thyroid issues, anxiety and depression, difficulty losing weight, gut health and more without using medications. This is a journey of resilience, strength and self-discovery. Dr. Alex shares her compelling personal narrative. From her unexpected journey into motherhood in the challenging terrain of Alaska to her battle with a toxic environment and troubled marriage, Dr. Alex's story is a testament to the power of setting boundaries and redefining personal integrity.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley is a thought leader in outside-the-box and natural approaches to women's health and hormones, focusing on what she has termed Selfless Syndrome.
Entering the tumultuous world of entrepreneurship, Dr. Alex faced the burnout many business owners fear. But rather than succumb to the pressure, she used this experience as a springboard to her greater purpose. From managing her business and leading a team to finding her passion as an Integrative Women's Health Coach and pursuing a Ph.D. in Integrative and Natural Medicine, she's a testament to the importance of working within our zone of genius.
We also delve into the crucial topic of hormonal balance and self-worth, discussing the impact of stress on our hormones and the importance of understanding our internal environment. We broach the challenges of Western medicine and women's health and how understanding our bodies is the key to well-being.
Dr. Alex founded Emergent Women Coaching & Health Consulting and is building a business that serves her clients and her health while helping other women do the same. She is the host of the Intuitive Women's Leadership Podcast for Busy High Performing Women, the creator of the Emergent Women Method and Chrysalis Health Consulting Program, a Ph.D. candidate in Integrative Medicine through Quantum University, and an Executive Contributor to Brainz Magazine. Her mission is to help women break through the constraints imposed by misinformation, society and a lack of self-worth and step into the tremendous power of who they are.
Let's enjoy her story!
To connect with Dr. Alex: www.gemstonepractice.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dralexridley/
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Thank you for listening - Hasta Pronto!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daniela (00:08):
Hi, I'm Daniela.
Welcome to my podcast, becauseeveryone has a story, the place
to give ordinary people, stories, the chance to be shared and
preserved.
Our stories become the languageof connections.
Let's enjoy it, connect andrelate, because everyone has a
(00:29):
story.
Welcome my guest, dr AlexandraSwanson Riley.
I am pleased that Dr Alex issharing her story.
Firstly, she connected with mefrom Alaska, which I think is
awesome, and secondly, her storyis one that a lot of people can
relate.
Dr Alex began her career as achiropractor, specializing in
(00:51):
pediatric and perinatal care.
After neglecting herself andfacing health challenges, she
shifted her focus to helpingother ambitious women prioritize
their well-being.
Her story details a journey ofresilience, strength and
self-discovery, filled withnuggets of wisdom that many can
(01:12):
appreciate.
I enjoyed meeting her.
She's lovely, have a greatheart and has a lot of good
knowledge.
So let's enjoy her story.
Welcome, dr Alex.
Thank you for being here.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited.
Yes, I am very excited thatyou're here because you have a
story to share that is reallyimportant to me, so I appreciate
(01:33):
it that you are going toenlighten us with all the
information.
Absolutely, dr Alex.
Why do you want to share astory?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (01:40):
You know I've learned over the
course of my life.
It hasn't been all that long,but it's important, I think, for
us to share our stories, togive others permission to share
theirs, because so much of thehard things in life we tend not
to talk about, we don't healfrom that place.
So I think it's important totalk about our stories.
Daniela (01:56):
Yes, and I'm hearing more and more through the
podcast that when you share yourstory, you help others, but you
also kind of help yourself bysharing, yeah, so I think that's
great that you're here.
So thank you.
And so when did your storystart?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Rid (02:10):
We're going to start my story at age
28, which is 10 years ago fromwhere I am right now.
Okay.
So at age 28, I had a definingmoment, which is when my son was
born, moved to Alaska I'moriginally a chiropractor,
that's where the doctor hatcomes from but I moved to Alaska
with my new husband, realizingas soon as I got into that
marriage that things were notquite what they seem.
(02:30):
He struggled with alcohol as amemos more of a wet sober than a
full sober, and so we had a lotof strife going into it and I
essentially found out I waspregnant three days before
moving to Alaska, thousands ofmiles from everyone that we knew
not planning to be pregnant forat least five years from when I
was really, really strugglingwith that, I'd moved for a job
(02:51):
for myself, working for a manwho was a character, we'll put
it that way, it was toxic in hisown ways, and he actually ended
up in jail for a good bit ofthe last 10 years shortly after
I moved and started working forhim.
You know there was a lot thathappened in that that, I think,
started to challenge me in howI'd been living my life up until
(03:11):
that point, because once my sonentered the world, it really
became clear that I needed todefine my boundaries better.
I needed to create a healthyspace for him, because I just
wasn't willing to bring him intothe environments where I both
worked and lived, and so itlaunched me on this journey of
self discovery, in a way, andalso of reconnecting to my own
(03:33):
personal integrity, starting toactually put in place the things
that were important to me.
It's interesting that it tooklike having a human being that I
have to take care of in orderto recognize where I was not
being true to who I really wasnot living in a place of safety.
Daniela (03:51):
Honestly, you said that it took a human being, but some
people have the human being andthey still don't have the
maturity that you had torecognize that you were in a
dysfunctional environment andyou needed to fix it.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (04:03):
Yeah .
Daniela (04:03):
Kudos to you Well thank you.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (04:05):
It still took time and it took
layers and you know there'saspects to my story and it
evolved over time.
But you know it took a coupleyears for me to really get clear
on that wasn't safe to stay inmy marriage and there was a lot
of, I think, especially whenwe're in environments of
addiction or abuse in terms ofmine was never it was never
physically abusive, butdefinitely emotionally abusive.
(04:26):
We stay stuck because we getstuck into this cycle of there's
a lot of manipulation, let'sput it that way.
And so I had a lot of shame andguilt that I even ended up in a
marriage that was sodysfunctional or married to
somebody who was hiding thingsfrom me and had a really
negative, just awful, outlook onthe world, and a lot of that
was directed at me.
And it took a lot of years toreally move past that and to not
(04:49):
harbor any resentment eithertowards him or towards myself
for getting there, you know itis interesting how we you know
we're ashamed of ourselves formaking the choices, but we
really didn't know that this wasgoing to be like that.
Right, I got married, but a lotof it was not my doing right,
like it wasn't on me, and Ithink, as women in particular,
we tend to.
(05:09):
We take everything on as ourown.
Daniela (05:11):
Yes, we feel like we are going to be the resourceful,
we have to find the solutions,we have to be the nurturing, we
have to fix things.
I don't know if it's also partof our personalities too.
I wouldn't say maybe women, butsome women, I mean, we do take
that way of thinking that wehave to do it all.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (05:28):
Yes , yeah, we definitely do, and I
think we're more prone to makeit about us right Like.
Another aspect of my story ismy first business.
After I'd healed through mydivorce and actually gotten
remarried.
I was able to pick.
I had up enough to realize thatthe practice I'd built, which
was a huge, high, six figuremonstrosity, was killing me
quickly.
You know, my body was literallyfalling apart through that as
(05:51):
well, and I had created all ofthat.
I started my business when myson was six weeks old and built
it largely because I didn't wantto be home.
So I worked all the time and Ibuilt a huge thing, but it was
driven by that need to escaperather than actually creating
something.
That was my dream, although Ithought it was my dream at the
(06:11):
time.
In the process of all thatfalling apart, I actually ended
up filing for bankruptcy a yearand a half ago because I just
hit a point where I had nothingleft to give to try to navigate
all of the COVID stuff andthings that happened in the last
couple of years, in that, likea lot of people use that as
business strategy.
You know we can look at certainpresidents of the United States
that have used that as abusiness strategy, whereas I
(06:32):
made it mean a lot about myselfand being a failure.
It really shook my mindsetaround my own worth.
I think that's where we can getpulled into our own like we all
have a story right and we alsocreate stories about the story
that we are currently living.
I don't know if that makessense, and they're not always
based in reality Like we're justgathering evidence of things,
but it doesn't mean that itdoesn't make it actually real.
Daniela (06:53):
To go back to understand the order.
So you were pregnant and thenyou wanted to separate from your
husband.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (06:59):
I didn't separate from my husband
immediately.
I left the toxic workenvironment and job as soon as
my son was born.
So my son ended up coming fiveweeks early, which I learned
later was due to the amount ofstress I was under both at work
and at home.
We had a kid in our first yearof marriage, far away from
everybody, and he came early.
I knew without a doubt that Icouldn't go back to that work
(07:20):
environment.
I started my own practice whenmy son was six weeks old, which
was always my goal.
My ex-husband didn't like theunknowns of the paycheck when
you're a business owner and hejust couldn't handle that.
So we'd moved for a job and Iwas like, don't have to do it on
my own.
So I did that and we actuallystayed married for three years.
But we separated for a whileand there I did a separation of
(07:43):
about eight months and then hegot his act together and started
trying.
We bought a house and then hefell off the wagon again and by
that point I was just done.
So my son was not quite threewhen we fully separated.
Daniela (07:53):
And when you started your business and you were
always working so you somebodywas helping you with your child.
He just came with me.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (08:00):
I designed my day.
Yeah, I'm the working mom whoalso breastfed for two and a
half years.
Daniela (08:06):
Yeah, well, that's incredible.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (08:08):
Yeah , and eventually I got nannies
and I had an in-office nannybecause I had a lot of single
moms who worked for me as well,and we just did that.
You know, I still missed out ona lot, I would say, and I still
dealt with a lot of gundayswhere he just wanted to stay
home and we couldn't, or we'restill hard times but we made it
work.
Daniela (08:23):
Seems like you had a good community there.
You built a good community eventhough you were far away from
your family.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (08:29):
Yes , that's the one thing about
Alaska, where I am, is thewinters are so hard.
People are very open andwelcoming, and so you find
support and family prettyquickly, if you know, just look.
Daniela (08:40):
That's interesting.
It's true.
I forgot to mention that youare in Alaska.
Yes, yeah, your child wasgrowing up and you were
separated and you were havingthis business and you decided
that it was too much.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (08:51):
It wasn't quite that it was too
much.
We grew rapidly double ortriple in business every single
year.
