March 3, 2023 • 32 mins
Ever wanted to get a handle on those pesky sugar cravings? Wonder if your diet has more of an impact than exercise when it comes to professional success in life and business? TEDx expert Dinara Mukh is here with the answer! Tune in for this motivational episode as she explains how nutrition plays a critical role that should be included our daily routines. Learn all about insulin sensitivity, which will ultimately make you feel amazing both physically and professionally--it's sure to change your life!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
welcome to the Seven FigureBuilder Show.
(00:01):
My name is Julie Barick, founderof Seven Figure Builder, where
we help high achieving CEOs freeup their time with gorgeous
automations to scale theirbusiness to seven figures and
beyond.
And I'm here today with myfriend Dara.
How are you, Dara?
I'm so good.
I'm excited to be here.
Thanks for having me.
Absolutely.
So for those that haven't hadthe pleasure of meeting you yet,
can you tell us a little bitabout what you do?
(00:23):
Yeah, for sure.
So my name is Dara and Iactually am a women's health
coach, but I'm also a podcasterjust like yourself.
And I'm also a TEDx speaker andI have, um, had my business for
over two years now, and I aim onhelping women help them
reconnect to their bodies byunderstanding the magic of their
(00:44):
menstrual cycle.
It's a bit of a mouthful, but Ithink everyone.
Everyone with an activereproductive cycle needs this.
So it's, it's been an amazingjourney.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
It's something you really can'tget away from whether you try to
or not.
Yeah, and I think you also tryto ignore it for a very long
time just because societallyyou've sort of been told, not so
much to talk about it, butthere's so much power to it once
(01:06):
you've really dig in.
And it showed up both in mybusiness, in my, in the way, how
I feel, also in the way how Ilook and in my friendships, and
it truly has transformed mylife.
Wow.
That's awesome.
So how do you feel like yourhormones play in with your
everyday life?
So the hormones are sort of thechemical messengers within our
(01:26):
bodies, and their entire job isjust run across our body from
gland to gland, from our brain,and to just kind of communicate
different functions.
It's like have more energyovulate, um, metabolize whatever
the functions that need tohappen.
But what, um, the layer that.
I've sort of didn't quiterealize is that our menstrual
(01:47):
cycle as a woman is a verypowerful, um, sort of the, the
menstrual, the ebbs and flows ofthe hormones that tend to happen
throughout our menstrual cycletruly affect how we show up in
the world.
So it does affect our physicalsymptoms, things like how hungry
we are, and I think most womenwould notice that a week before
their period, this is the timewhen they desire to sweep up the
(02:10):
pantry and just eat all thechocolates.
And then there's time in theircycles when they're like, Wow,
I'm so, I'm able to keep up withmy diets and eat my salads, and
then they sort of find out thatit's not quite the same, the
entire s the entire cycle andthe same shows up in our
energies.
There's time when we just haveso much energy, we eager to
learn things, we want to achievethings, and then there are times
(02:32):
when our energy turns inward andwas sort of eager for that time
alone.
And in my business, what I havenoticed, interestingly enough,
Around ovulation, which is abouttwo weeks out of your period, is
the time when I had higherrevenue months, like higher
revenue days, and like I wouldbring in more money.
And then when I started to sortof track it and really dig deep
(02:53):
into it, I've realized that itmakes complete sense because
it's around ovulation for women.
It's when we feel most optimal.
Going, we not afraid to takerisk.
We're not afraid to.
We're more assertive.
We're kind of more likely toreach out and, uh, pitch our
ideas.
And it was really interestinghow my hormones really played
the role, not only my physicalsymptoms, but also how I show up
(03:15):
at work.
Yeah, that's incredible.
Mm-hmm.
So I think so many of us, we'vebeen dealing with our menstrual
cycles, our whole lives.
Like you feel like all of whatyou described, we all
experience, but you feel likeit's out of your control.
So what do you, what can we doabout it?
Well, that's exactly it.
It's just feeling out of theircontrol.
And then if we really take it alayer deeper and ask, well, why
(03:37):
do we feel out of control?
And the reason being is becausemost of us grew up with the
conversations around our periodthat were.
Practically non-existent.
Um, we didn't have as much sexeducation during school.
It was very basic, so nobodyreally got us in touch with our
bodies.
And if anything, the messagesthat we got is, um, just don't
(03:58):
talk about it.
It's just an uncomfortable timeof your cycle, therefore you
have to sort of live with it.
And I think it's just thispopular notion that your period
is just supposed to be painful.
It's just the experience that.
You go through and it sort ofpresents this narrative that
being a woman is like adiagnosis.
When in reality it's, it'sabsolutely unfair.
(04:19):
And when you think about sort ofthe creation of the world, it
wouldn't make sense that we weredesigned for 50% of us to
struggle for X amount of daysevery single, every single
month.
So sort of the way that you dealwith it is first of all,
understand what's happening withyour bodies and actually, I'm
gonna get curious because Ithink just like with everything,
(04:40):
it starts with awareness andunderstanding that your symptoms
are actually within your controland you can absolutely improve
them.
And your symptoms are sort oflike the language of your body
that if you do experiencediscomfort, what that really
means is.
Something is off.
Like your, your nutrition mightbe off, you might be a little
bit too stressed.
Maybe you're not moving enough.
(05:00):
Maybe your lifestyle issedentary.
Maybe your relationships in lifeare the ones that drain you
rather than fulfill you.
So I think in general, femalehealth is so holistic.
And often when we go withproblems to the doctors, we look
we're being looked as likeseparate pieces.
If you have gut issues, you goto gastroenterologists.
If you have gynecologicalissues, you go to gynecologists.
(05:22):
None of them ever talk to eachother.
And then they all kind of tellwomen, yeah, this is not a
problem.
This is okay.
Which leads us to believe that,well, this is just in my head
and this is, and I think that'sthe narrative that throws so
many of us off when the medicalprofession doesn't always give
us the answers that we'relooking for.
Yeah, and a lot of times ourhormones are out of whack.
(05:46):
So how does say P C O S playinto what you're describing?
So polycystic recovery syndromeis probably one of the most,
yeah, I would say it's one ofthe most common symptoms among
women, and there's so muchinteresting history as to why P
C O S happens, but, Polycysticovary syndrome.
Usually the common symptoms iswhen you, your periods sort of,
(06:08):
um, they become irregular.
They're longer than 35 days incycle.
But another, um, significantsymptom of it is that you have
more androgens in your body.
And androgens is, uh, part ofthe hormone group.
Um, sort of the male hormonegroups as we usually know them,
is part of.
Testosterone fe uh, testosteronehormonal group.
(06:28):
So the excess androgens usuallyhappens because of our diets,
just to show how much our bodiesis connected.
So the root cause of P C O S in90% of the cases is usually
insulin resistance.
And insulin resistance is drivenby.
Often our diets or excessstress, so a lot of processed
(06:50):
foods, things like sugars,things like white flowers.
And unfortunately that ispredominant diet for many people
in Canada, in US.
And we also, we don't sit downand we eat meals, so we just
always on the Russian, thequickest thing to grab sometimes
is those things that are notnecessarily, um, as healthy.
