Episode 15

15. Heal Endo with Katie Edmonds

Published on: 20th December, 2023

Awareness is the precursor to choice.  The clarity in this episode shines a light on what endometriosis is, how to heal it, and where to go for help.   This episode is dedicated to everyone out there experiencing the absolute hell that is called endo as we reveal how to start with where you are, with what you have, and how that is enough.

Before we dive in, I want to thank you for having the bravery to face your shit and heal yourself.  

Because We are talking about truth, freedom & real shit on this show, its exposure & reach are being censored, so thank you also for having the bravery to like (Apple), share (Spotify) & subscribe (Youtube) to this content far and wide to help me break the algorithm and help others heal themselves.

Join the #FYSHY movement with a one-off donation or become a member for as low as $5/month & receive exclusive gear, be featured on the show, submit questions for guests, and more.

So who am I and why did I decide to create this show? Well, after unraveling all of the medical & pharmaceutical lies I had been told about my endometriosis, I educated myself, and I was able to heal myself after 17 years of debilitating pain.

My experience inspired me to actually live my art, so I created an ongoing art series about it called, Every Phase––where I powerfully illustrate how I healed myself as I live by the phases of the female hormonal cycle. The artwork shows what's happening in the brain and the body during each phase and reveals how to biohack & leverage this energy in your life. 

I am actually living the art, so it's about more than just healing. The writing and art discuss truth, freedom & our current financial & healthcare system slavery–and the way out.  Learn more by subscribing at meredithochoa.com

While you’re there, check out my NEW $50 Limited Edition Bite Size Art Acrylic Block pieces capturing all of the images from the Every Phase Series + be sure to pick up a signed copy of my award-winning augmented Reality (AR) interactive book, Face Your Shit, Heal Yourself.

So all of that to say, even though I was lied to for years by big pharma, I was able to find experts who helped me achieve the impossible. This space introduces them to you.

The expert we are chatting with Today is author, researcher, educator, Nutritional Therapist, and Paleo Autoimmune Protocol certified coach, Katie Edmonds.

Katie is an endometriosis-focused author of The 4-Week Endometriosis Diet Plan, as well as Heal Endo: An Anti-Inflammatory Approach to Healing From Endometriosis, and she is the creator of healendo.com 

Heal endo is an integrative approach to aid the body in healing from endometriosis. If you've battled with endo for years or are newly diagnosed, this may be the approach to endo you have been missing, Based on a whole-foods, whole-movement, and whole-lifestyle approach to reclaiming your life. 

She categorizes this approach into 5 main pillars: Nutrition, Movement, Mending, Connection, and Learning. You may be missing one, two, or all of them from your life, but as you start filling in the empty voids, your body will respond by beginning to heal itself from the inside out.  

Katie lives on the North Shore of Kaua`i next to the biggest mahogany forest in the United States with her funny hound dog, a loving husband, two wonderful “miracle” kiddos, and a vigorous passion for helping women with endo.

Katie's Website Katie's Facebook page @heal.endo on Instagram

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction

07:41 #1 How Katie faced her shit with endo

14:47 #2 How to approach healing endo

20:15 #3 For people in pain, start here

30:21 #4 The foundation of healing is safety

35:21 #5 Katie's Comprehensive Endo Program

43:19 #6 Biohacking Endo with Art


If you liked the episode or you think it would be useful for someone else, please leave a review on Apple, Spotify, Youtube, or (especially) podchaser

If there is a woman you know who is struggling with period pain, the foundation of how I healed myself began with reading Womancode & In The Flo by Alisa Vitti.


You can also pick up a signed copy of my printed book with a list of resources and doctors that helped me, and remember, as always...

The truth will set you free.


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Transcript
[:

Katie: endometriosis is full body disease, not just because of lesions, but because of these immune factors and the inflammation.

Katie: So that's why you can have so many seemingly disconnected symptoms. Like mine was chronic fatigue. Other people have. Migraines or crazy rashes or eczema or acne, you know, just anything that is an in chronic inflammatory issue, you say, well, that's not related to my endometriosis. Well, they're both related to that chronic systemic inflammation and immune dysfunction.