To me, it felt like thissnowballing thing that I had no
control over and it was justgoing and I was like, okay, I'm
just here for the ride.
Did I create it?
Yes, I did, but it wassomething that I felt was out of
my control.
And so we hit the point of Ipurchased a 6,000 square foot
(09:12):
commercial building for us tolive in, because by that point I
had seven providers who workedfor my practice and then some
support staff and we needed thespace.
We remodeled it and did all thethings.
At that point, before I didthat, the business was actually
debt free, so I was like we'rein this position to do this.
I was divorced by that.
My practice was five or sixyears old.
I just walked upstairs to mybrand new beautiful office and I
(09:35):
sat down and cried because Irealized that I felt trapped by
the thing that I had built andit wasn't really fulfilling me.
I, at that point, my wrist wastorn in six places, I was losing
my voice and my hair wasfalling out.
My thyroid was a mess, myhormones were off, I was
starting to put on weight and Ididn't feel well and I had no
great quality of life, like Ihad no energy to engage with my
(09:57):
new husband or my son when I gothome at the end of the day.
The things that just weren'tworking about it were many, and
so it wasn't that I didn't wantthe practice to the business,
but things needed to pivot andwe also came up against.
It was like every horrible thingthat could have happened in
buying a building happened Likethe buildout took too long, it
got more expensive than it wassupposed to.
We relied largely on theinsurance world to pay for our
(10:20):
patients and care.
So we build insurance.
Half of our income justsuddenly stopped because one of
the two insurance companies thatwe primarily build broke their
claims processor and I was at apoint where overhead was mostly
payroll and I couldn't makepayroll because we weren't
collecting.
We were no less busy, but themoney just wasn't coming in, and
so that set off a series ofhaving to pivot.
So we pivoted away frominsurance and started only
(10:41):
taking cash, and I had to changethe pay structure of how I paid
my staff and the otherproviders that worked for me.
It was just like one thingafter the other, and then COVID
happened and in the midst ofthat I realized that I needed to
have risk surgery.
Everything spiraled from thereand I look back on it now and
recognize that all of thosethings were the universe trying
(11:04):
to get me to pay attention,because I was literally running
myself into the ground.
Daniela (11:08):
Wasn't on the right path, but you did it, though.
You made a good business, I did.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (11:14):
I built our biggest year.
We built out over a milliondollars.
I had the seven figure businessand from the outside I had it
all.
I'd built the house and I hadthe building and I had the
practice.
On my own podcast I'veinterviewed some women who have
also hit that point where it'slike we have what we thought we
wanted, then realized that it'snot actually what we want, like
there's no fulfillment there.
Right, it's not what weimagined or dreamed it would be.
(11:37):
I honestly had a lot of trauma,both in my marriage and then
also just from the nature of thebeast of building a healthcare
practice on your own.
Daniela (11:47):
For sure, there's a lot of responsibility, and you
mentioned the word trauma.
That's interesting.
How do you feel when you haveto close down your creation,
your business?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (11:56):
That wasn't quite then, yet I had
had my first wrist surgery in2019.
So that was right in the fall.
So that was right before COVID.
So I was still in recovery andthe bank that I bought the
building through had given melike a grace period while I was
healing from that, becauseobviously I had no way to earn
income doing what I normally did.
And in the spring of 2020, withall the stuff going on, I found
(12:22):
renters to actually rent mypractice, because by that point
we had shrunk down so we didn'tneed all that space and I found
a new location for us to go andI was just going to come back
really part time.
I ended up on this journey withthis bank that, no matter what I
did, they just won in $24,000.
I did not have that at thatpoint.
(12:42):
I'd maxed out our borrowingpotential.
I didn't qualify for any of theCOVID money that the US had,
first because of credit, andthen I didn't actually have
employees at that point.
So none of those avenues wereopen to me.
And so I found an organizationto rent the building and the
bank still won in $24,000.
I started making regularpayments and they still won in
$24,000.
(13:03):
At one point I had $22,000together and they told me it
wouldn't stop foreclosures.
So I didn't give them the moneyand I was just like, okay, I'm
done.
I then sold the building.
They decided to go ahead withthat and as I was in
conversation with the renters tobuy it, they posted a
foreclosure notice so that I gotlow, bald, majorly on the offer
(13:24):
and ended up finally sellingthe building as a short sale and
the bank still wanted $24,000.
I was just like, okay, therewas no working with me, and so I
fought and I tried.
At that point I was stillpracticing really part-time,
just two days a week, likesharing space in someone else's
office.
I finally just recognized howexhausted I was.
(13:46):
I didn't have it in me to keepfighting for that, so I did file
for bankruptcy and that was atthe end.
I made it till the end of 2021and I officially filed in
January of 2022 is when I wentthrough.
So what I didn't recognize inall of that and led me to a lot
of the work that I do today butI had hit absolute and complete
burnout.
(14:06):
That goes farther than just yourbody being exhausted.
It also gets into like youdon't have capacity or willpower
to do anything, and I was inthe midst of that, trying to
launch my coaching businessthere, and I needed to take the
time to actually heal and getclear.
Instead of you know, a lot ofmy journey is in reactivity,
like reactive to the next fire,the next thing that's falling
(14:28):
apart, and there wasn't a lot ofcreating or like connecting to
who I really am and what mybigger purposes in the world and
what I really want to do withmy life, and so I ended up on
this journey of trying to healmyself and got like so many
extra certifications I can'teven count them all because I
was, you know, felt like I bothdidn't know enough and was
(14:50):
looking for answers for myselfin my own health crisis.
Daniela (14:54):
It sounds so interesting that you were able
to find that.
Okay, I need to find somethingelse.
How can I heal myself?
How can I take care of myself?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (15:04):
It took a while to get there.
Daniela (15:05):
I'm not going to lie that was initially what took me
down the road.
You said this story started 10years ago, so it's not that long
.
No, and people take a lifetimeto find all these.
That's true, and you managed todo it in 10 years, yeah, yeah.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (15:21):
Well , and I'm a firm believer in you
know, our journeys are verymuch a part of what life is
about and where we arrive andwhat we take from it.
Daniela (15:30):
What do you think you learned from having your own
business?
From being an entrepreneur, Ilearned a lot.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (15:36):
My first job as an entrepreneur
largely, you know, I thinkthere's a lot to be said for
being a woman and a businessowner and young Started my
business before I was 30 andbuilt this huge thing by the
time I was 33.
It challenged me, like a lot ofbusiness is not so much how to
do certain business things, it'smore how you show up and who it
(15:57):
calls you to be.
And there were some steeplearning curves, especially as I
started to lead a team.
You know have staff and otherpeople I was responsible for and
there were a lot of layers, andwhat I have learned like
actually recently, more in thisyear, is the way I did and led
my business in the beginning wasactually not connected to what
(16:17):
I call zone of genius.
I've recently been exposed tosomething called the working
genius and instead I was doing alot of things that were in my
zone of frustration and some ofcompetence, and those are fast
path to burnout.
So that has been interesting tounpack now, as I am still an
entrepreneur.
I'm always gonna be anentrepreneur.
I know that about myself.
But how do you build a businessthat not leading you towards
(16:38):
burnout when a lot of the tasksthat we have to do are like
Galvanizing people, which is oneof my frustration.
Daniela (16:47):
I was gonna bring my results.
Thanks to you.
We talked last time and I didthe test, the thing with those
tests and problems.
Okay, I figured out all thisinteresting.
Oh, yes, it makes sense, but Ifeel like it stays there like I
haven't done anything else withit.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (17:03):
We can talk about all this for
your listeners.
This is the working genius,which is incredibly interesting
to me, but essentially there aresix Gears that have to fit
together for any kind of projectcome to fruition.
And how we work and we have Twoof the six are genius, to our
competency and to ourfrustration.
So Mine is.
I have invention anddiscernment is actually my
(17:23):
genius, and so I'm incrediblycreative.
And in the first business Icreated, you know I had aspects
where that came through, butmost of where I lived was in,
you know, more, being a teamplayer and the enablement which
is in my zone of competence,which is a weird place to lead
from right, like I had wonderand enablement in and that
(17:45):
pairing is like the humble kindof doesn't want any of the
credit, but like still leader,and that's definitely how I was.
Like business wasn't.
I didn't take ownership withthe fact that I was creating.
It was about everybody else onmy team and who you know built
it up and there's nothing wrongwith being humble, but it's hard
to lead from that place, we'lljust put it that way effectively
and being connected to who youreally are, and then tenacity
(18:07):
and galvanizing are in my zoneof frustration.
So that's all the marketing andthe getting team members on
board, creating care plans andsoap notes and all the billing
and I was doing so much of thatstuff and like micromanaging and
it's no wonder to me at thispoint why I burnt out.
Also, you know, I practicepractice very structured on,
(18:29):
like I'm not only wearing allthose hats but I was also
adjusting people and having tenminute appointment slots.
So there was just no space forwhere I actually get joy, which
is in creating stuff, in helpingothers figure out their journey
and their frustration.
So a lot of what I do now isactually turned into Taking that
model and how do we actuallyapply it in a chiropractic
(18:51):
setting or in business and workand doing that with my own
business now yes, you're good toadvocate about this, this test.
Daniela (19:00):
According to my results , I think we will work together
well, because my strength areyou.
You're witnessing the other wayaround, great right.
So then you started to think,okay, I need to heal, I need to
do something.
What was it?
How did you get there?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (19:16):
Yeah , yeah so it started with my
health, and so I went on and gotcertified as a integrative
women's health coach.
Mostly I was looking with mywrist, I was looking for the
okay, what's next for me, stillwithin this health space and
container.
So I got certified as a coachand then I Entered a PhD program
(19:37):
in integrative and naturalmedicine, because I definitely
need another doctor degree.
That led me on a journeytowards understanding trauma
more and starting to recognizemy own trauma.
It's been this evolution whereI've been learning and testing
things on myself and doingthings myself and also working
with other women on their ownHormonal imbalances and things,
(19:59):
because I had the experience ofI woke up one day and none of my
pants fit and I'd all fit aweek ago and my hormones were so
off my body got estrogendominant and so I just put on 50
pounds literally overnight andcouldn't get it off.