So whenever our body becomesinsulin resistant, our, not to
(07:13):
get too technical with you, butI'll kind of.
Describe it in general.
Whenever your, um, ovariesproduce hormones usually produce
sort of testosterone that thenconverts into estrogen, but
with, with excess insulin, itdoesn't do the conversion.
So therefore we have excessamount of ed androgens, which in
turn interrupts with ourovulation, which in turns for
(07:33):
women, it will cause things likeirregular periods, sometimes
unwanted hair growth, sometimesacne, and often the most common
one is just gaining weightwithout, um, Being able to lose
it.
And with P C O S, unfortunatelywhen we go to the doctors, we
hear things like just eat lessand exercise more.
And it's such, um, doomed towomen such a disservice because
(07:56):
then women go and do that.
And what that creates is justfurther disconnection from their
body.
Terrible relationship with foodcreates this fear around food as
opposed to what they should betold is that, um, you just need
to control your blood sugar andinstead of eat less.
Eat actually more, but of foodslike proteins, like vegetables,
(08:16):
like fruits, and have recoveredmany clients' cycles by changing
their lifestyles and nutrition.
That's incredibly helpful.
Um, mm-hmm.
And so, Yeah, we're also told,I'll speak for myself cuz you're
describing my life, so I'm veryfamiliar with the subject.
(08:39):
Um, but we're also told that,you know, exercise can
negatively impact your weightloss.
How do you find that place inwith, with uh, P C O S?
So, Exercise.
Exercise is interesting becauseso much of exercise narrative
has been you just need toexercise to get a good body when
in reality exercise isincredibly useful for our
(09:01):
bodies.
It's good for our cardiovascularsystem, it's good for bone, uh,
bone density.
Joints.
There's so many benefits.
But what I do think, and thismight be an unpopular opinion,
is that exercise should not beused as a weight loss or sort of
a weight gain tool.
It should be used as a tool forhealth because exercise is so
positive for our mental health,it's good for our confidence and
(09:24):
especially for women that gosort of, I wanna say, as early
as after 35, because.
This is when some women can gointo this phase called
perimenopause.
So before women goes intomenopause, when her cycles and
periods stop altogether, shegoes through a period of time
that's about can be up to 10years of perimenopause.
(09:44):
And all of those sort of scarysymptoms that we hear of, that's
when they take place.
And if women pick up things likestrength training and they begin
to, um, To exercise more, thattransition will be so much
easier because, um, as we gothrough perimenopause for women
specifically, predominantly isthe hormone estrogen that
usually gets, that usually getsin decline, which is the hormone
(10:07):
that keeps our bones healthy,our.
Muscle tissue healthy, but as itbegins to decline, we kind of
feel it.
We essentially, not only do wefeel it in our body, but also
happens on them, um, on thephysical level.
So having regular habits asexercise is really beneficial
for your health.
So when it come to weight loss,however, Um, for women
(10:30):
specifically with P C O S, Ithink because they're told to
lose weight and exercise more,we usually take it as cardio.
And we usually think of thingslike if we sweat a lot, which is
what cardio does, then we'lllose weight.
When in reality, for women withP C O S specifically,
weightlifting has been shown.
To have such an incredibleimpact because it improves
(10:51):
insulin, uh, sensitivity becauseif you work up your muscle, it
just sort of keeps, uh, burningcalories throughout the day.
So as far as, I wouldn't rely onexercise as a weight loss tool,
but rather rely on as a healthtool and then do more resistance
training.
Specifically if you'restruggling with P C O S.
That's very helpful.
What about, um, managing bloodsugars?
(11:13):
How do you find that, you know,that's the easiest way or best
way for people to do that?
Yeah, managing blood sugar isprobably one of the key things
that we need to do.
And interestingly enough, thereis up to, I wanna say the number
latest that I've read is 88% ofpeople have some sort of
metabolical dysfunction that'srelated to mismanaged blood
sugar.
And I think when we think aboutblood sugar, we often think
(11:35):
about diabetics.
But actually it's, it's so muchmore, and it's a lot of.
Um, there's a lot of people thatexperience that are in
pre-diabetic stage.
They haven't quite beendiagnosed yet, but their insulin
is already getting to a stage ofresistance.
And I think the biggest thingswith blood sugar is, if I can
give, sort of the best tip isjust to eat breakfast.
(11:57):
And there is this narrative thatwe heard about intermittent
fasting in the rest and like,and it's became such a popular
notion, but yet, Intermittentfasting for female bodies, just
not, uh, it's not beneficial.
She can do, like, as a woman,you maybe can get away with it
over the course in the firsthalf of your cycle because at
that time your metabolism isslower, your blood sugar is not
(12:18):
as, um, just your insulin levelsare less sensitive, but in the
second half of the cycle as yourhormonal.
Cocktail of your body changes,you actually need to eat more,
um, more dense foods and youcannot be skipping meals and
putting yourself into fastingfor extended period of time.
Cuz what happens when women putthemselves into too long of a
(12:39):
fast?
Anything over that's.
12, 13 hours is it can produce,um, it will start putting your
body into stress, sort of stressstate.
And then we have cortisol kickin and when cortisol kicks in it
once again, and Chris is theblood sugar.
So if the two tips that I cangive for, um, for blood sugar is
just introduce breakfast, butspecifically savory breakfast,
(13:01):
things like eggs or maybe Greekyogurt.
And don't start your day with,uh, with dessert.
Things like Kellogg, um,Kellogg, what is it?
Uh, cereal.
Cereal is the word I'm lookingfor.
And like, uh, cro sands or sweetthings and not having, not
starting your day off, um, withthe foods that will spike your
blood sugar, not only will keepyour blood sugar levels managed,
(13:24):
but also will give you moreenergy throughout the day.
So that's the key.
And the second one is managingyour stress, because I think so
many women are under so much.
Stress on the regular andunfortunately, um, when we
stress our blood sugar levelrises as well and sometimes
that's the reason that stopswomen from actually being able
to lose weight.
(13:45):
So it just shows how intricatelyour bodies are connected.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And how does fruit play intothat?
Do you find that fruit willspike your sugar or It's easier
to, to, for our bodies toprocess.
So fruit that we eat today isnot the fruit that we used to
have since back in the day.
And even if you search likebananas that we used to have,
and bananas that we have now,they're just very different.
(14:07):
Fruit used to contain a lot offiber.
Nowadays fruits are mostly,they've been quite modified, so
it's practically a dessert.
It's incredibly sweet.
So, It's kind of, it comes downto context.
Then the choice, would it becake or a banana?
Like if you're kind of choosingbetween those two, then I
definitely think banana is agreat choice.
Having said that, I wouldn't,especially if you're struggling
(14:29):
with P C O S or trying to manageyour blood sugar, I wouldn't
have fruit on an empty stomach.
First, like first thing in themorning.
However, if you had like a bitof eggs, that's what I usually
do.
And have a little bit of eggs,have my grain toast and avocado,
and then I have a cup of fruits.
I'm, um, a massive fruit loverand I, and there's also a lot of
(14:49):
vitamins.
There's also a lot of fiber, soit's certainly better than just
traditional sweets andchocolates.
