February 11, 2025 • 51 mins
Did you know that reclaiming your health autonomy could be the key to holistic well-being? Join me on this episode of Tea with Tanya as we explore the powerful intersection of women's health and self-care. Our journey begins with the vibrant benefits of hibiscus tea, the perfect companion for February's heart health focus, and a nod to embracing self-care amidst surprisingly warm weather. With this energy, I'm excited to share the launch of my new website, TanyaKAmbrose.com, and the honor of being recognized in the Pockstock Future of Black America Top 50 list alongside inspiring figures like Simone Biles and Ta-Nehisi Coates. This acknowledgment during Black History Month reignites my dedication to advancing maternal and reproductive health.
We tackle critical discussions around empowering women's health autonomy, especially for marginalized communities often overlooked by a politicized healthcare system. Learn how traditional practices, such as midwifery, have been marginalized and the importance of body literacy in regaining control over our bodies. By fostering open conversations about reproductive health, we equip ourselves with the tools needed to advocate for our well-being throughout every stage of life—from puberty to menopause. Holistic wellness shouldn't be an afterthought; it should be a priority.
Let's embrace wellness as a non-negotiable part of our daily routine, empowering ourselves and future generations with the knowledge and authenticity needed for better health.
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Visit my website at tanyakambrose.com for more resources. Be sure to follow us on Instagram @teawithtanyapodcast and @tanyakambrose, and sign up for my Tea Talk newsletter to stay updated with all things wellness and self-care!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Tea with Tanya.
I'm your host, tanya Ambrose,an average millennial navigating
life as a maternal healthprofessional, non-profit founder
and grad student.
Join me in the tea tasting roomwhere we spill the tea on
finding balance and promotingpositive living while doing it
all.
(00:20):
Hey friend, welcome back toanother episode of Tea with
Tanya.
You know the podcast where wesip, spill and dive deep into
all things whole woman wellness.
Now, today, I am not only beingjoined by a special guest, but I
have some exciting news toshare with you guys.
And let me tell you, my friend,I am elated.
(00:43):
I'm still trying to processeverything, even though I knew
it was going to come, but Iwasn't expecting things to be
the way that it is.
But, of course, before we getinto today's episode, we're
going to talk about the healthtea of the week, and that's
going to be some hibiscus tea.
As you know, february is allabout love.
It's all about heart health aswell, and what better way for us
to show love to ourselves orshow love to yourself by caring
(01:03):
for your heart?
So hibiscus tea is packed withantioxidants and is known for
helping to lower your bloodpressure, supporting heart
health and, of course, to reduceinflammation, something that
I'm very big on this yearbecause I need to ensure that
I'm not as inflamed as I am.
Plus, of course, its deep redcolor makes it the perfect tea
for the month of love.
(01:24):
So you want to tap into thathibiscus tea, my friend, because
again, february is all aboutlove and we know, when it comes
to love, we talk about our heartand, of course, you know heart
health and I'm going toencourage you to get outside.
If you haven't done anythingspecial for yourself today or
this week, just go and take awalk for at least 30 minutes.
That's going to contribute toyou being physical, it's going
to contribute to your hearthealth as well.
(01:45):
I'm just going to let you feelgood if you can go outside and
just get some sun, of course,depending on where you are in
the world.
Right now, here in SouthCarolina, it's a whopping 82
degrees.
I don't know why.
I mean, I'm not complaining,but again, I'm not understanding
how we're having summer in themiddle of winter, but again,
your island girl here is notcomplaining about that, of
(02:06):
course.
So definitely get that hibiscustea and, you know, let's sit
for self-care, sit for yourheart, of course, again, and be
more active this week or as youlisten to this podcast.
Now, some big news, obviously.
Last episode if you haven't gocheck it out I did announce the
launch of my website,tanyakambrosecom, and let me
tell you I am overjoyed this hasbeen a very, very, very long
(02:27):
time in the making, so to haveit come to fruition and just to
see how beautiful it is and thefeedback I've been getting from
you.
It's been amazing.
So I want to thank you guys forchecking that out.
If you haven't, definitely gocheck out TanyaKAmbrosecom and
of course, I've put that link inthe show notes as well.
(02:52):
Now, another big thing thathappened, which is so crazy the
same with my website launch, Iwas featured in the Pockstock
Future of Black America Top 50list.
Let me tell you I am beyondhonored.
When they first reached out tome, I thought you know what?
This could probably be a scam.
What is this little old me overhere in my little side of the
corner?
Little old me over here livingmy life?
You want to feature me forBlack History Month as well.
But of course, I did myresearch first and found out
that they were a crediblecompany, a credible source, and
(03:13):
I responded to the message andwe started a dialogue.
And then here we are, a fewweeks later and the list is out.
And let me tell you, I am on thelist with so many great people,
from Simone Biles to LauraRoach, to Ta-Nehisi Coates Like
it's just what Me Sterling KBrown, so many other creators
(03:34):
and entrepreneurs who are doingamazing work in their
communities.
So for me to be recognizedamong so many inspiring
changemakers is truly humblingand it also really and truly
fuels my passion to continue thework that I do, especially when
it comes to maternal,reproductive and menstrual
health, public health,especially through the way of my
non-profit Spub Life Kids and,of course, here in the Tea
(03:55):
Tasting Room with you.
So when I think about it, thisrecognition honestly is not just
for me, it is honestly forevery woman, every menstruator,
every mother, not just for me.
It is honestly for every woman,every menstruator, every mother
, every young girl whose health,voice and dignity deserve to be
prioritized.
So my work for me comes fromthe heart and being included in
this list is a reminder that themission matters, the impact is
(04:17):
real and the work must continue.
So I definitely want to give ashout out, a special thank you
to Parkstock for celebratingBlack excellence and
highlighting the work being doneto create a healthier, more
empowered future for ourcommunities.
This moment continues and willmotivate me to keep pushing, to
keep advocating and to keepshowing up for those in my
community.
(04:38):
So all gratitude, all love forthat, for that future love for
that, for that feature.
This has been a really toughweek and to have that out, you
know, to even be having aconversation with someone who I
admire, who's just a part of my,my community, and we're going
back and forth about the stateof the world and how we're
feeling and how it's importantfor us to keep showing up,
doesn't matter how big or small,once we show up for ourself and
(04:59):
our community.
So your girl, your girl ishappy, she's, she's in good mood
, she's happy and this is.
You know, I take this featurebeing in this list.
You know it's not a gimmick,it's not.
I'm just here.
You know I am showing up in thecommunity and I am putting in
the work.
So to see my hard work pay off,without even realizing that
people in the community arerecognizing me, you know it does
(05:20):
feel good.
So I'm just excited to continueto do the work that I'm doing.
I'm motivated, I'm inspired andI hope that this even inspires
you to continue to show up foryourself, show up for your
community, for your village and,of course, you know, when it
comes to your health, just showup for yourself on a holistic
standpoint as well.
So, definitely, thank you,thank you, thank you for your
(05:41):
support and I'm just happy.
I am just happy and I'm tryingto contain the happiness so that
it doesn't translate.
I'm trying to convey thehappiness, but I really am happy
and this is just something thatI needed, personally, as it
relates to confidence or the wayin which I've been feeling
discouraged, as it relates tothe state of the US world.
That is so to have.
(06:01):
This is just as a reminder thatto keep showing up, keep going,
no matter what happens aroundyou, keep your eye on the prize,
keep your eye on the missionand the vision that you have for
yourself, and it will pay offin the end.
All right.
So today I have someone sospecial joining me.
She's new to the Tea TastingRoom, she's been here several
(06:22):
times and every time I thinkabout who I can talk to about
certain things, she always comesto my mind, first and foremost,
because the conversations thatwe have on a regular day can
really be seasons of a podcast,so I am happy to have Gianna
back here in the Tea TastingRoom.
You know if you follow heronline.
If not, you need to, but youshould know that she's always
(06:43):
dropping some truth bombs aboutself-care, body literacy and the
importance of prioritizingourselves, and this year she has
a theme called Bringing HealthHome and I find it very
intriguing.
When she did her post on socialmedia, I was like, oh my
goodness, this is really.
I love this.
It was a long caption that youneed to go read, but I love what
she said and it really makessense for me to have her on the
(07:09):
podcast for the second episodeso we can talk about.
You know, we're talking aboutwhole woman wellness and she is
also on that train with me, sodefinitely looking forward to
having her here to tea tasting.
So, gianna, how are you?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I'm good and I'm glad to be back.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I'm glad you're back.
You got him back.
Where did I go?
Well, yes, I am happy to to beback.
So, like I was mentioning, youknow, one of your posts earlier
this week, it hit me really,really hard because, you know,
you asked why, as women, do weput ourselves not first, we like
, why do we do this?
So I think you know, let thepeople know what your post is
about and what we're going to betalking about, because why is
it that, as a, I mean, I know,for I'm not a mom yet You're a
mom of two, you're a wife andfor some reason, I mean, I am a
(07:49):
nurturer, you're a nurturer, andI think, as women, we're just
naturally born nurturers.
But then sometimes we tend toforget about ourselves, we lose
ourselves.
Some people lose themselves inmotherhood and relationships and
friendships.
So, relationships andfriendships, so what does it
mean when we're talking about?
You know, first of all, let medial it back.
Hold on, I'm getting ahead ofmyself.
Now, for those women that knowwho you are, please tell us a
(08:11):
little bit about yourself, whatyou do, give us all the tea.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Sure, I will spill the tea.
So I'm Gianna Vasconcelos.
I am, like you said, wife, momof two boys, nine and four and
we live in Tennessee as of now.
And I, what I do for work whenI say work, I don't know that I
(08:35):
want to say even work what I do,how I serve.
How I serve is throughchildbirth education, fertility
awareness, education and justreally strongly advocating for
body literacy, because I believethat women have the tools at
their fingertips to be thegatekeepers of their health,
(08:59):
preventative health for that oftheir families, and to be able
to understand their cycles andtheir body signals and have the
ability to meet those needs tomaintain their health.
And that is just like you said,as we go into 2025, that's
going to be my main pillar andoverarching thing for everything
(09:22):
.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Why do you think this conversation is so important
for us as women today?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Specifically and starting from just the present,
we have seen our governmentagencies take away information.
We have seen websites justcompletely shut down with
resources to be able to helpvarious different populations
(09:49):
and, to me, health, wellness allof that should never be
politicized.
It is nonpartisan to be ahealthy person, and when I made
that post that you're referringto and there was two the last
one was caring for yourself as anurturer and empath, but that
(10:11):
first one, I was reallydiscussing why we need to bring
health home.
We cannot continue to lean onthese large agencies to tell us
what to do, when to do it andhow to be healthy when we
already have the tools to do so,and the reason why we cannot
continue to rely on that isbecause these agencies,
(10:32):
unfortunately, they do bend tothe whim of political powers, no
matter who is in office, andunfortunately, the population
pays the price for that.
I don't believe that we as anation have done a very good job
at keeping health in the handsof the people and educating
people on preventative health.
(10:53):
Specifically, I'm talking aboutwomen, and then you can
contextualize that even intomotherhood and their children.
There has been a completecultural shift where we used to
be able to be the medicine women, the midwives right Like it's
Black History Month, we'retalking about the granny
midwives a lot lately Of thethings and the people that
(11:16):
served the community.
They had a better pulse on thecommunity than the government
had on the community.
So when we're making theselarge decisions about our health
, we can take all of thatexternal information into
account.
But we really need to take inwhat we need, to dial that back
and say, okay, what are theneeds of my body?
(11:36):
How do I respond to this typeof dietary?
Speaker 1 (11:41):
intake.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Or how do I respond to this?