And I'm in that space where andthis is a lot of where I come
from and how I do Help otherwomen with this now.
But it's like I was alreadydoing all the things.
I already had the healthylifestyle, all those changes
(20:20):
that they Often talk aboutmaking, but it wasn't working,
and so I've been on this journeyof finding the missing pieces
to have at work for myself, anda lot of other things Actually
come from getting very outsidethe box of Western medicine.
You know, as I've healed and alot of the trauma work is really
actually only been in the lastsix to eight months for me, but
(20:42):
a lot has opened up and there'sbeen this Space for expansion
again and I finally felt like mywill power turned back on maybe
three months ago, and so it'sled to a lot of shifts, one of
them being I finally gave myselfpermission To step out of the
health box inside.
It's like I put myself becauseI have this, you know $300,000
(21:03):
degree that I felt like I Ihaven't really been using
because I'm not practicingchiropractic, but I finally gave
myself permission to just saylike okay, if I let all of that
go, like all of those pieces ofmy identity and that was a big
part of this process too isletting go of so many things
that identified me, because itwas like divorce was something I
(21:26):
never thought I would gothrough.
I didn't expect to go through.
Letting go of being achiropractor and how I define
myself with stuff and my worthfrom stuff was another thing
that I had to go through andprocess and just let go of.
But when you can really actuallyhonestly come from nothing and
(21:49):
just say like jump into thatabyss of, I literally felt like
I jumped into an abyss of likedark space and it's just like
okay, if I let it all go, whatwould I actually do?
And it's been very interestingbecause it's brought me full
circle, back to helping otherchiropractors build a practice
(22:09):
that won't burn them out andheal their bodies when they're
already there, because a hugeportion of us burn out.
And that came from starting toshare my story in circles where
there's other chiropractors andjust realizing how many people
related to it and not to say youknow, other other professions
and other parts of the world canrelate to my story as well.
Daniela (22:29):
But this is your story.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (22:30):
So it's really what opened up in
all that.
Daniela (22:32):
Yes, yes, I find it fantastic.
You said that you have to startfrom scratch.
And who are you really?
Not the practice, not thestudies, not the health, not the
other classes and courses youhave.
And that happened to me too.
I lost my job.
It's not that I was defined bymy titles, because I didn't
really think that.
Who am I really?
(22:53):
And you know, reading a fewbooks, you're not your name,
you're not even your daughter,wife, a mother you're.
If all that can be taken awayfrom you, you're none of that.
So that was quite interestingfor me to realize that, and I
value other things now, like myfreedom and and what is it that
I am here to do?
And how can I help othersversus, you know, having a job
(23:15):
and having a title and makingmoney.
Yeah, I think an interestingway to look at this.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (23:21):
I don't know if you've ever read
the book Worthy by Nancy Levin.
I've been reading this one andshe talks a lot about our self
worth is really a reflection ofour net worth in terms of money
and finances and all that.
She has one statement in therewhere she says you know, if you
basically had nothing and we'reliving on the street, would you
still love yourself?
And really what makes us worthyand this is getting into what
we're talking about here is justthat we're human beings on this
(23:42):
planet.
It's not the stuff weaccumulate, it's not the
education, it's not the you know.
None of that actually matters.
Daniela (23:50):
People care too much about titles and roles, and
that's not really what we'rehere for.
Yeah, absolutely.
I want to know more about these, these hormones that you
figured out.
I know, being in Canada, thatdoctors just do the basic and
then they say oh, you are onmenopause or you are 50.
Good luck.
They always measure you by thenumbers instead of by how you're
(24:13):
feeling, and nobody wants tooptimize you, they just want you
not to be sick, and that's soupsetting.
Yeah, so tell me more.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (24:20):
Yeah , well, and it's.
That's the case in the US too,I think.
Anywhere that we're dealingwith Western medicine there's
just not a lot of understanding.
And we also have to realize,like in the US and I'm guessing
it's probably the same in CanadaWomen weren't actually included
in any medical researchconsistently until the law was
passed in 1991.
So we really haven't had thatmuch time where we've been
(24:41):
studying women and understandingyou know how women are
different from men and there's alot with hormones that are
different, and so what I havelearned is especially like
having hit the point of burnoutcompletely is stress impacts
hormones.
Hormones are very much theeffect of our environment or of
their environment, is that's asaying in the hormone world and
(25:02):
we always take that to mean youknow all the stuff we're doing
outside, like how you, you knowwhat's your diet and how you
exercise and how you're sleeping, and not all of that is
important.
I'm not saying it's not, butthere's this deeper layer of our
internal environment and sowhen you're feeling off, huge
part of the shifts for me wasn'tin that, because I practiced
functional medicine for you know, a couple of years and kind of
(25:23):
making my shifts and I liked itOkay, but I still felt like
something was missing.
It was more of that internalwork, of really getting your
internal environment, includingyour emotional state, back
online.
We all deal with high levels ofstress.
Let's just put it that way.
Most of us aren't aware of itbecause that's just our normal.
It starts to impact our bodyand so I think, as women,
especially as we hit menopausewe finally are paying attention
(25:46):
enough for a notice like mybody's freaking out what's going
on.
A lot of the increase insymptoms that I'd say we've had
in the last 50 years is becausewe're coming into that process
already completely screwed up,because we've normalized all
these things that are hormonalin nature.
We've normalized the PMS andthe PCOS and fertility issues
(26:07):
and cycles being off, and we'venormalized taking birth control
or taking hormone replacementtherapy for those things and
they don't actually address theissue and oftentimes they're
making them worse.
Daniela (26:16):
But so what do you do?
You do some blood tests, and sowhat happened to you?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (26:21):
So for me, I figured out I was
estrogen dominant through bloodtests, and so that is looking at
the numbers, but looking atthem from a functional range For
women and I focus more on oursex hormones.
So estrogen, progesterone andtestosterone Testosterone's
negligible, but if you'redealing with something like PCOS
, it will go high and so that'llcause facial hair or weight
(26:43):
gain and some of that stuff.
Estrogen and progesterone thatratio really matters.
They don't test this whenyou're just getting your blood
work done.
They also don't pay anyattention to where you are on
your cycle if you just gettested in Western medicine, and
so they really don't know whatthe picture is showing them at
all, because they have noreference range because those
hormone levels change throughthe month.
So when you go estrogen dominant, it can either be because your
(27:04):
progesterone's too low andprogesterone actually converts
into cortisol when you're undertoxic stress, like high levels
of chronic stress, and this ishow I had a baby early actually,
because in order to staypregnant, both have to stay high
, and I was under so much stresswhile I was pregnant that my
progesterone dropped and we wentinto labor.
They don't explain that to you.
They were just like oh, I don'tknow, you just had a baby five
(27:25):
weeks early.
I'm like I'm healthy.
I hardly put on any weight,like I'm 28.
I take really great care ofmyself.
Why is this a thing?
So it took me years to figurethat out.
So either your progesterone canbe too low and your estrogen is
actually fine but you're goingto have symptoms in there, or
your estrogen is actually toohigh because your liver is
struggling and there's.
It's all interconnected.
So, like your gut, health playsa huge role in your hormone
(27:47):
balance.
Your mental and emotionalhealth plays a huge role in your
hormone balance.
Your sleep cycles are going toplay a huge role in your hormone
balance, and so that's not tosay there's nothing to do.
We just have to start peelingback the layers, and that's
really what I've started doingwith other women, and you know
it's not a very fast process.
I've had women I've beenworking with for three years
that we're still peeling backthe layers.
Others get through it in ninemonths.
(28:09):
It just kind of depends on yourbody and where you're at and
how much havoc.
Daniela (28:13):
What were the changes that you noticed most?
For you, for?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (28:16):
me .
I had to do a lot of emotionalwork before doing some of the
things that we do to lose weightactually worked before a diet.
You know, changing how I atefor a period of time worked for
me and I did.
I lost 30 pounds in 13 weeks,but I'd tried a whole slew of
other things before thatactually worked.
You know, since then I've alsolearned I do a lot of.
(28:36):
I call them energy centers, butyou know we're connecting to our
chakras is what they are.
But I come from the Christianworld, so we talk about energy
centers.
We have energy in our body and,you know, working to just
restore balance and flow tothose areas, because all each of
them is connected to adifferent hormonal pathway in
your body.
The first three in particular,like with stress and cortisol,
that's going to be your solarplexus, which is also the seat
(28:59):
of your willpower, and when Ifinally put all those things
together I was like, oh, that'swhat burnout is.
Okay, your sex hormones are inyour lower two and that's you
know.
The second is also connected toyour gut and it's like, oh, all
these things connect and makesense.
A lot of it is like the bigthings for me.
I've been learning how to getout of my head and actually
connect into my body.
I had a coach at one pointasked me where do you feel that
(29:21):
in your body?
When we were talking throughsome mindset stuff and I was
just like what are you talkingabout?
Like I have no idea, there'snothing below my neck, what.
And so starting to learn how totune into areas and find those
spots where I actually couldn'tconnect or had no feeling.
Like belly area, which is thesecond center, kind of like your
lower pelvis and belly, it waslike it wasn't there.
Same thing with my solar plexusit was just like there was.
(29:44):
There was nothing there.
It's almost dead.
It was starting to learn how todo those things.
Things like journaling andmeditation, things I never, ever
done or took time for, are nowhuge parts of you know, my day
and, honestly, my businessbuilding like they're the most
important pieces because ithelps me not repeat the cycles
that helped me burn out in thefirst place, to stay connected
(30:04):
to myself.
Daniela (30:04):
Wow, super interesting.
What about you meeting otherdoctors or other chiropractors?
How is their relationship?
Because you know you have aknowledge that I really share
there is most people that don'tbelieve in this.
How, how do you handle that?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (30:19):
It's a balance.
For sure, there are medicaldoctors out there who are
open-minded and there are plentythat are not at all, and I know
healthcare works a littledifferently in Canada from the
US.
But I'm always an advocate ofyou.
Don't have to stay with yourdoctor.
You can find somebody who willwork with you.
I think you guys have a littleless opportunity for that just
(30:40):
because of how your healthcaresystem is built.
We can't find a doctor.