But I wouldn't, uh, I wouldn'trecommend just starting your day
with a massive plate of fruit,specifically really sweet, kind
like bananas and kiwis, cuz itwill spike blood sugar.
But interestingly, what doesn'tspike blood sugar is berries.
So things like blueberries andstrawberries, if you, they're
(15:12):
what's called low glycemic, um,fruits.
So they, if you have those withyogurt, then that's, and if you
kind of need a bit of that sweetkick, that's perfect
replacement.
Nice.
So how did you get into thiswhole realm?
What got you started?
Yeah, I think, I think how manypeople within health and
wellness, they sort of gearswith their own, um, with their
(15:32):
own bodies and the stuff thathas gone on with them.
In my particular case, I used tohave incredibly painful periods
in my early twenties to thepoint that I had to call an
ambulance because I thought thatit was my appendix that
ruptured.
Hmm.
And then when the ambulancecame, they sort of.
Looked at me, they're like, no,um, it's just your period.
(15:52):
And it's sort of like, and thisis the notion that you live
with, isn't it?
Like, it's just my period, sothat's why I'm just gonna lay in
bed, curled up.
And, but it's like, it's normal.
Everybody else does it.
And in my family, my mom hadpainful periods, my aunts, my
grandma, so I just thought it'slike runs in the family like.
It's like a disease, so I'mnever really questioning it, and
(16:13):
then going to the doctors afterthat incident, the first thing
that I was given is a birthcontrol pill and birth control
pill.
It's hard to judge.
Sort of like for every woman.
If it works for you, you shouldmake the choice that is right
for you.
Yet.
I think what happens is often iswe've never given.
Um, the side effects of birthcontrol, and we're sort of given
(16:34):
this.
Here's if, if a woman goes to adoctor and she says, so she's
got some sort of gynecologicalissues, she's asked the
question, do you wanna getpregnant or not?
And it doesn't matter what issueyou have, whether it's P C O S,
endometriosis, painful periods,heavy periods, the doctors will
give you the pill.
And yet the pill doesn't.
It's kind of, it operates as abandaid solution.
(16:55):
It doesn't necessarily fix theproblem.
And in my case, it didn't fixpainful periods either.
What I did do, um, I was stillwith pain, but then I started to
gain weight.
I just, I'm not a very anxiousperson, but I developed anxiety
and mood disorders.
I just didn't feel like myself.
So when I come off of the pilland try to get.
Better solutions.
I was once again offered thepill, and that's when I knew
(17:17):
that I'm gonna have to get tothe bottom of it myself.
And speaking to a friend, shesort of just randomly dropped in
a conversation, um, you know,that periods aren't meant to be
painful.
And I was like, what?
And it's like, and it's justlike this crazy fireworks went,
what do you mean?
She's like, yeah, I think youshould look into it.
And then I looked into it andthen I discovered the menstrual
(17:40):
cycle and how it's so much morethan just the period.
Cuz I think when we think aboutmenstruation, we only think
about period.
And there's so much more that'shappening and it's actually
supporting your entire bodythrough the entire month is
when, um, is when you fix yourperiod.
Because period is kind of like ahealth report card at the end of
your cycle.
(18:00):
And if your period comespainless, no symptom
symptomless, then it's kind oflike, A receipt that you get
from how you did you do over themonth, and it's like, okay,
you're good.
Or if you, period, if you missit, if it comes with a lot of
pain, then it's usually a signthat something is off.
And for me, like I haven't hadpainful periods in the long time
yet.
The only time that I experiencedpainful periods, and I think so
(18:23):
is most of women, is aroundJanuary, which is after
Christmas.
Because on Christmas we tend toindulge.
Sometimes it can be a verystressful time.
So it shows in our cycles, whichis why I think the wisdom of the
female body, it's just, it's sountapped, but it's so amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Totally.
And I think it's shifting ourminds to really listen to our
(18:45):
bodies and what it's trying totell us versus like, oh, this
month is just crappy.
Right.
Not really understanding why.
Mm-hmm.
I totally agree.
So how much of what we do, doyou feel like is nature versus
nurture?
Um, so genetics.
Load the gun and environmentpulls the trigger.
(19:07):
That's kind of how I like tolook at it.
And it's not a, not my quote, Idon't remember who said it
first, but there are geneticcomponent to things that tend to
happen that, um, that we, thathereditary and that certain
things that, um, that are not,that definitely depend on it.
However, it's the environment.
It's the one our lifestyle thattends to affect the way that we
(19:29):
lead, we lead our health.
There isn't, I believe it was20.
Three and me, who is thegenetics, d n a company that,
um, they've sort of done a lotof d n a research and they
actually found that people'shealth problems are primarily
developed through lifestyle.
And when we look at thepreventable diseases, the
numbers around 80% of diseasesthat we experience today are
(19:51):
actually preventable.
And when we talk aboutpreventable, then they able to.
If we implement the rightlifestyle choices, um, then we
can avoid a lot of things.
Things like Alzheimer's, thingslike dementia that are the rates
of which arising things like P CO S is at a higher rates than
ever.
Thyroid issues for mo women isat a higher rates than ever and
(20:11):
I think it's very muchcorrelates with our diet.
Um, just the nutrients that weare getting, how little time we
have to actually enjoy ourmeals.
The relationships that we build,the in healthy relationship that
we have with work, um, a lot ofthat contributes to it.
And like I've shared with you atthe beginning, I used to live in
Canada and I live in France now,and France is like, lunches here
(20:35):
is like a sacred time.
It's that you get for an hour ortwo hours at, at like, at sort
of an average.
Like everybody gets off theircomputers, they all go, like the
restaurants are full.
Um, like it's just, it's a very,lunch is sacred.
Like you don't, whether when Iwas living in Canada, like what
lunch, like did you bring yourbox quickly in front of the
(20:57):
computer and keep going?
And I do think that it affectsjust our relationship, both with
food and also.
With our bodies, food has becomea commodity, um, in, like, I
find for me, my experience inCanada, yet here, uh, the
relationship to food is just sodifferent.
It's like the tron and that we,we know that about France, like
the Tron be the appreciation foringredients and you can really
(21:20):
see it when you sort of lookaround people or people around
you, they just a bit morerelaxed.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And you mentioned about sittingat your desk and being stuck at
your desk.
What do you recommend for peopleto get out of their desk to, you
know, increase their activitythroughout the day?
Well, I think that, Peopleshould, for the most part, if I
(21:40):
can get people go for walks, um,just throughout the day or cuz
walking is probably one of themost underrated exercises,
actually, also for weight loss,just because it tends to have
this overall relaxing feel forus.
And walking, even if you walkafter a meal for about 10 to 15
minutes, your glucose levels.
(22:00):
Speaking of blood sugar willstabilize and it'll just help so
much.
But yet I think often what wehear is that I don't have time.
I'm so busy.
But then if you, I kind ofchallenge people to look at
their phone usage timespecifically on Instagram.
And when you look, how much timedo you scroll?
Like, we can get lost in ourphones for 30 minutes, but it's,
(22:21):
at the end of the day, it's thechoice that you're making.
Are you, would you choose to gofor a walk for 30 minutes or
scroll on Instagram, LinkedIn.
Facebook, whatever the platformof your choice.