For example, that's what theyremoved from the hands of the
population when they tookmidwifery out of the hands of
Black women and Black families.
The only safe space that we hadto give birth to our babies the
only safe people, to our babies, the only safe people and even
(12:09):
the herbal remedies that webrought over as a people to the
Americas was taken away.
And when you look at thatculturally and then you look at
where we're at now, we cannotcontinue to rely on a colonized
I feel like that word is like abuzzword right now and it's
overused a little bit, but I'mgoing to say it anyway.
(12:30):
It's a colonized method ofhealthcare and I'm doing air
quotes of healthcare, so yeah,so that's where I'm coming from
when I say like we need to bringhealth home, when I say like we
need to bring health home.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Well, I think, for me , honestly, the last couple of
months it's just been.
It's been heavy.
Of course, you know, not allthe time, but when you think
about the political climate thatwe're in and, um, as you said,
the removal of information thatwe have, we once had access to,
it's becoming more and morefrustrating.
You know, seeing things thatare being ripped apart from
(13:06):
people, from, you know, minoritypopulation, marginalized, who
are being, to me, takingadvantage of, because, again now
, I feel that we're trying toremove or eliminate a group of
people which has been this thenorm in this country, if you're
(13:26):
being honest for a number ofyears, but to do it so blatantly
and I I find myself asking thisquestion, you know, like, how
are we here in 2025?
How are we here dictating whatsomeone should do or how they
should live their life?
What's the obsession on this?
And I don't care, what's theobsession with white men and
(13:48):
women's bodies?
I'm trying to think back to way, back in the day.
What's really the obsession asto why you're so hell-bent on
telling us what to do and thenit leaves us in a position now
where we're having to fight forourselves and we already know
how it is historically when itcomes to women in general.
But when you think about itfrom a Black woman's point of
(14:08):
view, it's like where do we gofrom here?
You know you often hear aboutthe strong Black woman aspect of
things.
Or if someone gets a little bittoo loud, oh, she's an angry
Black woman.
There are so many negativeconnotations that's attached to
Black women.
I can only speak about myexperience.
You know I mean women ingeneral, but I can only speak of
my experience being a Blackwoman living in this country.
(14:29):
And we still have to show up.
You have to show up for yourfamily.
You know I have to show up formy family.
Other people listening have toshow up for their family in some
way, shape or form.
What can we?
do and why is this conversationso important for us to really
learn how to prioritize ourhealth.
So let's start from bodyliteracy.
What is that?
(14:49):
Because you know, you and Iwork in this reproductive health
space and for me, I'm trying toensure that people have the
access to the health educationso they can make informed
decisions.
You know I talk about, you know, the whole woman wellness from
puberty to menopause.
In some communities we're stilltalking about, we're still
hiding to talk about periods.
We're even hiding to talk aboutsex.
We don't even want to talkabout pregnancy in some regards.
(15:12):
Sometimes, you know, in somecultures, if a girl, a
menstruator, starts seeing theircycle, their menstrual period,
it's a oh, you know, don't betoo fast, or you can get
pregnant.
It's a oh, you know, don't betoo fast, or you can get
pregnant, you know.
(15:32):
So there's still a communitywhere parents are afraid to have
the conversation with theirchildren as it relates to you
know, periods and sex and how totake care of your body.
How do I advocate for myselfwhen I'm going to the doctor and
these different things?
And I know for me, like one ofthe goals of the mission of
Squad Life is for us to havethat health education.
I tell people all the time wecan connect people with
resources, physical resourcesbut if we don't have that
understanding or that knowledgeabout our body, how can we
advocate for ourselves?
So, in the theme of bringinghealth home body literacy,
(15:52):
health literacy how can we, aswomen, continue to move forward
in this crazy political climatethat's threatening our
livelihood?
How can we shut up forourselves?
This time it's a very heavycross to bear, like as a woman.
We're great multitaskers andthen sometimes I know for me, I
forget about myself.
You know, we talk all the time.
It's like girl, go get somerest, you know.
So how can we really get to apoint where we can prioritize
(16:16):
ourselves but still be able tobalance?
Because, honestly, where we canprioritize ourselves but still
be able to balance?
Because I'm honestly, to behonest, I'm tired of using the
word balance now, because whateven is balance at this point in
time.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
What is balance right ?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
What even is balance?
But how can we get to a pointwhere we can set stronger
boundaries we can use that wordboundaries Right right when we
can prioritize ourselves butalso the needs of our family,
our kids, whatever the case maybe?
How can we do that withoutfeeling guilty, because a lot of
moms talk about mom guilt Me ifI can't show up for someone in
the way that I'm used to.
It also weighs on me heavily,but at the same time, I need to
(16:48):
put myself first.
So how can we really show upfor ourselves without feeling
guilty as it relates to caringabout ourselves?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I think that question is so loaded and I want to go
back to something that youmentioned.
In order to answer thisquestion properly.
We have to understand why yousaid why are they so obsessed
with women's bodies, like what'shappening with healthcare and
all of that right?
So that really started backwhen they realized that they
(17:17):
could monetize our bodies.
They realized that a lot of theeducation system right, which
is a whole other conversation.
But when it comes to medicalschool, it was an elitist
structure.
Only white men with money couldget into medical school.
And when they started beginningall of these specialties
(17:39):
subspecialties that we see today, obstetrics being one of them
they had to find a way to bringbirth out of the home and
discredit midwives, and so whenthey were doing that in tandem,
they were building theirbusiness.
Healthcare in America is abusiness but that's the bottom
line and as much as we're partof that structure and that
(18:02):
business right as public healthprofessionals, it really boils
down to that and we have to beable to look that in the face
and be honest and say thatwithout any question.
That's what it is.
It's a business and that wasrealized when they could
monetize birth.
They pulled women out of theirhomes, out of meeting with
(18:24):
midwives.
They discredited midwives.
They discredited medicine women,women who used herbs and plant
medicine from various differentcultures, indigenous cultures,
and they called them quacks andthey called them crazy and
witches, and there's just tonsof things them quacks and they
called them crazy and witches,and there's just tons of things.
It was a slander campaign,essentially that that swept
across the South and it justmade its way across the entire
(18:48):
country and, unfortunately, webought into it.
Unfortunately, we startedtrusting people outside of
ourselves more than we trustedourselves, and then we, on top
of that, we started distrustingourselves.
So, not even not trustingyourself we just don't trust
(19:10):
ourselves, and I think a lot ofthat comes from the fact that we
have been so conditioned to tobelieve that someone that has
gone to X amount of years ofschooling knows better about our
bodies than we do.
Now I don't want to say thatthat's.
(19:31):
I don't want to discreditmedical school or osteopathics
or anything like that at all,because, absolutely, like they
are lifesaving.
My mom, you know, has just gonethrough two surgeries in the
last 16 weeks and I am thankingGod that we have doctors and
oncologists and and plasticsurgeons.
(19:53):
Like.
That's not what I'm saying.
What I'm saying is that we needto be able to look at this as
an umbrella and how we can usethis in collaboration with our
own preventative care and whatwe know about our bodies.
Now, how can we kind of bringthat back Right, like you're
talking about?
How can we focus on ourselvesand putting ourselves first
(20:15):
without that level of guilt?
We have to understand thatwe've been conditioned to feel
guilty for a lot of things andthat is something that I think
we all have to wrestle with,just on an individualized level,
based on what that looks likefor you, but at the end of the
day, I would always start withwhat are your values, what are
(20:39):
your boundaries?
And identifying core values isso important because those are
the hinge point from which youmake all your decisions, and so,
unfortunately, a lot of usdon't have those identified,
even boundaries, really and I'mspeaking to myself because I
have allowed my boundaries to becompromised many, many times
(21:02):
but your values and boundariescan change over time and I think
it's important to do littlecheckpoints with that.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I think for me, me and boundaries I've been talking
about this on the podcast for awhile now.
I, for some reason, I feelguilty for even exercising my
boundaries to this day, Like Ithought I was doing good, but I
feel like I'm just like backsideat this point.
But again, you know the need toto serve and because, again, I
share in the community in somany different ways, it's just
always it's like my go-to,that's like that's my baseline
(21:30):
just serving, being there foreveryone, ensuring that their
needs are taken care of, andthen, in that sense, I am losing
out on, let's say, rest or evenputting myself first, and I can
see it affect me in so manydifferent ways.
I remember a couple of weeksago I was so stressed out and my
period was delayed.
And I'm here thinking I'm noteven sexually active and I'm
(21:52):
over here thinking, oh my God,I'm pregnant, taking a pregnancy
test.
That may be TMI, to my peoplelistening, but I'm just being
honest, the immaculateconception I was doing and I'm
like I'm giving maybe 2.0because my period has just never
been this delayed in all mylife.
And I sat and I'm like you knowwhat you were really, really
stressed.
You had an intense last coupleof weeks as it relates to just
(22:13):
what's happening in society, youknow at work, you know in your
personal life, and then tryingto ensure again, how can I share
with those who I really need,and that essentially threw my
whole rhythm off completely.
And then the idea of me restingand I'm putting air quotes,
resting because for me restingis I can be laying down when I'm
(22:34):
on my phone doing some sort ofwork.
So now I'm at the point nowwhere I have, even in the last
year, I've put my phone on donot disturb at a certain point
of time in the night.
So even if you can't get methen oh well, it's going to be
until another day I can't, andthen on the weekend it's on do
not disturb all day.
Because again I'm trying toprioritize myself when it is
(22:55):
keyed into what's happening,especially in just the last few
weeks.
Now, Every time you blink it'ssomething in the media, in the
news, that's really reallynegative or just heavy.
But again, how can we, as women, unlearn the idea that rest
needs to be earned, Because youknow you will see, growing up,
we'll see our grandparents.
Oh, they're working on the farm, or we call it, in the ground
(23:16):
in Antigua.
You know you're plowing, doingwhat you gotta do because you
gotta provide for your family.
You're working hard to takecare of your children and then,
before you know it, it'snighttime, it's time to go to
bed, and then mom is still herecleaning up after you, XYZ.
And then, well, how is it now?
How can we just really andtruly just rest without feeling
guilty?
(23:36):
How can we unlearn that we needto be granted the permission
essentially to rest?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I always like to go back to.
You're either going to there'stwo camps here.
You're either going to continueto be hypervigilant and go, go,
go and your body forces you torest, with illness and
exhaustion and fatigue, or youcan prioritize rest so that you
can pour into your community.
(24:04):
It's really one or the other.
There's really no gray areathere.
You either make the decision oryour body will make the
decision for you.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
I'm so over you really.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I'm so over me.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
All right.
So I want to shift gears tobody literacy, which is right up
your alley, this is your thing.
At this point I'm going to sayyou invented body literacy.
She did not.
But again, this is just.
She's one of the foundingmembers of what it means to when
it comes to body literacy andhealth literacy in general, and
talk about the importance ofrecognizing that our bodies, or
(24:39):
when our bodies need care, likephysically, emotionally,
mentally, even spiritually,because, again, like I said,
you're a busy mom of two.
You have to be a wife, adaughter.
You know you are a caretaker,essentially for your entire
family and even with your momgoing through what she went
through, that forced you in asense, to be even more of a
caretaker.
And I think, sometimes, becausewe're just so programmed to be,
(25:02):
like you know, I'm a mom, I'm abusy mom, I got to do exercise
for my child or my children andagain, you neglect yourself.
So how can we, as women forthose listening if they don't
know?
You know I have a physicalailment or I'm emotionally
drained.
I'm mentally drained, causesometimes and even myself
included, like today, today's,the day I'm recording why I'm
physically, emotionally andmentally tapped out.
But am I going to go to rest?
(25:22):
Absolutely not.
I'm going to go to the gym,work out, because I think my
mental health needs it.