Yeah, you know.
So it's up to you.
I get asked about this a lotbecause healthcare has become so
compartmentalized and I'mguessing it has there too and so
it's specialists as needed forevery little part of your body.
And yet our bodies are allconnected.
I look at they're doing thebest they can with the knowledge
(31:02):
that they have.
Unfortunately, there's a lot ofthis like very haughty.
You know, I know everything andI'm on deputant attitude.
That can come with Westernmedical doctors, so I would just
take it with a grain of salt.
If you need to interact withthem for testing or whatever it
is, and then someone else likeme or an atropath can look at it
, then great, you have a choice.
That's the thing.
Daniela (31:21):
Like you, don't have to do what they say.
When you have conversationswith people that don't believe
in this, does it make youquestion anything?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (31:27):
or maybe to study more, or or you
just like completely sold itused to, but at this point I'm
very confident in what I'velearned and put together and I
fully recognize like my approachis not for everybody.
I'm not everyone's cup of tea,and that's fine.
A lot of what I learned, havelearned, is very grounded in
science.
A lot of my PhD program that Iactually haven't finished, but I
(31:50):
completed like 90% of it.
I just never wrote thedissertation.
You know that was built inquantum physics, which is a
study.
It's a study of science.
It's newer, like noteverybody's on board with it.
I've been so used to beingagainst the grain that it
doesn't really phase me.
I can hold my own in any kindof science discussion, answer
questions that they don'tactually have answers to.
Daniela (32:10):
So I'm good.
Good Is there always a lot ofconference and always something
new coming up about this?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (32:18):
I think there's starting to be.
It's been interesting to watch,especially with menopause.
In Europe it seems like there'smore push towards talking about
it than there has been in theUS at this point, and I'm not
sure where Canada falls on thatline.
Spain just passed basicallyhormonal leave.
Whether it's from menopause orhorrible period symptoms, like
(32:39):
you can, that's an acceptablereason to miss work and be paid
for it.
Still, in Spain, it's openinglike this whole can of worms
about, like the differencesbetween men and women and all
this stuff.
But I think there's moreawareness and more willingness
to talk about it and there'smore demand to understand it
better, and so I do see movementthere.
You know you have to recognizethat I'm coming at it from a
(33:01):
very like let's get to the root,let's really heal deeply so
that our bodies just functionlike they're supposed to,
because they were built tofunction in a certain way.
You know I saw on LinkedIn theynamed menopause as, like you
know, one of the biggest thingsto come in 2023 is a
multi-billion dollar industryand a lot of that is going to be
in like the bandaid things liketake this supplement and not to
(33:21):
say some of those things won'twork and won't help manage
symptoms, but it's not gettingto the root of the issue, and
that's where I'm focused.
Daniela (33:27):
Yeah, that's like everything given a diet, like
the people were eating keto, andit was very simple you just
have to eat healthy and morefats than carbs, and then now
they start to sell theseproducts.
But it doesn't mean that it'sbetter, it's just.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (33:39):
Yeah , and something like keto.
It's not designed to be donelong term either.
It's supposed to be a shortterm thing that you do in it.
You know at some point it stopsbeing effective.
I'm very much not about thesilver bullet and more about
reconnecting to yourself,figuring out what your body
actually needs, because you areunique and you're going to be
different from your best friendor your sister or your mom, like
whoever's giving you whatworked for them.
(34:01):
It doesn't mean that it's rightfor you.
Daniela (34:03):
But it's difficult to find your formula.
I thought it would be easy.
I've been like in the searchfor like exercise and food and I
just thought, okay, I just haveone recipe and it's not like
that and it's frustrating.
I feel, in a way, that we're inthis world just to figure out
what we need and who we are, andthis could take a whole journey
.
So may as well take it slow andnot get stressed about it.
(34:25):
Yeah, but when I hear peoplelike you and others that they
seem to have it all undercontrol, I'm like how come it
takes me longer to figure thisout?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (34:35):
And I'll be honest, it took me five
years of being aware of it andmy whole life up until then to
have my hormones be totallyjacked up.
I really like to look at it asjust being curious, try things
and bring curiosity to it, Alsorecognizing a lot of the
exercise and the diets and thosethings.
The research has been done onmen and for men, and so women
are going to be different.
But if you can connect toyourself, is it ever going to be
(34:56):
fun to come off sugar?
No, you're going to have aperiod where you don't feel good
, but it shouldn't last verylong, you know.
Giving yourself enough time,like two or three weeks, to
experiment with something toreally know how it's going to
affect you.
But tuning in in that way andnot being committed all the way,
like one of my biggest shiftswith actually exercise was to
stop pushing myself because Iliterally didn't have the
(35:17):
capacity.
My body didn't have thecapacity, because all exercise
is a.
It's a healthy form of stress,but it still produces a stress
response and so if you're sooverproduced in that area from
toxic stress and other areas oflife, you can actually hurt
yourself more than help yourselfby pushing yourself to work out
.
Hard Walking became my thing,Really gentle yoga, Like
sometimes it's interrupting thepattern that says like, ah, but
(35:40):
I have to do spin every day, oryou know whatever it is and
allowing yourself the freedom tojust do what feels good, Like I
just started running again.
But I'm and I'm former marathonrunner who pushed myself away
too hard during all that in myearly twenties I'm approaching
it as like does this feel goodright now?
Okay, then we keep running.
If it doesn't feel good, thenwe're going to stop.
We're not going to do itbecause it's about that.
It needs to feel good.
Daniela (36:01):
Where is the fine line between your brain is telling
you you are out of the comfortzone, versus I'm using my heart
to tell that, yeah, this is notreally what I need to do.
You know that I don't.
I don't know that fine line?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Rid (36:12):
Again , it takes getting connected to
yourself and I'm not sayingnever push.
I wear an aura ring and itgives me like a readiness score
every day based on my heart ratevariability.
It gives you a bunch ofinformation and then tells you
how ready you are.
I've learned to really gaugethe amount of activity I do and
what I do.
Like last week I had a daywhere I had a high readiness
score and my body was like wefeel good and so I ran intervals
(36:36):
that day because that was likethe day for it.
But I based my training and howI do those things based on what
that says.
And it's a game for me to figureout how to have like those days
more often than I have, thedays where it's like, yeah,
maybe chill On those days I doyoga or something.
Some of us need that kind ofinput, like I definitely do.
Otherwise I would push reallyhard all the time.
You know, now I can tell like Ican develop that awareness of
(36:59):
like I didn't recover from that.
So maybe we should take it easytoday.
Daniela (37:03):
Okay, interesting.
You have done a wonderful workfor yourself.
You are in a very healthyenvironment.
You have your son and newhusband and you have a business
that is bringing you joy and nottoo much stress.
You're helping others and youhave your own podcast.
How did you start your podcast?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (37:19):
That was something I always just
wanted to do, and so in 2020, itwas actually before COVID
happened I launched it and kindof kept it going.
It's evolved.
I've rebranded a few times.
I also wrote a book.
I've written a book thatoutlines the process that I put
together, kind of pulling all ofthese pieces of understanding
hormones and body and connect it.
(37:40):
You want to share the name.
Yes, it's called selflesssyndrome, the root cause of
exhaustion, anxiety and hormonalchaos and high achieving women.
You can find it on Amazon and Ican give you a link to download
the first two chapters.
Daniela (37:53):
Okay, that's great.
That's great.
And the podcast is about youhave guests and you talk about
hormones.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (37:58):
So it's a combination of things.
When I gave myself permissionto step out of the health box, I
rebranded to the intuitivewomen's leadership podcast.
We definitely talk about healthstuff still, but also how we
really connect to ourselves andhow we show up in business and
your career, with your family,staying more connected to the
root of who you are, becauseit's really easy to get lost,
(38:19):
especially as we enter like aman's world in terms of how we
work.
I think women are often tryingto step into being something
that we're not finding thatbalance of still stepping into
that world but doing it in a waythat keeps you in balance.
Daniela (38:31):
Do you do the podcast all by yourself or do you have
help?
I am doing it by myself.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (38:35):
At the moment.
I have some tools that help.
Daniela (38:38):
Wow, the podcast, the job, the mom, the wife.
That's pretty busy, it can beAgain.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (38:43):
It's all the balance right.
The biggest thing I commit tois actually what I call white
space, where I just do whateverI need to do that day, whether
it's lay down and take a nap orgo for a run or something else
in between.
But keep protecting that spacefor myself has been really key
to all that.
Daniela (38:57):
That's daily or weekly Daily I have that too, but I
feel guilty yeah it comes upwith a lot of.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (39:04):
For a lot of us as women, right
Like we feel guilt over takingany time for ourselves or what
we need, or a lot of us don'teven know what we need.
I've really learned to let thatgo because I'm a better mom.
Like my son knows that when Igo upstairs and just chill for a
little bit like he's, he's coolwith that because we homeschool
.
You know he's around but heknows that mom's going to be
good a better mom when she comesdown.
My husband knows that I needthat time in order to be a
(39:27):
better wife.
Like they recognize, I'mhappier and more adjusted if I'm
.
Daniela (39:31):
I don't think you saw my face.
I heard my comment when yousaid you homeschool.
I'm like what the hell was thatI saw?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (39:37):
your face when.
Daniela (39:38):
I mean how many hours are in your days?
I?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-R (39:40):
haven't been doing great at
homeschooling, but we have a newgame plan for next year.
Daniela (39:45):
So all all these five years you've been homeschooling.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (39:48):
Not quite all of them.
We homeschooled one year beforeCOVID happened and then we've
been going since COVID andhaven't gone back to a regular
school.
Okay, okay.
Daniela (39:55):
Wow, wow.
You are really busy, so thankyou for the time.
So what is next for you?
Are you going to add any moreto your talent?
Are you going to write anotherbook?
Are you continue with thepodcast?
Anything new that you haven'tshared?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-R (40:06):
Nothing in the works quite yet.
I'm sure I will write anotherbook in the near future.
I writing is one of my things.
Like I said, I'm super creative, so I'm always creating
something, but I don't have anyimmediate plans.
Just continuing with the thingsI built and continuing to
evolve my own process and my ownbusiness.