So I think there is a bit ofpersonal responsibility, but
also like just having companycultures where the health and
wellness, and I think it'shappening where the health and
wellness becomes a priority.
(22:41):
Because I think if people wouldjust walk for a very short 15,
20 minutes and actually just.
Stand up, move a little bit, doa few stretches, they'll be more
productive and we'll just ingeneral have more energy.
But it's just the culture.
If you see people around us notdo it, it can be a bit
complicated, isn't it?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And you get so tied up in whatyou're doing, it's hard to take
(23:02):
a break and step away from it,but you have to take those
breaks.
Yeah, just take those breaks andjust being conscious.
And then when you do it, I thinkthe big key is like to celebrate
yourself and like actually whenyou do those 10, 15 minutes,
because you've already needs toknow if you come out from the
break and you're like, oh, justwasted those 20 minutes, but
like, okay, fine.
As opposed to when you come outand you're like, Yay.
(23:23):
Good job me.
And like you kind of, you trainyour brain to like celebrate
this moment and you're like,wow, I feel amazing.
You kind of have to like trickyour brain loves doing things
for reward.
So like as you give it a littlebit of that boost and actually
celebrating yourself is verymuch an expression of feminine
energy and like as you give thatto yourself and it's just, you
(23:45):
kind of need to make yourselffeel a bit better until that
becomes a habit, until you do itso much that you're like, I'm
gonna go for a walk cause I justalways feel so good.
Yeah, totally.
Mm-hmm.
And so what would you say foryou or for women in general, is
the most important part of yourdaily routine?
For me it's mornings andspecifically just because I
believe that the way that youstart your mornings is a big, is
(24:08):
how you, how you set your day.
I have an extensive morningroutine and I know it's not for
everyone, but I always wake upand I, um, I always meditate for
about, you know, 15, 20 minutes.
I have my water and I usuallyhave, have lemon water and I add
some pepper and turmeric in it.
And the reason being is becauseit's highly anti-inflammatory.
(24:29):
I recommend for all of you to,to try it to see if you like it.
And I do a little bit of yoga.
I can finish my morning routinewithin 30 minutes.
And it did, it did take me alittle while to establish those
habits.
Cause sometimes I'd be like, no,I don't really want to.
But I think after a point whenyou've done it so much, you get
to a point when I'm like, if Ididn't do meditation or I kind
(24:49):
of skipped it, it feels weird.
You're like, why?
Why?
Why did I skip it?
And it's like, it's kind of, itbecame a habit.
But I think another big one forme is actually doing, I.
Thought work in the morning,because I think when we really
think about it, what is thefirst thought that goes through
your minds when you wake up?
And for me, it used to be a lotof this self-hate towards my
body.
(25:09):
It's like, ah, I just don't likethe way I look.
I'm so big.
I don't have money.
And like if you wake up andthese are the.
First, like, just catchyourself.
What are the first thought thatgo through your mind?
Because those are the sort ofthoughts that will create, um,
kind of how you feel aboutyourself.
And then you go with that intothe day and it's just, it
doesn't really start at theplace where it's, where it feels
(25:29):
good.
So for me, I'm, I'm veryconscious of how I think.
And if I do wake up with excessanxiety, I like to sort of
offload my thoughts onto a pieceof paper so I can just be like,
okay, separate myself a littlebit from that.
And you know, being anentrepreneur, the most important
asset is your mindset.
Because if you don't have theright mindset, it's really
difficult to stay on top of yourgame.
(25:50):
Mm-hmm.
For sure.
Mm-hmm.
So for those that are listeningthat feel like they need more
help or they need to dosomething more about what their
situation is, what would yourecommend for them?
I.
Well, um, if, um, I'm, I'm gonnaassume that it's for women.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, specifically if women feellike they need, I mean, I would,
I would do an audit of your day.
(26:11):
Are you, most importantly, nnutrition in food is so
important and I would just kindof do an audit.
Are you eating three meals aday?
Are you having vegetables?
I would say with every singlemeal.
I do it with every single meal.
It's not an, it's not an issuefor me, and it's really has
created, um, it just created ahabit.
Are you doing small things inyour day that actually are
(26:33):
benefiting you?
Or, and like just getting,getting honest with yourself.
And then another big one is, Ithink stress specifically not
enough.
Cause we don't really have areal danger in our lives.
For most of us, it's a lot ofour stress is perceived stress.
So it's understanding what arethe things that are, that are
triggering me so much and startaddressing it.
(26:53):
And you can address it throughthought work.
Just to kind of question yourthoughts.
If you wake up in the, like, Ithink the statistic is 80% of
women are stressed about money,whether they have an issue with
money or they don't.
And like actually, If you arereally stressing yourself over
money talks and like you justdriving yourself into oblivion
and creating this overwhelm, Iwould just ask yourself, is this
(27:15):
even true?
Is the story that I'm tellingmyself true?
Like, how much do I actuallyhave on my bank account?
What's the, what's the facthere?
Can I, if, if like things gotreally bad, can I remortgage my
house?
And I think the way that, and Iknow that it's not realistic for
everybody, but the way thepurpose of it is just to calm
yourself down as opposed tojust.
Been all day in trying toprevent yourself from going into
(27:38):
like anxiety attacks over thethings that are really not,
that, um, are really solvable.
So, and I think it's justcatching those perceived
stressors.
And some of the good tips is assimple as going for a walk and
sometimes connecting with natureand being like, okay, drinking
my water, I'm eating myvegetables, I'm walking and like
adding them bits, bits at atime.
(27:58):
For sure.
Mm-hmm.
And on that note, so if you hadthe attention of the whole world
for five minutes, what would youtell them?
I would, oh, I would tell themto track their menstrual cycles.
I would tell them that you needto, there's so much, there's so
much power in it just because Ithink specifically for women,
(28:18):
we've just been so disconnectedfrom our body, be.
Cause of the conversations wehad with our bodies because of
how much billions of dollars arebeing spent to 10 out to tell us
that we're not enough in one wayor the other by this cream, by
spandex, whatever that might be.
We always, it always comes froma place of not enoughness and
with confusion in our body withwhat are we doing wrong.
(28:41):
And I think it's actually byunderstanding how your body does
change and what magic it goesthrough on a monthly basis.
Which can get, which you can getthrough by understanding your
cycle is just, it will give youthis much, this, like the women
that I talk to, they're usuallylike, oh my gosh, I'm not crazy.
And I just wanna tell all thewomen, you're not crazy.
And if you're experiencingthings, it's, it's a good thing.
(29:01):
Like question it.
I love that.
So how can listeners.
Uh, support you in your work.
Where can we find you online?
So, I am pretty active onInstagram.
Um, my Instagram handle is Dara,which is my first name, d i n a
r a dot m u k h.
If you have any questions, doreach out.
I'm happy to answer.
And I also dive deeper intomenstrual cycle thought work,
(29:25):
and mindset on my podcast, whichis called Feel Better, be
Better.
So if you're interested to plugin tune Nin and.
If this messages are resonated,I'd love to hear it from you.
Awesome.
And we'll have all the linksbelow so women can track you
down and follow more of yourwork.
Well, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, totally.
Thank you, Dara, for being ontoday.
Really appreciate it.