I'll be honest.
But again, that's me.
I'm not telling you.
If you're listening to my teatasters, this is not me telling
you to do what I do because it'snot the most healthy thing.
So I'm now trying to find a wayto again think about putting my
boundaries first, not balanceboundaries first.
But again, how is it?
(25:42):
What's the importance of usrecognizing when we're
physically, emotionally andmentally drained?
As it relates to even bodyliteracy and health literacy,
because, again, many women outhere they're facing PCOS,
endometriosis, breast cancer.
There's so many things that we,as a woman, that the
environment that we're living in, the climate that we're living
(26:03):
in, really does affect us whenit comes to reproductive health,
even people are havinginfertility issues.
That's on the rise now.
People in their early 20s youknow, 20s and 30s are now being
faced with some really reallywhen it comes to infertility as
well.
So talk to us more about bodyliteracy and why is it important
for us?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
as it relates to, again, from puberty up until
menopause, just, talking aboutbeing aware of what's going on
in your body regularly is bodyliteracy, and teaching your kids
essentially what body literacyis is going to change their
entire lives, the way that theyview themselves, the way that
(26:37):
they value themselves, the waythey navigate the healthcare
system.
It's a game changer Bodyliteracy for way that they value
themselves, the way theynavigate the healthcare system.
It's a game changer.
Body literacy for those whodon't know is being aware,
self-aware mentally, emotionallyand primarily physically of
body signals that your body issending you every single day and
learning to interpret those andunderstanding what those are
(26:57):
and what it might be asking for,and not being apologetic about
meeting those needs or seekingways that you can get those
needs met.
I think that you know, speakingof women specifically, we do
tend to be nurturers and we arevery attuned to other people.
Most of us are attuned to otherpeople's needs and I think it
(27:21):
could be rooted in some sort ofself value, like my value is in
the way that I take care ofpeople.
And if I stop being really goodat taking care of people, then
my value is going to go down andunfortunately, that is
something that I have foundmyself in for sure, I would say,
(27:44):
over the last six months,probably since the summer, it
was nonstop taking care ofpeople, but if I stop or if I
don't, then nobody's going toget fed, the laundry's not going
to be done.
My mom needs me right now.
Everybody, everybody, needed me, like every piece of me, and
then there was nothing left formyself, which led to a lot of
(28:06):
disassociation, from likefloating through the day with
very little awareness.
But all of that to say is thatit really just comes down to
what are you noticing about yourbody, like, are you feeling
tired?
Comes down to what are younoticing about your body Like
are you feeling tired?
If you are, ask some morequestions and get a little bit
(28:28):
more curious about why or wherethat tiredness is located.
So if you're feeling tired, andit's more so in your head, and
you're feeling heavy in yourhead, and your eyes are kind of
hurting.
maybe just get out from thefluorescent lights for a second
or put your phone down or getaway from the screen.
You know simple things likethat.
I was losing my hair when Ifirst moved to Tennessee from
California.
I was losing my hair and justgobs.
(28:48):
It was devastating.
I would cry about it, likeafter I'd get out of the shower.
I would just cry and that was asign.
That was a signal that my bodywas sending me.
You're stressed, all of theseother things that were happening
to me, to my body, they wereall signals that I was under a
lot of stress.
But I think we rationalizesometimes.
(29:11):
Is that well, I have to keepgoing?
The world is not going to stopspinning if you sit the hell
down for a second.
It's just not.
If you take 15 minutes and thisis what I've started doing I
take like 15, 20 minutes andI'll plop myself right on the
couch with the boys, no matterwhat they're doing, and I get my
book and I'm reading it I justread with them right there.
(29:33):
They want to read with me?
Cool, they'll get their books.
If they don't, they can gosomewhere else and play, or play
right there.
Right, I'm a sit down and read.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
No, and I think for me I'm getting there.
I feel like I'm there, butsometimes I regress, to be
honest, because I'm in myreading era.
I'm in mind I'm going to comehome, drink some tea, mind my
business and watch a TV show,because again I'm realizing that
, as you mentioned, you're here,falling out.
I'm seeing a lot of changes inmy body that I don't like.
I'm like girl, no, this is notwhat we want for ourselves.
(30:03):
You know, I feel like I'm muchmore inflamed because again, the
stress like I feel like I'mholding the stress in my body
because there's no outlet.
I mean, I do got a therapistthat can get me on, but again I
am not releasing the tensionthat's in my body or the need to
be the end all and be all foreveryone.
And even now I'm at the pointwhere, if I am the end all, be
(30:23):
all, I don't have the capacityto add anything else to my plate
.
So I'm not working through.
You know what?
I understand you're goingthrough something, but I don't
have the capacity and I feellike if that person that's in my
life that wants to be upsetbecause of that, then we have a
problem there as well, becauseyou know you're so used to me
being all about you 100% now,and then the minute I'm telling
(30:44):
you I need 20% for myself, thenyou know.
So we got.
We got an issue there as well,like you know, for me, like I
mentioned earlier, about mycycle being off by an entire
almost week and a half and Ididn't go to the doctor, or I
didn't reach out to my doctor.
I mean, granted, I knewessentially it was mainly stress
, but at the same time I wasstill in denial.
But I know there are otherpeople who are experiencing a
(31:07):
change in their cycle, notunderstanding what's going on.
That could be a heavy flow,that could be missing periods,
when you're not even in birthcontrol as well, but they're
still not going to seek help.
Granted, some people may not beable to afford to go seek help.
Let's talk about that.
We live in a country in the UShere, where healthcare, to me,
is a scam.
I don't care what.
It's just a scam.
I don't care what nobody says.
That's my belief.
It's just a scam.
(31:28):
So there's some people thatdon't have the access.
Depending on where you are,they don't have access to
healthcare, they don't haveaccess to the education, they
don't have access to any sort ofresources that they need
essentially to have theseconversations with their
provider.
And even if they do, it comesdown to you only spending 25, 30
minutes with your physician fora very basic checkup, depending
(31:51):
on if you're just going foryour annual, if you're pregnant,
you know you're not having thatlong interaction with your
physician and then you can'teven ask that question that you
may have because, again, there'sno time.
So you're paying all this money, whether you're in the US or
any part in the world, I meanyou're going to be paying money
regardless.
You know you're paying all thismoney to not even get the care
and the attention that you needand I want to point out that you
(32:12):
know.
That's why it's important forus Gianna, you know, as
community health workers, doulas, you know, working in this
space for us to be that bridgebetween communities who may not
be able to have that educationas it relates to their health,
have that education as itrelates to their body.
So they just assume.
You know what I'm stressed out.
Or my period is late, eitherI'm pregnant or something is
wrong, but I'm not going to goand see what it is because I
(32:32):
can't afford it or sometimes,like I had someone recently
which is so crazy, might've beenyesterday, to be honest someone
was telling me that a friend oftheirs had a baby and her feet
was swollen.
Um, her blood pressure was alittle bit elevated and she went
to the urgent care and theybasically told her that they
don't know what's wrong with her.
I said wait.
I said she had the baby when,because I started getting
(32:53):
confused.
Now you know, you have to be,you have to be mindful when
you're, when you're givingadvice or what you're saying
within you know you gotta be inyour scope so I scope.
So I said she had the baby whenor is she still pregnant?
Because it wasn't making sense.
She had the baby three weeksago, went to the hospital.
She got discharged.
As a matter of fact, she gotdischarged and four hours later
that's what it was.
Four hours later, after beingdischarged, she had to go back
(33:14):
to the hospital because she hadvery vision, she had a headache
and then her feet was swollenand she said the doctors told
her that they don't know what iswrong with her, but then they
were going to send her tophysical therapy.
So she did Okay.
I got to go, girl, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Talk about blood pressure rising.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Right, it's not even funny, but you know she's saying
that her feet were swollen.
This is four hours after beingdischarged.
Feet were swollen, elevatedblood pressure, headache and
blurriness.
We all know what that is, ohyeah, so say the words so people
can know what I'm talking about.
Postpartum eclampsia Right,they're telling her that they
took some blood.
The blood work came back normal, so they're telling her now
(34:01):
that she's going to go headache.
We're just bypassing all thesethings four hours after being
discharged from having a babyand you're not even thinking
immediately that it's pre-cancer.
You know what I mean.
So I still have to say thatagain some people she was like
you know, I don't want to go tothe hospital anymore because
what's the point of me going?
Because they're not taking careof me and it's like do in that
position, because again you're amom with a brand new baby.
You still have to go home tonurture your other babies that
(34:23):
you have at home.
You know she's having tonurture her partner because
that's the nature of what she's,what she's living right now.
And then I just kept thinkingabout the lack of understanding
because she just believed ineverything that her doctor is
saying.
Now, this is not me bashing anydoctors, because I love and
appreciate you guys, becausewithout you, you know we do need
you guys.
But sometimes there is a lapsein judgment, sometimes when it
(34:45):
comes to our care providers andbecause individuals may not have
that knowledge.
Because, I'll be honest, I wasone of that people that anything
a doctor told me, joanna, youcannot tell me it wasn't the
gospel.
Anything they told me I wasgoing to do.
Because, again, you know, weare programmed to think that our
doctors know it all, which,well, because we don't have the
understanding of our own bodies,because we're not trained to
(35:07):
advocate for ourselves.
That's a reality.
We just think go to the doctor,look at your annual, whatever
they say, don't ask anyquestions and keep it moving.
And again, we're trying to bethat bridge as it relates to
learning how to advocate foryourself.
So I'm saying all this to sayfor the average individual who
may not know enough about beingbody literate or even health
literate how can one advocatefor themselves in a healthcare
(35:32):
setting?
But just in general, becauseagain we are out here being
nurturers, we are on theforefront as it relates to our
families.
We're the first line.
We talk about the men being thehead of the household, if we're
being honest, that man cannotbe the head of the household if
the wife or the woman is notensuring that the household is
in order for him to besuccessful when it comes to that
(35:54):
.
So how can we, as womenlistening here, what are some
practical ways or things that wecan do to ensure that we are
taking that step into reallylearning about our bodies and
about ourselves and how we canadvocate when it comes to our
health and well-being?
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Two things we have to learn to stay curious.
I always am relating orwatching my kids.
Sometimes, and girl, they talka lot.
They don't stop talking fromthe moment they wake up to the
moment they go to sleep.
But a lot of the questions thatthey ask are very good
questions and one of thosequestions is why Well, why mama,
(36:33):
well, why mama, how come Ican't blah, blah, blah, mama?
And all of those moments areteaching moments and instead of
saying well, because I said so,I'm not that type of parent.
I will offer an explanationbecause it feeds their curiosity
and I don't think enough of ushad that type of response when
we were asking all the questions, because when we were asking
(36:56):
all the questions as kids,you're being disrespectful.
Just do what I say.
That's not what.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
I asked you to do.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
So we've stopped asking questions.
And, to your point, what yousaid you took.
Everything that they said wasgospel.
We were told that we couldn'ttrust our bodies.
I mean, we had doctors wellbefore 1993, when women were
barely starting to be consideredto be included in clinical
trials.
We had them diagnosing us withhysteria for, for PMS syndromes.
(37:29):
Like, like we're, we have beentaught yeah, we have been taught
generations behind and we'veadopted and continue to
perpetuate those ideologies.
You don't know enough about yourbody.
So what I would say is to staycurious, always stay curious.
You are the natural expert ofyour own body.
(37:50):
You don't need a degree tounderstand what's happening to
you on a daily basis.
I'm talking about a daily basis, knowing what is happening.
When you're tired, take a rest.
If you're feeling thirsty,don't push off that water.
Drink, hydrate If you're hungry, like, oh my goodness.
Like, please, eat.