Daniela (40:23):
Great, great, and you are going to stay in Alaska.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (40:25):
Yes , my husband is Alaska native,
currently the elected chief of42 tribes that deals and also
president of a huge organizationthat deals with health.
So we're not going anywhereanytime soon Wonderful.
Daniela (40:35):
Well, dr Alex, thank you so much for sharing your
story and your time.
Thanks for having me.
It's been a lot of fun.
Yes, it was a pleasure, thankyou.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
I am Daniela and you werelistening to, because everyone
has a story.
Please take five seconds rightnow and think of somebody in
your life that may enjoy whatyou just heard, or someone that
(40:58):
has a story to be shared andpreserved.
When you think of that person,shoot them a text with the link
of this podcast.
This would allow the ordinarymagic to go further.
Join me next time for anotherstory conversation.
Thank you for listening.
Hasta pronto.
Hi, I'm Daniela.
Welcome to my podcast, becauseeveryone has a story, the place
to give ordinary people, stories, the chance to be shared and
preserved.
Our stories become the languageof connections.
Let's enjoy it, connect andrelate, because everyone has a
(00:29):
story.
Welcome my guest, dr AlexandraSwanson Riley.
I am pleased that Dr Alex issharing her story.
Firstly, she connected with mefrom Alaska, which I think is
awesome, and secondly, her storyis one that a lot of people can
relate.
Dr Alex began her career as achiropractor, specializing in
(00:51):
pediatric and perinatal care.
After neglecting herself andfacing health challenges, she
shifted her focus to helpingother ambitious women prioritize
their well-being.
Her story details a journey ofresilience, strength and
self-discovery, filled withnuggets of wisdom that many can
(01:12):
appreciate.
I enjoyed meeting her.
She's lovely, have a greatheart and has a lot of good
knowledge.
So let's enjoy her story.
Welcome, dr Alex.
Thank you for being here.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited.
Yes, I am very excited thatyou're here because you have a
story to share that is reallyimportant to me, so I appreciate
(01:33):
it that you are going toenlighten us with all the
information.
Absolutely, dr Alex.
Why do you want to share astory?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (01:40):
You know I've learned over the
course of my life.
It hasn't been all that long,but it's important, I think, for
us to share our stories, togive others permission to share
theirs, because so much of thehard things in life we tend not
to talk about, we don't healfrom that place.
So I think it's important totalk about our stories.
Daniela (01:56):
Yes, and I'm hearing more and more through the
podcast that when you share yourstory, you help others, but you
also kind of help yourself bysharing, yeah, so I think that's
great that you're here.
So thank you.
And so when did your storystart?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Rid (02:10):
We're going to start my story at age
28, which is 10 years ago fromwhere I am right now.
Okay.
So at age 28, I had a definingmoment, which is when my son was
born, moved to Alaska I'moriginally a chiropractor,
that's where the doctor hatcomes from but I moved to Alaska
with my new husband, realizingas soon as I got into that
marriage that things were notquite what they seem.
(02:30):
He struggled with alcohol as amemos more of a wet sober than a
full sober, and so we had a lotof strife going into it and I
essentially found out I waspregnant three days before
moving to Alaska, thousands ofmiles from everyone that we knew
not planning to be pregnant forat least five years from when I
was really, really strugglingwith that, I'd moved for a job
(02:51):
for myself, working for a manwho was a character, we'll put
it that way, it was toxic in hisown ways, and he actually ended
up in jail for a good bit ofthe last 10 years shortly after
I moved and started working forhim.
You know there was a lot thathappened in that that, I think,
started to challenge me in howI'd been living my life up until
(03:11):
that point, because once my sonentered the world, it really
became clear that I needed todefine my boundaries better.
I needed to create a healthyspace for him, because I just
wasn't willing to bring him intothe environments where I both
worked and lived, and so itlaunched me on this journey of
self discovery, in a way, andalso of reconnecting to my own
(03:33):
personal integrity, starting toactually put in place the things
that were important to me.
It's interesting that it tooklike having a human being that I
have to take care of in orderto recognize where I was not
being true to who I really wasnot living in a place of safety.
Daniela (03:51):
Honestly, you said that it took a human being, but some
people have the human being andthey still don't have the
maturity that you had torecognize that you were in a
dysfunctional environment andyou needed to fix it.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (04:03):
Yeah .
Daniela (04:03):
Kudos to you Well thank you.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (04:05):
It still took time and it took
layers and you know there'saspects to my story and it
evolved over time.
But you know it took a coupleyears for me to really get clear
on that wasn't safe to stay inmy marriage and there was a lot
of, I think, especially whenwe're in environments of
addiction or abuse in terms ofmine was never it was never
physically abusive, butdefinitely emotionally abusive.
(04:26):
We stay stuck because we getstuck into this cycle of there's
a lot of manipulation, let'sput it that way.
And so I had a lot of shame andguilt that I even ended up in a
marriage that was sodysfunctional or married to
somebody who was hiding thingsfrom me and had a really
negative, just awful, outlook onthe world, and a lot of that
was directed at me.
And it took a lot of years toreally move past that and to not
(04:49):
harbor any resentment eithertowards him or towards myself
for getting there, you know itis interesting how we you know
we're ashamed of ourselves formaking the choices, but we
really didn't know that this wasgoing to be like that.
Right, I got married, but a lotof it was not my doing right,
like it wasn't on me, and Ithink, as women in particular,
we tend to.
(05:09):
We take everything on as ourown.
Daniela (05:11):
Yes, we feel like we are going to be the resourceful,
we have to find the solutions,we have to be the nurturing, we
have to fix things.
I don't know if it's also partof our personalities too.
I wouldn't say maybe women, butsome women, I mean, we do take
that way of thinking that wehave to do it all.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (05:28):
Yes , yeah, we definitely do, and I
think we're more prone to makeit about us right Like.
Another aspect of my story ismy first business.
After I'd healed through mydivorce and actually gotten
remarried.
I was able to pick.
I had up enough to realize thatthe practice I'd built, which
was a huge, high, six figuremonstrosity, was killing me
quickly.
You know, my body was literallyfalling apart through that as
(05:51):
well, and I had created all ofthat.
I started my business when myson was six weeks old and built
it largely because I didn't wantto be home.
So I worked all the time and Ibuilt a huge thing, but it was
driven by that need to escaperather than actually creating
something.
That was my dream, although Ithought it was my dream at the
(06:11):
time.
In the process of all thatfalling apart, I actually ended
up filing for bankruptcy a yearand a half ago because I just
hit a point where I had nothingleft to give to try to navigate
all of the COVID stuff andthings that happened in the last
couple of years, in that, likea lot of people use that as
business strategy.
You know we can look at certainpresidents of the United States
that have used that as abusiness strategy, whereas I
(06:32):
made it mean a lot about myselfand being a failure.
It really shook my mindsetaround my own worth.
I think that's where we can getpulled into our own like we all
have a story right and we alsocreate stories about the story
that we are currently living.
I don't know if that makessense, and they're not always
based in reality Like we're justgathering evidence of things,
but it doesn't mean that itdoesn't make it actually real.
Daniela (06:53):
To go back to understand the order.
So you were pregnant and thenyou wanted to separate from your
husband.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (06:59):
I didn't separate from my husband
immediately.
I left the toxic workenvironment and job as soon as
my son was born.
So my son ended up coming fiveweeks early, which I learned
later was due to the amount ofstress I was under both at work
and at home.
We had a kid in our first yearof marriage, far away from
everybody, and he came early.
I knew without a doubt that Icouldn't go back to that work
(07:20):
environment.
I started my own practice whenmy son was six weeks old, which
was always my goal.
My ex-husband didn't like theunknowns of the paycheck when
you're a business owner and hejust couldn't handle that.
So we'd moved for a job and Iwas like, don't have to do it on
my own.
So I did that and we actuallystayed married for three years.
But we separated for a whileand there I did a separation of
(07:43):
about eight months and then hegot his act together and started
trying.
We bought a house and then hefell off the wagon again and by
that point I was just done.
So my son was not quite threewhen we fully separated.
Daniela (07:53):
And when you started your business and you were
always working so you somebodywas helping you with your child.
He just came with me.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (08:00):
I designed my day.
Yeah, I'm the working mom whoalso breastfed for two and a
half years.
Daniela (08:06):
Yeah, well, that's incredible.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (08:08):
Yeah , and eventually I got nannies
and I had an in-office nannybecause I had a lot of single
moms who worked for me as well,and we just did that.
You know, I still missed out ona lot, I would say, and I still
dealt with a lot of gundayswhere he just wanted to stay
home and we couldn't, or we'restill hard times but we made it
work.
Daniela (08:23):
Seems like you had a good community there.
You built a good community eventhough you were far away from
your family.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (08:29):
Yes , that's the one thing about
Alaska, where I am, is thewinters are so hard.
People are very open andwelcoming, and so you find
support and family prettyquickly, if you know, just look.
Daniela (08:40):
That's interesting.
It's true.
I forgot to mention that youare in Alaska.
Yes, yeah, your child wasgrowing up and you were
separated and you were havingthis business and you decided
that it was too much.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (08:51):
It wasn't quite that it was too
much.
We grew rapidly double ortriple in business every single
year.
To me, it felt like thissnowballing thing that I had no
control over and it was justgoing and I was like, okay, I'm
just here for the ride.
Did I create it?
Yes, I did, but it wassomething that I felt was out of
my control.
And so we hit the point of Ipurchased a 6,000 square foot
(09:12):
commercial building for us tolive in, because by that point I
had seven providers who workedfor my practice and then some
support staff and we needed thespace.
We remodeled it and did all thethings.
At that point, before I didthat, the business was actually
debt free, so I was like we'rein this position to do this.
I was divorced by that.
My practice was five or sixyears old.
I just walked upstairs to mybrand new beautiful office and I
(09:35):
sat down and cried because Irealized that I felt trapped by
the thing that I had built andit wasn't really fulfilling me.
I, at that point, my wrist wastorn in six places, I was losing
my voice and my hair wasfalling out.
My thyroid was a mess, myhormones were off, I was
starting to put on weight and Ididn't feel well and I had no
great quality of life, like Ihad no energy to engage with my
(09:57):
new husband or my son when I gothome at the end of the day.