This was very educational andreally, really good to talk to
(29:48):
you.
Thanks Julie.
Yeah, absolutely.
And you can findme@subfigurebuilder.com and I
look forward to seeing you onthe next episode.
welcome to the Seven FigureBuilder Show.
(00:01):
My name is Julie Barick, founderof Seven Figure Builder, where
we help high achieving CEOs freeup their time with gorgeous
automations to scale theirbusiness to seven figures and
beyond.
And I'm here today with myfriend Dara.
How are you, Dara?
I'm so good.
I'm excited to be here.
Thanks for having me.
Absolutely.
So for those that haven't hadthe pleasure of meeting you yet,
can you tell us a little bitabout what you do?
(00:23):
Yeah, for sure.
So my name is Dara and Iactually am a women's health
coach, but I'm also a podcasterjust like yourself.
And I'm also a TEDx speaker andI have, um, had my business for
over two years now, and I aim onhelping women help them
reconnect to their bodies byunderstanding the magic of their
(00:44):
menstrual cycle.
It's a bit of a mouthful, but Ithink everyone.
Everyone with an activereproductive cycle needs this.
So it's, it's been an amazingjourney.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
It's something you really can'tget away from whether you try to
or not.
Yeah, and I think you also tryto ignore it for a very long
time just because societallyyou've sort of been told, not so
much to talk about it, butthere's so much power to it once
(01:06):
you've really dig in.
And it showed up both in mybusiness, in my, in the way, how
I feel, also in the way how Ilook and in my friendships, and
it truly has transformed mylife.
Wow.
That's awesome.
So how do you feel like yourhormones play in with your
everyday life?
So the hormones are sort of thechemical messengers within our
(01:26):
bodies, and their entire job isjust run across our body from
gland to gland, from our brain,and to just kind of communicate
different functions.
It's like have more energyovulate, um, metabolize whatever
the functions that need tohappen.
But what, um, the layer that.
I've sort of didn't quiterealize is that our menstrual
(01:47):
cycle as a woman is a verypowerful, um, sort of the, the
menstrual, the ebbs and flows ofthe hormones that tend to happen
throughout our menstrual cycletruly affect how we show up in
the world.
So it does affect our physicalsymptoms, things like how hungry
we are, and I think most womenwould notice that a week before
their period, this is the timewhen they desire to sweep up the
(02:10):
pantry and just eat all thechocolates.
And then there's time in theircycles when they're like, Wow,
I'm so, I'm able to keep up withmy diets and eat my salads, and
then they sort of find out thatit's not quite the same, the
entire s the entire cycle andthe same shows up in our
energies.
There's time when we just haveso much energy, we eager to
learn things, we want to achievethings, and then there are times
(02:32):
when our energy turns inward andwas sort of eager for that time
alone.
And in my business, what I havenoticed, interestingly enough,
Around ovulation, which is abouttwo weeks out of your period, is
the time when I had higherrevenue months, like higher
revenue days, and like I wouldbring in more money.
And then when I started to sortof track it and really dig deep
(02:53):
into it, I've realized that itmakes complete sense because
it's around ovulation for women.
It's when we feel most optimal.
Going, we not afraid to takerisk.
We're not afraid to.
We're more assertive.
We're kind of more likely toreach out and, uh, pitch our
ideas.
And it was really interestinghow my hormones really played
the role, not only my physicalsymptoms, but also how I show up
(03:15):
at work.
Yeah, that's incredible.
Mm-hmm.
So I think so many of us, we'vebeen dealing with our menstrual
cycles, our whole lives.
Like you feel like all of whatyou described, we all
experience, but you feel likeit's out of your control.
So what do you, what can we doabout it?
Well, that's exactly it.
It's just feeling out of theircontrol.
And then if we really take it alayer deeper and ask, well, why
(03:37):
do we feel out of control?
And the reason being is becausemost of us grew up with the
conversations around our periodthat were.
Practically non-existent.
Um, we didn't have as much sexeducation during school.
It was very basic, so nobodyreally got us in touch with our
bodies.
And if anything, the messagesthat we got is, um, just don't
(03:58):
talk about it.
It's just an uncomfortable timeof your cycle, therefore you
have to sort of live with it.
And I think it's just thispopular notion that your period
is just supposed to be painful.
It's just the experience that.
You go through and it sort ofpresents this narrative that
being a woman is like adiagnosis.
When in reality it's, it'sabsolutely unfair.
(04:19):
And when you think about sort ofthe creation of the world, it
wouldn't make sense that we weredesigned for 50% of us to
struggle for X amount of daysevery single, every single
month.
So sort of the way that you dealwith it is first of all,
understand what's happening withyour bodies and actually, I'm
gonna get curious because Ithink just like with everything,
(04:40):
it starts with awareness andunderstanding that your symptoms
are actually within your controland you can absolutely improve
them.
And your symptoms are sort oflike the language of your body
that if you do experiencediscomfort, what that really
means is.
Something is off.
Like your, your nutrition mightbe off, you might be a little
bit too stressed.
Maybe you're not moving enough.
(05:00):
Maybe your lifestyle issedentary.
Maybe your relationships in lifeare the ones that drain you
rather than fulfill you.
So I think in general, femalehealth is so holistic.
And often when we go withproblems to the doctors, we look
we're being looked as likeseparate pieces.
If you have gut issues, you goto gastroenterologists.
If you have gynecologicalissues, you go to gynecologists.
(05:22):
None of them ever talk to eachother.
And then they all kind of tellwomen, yeah, this is not a
problem.
This is okay.
Which leads us to believe that,well, this is just in my head
and this is, and I think that'sthe narrative that throws so
many of us off when the medicalprofession doesn't always give
us the answers that we'relooking for.
Yeah, and a lot of times ourhormones are out of whack.
(05:46):
So how does say P C O S playinto what you're describing?
So polycystic recovery syndromeis probably one of the most,
yeah, I would say it's one ofthe most common symptoms among
women, and there's so muchinteresting history as to why P
C O S happens, but, Polycysticovary syndrome.
Usually the common symptoms iswhen you, your periods sort of,
(06:08):
um, they become irregular.
They're longer than 35 days incycle.
But another, um, significantsymptom of it is that you have
more androgens in your body.
And androgens is, uh, part ofthe hormone group.
Um, sort of the male hormonegroups as we usually know them,
is part of.
Testosterone fe uh, testosteronehormonal group.
(06:28):
So the excess androgens usuallyhappens because of our diets,
just to show how much our bodiesis connected.
So the root cause of P C O S in90% of the cases is usually
insulin resistance.
And insulin resistance is drivenby.
Often our diets or excessstress, so a lot of processed
(06:50):
foods, things like sugars,things like white flowers.
And unfortunately that ispredominant diet for many people
in Canada, in US.
And we also, we don't sit downand we eat meals, so we just
always on the Russian, thequickest thing to grab sometimes
is those things that are notnecessarily, um, as healthy.
So whenever our body becomesinsulin resistant, our, not to
(07:13):
get too technical with you, butI'll kind of.
Describe it in general.
Whenever your, um, ovariesproduce hormones usually produce
sort of testosterone that thenconverts into estrogen, but
with, with excess insulin, itdoesn't do the conversion.