(38:11):
Like, why are we skipping meals?
Right, if you don't have timeto eat, then you are not giving
yourself enough love.
Like, you have to love yourselfenough to give yourself time.
Tell people no without saying,without saying, oh, I'm so sorry
I can't do that right now.
I'm not sorry that I can't dothat right now.
Thank you for your patience.
(38:32):
It's not, I'm sorry.
Thank you so much for yourpatience.
You're going to have to give meanother 48 hours.
Like, what are we doing whenwe're not asking for what we
need Really?
We're putting someone else'sneeds and desires and
preferences above our own.
But when it comes to bodyliteracy on a daily basis,
(38:52):
staying curious, pay attentionto what's going on in your body
and the way that I teach, when Iteach the bomb girls workshop,
I explain in that body literacysegment.
You pay attention like gothrough your whole body, like
take a minute, close your eyesand we'll sit there for a second
Check in with yourself fromhead to toe.
How am I feeling?
(39:13):
Do you feel any discomfort?
Tightness, tension, heat,coolness, like anything like
just pay attention to that, makeit a habit.
Start with one habit a day.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
One.
No, that is true, and I likewhen you said about you know, if
you can't eat, then you're noteven showing yourself love,
because you know we need to benourished.
You know that's important whenwe talk about feeding the brain
if we can't sit down for 10minutes to eat.
You know, I've spoken aboutintentional eating on the
podcast before, becausesometimes I find myself I'm at
(39:45):
work and I'm eating until mylunch break and I'm not even
taking lunch.
I'm working through while I'meating and I'm like that's not
me.
I'm not taking the time to evencount how many times I'm
chewing to fully or properlydigest what I'm eating, because
I'm so busy trying to getsomething done for other people
again, you know, and then thatleads to us neglecting ourselves
.
So, you know, a little veggiesnack, something simple.
It doesn't have to be anythingover the top, but you must
(40:06):
ensure that you are nurturingyour body, because if you don't
have your best health now, howcan we continue to take care of
those in our lives?
You know, I want to go back towhen you mentioned something
about your bum class.
So we should talk about whatb-o-m-a is or bomb girl is, and
then we'll have another episode.
That's a whole other episode.
My girl, yes, but let's brieflytouch on it already, as it
relates to even, you know,women's health.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Sure, sure, yeah, so it's.
It is a body literacy component, being a fertility aware.
It's a fertility awarenesscalled Billings Ovulation Method
and it is largely used forpeople who don't want to use any
type of hormonal contraceptionand really want to be able to
monitor their own reproductivehealth in the most simple way
(40:48):
possible.
I chose to study that methodspecifically because it was the
most accessible to people.
There are tons of otherfertility awareness methods out
there.
I personally don't believe thatthey are the most accessible.
This particular method has beenshown to be successful even
(41:08):
within the blind community.
It's been shown to besuccessful through various
cultures, cultural preferences,languages and ways of life, and
to me that is a successfulmethod.
So what it does is it teachesyou to learn your body signals,
specifically your fertilitysignals, in patterns and
(41:30):
observations, and those patternsare really helping you
understand when you're fertile,when you have fertile windows or
infertile windows, based ondifferent signals that your body
is sending you, and it's supersimple to keep track of.
I like I still do it to thisday I started it maybe 10 or 11
years ago and then I stopped inbetween babies and then I
(41:51):
started up again and it just Imean it's tried and true and
it's easy and I, like you said,we don't have all the time in
the world but if I'm going tomake time for something.
It's got to be efficient.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
No, I do like that and again, that's something that
we don't often talk about outin public.
Again, because people justdon't know what's even out there
for them, especially duringthis climate, as it relates to a
lot of women going throughinfertility as well.
But before, as we startwrapping up, how do we make
wellness and self-care anon-negotiable part of our daily
(42:25):
life?
Because I know you've spokenabout that you have your time
blocks where this is just whatI'm going to do.
I don't care what's going on,this is just me.
I'm sitting down here doingthat.
I at one point mastered that.
Now I'm back to trying tomaster it again because my brain
is always running, zipping,going somewhere.
But again, I've come to a pointin my life where I'm going to
block out a good hour or two,and that's going to be to do
whatever, whether it's watchingTV, whether it's reading,
(42:46):
whatever.
It is something that I don'tnecessarily use my brain too
much for or be of service toothers.
But how can we?
Because I know, of course, thegirlies.
We're all about self-care andwellness and let's do X, y, z,
(43:08):
but are we doing it forourselves or are we doing it
because we need to put on a showfor those people on social
media.
Because, let's be honest, socialmedia is really.
It has taken over all of ourlives.
I don't care what anybody says,whether it's good, bad, because
I often say you know, gianna, Imet on social media, so of
course it's something.
There is good there.
But again, I I've found toomany times even included.
When I first started bloggingmany years ago, I mean probably
oh, that's a long time for real,about nine years ago, that's
crazy.
Anyway, when I started bloggingabout nine or so years ago, I
(43:32):
remember being obsessed with howmany people were reading my
blog posts or you know, if I'mout somewhere, let me take a
second post on my Instagram andI'm just like, girl, wait, my
sister would be like T?
T, you need to live in themoment, stay in the moment, and
I'll be like brushing them offbecause I'm like no girl, I
gotta get this content for mypeople on social media to a
point now where I'm just I havea love-hate relationship now
(43:52):
with social media.
You know we talk about it allthe time like I'm just, I'm
neither here nor there about itanymore, to be honest.
But again, how do we makewellness and self-care really a
non-negotiable part of our dailylife, for ourselves and not for
nobody else.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
You have to decide that it's a non-negotiable.
So instead, before even addinganything like any new habits or
any new like wellness routinesor anything like that, you have
to decide that you matter enoughto be on that to-do list and
schedule out time for it.
(44:27):
So make the decision today,right now, to say I'm going to
do one thing, I'm going to doone thing that supports me today
, and then the next day you'regoing to make that commitment.
And then the next day you'regoing to make that commitment.
You're not going to say, okay,okay, for seven days straight,
for 14 days straight, I'm goingto do, I'm going to get movement
(44:47):
in that's, that's it's tangibleday.
The night before, you're goingto say tomorrow, I'm going to
take 15 minutes and do a quickstretching routine or workout
(45:07):
routine really quick, somethingon YouTube, super simple and
start with that day.
Once you finish that day andyou get that 15 minutes in of
whatever it is that you decidedto do, it's a victory.
And then, before you go to bedthat night, you're going to do
the same thing and make thatcommitment to yourself the next
day.
Over time, you're going to learnto trust yourself because
(45:30):
you've kept promises to yourselfbefore and you know you can do
it again.
So I would say you have todecide that it's non-negotiable
and then start looking into whatis going to be on that
non-negotiable list.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Yeah, I think what you mentioned.
It just comes down again tomaking these small adjustments,
because I think sometimes we doneed to reframe our mindset when
it comes to habits, myselfincluded Because we just think,
you know what, we're going tostart something this week and
it's going to stick, and thenthat's it Like no, you have to
start small.
If you're going to start at thebroader end of the spectrum,
like, oh yeah, I'm going to dothat, I'm going to lose 10
(46:04):
pounds, I'm going to do it.
No, we've got to start small.
We've got to start by waking upin the morning.
Let me start by drinking a glassof warm lemon water in the
morning.
Let's start there first.
Let's see how we can do thatwater with lemon.
Or sometimes and I'm gettingold and I was like I do my
metamucil but, um, but again,it's a habit now that I look
(46:25):
forward to.
If I don't do it now, somethingjust essentially feels off
because I've gotten so used tomaking that be a part of my
daily routines.
It's all about starting, youknow, really, really small in
your life.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
Because, again, if not, you know who right and you
have to go, and it goes back tolike what we were talking about
in the beginning what are myvalues, what are my boundaries?
Let's start there, let'sidentify that and then we can go
.
Okay, since this is what Ivalue I value knowledge, I value
education, I value movement andfresh air, whatever it is, then
(46:58):
you can start creating somedoable daily habits that you
want to start including.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
I have a guide for that, though I should send that
to you.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
I don't know if I have ever sent that to you.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah, so we'll put that in the show notes as well.
And of course you guys aregoing to go check Gianna's
social media out so you canunsubscribe to her newsletter,
because it's really honestly thebombcom.
I'm not saying that becauseshe's my friend, but it is.
Her writing is just.
I'm friend, but it is herwriting is just.
(47:30):
I'm going to try to be a newyork time bestseller, but once,
about a time, honestly, becauseshe really does write really
well.
But again it comes down to, youknow, unconditioning and then
sometimes fear as well, becausewe we fear being seen as selfish
because again we're taking timefor ourselves, maybe even fear
of, uh, disappointing people,you know, fear that things will
fall apart if we take a stepback.
I know I've been there beforeand I'm like, you know, I need
to take a step back.
Like you know, jenna alwaystells me say it's like girl, go
to sleep.
(47:50):
Or, you know, take a breath,let's see where we are.
Because again, I do do a lotand I have a lot of people often
say how do you do this, how doyou do that?
And even though in essence,that they essentially praise
that, I don't want to becelebrated for being exhausted,
if that makes sense right, youknow what I mean.
I don't want, I don't want itto be a single, you know, yeah,
I'm wearing a badge of honor foralways being exhausted like no
(48:12):
when we, when we're in pain,when we're feeling emotionally
off or even hormonally off,because, again, as women, we get
like one good week out of amonth, if that much know.
So we should essentially try toslow down.
I often have a mantra of pushingthrough, but you have to know
when and where to push through.
Pushing through is not going towork in every scenario.
You know what I mean.
It is not.
(48:32):
But as we get ready to go,gianna, you know, let us know,
like what is something that youwould like for one of our women
listening, like what issomething you can tell him, what
is some part of some sort ofwisdom you can tell him to take
charge of their health, chargeof their body, as they continue
on this journey of being a womanfrom a whole woman aspect Gosh
stay curious, keep askingquestions Don't be apologetic
(48:57):
about it and look at your valuesand your boundaries and
reassess as needed.
I love that.
I love that.
I love that.
Thank you for joining me herein the Tea Tasting.
Room.
It's always a pleasure talkingto you and we're going to have
her back, my friend, becauseagain we have to talk about the
billions of relation method.
That is something that,especially for our girls who are
(49:20):
trying to conceive or just wantto know better, have a better
understanding as well of theirbody.
But before we go, I'm going toleave you with the post-it note
that we have here in the t-shape, and that's going to be.
You are worthy of the same love, care and attention you so
freely give to others.
Take up space in your own life,prioritize you yes, I'm gonna
say it again you are worthy ofthe same love, care and
(49:42):
attention you so freely give toothers.
Take up space in your own lifeand prioritize you.
So we're going to work in that,going forward in 2025.
Yes, I'm here for it.
Yes, now tell us where we canfind you, how we can support you
.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
You can find me on instagram at simply
giannaataliav.
And then I have a non-activewebsite that is coming soon and
I'm not going to give you thewhat is it the link for that,
Because that's going to lead youabsolutely nowhere right now.
(50:17):
And then my subscriptionnewsletter is over on Substack,
where I talk about all of thosethings in addition to being a
multi-passionate woman andnavigating that, and that is
called I Mean Honestly.
So if you just put Substack IMean Honestly in your search bar
(50:38):
, you'll find it.
Speaker 1 (50:39):
Well, thank you for that.
Speaking of website, like Iwould have announced, my
TanyaKAmbrosecom website is live.
That has been a true labor oflove and a long journey to get
to where we are, so that link isnot broken, so please go ahead
and check out TanyaKAmbrosecom.
Unlike mine, yours is live anddefinitely make sure that you
(51:01):
know we are keeping theconversation going.