The things that just weren'tworking about it were many, and
so it wasn't that I didn't wantthe practice to the business,
but things needed to pivot andwe also came up against.
It was like every horrible thingthat could have happened in
buying a building happened Likethe buildout took too long, it
got more expensive than it wassupposed to.
We relied largely on theinsurance world to pay for our
(10:20):
patients and care.
So we build insurance.
Half of our income justsuddenly stopped because one of
the two insurance companies thatwe primarily build broke their
claims processor and I was at apoint where overhead was mostly
payroll and I couldn't makepayroll because we weren't
collecting.
We were no less busy, but themoney just wasn't coming in, and
so that set off a series ofhaving to pivot.
So we pivoted away frominsurance and started only
(10:41):
taking cash, and I had to changethe pay structure of how I paid
my staff and the otherproviders that worked for me.
It was just like one thingafter the other, and then COVID
happened and in the midst ofthat I realized that I needed to
have risk surgery.
Everything spiraled from thereand I look back on it now and
recognize that all of thosethings were the universe trying
(11:04):
to get me to pay attention,because I was literally running
myself into the ground.
Daniela (11:08):
Wasn't on the right path, but you did it, though.
You made a good business, I did.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (11:14):
I built our biggest year.
We built out over a milliondollars.
I had the seven figure businessand from the outside I had it
all.
I'd built the house and I hadthe building and I had the
practice.
On my own podcast I'veinterviewed some women who have
also hit that point where it'slike we have what we thought we
wanted, then realized that it'snot actually what we want, like
there's no fulfillment there.
Right, it's not what weimagined or dreamed it would be.
(11:37):
I honestly had a lot of trauma,both in my marriage and then
also just from the nature of thebeast of building a healthcare
practice on your own.
Daniela (11:47):
For sure, there's a lot of responsibility, and you
mentioned the word trauma.
That's interesting.
How do you feel when you haveto close down your creation,
your business?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (11:56):
That wasn't quite then, yet I had
had my first wrist surgery in2019.
So that was right in the fall.
So that was right before COVID.
So I was still in recovery andthe bank that I bought the
building through had given melike a grace period while I was
healing from that, becauseobviously I had no way to earn
income doing what I normally did.
And in the spring of 2020, withall the stuff going on, I found
(12:22):
renters to actually rent mypractice, because by that point
we had shrunk down so we didn'tneed all that space and I found
a new location for us to go andI was just going to come back
really part time.
I ended up on this journey withthis bank that, no matter what I
did, they just won in $24,000.
I did not have that at thatpoint.
(12:42):
I'd maxed out our borrowingpotential.
I didn't qualify for any of theCOVID money that the US had,
first because of credit, andthen I didn't actually have
employees at that point.
So none of those avenues wereopen to me.
And so I found an organizationto rent the building and the
bank still won in $24,000.
I started making regularpayments and they still won in
$24,000.
(13:03):
At one point I had $22,000together and they told me it
wouldn't stop foreclosures.
So I didn't give them the moneyand I was just like, okay, I'm
done.
I then sold the building.
They decided to go ahead withthat and as I was in
conversation with the renters tobuy it, they posted a
foreclosure notice so that I gotlow, bald, majorly on the offer
(13:24):
and ended up finally sellingthe building as a short sale and
the bank still wanted $24,000.
I was just like, okay, therewas no working with me, and so I
fought and I tried.
At that point I was stillpracticing really part-time,
just two days a week, likesharing space in someone else's
office.
I finally just recognized howexhausted I was.
(13:46):
I didn't have it in me to keepfighting for that, so I did file
for bankruptcy and that was atthe end.
I made it till the end of 2021and I officially filed in
January of 2022 is when I wentthrough.
So what I didn't recognize inall of that and led me to a lot
of the work that I do today butI had hit absolute and complete
burnout.
(14:06):
That goes farther than just yourbody being exhausted.
It also gets into like youdon't have capacity or willpower
to do anything, and I was inthe midst of that, trying to
launch my coaching businessthere, and I needed to take the
time to actually heal and getclear.
Instead of you know, a lot ofmy journey is in reactivity,
like reactive to the next fire,the next thing that's falling
(14:28):
apart, and there wasn't a lot ofcreating or like connecting to
who I really am and what mybigger purposes in the world and
what I really want to do withmy life, and so I ended up on
this journey of trying to healmyself and got like so many
extra certifications I can'teven count them all because I
was, you know, felt like I bothdidn't know enough and was
(14:50):
looking for answers for myselfin my own health crisis.
Daniela (14:54):
It sounds so interesting that you were able
to find that.
Okay, I need to find somethingelse.
How can I heal myself?
How can I take care of myself?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (15:04):
It took a while to get there.
Daniela (15:05):
I'm not going to lie that was initially what took me
down the road.
You said this story started 10years ago, so it's not that long
.
No, and people take a lifetimeto find all these.
That's true, and you managed todo it in 10 years, yeah, yeah.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (15:21):
Well , and I'm a firm believer in you
know, our journeys are verymuch a part of what life is
about and where we arrive andwhat we take from it.
Daniela (15:30):
What do you think you learned from having your own
business?
From being an entrepreneur, Ilearned a lot.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (15:36):
My first job as an entrepreneur
largely, you know, I thinkthere's a lot to be said for
being a woman and a businessowner and young Started my
business before I was 30 andbuilt this huge thing by the
time I was 33.
It challenged me, like a lot ofbusiness is not so much how to
do certain business things, it'smore how you show up and who it
(15:57):
calls you to be.
And there were some steeplearning curves, especially as I
started to lead a team.
You know have staff and otherpeople I was responsible for and
there were a lot of layers, andwhat I have learned like
actually recently, more in thisyear, is the way I did and led
my business in the beginning wasactually not connected to what
(16:17):
I call zone of genius.
I've recently been exposed tosomething called the working
genius and instead I was doing alot of things that were in my
zone of frustration and some ofcompetence, and those are fast
path to burnout.
So that has been interesting tounpack now, as I am still an
entrepreneur.
I'm always gonna be anentrepreneur.
I know that about myself.
But how do you build a businessthat not leading you towards
(16:38):
burnout when a lot of the tasksthat we have to do are like
Galvanizing people, which is oneof my frustration.
Daniela (16:47):
I was gonna bring my results.
Thanks to you.
We talked last time and I didthe test, the thing with those
tests and problems.
Okay, I figured out all thisinteresting.
Oh, yes, it makes sense, but Ifeel like it stays there like I
haven't done anything else withit.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (17:03):
We can talk about all this for
your listeners.
This is the working genius,which is incredibly interesting
to me, but essentially there aresix Gears that have to fit
together for any kind of projectcome to fruition.
And how we work and we have Twoof the six are genius, to our
competency and to ourfrustration.
So Mine is.
I have invention anddiscernment is actually my
(17:23):
genius, and so I'm incrediblycreative.
And in the first business Icreated, you know I had aspects
where that came through, butmost of where I lived was in,
you know, more, being a teamplayer and the enablement which
is in my zone of competence,which is a weird place to lead
from right, like I had wonderand enablement in and that
(17:45):
pairing is like the humble kindof doesn't want any of the
credit, but like still leader,and that's definitely how I was.
Like business wasn't.
I didn't take ownership withthe fact that I was creating.
It was about everybody else onmy team and who you know built
it up and there's nothing wrongwith being humble, but it's hard
to lead from that place, we'lljust put it that way effectively
and being connected to who youreally are, and then tenacity
(18:07):
and galvanizing are in my zoneof frustration.
So that's all the marketing andthe getting team members on
board, creating care plans andsoap notes and all the billing
and I was doing so much of thatstuff and like micromanaging and
it's no wonder to me at thispoint why I burnt out.
Also, you know, I practicepractice very structured on,
(18:29):
like I'm not only wearing allthose hats but I was also
adjusting people and having tenminute appointment slots.
So there was just no space forwhere I actually get joy, which
is in creating stuff, in helpingothers figure out their journey
and their frustration.
So a lot of what I do now isactually turned into Taking that
model and how do we actuallyapply it in a chiropractic
(18:51):
setting or in business and workand doing that with my own
business now yes, you're good toadvocate about this, this test.
Daniela (19:00):
According to my results , I think we will work together
well, because my strength areyou.
You're witnessing the other wayaround, great right.
So then you started to think,okay, I need to heal, I need to
do something.
What was it?
How did you get there?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (19:16):
Yeah , yeah so it started with my
health, and so I went on and gotcertified as a integrative
women's health coach.
Mostly I was looking with mywrist, I was looking for the
okay, what's next for me, stillwithin this health space and
container.
So I got certified as a coachand then I Entered a PhD program
(19:37):
in integrative and naturalmedicine, because I definitely
need another doctor degree.
That led me on a journeytowards understanding trauma
more and starting to recognizemy own trauma.
It's been this evolution whereI've been learning and testing
things on myself and doingthings myself and also working
with other women on their ownHormonal imbalances and things,
(19:59):
because I had the experience ofI woke up one day and none of my
pants fit and I'd all fit aweek ago and my hormones were so
off my body got estrogendominant and so I just put on 50
pounds literally overnight andcouldn't get it off.
And I'm in that space where andthis is a lot of where I come
from and how I do Help otherwomen with this now.
But it's like I was alreadydoing all the things.
I already had the healthylifestyle, all those changes
(20:20):
that they Often talk aboutmaking, but it wasn't working,
and so I've been on this journeyof finding the missing pieces
to have at work for myself, anda lot of other things Actually
come from getting very outsidethe box of Western medicine.
You know, as I've healed and alot of the trauma work is really
actually only been in the lastsix to eight months for me, but
(20:42):
a lot has opened up and there'sbeen this Space for expansion
again and I finally felt like mywill power turned back on maybe
three months ago, and so it'sled to a lot of shifts, one of
them being I finally gave myselfpermission To step out of the
health box inside.