So therefore we have excessamount of ed androgens, which in
turn interrupts with ourovulation, which in turns for
(07:33):
women, it will cause things likeirregular periods, sometimes
unwanted hair growth, sometimesacne, and often the most common
one is just gaining weightwithout, um, Being able to lose
it.
And with P C O S, unfortunatelywhen we go to the doctors, we
hear things like just eat lessand exercise more.
And it's such, um, doomed towomen such a disservice because
(07:56):
then women go and do that.
And what that creates is justfurther disconnection from their
body.
Terrible relationship with foodcreates this fear around food as
opposed to what they should betold is that, um, you just need
to control your blood sugar andinstead of eat less.
Eat actually more, but of foodslike proteins, like vegetables,
(08:16):
like fruits, and have recoveredmany clients' cycles by changing
their lifestyles and nutrition.
That's incredibly helpful.
Um, mm-hmm.
And so, Yeah, we're also told,I'll speak for myself cuz you're
describing my life, so I'm veryfamiliar with the subject.
(08:39):
Um, but we're also told that,you know, exercise can
negatively impact your weightloss.
How do you find that place inwith, with uh, P C O S?
So, Exercise.
Exercise is interesting becauseso much of exercise narrative
has been you just need toexercise to get a good body when
in reality exercise isincredibly useful for our
(09:01):
bodies.
It's good for our cardiovascularsystem, it's good for bone, uh,
bone density.
Joints.
There's so many benefits.
But what I do think, and thismight be an unpopular opinion,
is that exercise should not beused as a weight loss or sort of
a weight gain tool.
It should be used as a tool forhealth because exercise is so
positive for our mental health,it's good for our confidence and
(09:24):
especially for women that gosort of, I wanna say, as early
as after 35, because.
This is when some women can gointo this phase called
perimenopause.
So before women goes intomenopause, when her cycles and
periods stop altogether, shegoes through a period of time
that's about can be up to 10years of perimenopause.
(09:44):
And all of those sort of scarysymptoms that we hear of, that's
when they take place.
And if women pick up things likestrength training and they begin
to, um, To exercise more, thattransition will be so much
easier because, um, as we gothrough perimenopause for women
specifically, predominantly isthe hormone estrogen that
usually gets, that usually getsin decline, which is the hormone
(10:07):
that keeps our bones healthy,our.
Muscle tissue healthy, but as itbegins to decline, we kind of
feel it.
We essentially, not only do wefeel it in our body, but also
happens on them, um, on thephysical level.
So having regular habits asexercise is really beneficial
for your health.
So when it come to weight loss,however, Um, for women
(10:30):
specifically with P C O S, Ithink because they're told to
lose weight and exercise more,we usually take it as cardio.
And we usually think of thingslike if we sweat a lot, which is
what cardio does, then we'lllose weight.
When in reality, for women withP C O S specifically,
weightlifting has been shown.
To have such an incredibleimpact because it improves
(10:51):
insulin, uh, sensitivity becauseif you work up your muscle, it
just sort of keeps, uh, burningcalories throughout the day.
So as far as, I wouldn't rely onexercise as a weight loss tool,
but rather rely on as a healthtool and then do more resistance
training.
Specifically if you'restruggling with P C O S.
That's very helpful.
What about, um, managing bloodsugars?
(11:13):
How do you find that, you know,that's the easiest way or best
way for people to do that?
Yeah, managing blood sugar isprobably one of the key things
that we need to do.
And interestingly enough, thereis up to, I wanna say the number
latest that I've read is 88% ofpeople have some sort of
metabolical dysfunction that'srelated to mismanaged blood
sugar.
And I think when we think aboutblood sugar, we often think
(11:35):
about diabetics.
But actually it's, it's so muchmore, and it's a lot of.
Um, there's a lot of people thatexperience that are in
pre-diabetic stage.
They haven't quite beendiagnosed yet, but their insulin
is already getting to a stage ofresistance.
And I think the biggest thingswith blood sugar is, if I can
give, sort of the best tip isjust to eat breakfast.
(11:57):
And there is this narrative thatwe heard about intermittent
fasting in the rest and like,and it's became such a popular
notion, but yet, Intermittentfasting for female bodies, just
not, uh, it's not beneficial.
She can do, like, as a woman,you maybe can get away with it
over the course in the firsthalf of your cycle because at
that time your metabolism isslower, your blood sugar is not
(12:18):
as, um, just your insulin levelsare less sensitive, but in the
second half of the cycle as yourhormonal.
Cocktail of your body changes,you actually need to eat more,
um, more dense foods and youcannot be skipping meals and
putting yourself into fastingfor extended period of time.
Cuz what happens when women putthemselves into too long of a
(12:39):
fast?
Anything over that's.
12, 13 hours is it can produce,um, it will start putting your
body into stress, sort of stressstate.
And then we have cortisol kickin and when cortisol kicks in it
once again, and Chris is theblood sugar.
So if the two tips that I cangive for, um, for blood sugar is
just introduce breakfast, butspecifically savory breakfast,
(13:01):
things like eggs or maybe Greekyogurt.
And don't start your day with,uh, with dessert.
Things like Kellogg, um,Kellogg, what is it?
Uh, cereal.
Cereal is the word I'm lookingfor.
And like, uh, cro sands or sweetthings and not having, not
starting your day off, um, withthe foods that will spike your
blood sugar, not only will keepyour blood sugar levels managed,
(13:24):
but also will give you moreenergy throughout the day.
So that's the key.
And the second one is managingyour stress, because I think so
many women are under so much.
Stress on the regular andunfortunately, um, when we
stress our blood sugar levelrises as well and sometimes
that's the reason that stopswomen from actually being able
to lose weight.
(13:45):
So it just shows how intricatelyour bodies are connected.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And how does fruit play intothat?
Do you find that fruit willspike your sugar or It's easier
to, to, for our bodies toprocess.
So fruit that we eat today isnot the fruit that we used to
have since back in the day.
And even if you search likebananas that we used to have,
and bananas that we have now,they're just very different.
(14:07):
Fruit used to contain a lot offiber.
Nowadays fruits are mostly,they've been quite modified, so
it's practically a dessert.
It's incredibly sweet.
So, It's kind of, it comes downto context.
Then the choice, would it becake or a banana?
Like if you're kind of choosingbetween those two, then I
definitely think banana is agreat choice.
Having said that, I wouldn't,especially if you're struggling
(14:29):
with P C O S or trying to manageyour blood sugar, I wouldn't
have fruit on an empty stomach.
First, like first thing in themorning.
However, if you had like a bitof eggs, that's what I usually
do.
And have a little bit of eggs,have my grain toast and avocado,
and then I have a cup of fruits.
I'm, um, a massive fruit loverand I, and there's also a lot of
(14:49):
vitamins.
There's also a lot of fiber, soit's certainly better than just
traditional sweets andchocolates.
But I wouldn't, uh, I wouldn'trecommend just starting your day
with a massive plate of fruit,specifically really sweet, kind
like bananas and kiwis, cuz itwill spike blood sugar.
But interestingly, what doesn'tspike blood sugar is berries.