So definitely make sure youfollow you, subscribe to the
newsletter and, if this episoderesonated with you, of course
share it with a friend and tella friend and tell a friend you
know.
All right, thank you, sis, forthis amazing conversation and
thank you, guys, for tuning inuntil next time.
Take care of you, thanks, bye,bye.
Thank you for joining me foranother episode of Tea with
(51:26):
Tanya.
If you liked this episode, besure to share it with a friend.
Don't forget to follow onInstagram at Tea with Tanya
podcast.
Be sure to subscribe to theweekly Tea Talk newsletter and,
of course, rate on or spotifyand subscribe wherever you
listen.
See you next time.
I love you for listening.
Welcome to Tea with Tanya.
I'm your host, tanya Ambrose,an average millennial navigating
life as a maternal healthprofessional, non-profit founder
and grad student.
Join me in the tea tasting roomwhere we spill the tea on
finding balance and promotingpositive living while doing it
all.
(00:20):
Hey friend, welcome back toanother episode of Tea with
Tanya.
You know the podcast where wesip, spill and dive deep into
all things whole woman wellness.
Now, today, I am not only beingjoined by a special guest, but I
have some exciting news toshare with you guys.
And let me tell you, my friend,I am elated.
(00:43):
I'm still trying to processeverything, even though I knew
it was going to come, but Iwasn't expecting things to be
the way that it is.
But, of course, before we getinto today's episode, we're
going to talk about the healthtea of the week, and that's
going to be some hibiscus tea.
As you know, february is allabout love.
It's all about heart health aswell, and what better way for us
to show love to ourselves orshow love to yourself by caring
(01:03):
for your heart?
So hibiscus tea is packed withantioxidants and is known for
helping to lower your bloodpressure, supporting heart
health and, of course, to reduceinflammation, something that
I'm very big on this yearbecause I need to ensure that
I'm not as inflamed as I am.
Plus, of course, its deep redcolor makes it the perfect tea
for the month of love.
(01:24):
So you want to tap into thathibiscus tea, my friend, because
again, february is all aboutlove and we know, when it comes
to love, we talk about our heartand, of course, you know heart
health and I'm going toencourage you to get outside.
If you haven't done anythingspecial for yourself today or
this week, just go and take awalk for at least 30 minutes.
That's going to contribute toyou being physical, it's going
to contribute to your hearthealth as well.
(01:45):
I'm just going to let you feelgood if you can go outside and
just get some sun, of course,depending on where you are in
the world.
Right now, here in SouthCarolina, it's a whopping 82
degrees.
I don't know why.
I mean, I'm not complaining,but again, I'm not understanding
how we're having summer in themiddle of winter, but again,
your island girl here is notcomplaining about that, of
(02:06):
course.
So definitely get that hibiscustea and, you know, let's sit
for self-care, sit for yourheart, of course, again, and be
more active this week or as youlisten to this podcast.
Now, some big news, obviously.
Last episode if you haven't gocheck it out I did announce the
launch of my website,tanyakambrosecom, and let me
tell you I am overjoyed this hasbeen a very, very, very long
(02:27):
time in the making, so to haveit come to fruition and just to
see how beautiful it is and thefeedback I've been getting from
you.
It's been amazing.
So I want to thank you guys forchecking that out.
If you haven't, definitely gocheck out TanyaKAmbrosecom and
of course, I've put that link inthe show notes as well.
(02:52):
Now, another big thing thathappened, which is so crazy the
same with my website launch, Iwas featured in the Pockstock
Future of Black America Top 50list.
Let me tell you I am beyondhonored.
When they first reached out tome, I thought you know what?
This could probably be a scam.
What is this little old me overhere in my little side of the
corner?
Little old me over here livingmy life?
You want to feature me forBlack History Month as well.
But of course, I did myresearch first and found out
that they were a crediblecompany, a credible source, and
(03:13):
I responded to the message andwe started a dialogue.
And then here we are, a fewweeks later and the list is out.
And let me tell you, I am on thelist with so many great people,
from Simone Biles to LauraRoach, to Ta-Nehisi Coates Like
it's just what Me Sterling KBrown, so many other creators
(03:34):
and entrepreneurs who are doingamazing work in their
communities.
So for me to be recognizedamong so many inspiring
changemakers is truly humblingand it also really and truly
fuels my passion to continue thework that I do, especially when
it comes to maternal,reproductive and menstrual
health, public health,especially through the way of my
non-profit Spub Life Kids and,of course, here in the Tea
(03:55):
Tasting Room with you.
So when I think about it, thisrecognition honestly is not just
for me, it is honestly forevery woman, every menstruator,
every mother, not just for me.
It is honestly for every woman,every menstruator, every mother
, every young girl whose health,voice and dignity deserve to be
prioritized.
So my work for me comes fromthe heart and being included in
this list is a reminder that themission matters, the impact is
(04:17):
real and the work must continue.
So I definitely want to give ashout out, a special thank you
to Parkstock for celebratingBlack excellence and
highlighting the work being doneto create a healthier, more
empowered future for ourcommunities.
This moment continues and willmotivate me to keep pushing, to
keep advocating and to keepshowing up for those in my
community.
(04:38):
So all gratitude, all love forthat, for that future love for
that, for that feature.
This has been a really toughweek and to have that out, you
know, to even be having aconversation with someone who I
admire, who's just a part of my,my community, and we're going
back and forth about the stateof the world and how we're
feeling and how it's importantfor us to keep showing up,
doesn't matter how big or small,once we show up for ourself and
(04:59):
our community.
So your girl, your girl ishappy, she's, she's in good mood
, she's happy and this is.
You know, I take this featurebeing in this list.
You know it's not a gimmick,it's not.
I'm just here.
You know I am showing up in thecommunity and I am putting in
the work.
So to see my hard work pay off,without even realizing that
people in the community arerecognizing me, you know it does
(05:20):
feel good.
So I'm just excited to continueto do the work that I'm doing.
I'm motivated, I'm inspired andI hope that this even inspires
you to continue to show up foryourself, show up for your
community, for your village and,of course, you know, when it
comes to your health, just showup for yourself on a holistic
standpoint as well.
So, definitely, thank you,thank you, thank you for your
(05:41):
support and I'm just happy.
I am just happy and I'm tryingto contain the happiness so that
it doesn't translate.
I'm trying to convey thehappiness, but I really am happy
and this is just something thatI needed, personally, as it
relates to confidence or the wayin which I've been feeling
discouraged, as it relates tothe state of the US world.
That is so to have.
(06:01):
This is just as a reminder thatto keep showing up, keep going,
no matter what happens aroundyou, keep your eye on the prize,
keep your eye on the missionand the vision that you have for
yourself, and it will pay offin the end.
All right.
So today I have someone sospecial joining me.
She's new to the Tea TastingRoom, she's been here several
(06:22):
times and every time I thinkabout who I can talk to about
certain things, she always comesto my mind, first and foremost,
because the conversations thatwe have on a regular day can
really be seasons of a podcast,so I am happy to have Gianna
back here in the Tea TastingRoom.
You know if you follow heronline.
If not, you need to, but youshould know that she's always
(06:43):
dropping some truth bombs aboutself-care, body literacy and the
importance of prioritizingourselves, and this year she has
a theme called Bringing HealthHome and I find it very
intriguing.
When she did her post on socialmedia, I was like, oh my
goodness, this is really.
I love this.
It was a long caption that youneed to go read, but I love what
she said and it really makessense for me to have her on the
(07:09):
podcast for the second episodeso we can talk about.
You know, we're talking aboutwhole woman wellness and she is
also on that train with me, sodefinitely looking forward to
having her here to tea tasting.
So, gianna, how are you?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I'm good and I'm glad to be back.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
I'm glad you're back.
You got him back.
Where did I go?
Well, yes, I am happy to to beback.
So, like I was mentioning, youknow, one of your posts earlier
this week, it hit me really,really hard because, you know,
you asked why, as women, do weput ourselves not first, we like
, why do we do this?
So I think you know, let thepeople know what your post is
about and what we're going to betalking about, because why is
it that, as a, I mean, I know,for I'm not a mom yet You're a
mom of two, you're a wife andfor some reason, I mean, I am a
(07:49):
nurturer, you're a nurturer, andI think, as women, we're just
naturally born nurturers.
But then sometimes we tend toforget about ourselves, we lose
ourselves.
Some people lose themselves inmotherhood and relationships and
friendships.
So, relationships andfriendships, so what does it
mean when we're talking about?
You know, first of all, let medial it back.
Hold on, I'm getting ahead ofmyself.
Now, for those women that knowwho you are, please tell us a
(08:11):
little bit about yourself, whatyou do, give us all the tea.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Sure, I will spill the tea.
So I'm Gianna Vasconcelos.
I am, like you said, wife, momof two boys, nine and four and
we live in Tennessee as of now.
And I, what I do for work whenI say work, I don't know that I
(08:35):
want to say even work what I do,how I serve.
How I serve is throughchildbirth education, fertility
awareness, education and justreally strongly advocating for
body literacy, because I believethat women have the tools at
their fingertips to be thegatekeepers of their health,
(08:59):
preventative health for that oftheir families, and to be able
to understand their cycles andtheir body signals and have the
ability to meet those needs tomaintain their health.
And that is just like you said,as we go into 2025, that's
going to be my main pillar andoverarching thing for everything
(09:22):
.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Why do you think this conversation is so important
for us as women today?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Specifically and starting from just the present,
we have seen our governmentagencies take away information.
We have seen websites justcompletely shut down with
resources to be able to helpvarious different populations
(09:49):
and, to me, health, wellness allof that should never be
politicized.
It is nonpartisan to be ahealthy person, and when I made
that post that you're referringto and there was two the last
one was caring for yourself as anurturer and empath, but that
(10:11):
first one, I was reallydiscussing why we need to bring
health home.
We cannot continue to lean onthese large agencies to tell us
what to do, when to do it andhow to be healthy when we
already have the tools to do so,and the reason why we cannot
continue to rely on that isbecause these agencies,
(10:32):
unfortunately, they do bend tothe whim of political powers, no
matter who is in office, andunfortunately, the population
pays the price for that.
I don't believe that we as anation have done a very good job
at keeping health in the handsof the people and educating
people on preventative health.
(10:53):
Specifically, I'm talking aboutwomen, and then you can
contextualize that even intomotherhood and their children.
There has been a completecultural shift where we used to
be able to be the medicine women, the midwives right Like it's
Black History Month, we'retalking about the granny
midwives a lot lately Of thethings and the people that
(11:16):
served the community.
They had a better pulse on thecommunity than the government
had on the community.
So when we're making theselarge decisions about our health
, we can take all of thatexternal information into
account.
But we really need to take inwhat we need, to dial that back
and say, okay, what are theneeds of my body?
(11:36):
How do I respond to this typeof dietary?
Speaker 1 (11:41):
intake.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Or how do I respond to this?
For example, that's what theyremoved from the hands of the
population when they tookmidwifery out of the hands of
Black women and Black families.
The only safe space that we hadto give birth to our babies the
only safe people, to our babies, the only safe people and even
(12:09):
the herbal remedies that webrought over as a people to the
Americas was taken away.
And when you look at thatculturally and then you look at
where we're at now, we cannotcontinue to rely on a colonized
I feel like that word is like abuzzword right now and it's
overused a little bit, but I'mgoing to say it anyway.
(12:30):
It's a colonized method ofhealthcare and I'm doing air
quotes of healthcare, so yeah,so that's where I'm coming from
when I say like we need to bringhealth home, when I say like we
need to bring health home.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Well, I think, for me , honestly, the last couple of
months it's just been.
It's been heavy.