It's like I put myself becauseI have this, you know $300,000
(21:03):
degree that I felt like I Ihaven't really been using
because I'm not practicingchiropractic, but I finally gave
myself permission to just saylike okay, if I let all of that
go, like all of those pieces ofmy identity and that was a big
part of this process too isletting go of so many things
that identified me, because itwas like divorce was something I
(21:26):
never thought I would gothrough.
I didn't expect to go through.
Letting go of being achiropractor and how I define
myself with stuff and my worthfrom stuff was another thing
that I had to go through andprocess and just let go of.
But when you can really actuallyhonestly come from nothing and
(21:49):
just say like jump into thatabyss of, I literally felt like
I jumped into an abyss of likedark space and it's just like
okay, if I let it all go, whatwould I actually do?
And it's been very interestingbecause it's brought me full
circle, back to helping otherchiropractors build a practice
(22:09):
that won't burn them out andheal their bodies when they're
already there, because a hugeportion of us burn out.
And that came from starting toshare my story in circles where
there's other chiropractors andjust realizing how many people
related to it and not to say youknow, other other professions
and other parts of the world canrelate to my story as well.
Daniela (22:29):
But this is your story.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (22:30):
So it's really what opened up in
all that.
Daniela (22:32):
Yes, yes, I find it fantastic.
You said that you have to startfrom scratch.
And who are you really?
Not the practice, not thestudies, not the health, not the
other classes and courses youhave.
And that happened to me too.
I lost my job.
It's not that I was defined bymy titles, because I didn't
really think that.
Who am I really?
(22:53):
And you know, reading a fewbooks, you're not your name,
you're not even your daughter,wife, a mother you're.
If all that can be taken awayfrom you, you're none of that.
So that was quite interestingfor me to realize that, and I
value other things now, like myfreedom and and what is it that
I am here to do?
And how can I help othersversus, you know, having a job
(23:15):
and having a title and makingmoney.
Yeah, I think an interestingway to look at this.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (23:21):
I don't know if you've ever read
the book Worthy by Nancy Levin.
I've been reading this one andshe talks a lot about our self
worth is really a reflection ofour net worth in terms of money
and finances and all that.
She has one statement in therewhere she says you know, if you
basically had nothing and we'reliving on the street, would you
still love yourself?
And really what makes us worthyand this is getting into what
we're talking about here is justthat we're human beings on this
(23:42):
planet.
It's not the stuff weaccumulate, it's not the
education, it's not the you know.
None of that actually matters.
Daniela (23:50):
People care too much about titles and roles, and
that's not really what we'rehere for.
Yeah, absolutely.
I want to know more about these, these hormones that you
figured out.
I know, being in Canada, thatdoctors just do the basic and
then they say oh, you are onmenopause or you are 50.
Good luck.
They always measure you by thenumbers instead of by how you're
(24:13):
feeling, and nobody wants tooptimize you, they just want you
not to be sick, and that's soupsetting.
Yeah, so tell me more.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (24:20):
Yeah , well, and it's.
That's the case in the US too,I think.
Anywhere that we're dealingwith Western medicine there's
just not a lot of understanding.
And we also have to realize,like in the US and I'm guessing
it's probably the same in CanadaWomen weren't actually included
in any medical researchconsistently until the law was
passed in 1991.
So we really haven't had thatmuch time where we've been
(24:41):
studying women and understandingyou know how women are
different from men and there's alot with hormones that are
different, and so what I havelearned is especially like
having hit the point of burnoutcompletely is stress impacts
hormones.
Hormones are very much theeffect of our environment or of
their environment, is that's asaying in the hormone world and
(25:02):
we always take that to mean youknow all the stuff we're doing
outside, like how you, you knowwhat's your diet and how you
exercise and how you're sleeping, and not all of that is
important.
I'm not saying it's not, butthere's this deeper layer of our
internal environment and sowhen you're feeling off, huge
part of the shifts for me wasn'tin that, because I practiced
functional medicine for you know, a couple of years and kind of
(25:23):
making my shifts and I liked itOkay, but I still felt like
something was missing.
It was more of that internalwork, of really getting your
internal environment, includingyour emotional state, back
online.
We all deal with high levels ofstress.
Let's just put it that way.
Most of us aren't aware of itbecause that's just our normal.
It starts to impact our bodyand so I think, as women,
especially as we hit menopausewe finally are paying attention
(25:46):
enough for a notice like mybody's freaking out what's going
on.
A lot of the increase insymptoms that I'd say we've had
in the last 50 years is becausewe're coming into that process
already completely screwed up,because we've normalized all
these things that are hormonalin nature.
We've normalized the PMS andthe PCOS and fertility issues
(26:07):
and cycles being off, and we'venormalized taking birth control
or taking hormone replacementtherapy for those things and
they don't actually address theissue and oftentimes they're
making them worse.
Daniela (26:16):
But so what do you do?
You do some blood tests, and sowhat happened to you?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (26:21):
So for me, I figured out I was
estrogen dominant through bloodtests, and so that is looking at
the numbers, but looking atthem from a functional range For
women and I focus more on oursex hormones.
So estrogen, progesterone andtestosterone Testosterone's
negligible, but if you'redealing with something like PCOS
, it will go high and so that'llcause facial hair or weight
(26:43):
gain and some of that stuff.
Estrogen and progesterone thatratio really matters.
They don't test this whenyou're just getting your blood
work done.
They also don't pay anyattention to where you are on
your cycle if you just gettested in Western medicine, and
so they really don't know whatthe picture is showing them at
all, because they have noreference range because those
hormone levels change throughthe month.
So when you go estrogen dominant, it can either be because your
(27:04):
progesterone's too low andprogesterone actually converts
into cortisol when you're undertoxic stress, like high levels
of chronic stress, and this ishow I had a baby early actually,
because in order to staypregnant, both have to stay high
, and I was under so much stresswhile I was pregnant that my
progesterone dropped and we wentinto labor.
They don't explain that to you.
They were just like oh, I don'tknow, you just had a baby five
(27:25):
weeks early.
I'm like I'm healthy.
I hardly put on any weight,like I'm 28.
I take really great care ofmyself.
Why is this a thing?
So it took me years to figurethat out.
So either your progesterone canbe too low and your estrogen is
actually fine but you're goingto have symptoms in there, or
your estrogen is actually toohigh because your liver is
struggling and there's.
It's all interconnected.
So, like your gut, health playsa huge role in your hormone
(27:47):
balance.
Your mental and emotionalhealth plays a huge role in your
hormone balance.
Your sleep cycles are going toplay a huge role in your hormone
balance, and so that's not tosay there's nothing to do.
We just have to start peelingback the layers, and that's
really what I've started doingwith other women, and you know
it's not a very fast process.
I've had women I've beenworking with for three years
that we're still peeling backthe layers.
Others get through it in ninemonths.
(28:09):
It just kind of depends on yourbody and where you're at and
how much havoc.
Daniela (28:13):
What were the changes that you noticed most?
For you, for?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (28:16):
me .
I had to do a lot of emotionalwork before doing some of the
things that we do to lose weightactually worked before a diet.
You know, changing how I atefor a period of time worked for
me and I did.
I lost 30 pounds in 13 weeks,but I'd tried a whole slew of
other things before thatactually worked.
You know, since then I've alsolearned I do a lot of.
(28:36):
I call them energy centers, butyou know we're connecting to our
chakras is what they are.
But I come from the Christianworld, so we talk about energy
centers.
We have energy in our body and,you know, working to just
restore balance and flow tothose areas, because all each of
them is connected to adifferent hormonal pathway in
your body.
The first three in particular,like with stress and cortisol,
that's going to be your solarplexus, which is also the seat
(28:59):
of your willpower, and when Ifinally put all those things
together I was like, oh, that'swhat burnout is.
Okay, your sex hormones are inyour lower two and that's you
know.
The second is also connected toyour gut and it's like, oh, all
these things connect and makesense.
A lot of it is like the bigthings for me.
I've been learning how to getout of my head and actually
connect into my body.
I had a coach at one pointasked me where do you feel that
(29:21):
in your body?
When we were talking throughsome mindset stuff and I was
just like what are you talkingabout?
Like I have no idea, there'snothing below my neck, what.
And so starting to learn how totune into areas and find those
spots where I actually couldn'tconnect or had no feeling.
Like belly area, which is thesecond center, kind of like your
lower pelvis and belly, it waslike it wasn't there.
Same thing with my solar plexusit was just like there was.
(29:44):
There was nothing there.
It's almost dead.
It was starting to learn how todo those things.
Things like journaling andmeditation, things I never, ever
done or took time for, are nowhuge parts of you know, my day
and, honestly, my businessbuilding like they're the most
important pieces because ithelps me not repeat the cycles
that helped me burn out in thefirst place, to stay connected
(30:04):
to myself.
Daniela (30:04):
Wow, super interesting.
What about you meeting otherdoctors or other chiropractors?
How is their relationship?
Because you know you have aknowledge that I really share
there is most people that don'tbelieve in this.
How, how do you handle that?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (30:19):
It's a balance.
For sure, there are medicaldoctors out there who are
open-minded and there are plentythat are not at all, and I know
healthcare works a littledifferently in Canada from the
US.
But I'm always an advocate ofyou.
Don't have to stay with yourdoctor.
You can find somebody who willwork with you.
I think you guys have a littleless opportunity for that just
(30:40):
because of how your healthcaresystem is built.
We can't find a doctor.
Yeah, you know.
So it's up to you.
I get asked about this a lotbecause healthcare has become so
compartmentalized and I'mguessing it has there too and so
it's specialists as needed forevery little part of your body.
And yet our bodies are allconnected.
I look at they're doing thebest they can with the knowledge
(31:02):
that they have.
Unfortunately, there's a lot ofthis like very haughty.
You know, I know everything andI'm on deputant attitude.
That can come with Westernmedical doctors, so I would just
take it with a grain of salt.
If you need to interact withthem for testing or whatever it
is, and then someone else likeme or an atropath can look at it
, then great, you have a choice.
That's the thing.
Daniela (31:21):
Like you, don't have to do what they say.
When you have conversationswith people that don't believe
in this, does it make youquestion anything?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (31:27):
or maybe to study more, or or you
just like completely sold itused to, but at this point I'm
very confident in what I'velearned and put together and I
fully recognize like my approachis not for everybody.