So things like blueberries andstrawberries, if you, they're
(15:12):
what's called low glycemic, um,fruits.
So they, if you have those withyogurt, then that's, and if you
kind of need a bit of that sweetkick, that's perfect
replacement.
Nice.
So how did you get into thiswhole realm?
What got you started?
Yeah, I think, I think how manypeople within health and
wellness, they sort of gearswith their own, um, with their
(15:32):
own bodies and the stuff thathas gone on with them.
In my particular case, I used tohave incredibly painful periods
in my early twenties to thepoint that I had to call an
ambulance because I thought thatit was my appendix that
ruptured.
Hmm.
And then when the ambulancecame, they sort of.
Looked at me, they're like, no,um, it's just your period.
(15:52):
And it's sort of like, and thisis the notion that you live
with, isn't it?
Like, it's just my period, sothat's why I'm just gonna lay in
bed, curled up.
And, but it's like, it's normal.
Everybody else does it.
And in my family, my mom hadpainful periods, my aunts, my
grandma, so I just thought it'slike runs in the family like.
It's like a disease, so I'mnever really questioning it, and
(16:13):
then going to the doctors afterthat incident, the first thing
that I was given is a birthcontrol pill and birth control
pill.
It's hard to judge.
Sort of like for every woman.
If it works for you, you shouldmake the choice that is right
for you.
Yet.
I think what happens is often iswe've never given.
Um, the side effects of birthcontrol, and we're sort of given
(16:34):
this.
Here's if, if a woman goes to adoctor and she says, so she's
got some sort of gynecologicalissues, she's asked the
question, do you wanna getpregnant or not?
And it doesn't matter what issueyou have, whether it's P C O S,
endometriosis, painful periods,heavy periods, the doctors will
give you the pill.
And yet the pill doesn't.
It's kind of, it operates as abandaid solution.
(16:55):
It doesn't necessarily fix theproblem.
And in my case, it didn't fixpainful periods either.
What I did do, um, I was stillwith pain, but then I started to
gain weight.
I just, I'm not a very anxiousperson, but I developed anxiety
and mood disorders.
I just didn't feel like myself.
So when I come off of the pilland try to get.
Better solutions.
I was once again offered thepill, and that's when I knew
(17:17):
that I'm gonna have to get tothe bottom of it myself.
And speaking to a friend, shesort of just randomly dropped in
a conversation, um, you know,that periods aren't meant to be
painful.
And I was like, what?
And it's like, and it's justlike this crazy fireworks went,
what do you mean?
She's like, yeah, I think youshould look into it.
And then I looked into it andthen I discovered the menstrual
(17:40):
cycle and how it's so much morethan just the period.
Cuz I think when we think aboutmenstruation, we only think
about period.
And there's so much more that'shappening and it's actually
supporting your entire bodythrough the entire month is
when, um, is when you fix yourperiod.
Because period is kind of like ahealth report card at the end of
your cycle.
(18:00):
And if your period comespainless, no symptom
symptomless, then it's kind oflike, A receipt that you get
from how you did you do over themonth, and it's like, okay,
you're good.
Or if you, period, if you missit, if it comes with a lot of
pain, then it's usually a signthat something is off.
And for me, like I haven't hadpainful periods in the long time
yet.
The only time that I experiencedpainful periods, and I think so
(18:23):
is most of women, is aroundJanuary, which is after
Christmas.
Because on Christmas we tend toindulge.
Sometimes it can be a verystressful time.
So it shows in our cycles, whichis why I think the wisdom of the
female body, it's just, it's sountapped, but it's so amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Totally.
And I think it's shifting ourminds to really listen to our
(18:45):
bodies and what it's trying totell us versus like, oh, this
month is just crappy.
Right.
Not really understanding why.
Mm-hmm.
I totally agree.
So how much of what we do, doyou feel like is nature versus
nurture?
Um, so genetics.
Load the gun and environmentpulls the trigger.
(19:07):
That's kind of how I like tolook at it.
And it's not a, not my quote, Idon't remember who said it
first, but there are geneticcomponent to things that tend to
happen that, um, that we, thathereditary and that certain
things that, um, that are not,that definitely depend on it.
However, it's the environment.
It's the one our lifestyle thattends to affect the way that we
(19:29):
lead, we lead our health.
There isn't, I believe it was20.
Three and me, who is thegenetics, d n a company that,
um, they've sort of done a lotof d n a research and they
actually found that people'shealth problems are primarily
developed through lifestyle.
And when we look at thepreventable diseases, the
numbers around 80% of diseasesthat we experience today are
(19:51):
actually preventable.
And when we talk aboutpreventable, then they able to.
If we implement the rightlifestyle choices, um, then we
can avoid a lot of things.
Things like Alzheimer's, thingslike dementia that are the rates
of which arising things like P CO S is at a higher rates than
ever.
Thyroid issues for mo women isat a higher rates than ever and
(20:11):
I think it's very muchcorrelates with our diet.
Um, just the nutrients that weare getting, how little time we
have to actually enjoy ourmeals.
The relationships that we build,the in healthy relationship that
we have with work, um, a lot ofthat contributes to it.
And like I've shared with you atthe beginning, I used to live in
Canada and I live in France now,and France is like, lunches here
(20:35):
is like a sacred time.
It's that you get for an hour ortwo hours at, at like, at sort
of an average.
Like everybody gets off theircomputers, they all go, like the
restaurants are full.
Um, like it's just, it's a very,lunch is sacred.
Like you don't, whether when Iwas living in Canada, like what
lunch, like did you bring yourbox quickly in front of the
(20:57):
computer and keep going?
And I do think that it affectsjust our relationship, both with
food and also.
With our bodies, food has becomea commodity, um, in, like, I
find for me, my experience inCanada, yet here, uh, the
relationship to food is just sodifferent.
It's like the tron and that we,we know that about France, like
the Tron be the appreciation foringredients and you can really
(21:20):
see it when you sort of lookaround people or people around
you, they just a bit morerelaxed.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And you mentioned about sittingat your desk and being stuck at
your desk.
What do you recommend for peopleto get out of their desk to, you
know, increase their activitythroughout the day?
Well, I think that, Peopleshould, for the most part, if I
(21:40):
can get people go for walks, um,just throughout the day or cuz
walking is probably one of themost underrated exercises,
actually, also for weight loss,just because it tends to have
this overall relaxing feel forus.
And walking, even if you walkafter a meal for about 10 to 15
minutes, your glucose levels.
(22:00):
Speaking of blood sugar willstabilize and it'll just help so
much.
But yet I think often what wehear is that I don't have time.
I'm so busy.
But then if you, I kind ofchallenge people to look at
their phone usage timespecifically on Instagram.
And when you look, how much timedo you scroll?
Like, we can get lost in ourphones for 30 minutes, but it's,
(22:21):
at the end of the day, it's thechoice that you're making.
Are you, would you choose to gofor a walk for 30 minutes or
scroll on Instagram, LinkedIn.
Facebook, whatever the platformof your choice.
So I think there is a bit ofpersonal responsibility, but
also like just having companycultures where the health and
wellness, and I think it'shappening where the health and
wellness becomes a priority.
(22:41):
Because I think if people wouldjust walk for a very short 15,
20 minutes and actually just.