Of course, you know, not allthe time, but when you think
about the political climate thatwe're in and, um, as you said,
the removal of information thatwe have, we once had access to,
it's becoming more and morefrustrating.
You know, seeing things thatare being ripped apart from
(13:06):
people, from, you know, minoritypopulation, marginalized, who
are being, to me, takingadvantage of, because, again now
, I feel that we're trying toremove or eliminate a group of
people which has been this thenorm in this country, if you're
(13:26):
being honest for a number ofyears, but to do it so blatantly
and I I find myself asking thisquestion, you know, like, how
are we here in 2025?
How are we here dictating whatsomeone should do or how they
should live their life?
What's the obsession on this?
And I don't care, what's theobsession with white men and
(13:48):
women's bodies?
I'm trying to think back to way, back in the day.
What's really the obsession asto why you're so hell-bent on
telling us what to do and thenit leaves us in a position now
where we're having to fight forourselves and we already know
how it is historically when itcomes to women in general.
But when you think about itfrom a Black woman's point of
(14:08):
view, it's like where do we gofrom here?
You know you often hear aboutthe strong Black woman aspect of
things.
Or if someone gets a little bittoo loud, oh, she's an angry
Black woman.
There are so many negativeconnotations that's attached to
Black women.
I can only speak about myexperience.
You know I mean women ingeneral, but I can only speak of
my experience being a Blackwoman living in this country.
(14:29):
And we still have to show up.
You have to show up for yourfamily.
You know I have to show up formy family.
Other people listening have toshow up for their family in some
way, shape or form.
What can we?
do and why is this conversationso important for us to really
learn how to prioritize ourhealth.
So let's start from bodyliteracy.
What is that?
(14:49):
Because you know, you and Iwork in this reproductive health
space and for me, I'm trying toensure that people have the
access to the health educationso they can make informed
decisions.
You know I talk about, you know, the whole woman wellness from
puberty to menopause.
In some communities we're stilltalking about, we're still
hiding to talk about periods.
We're even hiding to talk aboutsex.
We don't even want to talkabout pregnancy in some regards.
(15:12):
Sometimes, you know, in somecultures, if a girl, a
menstruator, starts seeing theircycle, their menstrual period,
it's a oh, you know, don't betoo fast, or you can get
pregnant.
It's a oh, you know, don't betoo fast, or you can get
pregnant, you know.
(15:32):
So there's still a communitywhere parents are afraid to have
the conversation with theirchildren as it relates to you
know, periods and sex and how totake care of your body.
How do I advocate for myselfwhen I'm going to the doctor and
these different things?
And I know for me, like one ofthe goals of the mission of
Squad Life is for us to havethat health education.
I tell people all the time wecan connect people with
resources, physical resourcesbut if we don't have that
understanding or that knowledgeabout our body, how can we
advocate for ourselves?
So, in the theme of bringinghealth home body literacy,
(15:52):
health literacy how can we, aswomen, continue to move forward
in this crazy political climatethat's threatening our
livelihood?
How can we shut up forourselves?
This time it's a very heavycross to bear, like as a woman.
We're great multitaskers andthen sometimes I know for me, I
forget about myself.
You know, we talk all the time.
It's like girl, go get somerest, you know.
So how can we really get to apoint where we can prioritize
(16:16):
ourselves but still be able tobalance?
Because, honestly, where we canprioritize ourselves but still
be able to balance?
Because I'm honestly, to behonest, I'm tired of using the
word balance now, because whateven is balance at this point in
time.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
What is balance right ?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
What even is balance?
But how can we get to a pointwhere we can set stronger
boundaries we can use that wordboundaries Right right when we
can prioritize ourselves butalso the needs of our family,
our kids, whatever the case maybe?
How can we do that withoutfeeling guilty, because a lot of
moms talk about mom guilt Me ifI can't show up for someone in
the way that I'm used to.
It also weighs on me heavily,but at the same time, I need to
(16:48):
put myself first.
So how can we really show upfor ourselves without feeling
guilty as it relates to caringabout ourselves?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I think that question is so loaded and I want to go
back to something that youmentioned.
In order to answer thisquestion properly.
We have to understand why yousaid why are they so obsessed
with women's bodies, like what'shappening with healthcare and
all of that right?
So that really started backwhen they realized that they
(17:17):
could monetize our bodies.
They realized that a lot of theeducation system right, which
is a whole other conversation.
But when it comes to medicalschool, it was an elitist
structure.
Only white men with money couldget into medical school.
And when they started beginningall of these specialties
(17:39):
subspecialties that we see today, obstetrics being one of them
they had to find a way to bringbirth out of the home and
discredit midwives, and so whenthey were doing that in tandem,
they were building theirbusiness.
Healthcare in America is abusiness but that's the bottom
line and as much as we're partof that structure and that
(18:02):
business right as public healthprofessionals, it really boils
down to that and we have to beable to look that in the face
and be honest and say thatwithout any question.
That's what it is.
It's a business and that wasrealized when they could
monetize birth.
They pulled women out of theirhomes, out of meeting with
(18:24):
midwives.
They discredited midwives.
They discredited medicine women,women who used herbs and plant
medicine from various differentcultures, indigenous cultures,
and they called them quacks andthey called them crazy and
witches, and there's just tonsof things them quacks and they
called them crazy and witches,and there's just tons of things.
It was a slander campaign,essentially that that swept
across the South and it justmade its way across the entire
(18:48):
country and, unfortunately, webought into it.
Unfortunately, we startedtrusting people outside of
ourselves more than we trustedourselves, and then we, on top
of that, we started distrustingourselves.
So, not even not trustingyourself we just don't trust
(19:10):
ourselves, and I think a lot ofthat comes from the fact that we
have been so conditioned to tobelieve that someone that has
gone to X amount of years ofschooling knows better about our
bodies than we do.
Now I don't want to say thatthat's.
(19:31):
I don't want to discreditmedical school or osteopathics
or anything like that at all,because, absolutely, like they
are lifesaving.
My mom, you know, has just gonethrough two surgeries in the
last 16 weeks and I am thankingGod that we have doctors and
oncologists and and plasticsurgeons.
(19:53):
Like.
That's not what I'm saying.
What I'm saying is that we needto be able to look at this as
an umbrella and how we can usethis in collaboration with our
own preventative care and whatwe know about our bodies.
Now, how can we kind of bringthat back Right, like you're
talking about?
How can we focus on ourselvesand putting ourselves first
(20:15):
without that level of guilt?
We have to understand thatwe've been conditioned to feel
guilty for a lot of things andthat is something that I think
we all have to wrestle with,just on an individualized level,
based on what that looks likefor you, but at the end of the
day, I would always start withwhat are your values, what are
(20:39):
your boundaries?
And identifying core values isso important because those are
the hinge point from which youmake all your decisions, and so,
unfortunately, a lot of usdon't have those identified,
even boundaries, really and I'mspeaking to myself because I
have allowed my boundaries to becompromised many, many times
(21:02):
but your values and boundariescan change over time and I think
it's important to do littlecheckpoints with that.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I think for me, me and boundaries I've been talking
about this on the podcast for awhile now.
I, for some reason, I feelguilty for even exercising my
boundaries to this day, Like Ithought I was doing good, but I
feel like I'm just like backsideat this point.
But again, you know the need toto serve and because, again, I
share in the community in somany different ways, it's just
always it's like my go-to,that's like that's my baseline
(21:30):
just serving, being there foreveryone, ensuring that their
needs are taken care of, andthen, in that sense, I am losing
out on, let's say, rest or evenputting myself first, and I can
see it affect me in so manydifferent ways.
I remember a couple of weeksago I was so stressed out and my
period was delayed.
And I'm here thinking I'm noteven sexually active and I'm
(21:52):
over here thinking, oh my God,I'm pregnant, taking a pregnancy
test.
That may be TMI, to my peoplelistening, but I'm just being
honest, the immaculateconception I was doing and I'm
like I'm giving maybe 2.0because my period has just never
been this delayed in all mylife.
And I sat and I'm like you knowwhat you were really, really
stressed.
You had an intense last coupleof weeks as it relates to just
(22:13):
what's happening in society, youknow at work, you know in your
personal life, and then tryingto ensure again, how can I share
with those who I really need,and that essentially threw my
whole rhythm off completely.
And then the idea of me restingand I'm putting air quotes,
resting because for me restingis I can be laying down when I'm
(22:34):
on my phone doing some sort ofwork.
So now I'm at the point nowwhere I have, even in the last
year, I've put my phone on donot disturb at a certain point
of time in the night.
So even if you can't get methen oh well, it's going to be
until another day I can't, andthen on the weekend it's on do
not disturb all day.
Because again I'm trying toprioritize myself when it is
(22:55):
keyed into what's happening,especially in just the last few
weeks.
Now, Every time you blink it'ssomething in the media, in the
news, that's really reallynegative or just heavy.
But again, how can we, as women, unlearn the idea that rest
needs to be earned, Because youknow you will see, growing up,
we'll see our grandparents.
Oh, they're working on the farm, or we call it, in the ground
(23:16):
in Antigua.
You know you're plowing, doingwhat you gotta do because you
gotta provide for your family.
You're working hard to takecare of your children and then,
before you know it, it'snighttime, it's time to go to
bed, and then mom is still herecleaning up after you, XYZ.
And then, well, how is it now?
How can we just really andtruly just rest without feeling
guilty?
(23:36):
How can we unlearn that we needto be granted the permission
essentially to rest?
Speaker 2 (23:43):
I always like to go back to.
You're either going to there'stwo camps here.
You're either going to continueto be hypervigilant and go, go,
go and your body forces you torest, with illness and
exhaustion and fatigue, or youcan prioritize rest so that you
can pour into your community.
(24:04):
It's really one or the other.
There's really no gray areathere.
You either make the decision oryour body will make the
decision for you.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
I'm so over you really.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
I'm so over me.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
All right.
So I want to shift gears tobody literacy, which is right up
your alley, this is your thing.
At this point I'm going to sayyou invented body literacy.
She did not.
But again, this is just.
She's one of the foundingmembers of what it means to when
it comes to body literacy andhealth literacy in general, and
talk about the importance ofrecognizing that our bodies, or
(24:39):
when our bodies need care, likephysically, emotionally,
mentally, even spiritually,because, again, like I said,
you're a busy mom of two.
You have to be a wife, adaughter.
You know you are a caretaker,essentially for your entire
family and even with your momgoing through what she went
through, that forced you in asense, to be even more of a
caretaker.
And I think, sometimes, becausewe're just so programmed to be,
(25:02):
like you know, I'm a mom, I'm abusy mom, I got to do exercise
for my child or my children andagain, you neglect yourself.
So how can we, as women forthose listening if they don't
know?
You know I have a physicalailment or I'm emotionally
drained.
I'm mentally drained, causesometimes and even myself
included, like today, today's,the day I'm recording why I'm
physically, emotionally andmentally tapped out.
But am I going to go to rest?
(25:22):
Absolutely not.
I'm going to go to the gym,work out, because I think my
mental health needs it.
I'll be honest.
But again, that's me.
I'm not telling you.
If you're listening to my teatasters, this is not me telling
you to do what I do because it'snot the most healthy thing.
So I'm now trying to find a wayto again think about putting my
boundaries first, not balanceboundaries first.
But again, how is it?
(25:42):
What's the importance of usrecognizing when we're
physically, emotionally andmentally drained?
As it relates to even bodyliteracy and health literacy,
because, again, many women outhere they're facing PCOS,
endometriosis, breast cancer.
There's so many things that we,as a woman, that the
environment that we're living in, the climate that we're living
(26:03):
in, really does affect us whenit comes to reproductive health,
even people are havinginfertility issues.
That's on the rise now.