I'm not everyone's cup of tea,and that's fine.
A lot of what I learned, havelearned, is very grounded in
science.
A lot of my PhD program that Iactually haven't finished, but I
(31:50):
completed like 90% of it.
I just never wrote thedissertation.
You know that was built inquantum physics, which is a
study.
It's a study of science.
It's newer, like noteverybody's on board with it.
I've been so used to beingagainst the grain that it
doesn't really phase me.
I can hold my own in any kindof science discussion, answer
questions that they don'tactually have answers to.
Daniela (32:10):
So I'm good.
Good Is there always a lot ofconference and always something
new coming up about this?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (32:18):
I think there's starting to be.
It's been interesting to watch,especially with menopause.
In Europe it seems like there'smore push towards talking about
it than there has been in theUS at this point, and I'm not
sure where Canada falls on thatline.
Spain just passed basicallyhormonal leave.
Whether it's from menopause orhorrible period symptoms, like
(32:39):
you can, that's an acceptablereason to miss work and be paid
for it.
Still, in Spain, it's openinglike this whole can of worms
about, like the differencesbetween men and women and all
this stuff.
But I think there's moreawareness and more willingness
to talk about it and there'smore demand to understand it
better, and so I do see movementthere.
You know you have to recognizethat I'm coming at it from a
(33:01):
very like let's get to the root,let's really heal deeply so
that our bodies just functionlike they're supposed to,
because they were built tofunction in a certain way.
You know I saw on LinkedIn theynamed menopause as, like you
know, one of the biggest thingsto come in 2023 is a
multi-billion dollar industryand a lot of that is going to be
in like the bandaid things liketake this supplement and not to
(33:21):
say some of those things won'twork and won't help manage
symptoms, but it's not gettingto the root of the issue, and
that's where I'm focused.
Daniela (33:27):
Yeah, that's like everything given a diet, like
the people were eating keto, andit was very simple you just
have to eat healthy and morefats than carbs, and then now
they start to sell theseproducts.
But it doesn't mean that it'sbetter, it's just.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (33:39):
Yeah , and something like keto.
It's not designed to be donelong term either.
It's supposed to be a shortterm thing that you do in it.
You know at some point it stopsbeing effective.
I'm very much not about thesilver bullet and more about
reconnecting to yourself,figuring out what your body
actually needs, because you areunique and you're going to be
different from your best friendor your sister or your mom, like
whoever's giving you whatworked for them.
(34:01):
It doesn't mean that it's rightfor you.
Daniela (34:03):
But it's difficult to find your formula.
I thought it would be easy.
I've been like in the searchfor like exercise and food and I
just thought, okay, I just haveone recipe and it's not like
that and it's frustrating.
I feel, in a way, that we're inthis world just to figure out
what we need and who we are, andthis could take a whole journey
.
So may as well take it slow andnot get stressed about it.
(34:25):
Yeah, but when I hear peoplelike you and others that they
seem to have it all undercontrol, I'm like how come it
takes me longer to figure thisout?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (34:35):
And I'll be honest, it took me five
years of being aware of it andmy whole life up until then to
have my hormones be totallyjacked up.
I really like to look at it asjust being curious, try things
and bring curiosity to it, Alsorecognizing a lot of the
exercise and the diets and thosethings.
The research has been done onmen and for men, and so women
are going to be different.
But if you can connect toyourself, is it ever going to be
(34:56):
fun to come off sugar?
No, you're going to have aperiod where you don't feel good
, but it shouldn't last verylong, you know.
Giving yourself enough time,like two or three weeks, to
experiment with something toreally know how it's going to
affect you.
But tuning in in that way andnot being committed all the way,
like one of my biggest shiftswith actually exercise was to
stop pushing myself because Iliterally didn't have the
(35:17):
capacity.
My body didn't have thecapacity, because all exercise
is a.
It's a healthy form of stress,but it still produces a stress
response and so if you're sooverproduced in that area from
toxic stress and other areas oflife, you can actually hurt
yourself more than help yourselfby pushing yourself to work out
.
Hard Walking became my thing,Really gentle yoga, Like
sometimes it's interrupting thepattern that says like, ah, but
(35:40):
I have to do spin every day, oryou know whatever it is and
allowing yourself the freedom tojust do what feels good, Like I
just started running again.
But I'm and I'm former marathonrunner who pushed myself away
too hard during all that in myearly twenties I'm approaching
it as like does this feel goodright now?
Okay, then we keep running.
If it doesn't feel good, thenwe're going to stop.
We're not going to do itbecause it's about that.
It needs to feel good.
Daniela (36:01):
Where is the fine line between your brain is telling
you you are out of the comfortzone, versus I'm using my heart
to tell that, yeah, this is notreally what I need to do.
You know that I don't.
I don't know that fine line?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Rid (36:12):
Again , it takes getting connected to
yourself and I'm not sayingnever push.
I wear an aura ring and itgives me like a readiness score
every day based on my heart ratevariability.
It gives you a bunch ofinformation and then tells you
how ready you are.
I've learned to really gaugethe amount of activity I do and
what I do.
Like last week I had a daywhere I had a high readiness
score and my body was like wefeel good and so I ran intervals
(36:36):
that day because that was likethe day for it.
But I based my training and howI do those things based on what
that says.
And it's a game for me to figureout how to have like those days
more often than I have, thedays where it's like, yeah,
maybe chill On those days I doyoga or something.
Some of us need that kind ofinput, like I definitely do.
Otherwise I would push reallyhard all the time.
You know, now I can tell like Ican develop that awareness of
(36:59):
like I didn't recover from that.
So maybe we should take it easytoday.
Daniela (37:03):
Okay, interesting.
You have done a wonderful workfor yourself.
You are in a very healthyenvironment.
You have your son and newhusband and you have a business
that is bringing you joy and nottoo much stress.
You're helping others and youhave your own podcast.
How did you start your podcast?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (37:19):
That was something I always just
wanted to do, and so in 2020, itwas actually before COVID
happened I launched it and kindof kept it going.
It's evolved.
I've rebranded a few times.
I also wrote a book.
I've written a book thatoutlines the process that I put
together, kind of pulling all ofthese pieces of understanding
hormones and body and connect it.
(37:40):
You want to share the name.
Yes, it's called selflesssyndrome, the root cause of
exhaustion, anxiety and hormonalchaos and high achieving women.
You can find it on Amazon and Ican give you a link to download
the first two chapters.
Daniela (37:53):
Okay, that's great.
That's great.
And the podcast is about youhave guests and you talk about
hormones.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (37:58):
So it's a combination of things.
When I gave myself permissionto step out of the health box, I
rebranded to the intuitivewomen's leadership podcast.
We definitely talk about healthstuff still, but also how we
really connect to ourselves andhow we show up in business and
your career, with your family,staying more connected to the
root of who you are, becauseit's really easy to get lost,
(38:19):
especially as we enter like aman's world in terms of how we
work.
I think women are often tryingto step into being something
that we're not finding thatbalance of still stepping into
that world but doing it in a waythat keeps you in balance.
Daniela (38:31):
Do you do the podcast all by yourself or do you have
help?
I am doing it by myself.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridley (38:35):
At the moment.
I have some tools that help.
Daniela (38:38):
Wow, the podcast, the job, the mom, the wife.
That's pretty busy, it can beAgain.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (38:43):
It's all the balance right.
The biggest thing I commit tois actually what I call white
space, where I just do whateverI need to do that day, whether
it's lay down and take a nap orgo for a run or something else
in between.
But keep protecting that spacefor myself has been really key
to all that.
Daniela (38:57):
That's daily or weekly Daily I have that too, but I
feel guilty yeah it comes upwith a lot of.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (39:04):
For a lot of us as women, right
Like we feel guilt over takingany time for ourselves or what
we need, or a lot of us don'teven know what we need.
I've really learned to let thatgo because I'm a better mom.
Like my son knows that when Igo upstairs and just chill for a
little bit like he's, he's coolwith that because we homeschool
.
You know he's around but heknows that mom's going to be
good a better mom when she comesdown.
My husband knows that I needthat time in order to be a
(39:27):
better wife.
Like they recognize, I'mhappier and more adjusted if I'm
.
Daniela (39:31):
I don't think you saw my face.
I heard my comment when yousaid you homeschool.
I'm like what the hell was thatI saw?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridl (39:37):
your face when.
Daniela (39:38):
I mean how many hours are in your days?
I?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-R (39:40):
haven't been doing great at
homeschooling, but we have a newgame plan for next year.
Daniela (39:45):
So all all these five years you've been homeschooling.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (39:48):
Not quite all of them.
We homeschooled one year beforeCOVID happened and then we've
been going since COVID andhaven't gone back to a regular
school.
Okay, okay.
Daniela (39:55):
Wow, wow.
You are really busy, so thankyou for the time.
So what is next for you?
Are you going to add any moreto your talent?
Are you going to write anotherbook?
Are you continue with thepodcast?
Anything new that you haven'tshared?
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-R (40:06):
Nothing in the works quite yet.
I'm sure I will write anotherbook in the near future.
I writing is one of my things.
Like I said, I'm super creative, so I'm always creating
something, but I don't have anyimmediate plans.
Just continuing with the thingsI built and continuing to
evolve my own process and my ownbusiness.
Daniela (40:23):
Great, great, and you are going to stay in Alaska.
Dr. Alexandra Swenson-Ridle (40:25):
Yes , my husband is Alaska native,
currently the elected chief of42 tribes that deals and also
president of a huge organizationthat deals with health.
So we're not going anywhereanytime soon Wonderful.
Daniela (40:35):
Well, dr Alex, thank you so much for sharing your
story and your time.
Thanks for having me.
It's been a lot of fun.
Yes, it was a pleasure, thankyou.
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
I am Daniela and you werelistening to, because everyone
has a story.
Please take five seconds rightnow and think of somebody in
your life that may enjoy whatyou just heard, or someone that
(40:58):
has a story to be shared andpreserved.
When you think of that person,shoot them a text with the link
of this podcast.
This would allow the ordinarymagic to go further.
Join me next time for anotherstory conversation.
Thank you for listening.
Hasta pronto.
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