Stand up, move a little bit, doa few stretches, they'll be more
productive and we'll just ingeneral have more energy.
But it's just the culture.
If you see people around us notdo it, it can be a bit
complicated, isn't it?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And you get so tied up in whatyou're doing, it's hard to take
(23:02):
a break and step away from it,but you have to take those
breaks.
Yeah, just take those breaks andjust being conscious.
And then when you do it, I thinkthe big key is like to celebrate
yourself and like actually whenyou do those 10, 15 minutes,
because you've already needs toknow if you come out from the
break and you're like, oh, justwasted those 20 minutes, but
like, okay, fine.
As opposed to when you come outand you're like, Yay.
(23:23):
Good job me.
And like you kind of, you trainyour brain to like celebrate
this moment and you're like,wow, I feel amazing.
You kind of have to like trickyour brain loves doing things
for reward.
So like as you give it a littlebit of that boost and actually
celebrating yourself is verymuch an expression of feminine
energy and like as you give thatto yourself and it's just, you
(23:45):
kind of need to make yourselffeel a bit better until that
becomes a habit, until you do itso much that you're like, I'm
gonna go for a walk cause I justalways feel so good.
Yeah, totally.
Mm-hmm.
And so what would you say foryou or for women in general, is
the most important part of yourdaily routine?
For me it's mornings andspecifically just because I
believe that the way that youstart your mornings is a big, is
(24:08):
how you, how you set your day.
I have an extensive morningroutine and I know it's not for
everyone, but I always wake upand I, um, I always meditate for
about, you know, 15, 20 minutes.
I have my water and I usuallyhave, have lemon water and I add
some pepper and turmeric in it.
And the reason being is becauseit's highly anti-inflammatory.
(24:29):
I recommend for all of you to,to try it to see if you like it.
And I do a little bit of yoga.
I can finish my morning routinewithin 30 minutes.
And it did, it did take me alittle while to establish those
habits.
Cause sometimes I'd be like, no,I don't really want to.
But I think after a point whenyou've done it so much, you get
to a point when I'm like, if Ididn't do meditation or I kind
(24:49):
of skipped it, it feels weird.
You're like, why?
Why?
Why did I skip it?
And it's like, it's kind of, itbecame a habit.
But I think another big one forme is actually doing, I.
Thought work in the morning,because I think when we really
think about it, what is thefirst thought that goes through
your minds when you wake up?
And for me, it used to be a lotof this self-hate towards my
body.
(25:09):
It's like, ah, I just don't likethe way I look.
I'm so big.
I don't have money.
And like if you wake up andthese are the.
First, like, just catchyourself.
What are the first thought thatgo through your mind?
Because those are the sort ofthoughts that will create, um,
kind of how you feel aboutyourself.
And then you go with that intothe day and it's just, it
doesn't really start at theplace where it's, where it feels
(25:29):
good.
So for me, I'm, I'm veryconscious of how I think.
And if I do wake up with excessanxiety, I like to sort of
offload my thoughts onto a pieceof paper so I can just be like,
okay, separate myself a littlebit from that.
And you know, being anentrepreneur, the most important
asset is your mindset.
Because if you don't have theright mindset, it's really
difficult to stay on top of yourgame.
(25:50):
Mm-hmm.
For sure.
Mm-hmm.
So for those that are listeningthat feel like they need more
help or they need to dosomething more about what their
situation is, what would yourecommend for them?
I.
Well, um, if, um, I'm, I'm gonnaassume that it's for women.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, specifically if women feellike they need, I mean, I would,
I would do an audit of your day.
(26:11):
Are you, most importantly, nnutrition in food is so
important and I would just kindof do an audit.
Are you eating three meals aday?
Are you having vegetables?
I would say with every singlemeal.
I do it with every single meal.
It's not an, it's not an issuefor me, and it's really has
created, um, it just created ahabit.
Are you doing small things inyour day that actually are
(26:33):
benefiting you?
Or, and like just getting,getting honest with yourself.
And then another big one is, Ithink stress specifically not
enough.
Cause we don't really have areal danger in our lives.
For most of us, it's a lot ofour stress is perceived stress.
So it's understanding what arethe things that are, that are
triggering me so much and startaddressing it.
(26:53):
And you can address it throughthought work.
Just to kind of question yourthoughts.
If you wake up in the, like, Ithink the statistic is 80% of
women are stressed about money,whether they have an issue with
money or they don't.
And like actually, If you arereally stressing yourself over
money talks and like you justdriving yourself into oblivion
and creating this overwhelm, Iwould just ask yourself, is this
(27:15):
even true?
Is the story that I'm tellingmyself true?
Like, how much do I actuallyhave on my bank account?
What's the, what's the facthere?
Can I, if, if like things gotreally bad, can I remortgage my
house?
And I think the way that, and Iknow that it's not realistic for
everybody, but the way thepurpose of it is just to calm
yourself down as opposed tojust.
Been all day in trying toprevent yourself from going into
(27:38):
like anxiety attacks over thethings that are really not,
that, um, are really solvable.
So, and I think it's justcatching those perceived
stressors.
And some of the good tips is assimple as going for a walk and
sometimes connecting with natureand being like, okay, drinking
my water, I'm eating myvegetables, I'm walking and like
adding them bits, bits at atime.
(27:58):
For sure.
Mm-hmm.
And on that note, so if you hadthe attention of the whole world
for five minutes, what would youtell them?
I would, oh, I would tell themto track their menstrual cycles.
I would tell them that you needto, there's so much, there's so
much power in it just because Ithink specifically for women,
(28:18):
we've just been so disconnectedfrom our body, be.
Cause of the conversations wehad with our bodies because of
how much billions of dollars arebeing spent to 10 out to tell us
that we're not enough in one wayor the other by this cream, by
spandex, whatever that might be.
We always, it always comes froma place of not enoughness and
with confusion in our body withwhat are we doing wrong.
(28:41):
And I think it's actually byunderstanding how your body does
change and what magic it goesthrough on a monthly basis.
Which can get, which you can getthrough by understanding your
cycle is just, it will give youthis much, this, like the women
that I talk to, they're usuallylike, oh my gosh, I'm not crazy.
And I just wanna tell all thewomen, you're not crazy.
And if you're experiencingthings, it's, it's a good thing.
(29:01):
Like question it.
I love that.
So how can listeners.
Uh, support you in your work.
Where can we find you online?
So, I am pretty active onInstagram.
Um, my Instagram handle is Dara,which is my first name, d i n a
r a dot m u k h.
If you have any questions, doreach out.
I'm happy to answer.
And I also dive deeper intomenstrual cycle thought work,
(29:25):
and mindset on my podcast, whichis called Feel Better, be
Better.
So if you're interested to plugin tune Nin and.
If this messages are resonated,I'd love to hear it from you.
Awesome.
And we'll have all the linksbelow so women can track you
down and follow more of yourwork.
Well, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Yeah, totally.
Thank you, Dara, for being ontoday.
Really appreciate it.
This was very educational andreally, really good to talk to
(29:48):
you.
Thanks Julie.
Yeah, absolutely.
And you can findme@subfigurebuilder.com and I
look forward to seeing you onthe next episode.
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