People in their early 20s youknow, 20s and 30s are now being
faced with some really reallywhen it comes to infertility as
well.
So talk to us more about bodyliteracy and why is it important
for us?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
as it relates to, again, from puberty up until
menopause, just, talking aboutbeing aware of what's going on
in your body regularly is bodyliteracy, and teaching your kids
essentially what body literacyis is going to change their
entire lives, the way that theyview themselves, the way that
(26:37):
they value themselves, the waythey navigate the healthcare
system.
It's a game changer Bodyliteracy for way that they value
themselves, the way theynavigate the healthcare system.
It's a game changer.
Body literacy for those whodon't know is being aware,
self-aware mentally, emotionallyand primarily physically of
body signals that your body issending you every single day and
learning to interpret those andunderstanding what those are
(26:57):
and what it might be asking for,and not being apologetic about
meeting those needs or seekingways that you can get those
needs met.
I think that you know, speakingof women specifically, we do
tend to be nurturers and we arevery attuned to other people.
Most of us are attuned to otherpeople's needs and I think it
(27:21):
could be rooted in some sort ofself value, like my value is in
the way that I take care ofpeople.
And if I stop being really goodat taking care of people, then
my value is going to go down andunfortunately, that is
something that I have foundmyself in for sure, I would say,
(27:44):
over the last six months,probably since the summer, it
was nonstop taking care ofpeople, but if I stop or if I
don't, then nobody's going toget fed, the laundry's not going
to be done.
My mom needs me right now.
Everybody, everybody, needed me, like every piece of me, and
then there was nothing left formyself, which led to a lot of
(28:06):
disassociation, from likefloating through the day with
very little awareness.
But all of that to say is thatit really just comes down to
what are you noticing about yourbody, like, are you feeling
tired?
Comes down to what are younoticing about your body Like
are you feeling tired?
If you are, ask some morequestions and get a little bit
(28:28):
more curious about why or wherethat tiredness is located.
So if you're feeling tired, andit's more so in your head, and
you're feeling heavy in yourhead, and your eyes are kind of
hurting.
maybe just get out from thefluorescent lights for a second
or put your phone down or getaway from the screen.
You know simple things likethat.
I was losing my hair when Ifirst moved to Tennessee from
California.
I was losing my hair and justgobs.
(28:48):
It was devastating.
I would cry about it, likeafter I'd get out of the shower.
I would just cry and that was asign.
That was a signal that my bodywas sending me.
You're stressed, all of theseother things that were happening
to me, to my body, they wereall signals that I was under a
lot of stress.
But I think we rationalizesometimes.
(29:11):
Is that well, I have to keepgoing?
The world is not going to stopspinning if you sit the hell
down for a second.
It's just not.
If you take 15 minutes and thisis what I've started doing I
take like 15, 20 minutes andI'll plop myself right on the
couch with the boys, no matterwhat they're doing, and I get my
book and I'm reading it I justread with them right there.
(29:33):
They want to read with me?
Cool, they'll get their books.
If they don't, they can gosomewhere else and play, or play
right there.
Right, I'm a sit down and read.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
No, and I think for me I'm getting there.
I feel like I'm there, butsometimes I regress, to be
honest, because I'm in myreading era.
I'm in mind I'm going to comehome, drink some tea, mind my
business and watch a TV show,because again I'm realizing that
, as you mentioned, you're here,falling out.
I'm seeing a lot of changes inmy body that I don't like.
I'm like girl, no, this is notwhat we want for ourselves.
(30:03):
You know, I feel like I'm muchmore inflamed because again, the
stress like I feel like I'mholding the stress in my body
because there's no outlet.
I mean, I do got a therapistthat can get me on, but again I
am not releasing the tensionthat's in my body or the need to
be the end all and be all foreveryone.
And even now I'm at the pointwhere, if I am the end all, be
(30:23):
all, I don't have the capacityto add anything else to my plate
.
So I'm not working through.
You know what?
I understand you're goingthrough something, but I don't
have the capacity and I feellike if that person that's in my
life that wants to be upsetbecause of that, then we have a
problem there as well, becauseyou know you're so used to me
being all about you 100% now,and then the minute I'm telling
(30:44):
you I need 20% for myself, thenyou know.
So we got.
We got an issue there as well,like you know, for me, like I
mentioned earlier, about mycycle being off by an entire
almost week and a half and Ididn't go to the doctor, or I
didn't reach out to my doctor.
I mean, granted, I knewessentially it was mainly stress
, but at the same time I wasstill in denial.
But I know there are otherpeople who are experiencing a
(31:07):
change in their cycle, notunderstanding what's going on.
That could be a heavy flow,that could be missing periods,
when you're not even in birthcontrol as well, but they're
still not going to seek help.
Granted, some people may not beable to afford to go seek help.
Let's talk about that.
We live in a country in the UShere, where healthcare, to me,
is a scam.
I don't care what.
It's just a scam.
I don't care what nobody says.
That's my belief.
It's just a scam.
(31:28):
So there's some people thatdon't have the access.
Depending on where you are,they don't have access to
healthcare, they don't haveaccess to the education, they
don't have access to any sort ofresources that they need
essentially to have theseconversations with their
provider.
And even if they do, it comesdown to you only spending 25, 30
minutes with your physician fora very basic checkup, depending
(31:51):
on if you're just going foryour annual, if you're pregnant,
you know you're not having thatlong interaction with your
physician and then you can'teven ask that question that you
may have because, again, there'sno time.
So you're paying all this money, whether you're in the US or
any part in the world, I meanyou're going to be paying money
regardless.
You know you're paying all thismoney to not even get the care
and the attention that you needand I want to point out that you
(32:12):
know.
That's why it's important forus Gianna, you know, as
community health workers, doulas, you know, working in this
space for us to be that bridgebetween communities who may not
be able to have that educationas it relates to their health,
have that education as itrelates to their body.
So they just assume.
You know what I'm stressed out.
Or my period is late, eitherI'm pregnant or something is
wrong, but I'm not going to goand see what it is because I
(32:32):
can't afford it or sometimes,like I had someone recently
which is so crazy, might've beenyesterday, to be honest someone
was telling me that a friend oftheirs had a baby and her feet
was swollen.
Um, her blood pressure was alittle bit elevated and she went
to the urgent care and theybasically told her that they
don't know what's wrong with her.
I said wait.
I said she had the baby when,because I started getting
(32:53):
confused.
Now you know, you have to be,you have to be mindful when
you're, when you're givingadvice or what you're saying
within you know you gotta be inyour scope so I scope.
So I said she had the baby whenor is she still pregnant?
Because it wasn't making sense.
She had the baby three weeksago, went to the hospital.
She got discharged.
As a matter of fact, she gotdischarged and four hours later
that's what it was.
Four hours later, after beingdischarged, she had to go back
(33:14):
to the hospital because she hadvery vision, she had a headache
and then her feet was swollenand she said the doctors told
her that they don't know what iswrong with her, but then they
were going to send her tophysical therapy.
So she did Okay.
I got to go, girl, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Talk about blood pressure rising.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Right, it's not even funny, but you know she's saying
that her feet were swollen.
This is four hours after beingdischarged.
Feet were swollen, elevatedblood pressure, headache and
blurriness.
We all know what that is, ohyeah, so say the words so people
can know what I'm talking about.
Postpartum eclampsia Right,they're telling her that they
took some blood.
The blood work came back normal, so they're telling her now
(34:01):
that she's going to go headache.
We're just bypassing all thesethings four hours after being
discharged from having a babyand you're not even thinking
immediately that it's pre-cancer.
You know what I mean.
So I still have to say thatagain some people she was like
you know, I don't want to go tothe hospital anymore because
what's the point of me going?
Because they're not taking careof me and it's like do in that
position, because again you're amom with a brand new baby.
You still have to go home tonurture your other babies that
(34:23):
you have at home.
You know she's having tonurture her partner because
that's the nature of what she's,what she's living right now.
And then I just kept thinkingabout the lack of understanding
because she just believed ineverything that her doctor is
saying.
Now, this is not me bashing anydoctors, because I love and
appreciate you guys, becausewithout you, you know we do need
you guys.
But sometimes there is a lapsein judgment, sometimes when it
(34:45):
comes to our care providers andbecause individuals may not have
that knowledge.
Because, I'll be honest, I wasone of that people that anything
a doctor told me, joanna, youcannot tell me it wasn't the
gospel.
Anything they told me I wasgoing to do.
Because, again, you know, weare programmed to think that our
doctors know it all, which,well, because we don't have the
understanding of our own bodies,because we're not trained to
(35:07):
advocate for ourselves.
That's a reality.
We just think go to the doctor,look at your annual, whatever
they say, don't ask anyquestions and keep it moving.
And again, we're trying to bethat bridge as it relates to
learning how to advocate foryourself.
So I'm saying all this to sayfor the average individual who
may not know enough about beingbody literate or even health
literate how can one advocatefor themselves in a healthcare
(35:32):
setting?
But just in general, becauseagain we are out here being
nurturers, we are on theforefront as it relates to our
families.
We're the first line.
We talk about the men being thehead of the household, if we're
being honest, that man cannotbe the head of the household if
the wife or the woman is notensuring that the household is
in order for him to besuccessful when it comes to that
(35:54):
.
So how can we, as womenlistening here, what are some
practical ways or things that wecan do to ensure that we are
taking that step into reallylearning about our bodies and
about ourselves and how we canadvocate when it comes to our
health and well-being?
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Two things we have to learn to stay curious.
I always am relating orwatching my kids.
Sometimes, and girl, they talka lot.
They don't stop talking fromthe moment they wake up to the
moment they go to sleep.
But a lot of the questions thatthey ask are very good
questions and one of thosequestions is why Well, why mama,
(36:33):
well, why mama, how come Ican't blah, blah, blah, mama?
And all of those moments areteaching moments and instead of
saying well, because I said so,I'm not that type of parent.
I will offer an explanationbecause it feeds their curiosity
and I don't think enough of ushad that type of response when
we were asking all the questions, because when we were asking
(36:56):
all the questions as kids,you're being disrespectful.
Just do what I say.
That's not what.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
I asked you to do.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
So we've stopped asking questions.
And, to your point, what yousaid you took.
Everything that they said wasgospel.
We were told that we couldn'ttrust our bodies.
I mean, we had doctors wellbefore 1993, when women were
barely starting to be consideredto be included in clinical
trials.
We had them diagnosing us withhysteria for, for PMS syndromes.
(37:29):
Like, like we're, we have beentaught yeah, we have been taught
generations behind and we'veadopted and continue to
perpetuate those ideologies.
You don't know enough about yourbody.
So what I would say is to staycurious, always stay curious.
You are the natural expert ofyour own body.
(37:50):
You don't need a degree tounderstand what's happening to
you on a daily basis.
I'm talking about a daily basis, knowing what is happening.
When you're tired, take a rest.
If you're feeling thirsty,don't push off that water.
Drink, hydrate If you're hungry, like, oh my goodness.
Like, please, eat.
(38:11):
Like, why are we skipping meals?
Right, if you don't have timeto eat, then you are not giving
yourself enough love.
Like, you have to love yourselfenough to give yourself time.
Tell people no without saying,without saying, oh, I'm so sorry
I can't do that right now.
I'm not sorry that I can't dothat right now.
Thank you for your patience.
(38:32):
It's not, I'm sorry.
Thank you so much for yourpatience.
You're going to have to give meanother 48 hours.
Like, what are we doing whenwe're not asking for what we
need Really?
We're putting someone else'sneeds and desires and
preferences above our own.
But when it comes to bodyliteracy on a daily basis,
(38:52):
staying curious, pay attentionto what's going on in your body
and the way that I teach, when Iteach the bomb girls workshop,
I explain in that body literacysegment.
You pay attention like gothrough your whole body, like
take a minute, close your eyesand we'll sit there for a second
Check in with yourself fromhead to toe.
How am I feeling?
(39:13):
Do you feel any discomfort?
Tightness, tension, heat,coolness, like anything like
just pay attention to that, makeit a habit.
Start with one habit a day.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
One.
No, that is true, and I likewhen you said about you know, if
you can't eat, then you're noteven showing yourself love,
because you know we need to benourished.
You know that's important whenwe talk about feeding the brain
if we can't sit down for 10minutes to eat.
You know, I've spoken aboutintentional eating on the
podcast before, becausesometimes I find myself I'm at
(39:45):
work and I'm eating until mylunch break and I'm not even
taking lunch.
I'm working through while I'meating and I'm like that's not
me.
I'm not taking the time to evencount how many times I'm
chewing to fully or properlydigest what I'm eating, because
I'm so busy trying to getsomething done for other people
again, you know, and then thatleads to us neglecting ourselves
.
So, you know, a little veggiesnack, something simple.
It doesn't have to be anythingover the top, but you must
(40:06):
ensure that you are nurturingyour body, because if you don't
have your best health now, howcan we continue to take care of
those in our lives?
You know, I want to go back towhen you mentioned something
about your bum class.
So we should talk about whatb-o-m-a is or bomb girl is, and
then we'll have another episode.
That's a whole other episode.
My girl, yes, but let's brieflytouch on it already, as it
relates to even, you know,women's health.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Sure, sure, yeah, so it's.
It is a body literacy component, being a fertility aware.
It's a fertility awarenesscalled Billings Ovulation Method
and it is largely used forpeople who don't want to use any
type of hormonal contraceptionand really want to be able to
monitor their own reproductivehealth in the most simple way
(40:48):
possible.
I chose to study that methodspecifically because it was the
most accessible to people.
There are tons of otherfertility awareness methods out
there.
I personally don't believe thatthey are the most accessible.
This particular method has beenshown to be successful even
(41:08):
within the blind community.
It's been shown to besuccessful through various
cultures, cultural preferences,languages and ways of life, and
to me that is a successfulmethod.
So what it does is it teachesyou to learn your body signals,
specifically your fertilitysignals, in patterns and
(41:30):
observations, and those patternsare really helping you
understand when you're fertile,when you have fertile windows or
infertile windows, based ondifferent signals that your body
is sending you, and it's supersimple to keep track of.
I like I still do it to thisday I started it maybe 10 or 11
years ago and then I stopped inbetween babies and then I
(41:51):
started up again and it just Imean it's tried and true and
it's easy and I, like you said,we don't have all the time in
the world but if I'm going tomake time for something.
It's got to be efficient.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
No, I do like that and again, that's something that
we don't often talk about outin public.
Again, because people justdon't know what's even out there
for them, especially duringthis climate, as it relates to a
lot of women going throughinfertility as well.
But before, as we startwrapping up, how do we make
wellness and self-care anon-negotiable part of our daily
(42:25):
life?
Because I know you've spokenabout that you have your time
blocks where this is just whatI'm going to do.
I don't care what's going on,this is just me.
I'm sitting down here doingthat.
I at one point mastered that.
Now I'm back to trying tomaster it again because my brain
is always running, zipping,going somewhere.
But again, I've come to a pointin my life where I'm going to
block out a good hour or two,and that's going to be to do
whatever, whether it's watchingTV, whether it's reading,
(42:46):
whatever.
It is something that I don'tnecessarily use my brain too
much for or be of service toothers.
But how can we?
Because I know, of course, thegirlies.
We're all about self-care andwellness and let's do X, y, z,
(43:08):
but are we doing it forourselves or are we doing it
because we need to put on a showfor those people on social
media.
Because, let's be honest, socialmedia is really.
It has taken over all of ourlives.
I don't care what anybody says,whether it's good, bad, because
I often say you know, gianna, Imet on social media, so of
course it's something.
There is good there.
But again, I I've found toomany times even included.
When I first started bloggingmany years ago, I mean probably
oh, that's a long time for real,about nine years ago, that's
crazy.
Anyway, when I started bloggingabout nine or so years ago, I
(43:32):
remember being obsessed with howmany people were reading my
blog posts or you know, if I'mout somewhere, let me take a
second post on my Instagram andI'm just like, girl, wait, my
sister would be like T?
T, you need to live in themoment, stay in the moment, and
I'll be like brushing them offbecause I'm like no girl, I
gotta get this content for mypeople on social media to a
point now where I'm just I havea love-hate relationship now
(43:52):
with social media.
You know we talk about it allthe time like I'm just, I'm
neither here nor there about itanymore, to be honest.
But again, how do we makewellness and self-care really a
non-negotiable part of our dailylife, for ourselves and not for
nobody else.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
You have to decide that it's a non-negotiable.
So instead, before even addinganything like any new habits or
any new like wellness routinesor anything like that, you have
to decide that you matter enoughto be on that to-do list and
schedule out time for it.
(44:27):
So make the decision today,right now, to say I'm going to
do one thing, I'm going to doone thing that supports me today
, and then the next day you'regoing to make that commitment.
And then the next day you'regoing to make that commitment.
You're not going to say, okay,okay, for seven days straight,
for 14 days straight, I'm goingto do, I'm going to get movement
(44:47):
in that's, that's it's tangibleday.
The night before, you're goingto say tomorrow, I'm going to
take 15 minutes and do a quickstretching routine or workout
(45:07):
routine really quick, somethingon YouTube, super simple and
start with that day.
Once you finish that day andyou get that 15 minutes in of
whatever it is that you decidedto do, it's a victory.
And then, before you go to bedthat night, you're going to do
the same thing and make thatcommitment to yourself the next
day.
Over time, you're going to learnto trust yourself because
(45:30):
you've kept promises to yourselfbefore and you know you can do
it again.
So I would say you have todecide that it's non-negotiable
and then start looking into whatis going to be on that
non-negotiable list.
Speaker 1 (45:44):
Yeah, I think what you mentioned.
It just comes down again tomaking these small adjustments,
because I think sometimes we doneed to reframe our mindset when
it comes to habits, myselfincluded Because we just think,
you know what, we're going tostart something this week and
it's going to stick, and thenthat's it Like no, you have to
start small.
If you're going to start at thebroader end of the spectrum,
like, oh yeah, I'm going to dothat, I'm going to lose 10
(46:04):
pounds, I'm going to do it.
No, we've got to start small.
We've got to start by waking upin the morning.
Let me start by drinking a glassof warm lemon water in the
morning.
Let's start there first.
Let's see how we can do thatwater with lemon.
Or sometimes and I'm gettingold and I was like I do my
metamucil but, um, but again,it's a habit now that I look
(46:25):
forward to.
If I don't do it now, somethingjust essentially feels off
because I've gotten so used tomaking that be a part of my
daily routines.
It's all about starting, youknow, really, really small in
your life.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
Because, again, if not, you know who right and you
have to go, and it goes back tolike what we were talking about
in the beginning what are myvalues, what are my boundaries?
Let's start there, let'sidentify that and then we can go
.
Okay, since this is what Ivalue I value knowledge, I value
education, I value movement andfresh air, whatever it is, then
(46:58):
you can start creating somedoable daily habits that you
want to start including.
Speaker 1 (47:03):
I have a guide for that, though I should send that
to you.
Speaker 2 (47:05):
I don't know if I have ever sent that to you.
Speaker 1 (47:07):
Yeah, so we'll put that in the show notes as well.
And of course you guys aregoing to go check Gianna's
social media out so you canunsubscribe to her newsletter,
because it's really honestly thebombcom.
I'm not saying that becauseshe's my friend, but it is.
Her writing is just.
I'm friend, but it is herwriting is just.
(47:30):
I'm going to try to be a newyork time bestseller, but once,
about a time, honestly, becauseshe really does write really
well.
But again it comes down to, youknow, unconditioning and then
sometimes fear as well, becausewe we fear being seen as selfish
because again we're taking timefor ourselves, maybe even fear
of, uh, disappointing people,you know, fear that things will
fall apart if we take a stepback.
I know I've been there beforeand I'm like, you know, I need
to take a step back.
Like you know, jenna alwaystells me say it's like girl, go
to sleep.
(47:50):
Or, you know, take a breath,let's see where we are.
Because again, I do do a lotand I have a lot of people often
say how do you do this, how doyou do that?
And even though in essence,that they essentially praise
that, I don't want to becelebrated for being exhausted,
if that makes sense right, youknow what I mean.
I don't want, I don't want itto be a single, you know, yeah,
I'm wearing a badge of honor foralways being exhausted like no
(48:12):
when we, when we're in pain,when we're feeling emotionally
off or even hormonally off,because, again, as women, we get
like one good week out of amonth, if that much know.
So we should essentially try toslow down.
I often have a mantra of pushingthrough, but you have to know
when and where to push through.
Pushing through is not going towork in every scenario.
You know what I mean.
It is not.
(48:32):
But as we get ready to go,gianna, you know, let us know,
like what is something that youwould like for one of our women
listening, like what issomething you can tell him, what
is some part of some sort ofwisdom you can tell him to take
charge of their health, chargeof their body, as they continue
on this journey of being a womanfrom a whole woman aspect Gosh
stay curious, keep askingquestions Don't be apologetic
(48:57):
about it and look at your valuesand your boundaries and
reassess as needed.
I love that.
I love that.
I love that.
Thank you for joining me herein the Tea Tasting.
Room.
It's always a pleasure talkingto you and we're going to have
her back, my friend, becauseagain we have to talk about the
billions of relation method.
That is something that,especially for our girls who are
(49:20):
trying to conceive or just wantto know better, have a better
understanding as well of theirbody.
But before we go, I'm going toleave you with the post-it note
that we have here in the t-shape, and that's going to be.
You are worthy of the same love, care and attention you so
freely give to others.
Take up space in your own life,prioritize you yes, I'm gonna
say it again you are worthy ofthe same love, care and
(49:42):
attention you so freely give toothers.
Take up space in your own lifeand prioritize you.
So we're going to work in that,going forward in 2025.
Yes, I'm here for it.
Yes, now tell us where we canfind you, how we can support you
.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
You can find me on instagram at simply
giannaataliav.
And then I have a non-activewebsite that is coming soon and
I'm not going to give you thewhat is it the link for that,
Because that's going to lead youabsolutely nowhere right now.
(50:17):
And then my subscriptionnewsletter is over on Substack,
where I talk about all of thosethings in addition to being a
multi-passionate woman andnavigating that, and that is
called I Mean Honestly.
So if you just put Substack IMean Honestly in your search bar
(50:38):
, you'll find it.
Speaker 1 (50:39):
Well, thank you for that.
Speaking of website, like Iwould have announced, my
TanyaKAmbrosecom website is live.
That has been a true labor oflove and a long journey to get
to where we are, so that link isnot broken, so please go ahead
and check out TanyaKAmbrosecom.
Unlike mine, yours is live anddefinitely make sure that you
(51:01):
know we are keeping theconversation going.
So definitely make sure youfollow you, subscribe to the
newsletter and, if this episoderesonated with you, of course
share it with a friend and tella friend and tell a friend you
know.
All right, thank you, sis, forthis amazing conversation and
thank you, guys, for tuning inuntil next time.
Take care of you, thanks, bye,bye.
Thank you for joining me foranother episode of Tea with
(51:26):
Tanya.
If you liked this episode, besure to share it with a friend.
Don't forget to follow onInstagram at Tea with Tanya
podcast.
Be sure to subscribe to theweekly Tea Talk newsletter and,
of course, rate on or spotifyand subscribe wherever you
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See you next time.
I love you for listening.
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