Katie: once you address all of that through these other seemingly unrelated factors, you can feel so much better.

no doctor ever told me that. [:

Meredith: Awareness is the precursor to all choice. How can you make a choice about something if you're unclear or unsure what it even is that you're making a choice about? The clarity in this episode shines a light on what endometriosis is, how to heal it, and where to go for help. This episode is dedicated to everyone out there experiencing the absolute hell that is called endo, as we reveal how to start with where you are, with what you have, and how that is enough.

comment, it helps this show [:

Meredith: So thank you also for having the bravery to like, share, and subscribe and share this content far and wide to help me break the algorithm and help others heal themselves. If you would like to submit questions for guests, receive exclusive gear, as well as be featured on the show, Visit the site and subscribe with a one off donation or become a member for as low as five dollars a month.

Meredith: So who am I and why did I decide to create this show? Well after unraveling all the medical and pharmaceutical lies I had been told about my endometriosis I educated myself and I was able to heal myself after 17 years of debilitating pain. On this show, whether it's endo or any other disorder labeled as chronic, we expose the lesser known solutions that can heal your mind, your body, and your spirit.

d photographer. So I created [:

Meredith: I am actually living the art. So it's about more than just healing. The writing and the art discuss truth, freedom, our current financial and healthcare system, slavery. As well as the way out of it. To learn more, subscribe to the newsletter on my website, meredithochoa. com While you're there, be sure to check out these awesomely fun, new, 50 limited edition bite sized, because you can actually bite it, acrylic block pieces, capturing all of the images from [00:04:00] my Every Phase series.

Meredith: And you can also pick up a personally signed copy of my award winning Augmented Reality Interactive book, Face Your Shit, Heal Yourself. So all of that to say, even though I was lied to for years by doctors promoting Big Pharma, I was able to find experts who helped me achieve what I thought was impossible.

Meredith: This show introduces them to you. The expert we are chatting with today is author, researcher, educator, nutritional therapist, and paleo autoimmune protocol certified coach, Katie Edmonds. Katie is an endometriosis focused author of the 4 Week Endometriosis Diet Plan as well as HealEndo, an anti inflammatory approach to healing from endometriosis, and she is also the creator of HealEndo.

metriosis. If you've battled [:

Meredith: Nutrition, movement, mending, connection, and learning. You may be missing one, two, or all of them from your life, but as you start filling in the empty voids, your body will respond by beginning to heal itself from the inside out. Katie lives on the north shore of Kauai, next to the biggest mahogany forest in the U.

Meredith: S. With her funny hound dog, a loving husband, two wonderful miracle children, and a vigorous passion for helping women with endo.

e, like the universe has its [:

Meredith: release that so you can go into the next cycle. So it's very, very similar to the menstrual cycle, the menstrual phase that we experience in our bodies. So I totally reformed my relationship with Berkeley Retrograde when I started looking at it that way, because the whole universe really is just mirrored in our bodies.

Katie: Right. Yeah. Yeah. The older I get, the more I see that and feel it too. It's like you become so sensitive to all the little changes around.

ctually have your book here. [:

Katie: at you. Yeah. I like the cover. I'm glad it turned out okay.

Meredith: Me too. And really, for everyone listening, if you don't have the book, go get it.

Meredith: An anti-inflammatory approach. So easy one. Like Amazon. Yeah, exactly. And it's so just head on to just the root cause of the issue, right? Just anti-inflammatory. Inflammatory inflammation. In all areas, not even just biological, right? Just inflammation, irritation. What we were just talking about, mercury retrograde, in our lives.

[:

Meredith: I'd love for you to share a little bit about how you came to face your own shit, leading you to write this incredible book and become the researcher, phenomenal nutritional therapist that you are today.

Katie: you know, I've been [:

Katie: And that's why, like, when you actually face that after distracting, be it from alcohol or, not great behaviors, not great friendships, whatever your distractions were. and actually facing it. I don't feel like I got there until two years ago. I feel like when I actually, before that, and it was like, I had healed from endo by then.

Katie: I say heal, like I found a place of remission. And I feel like I was not even ready, I didn't have the cellular energy to face my own shit at that point, I had, I was like in the depths of endometriosis, as we can be, hitting bottom of the barrel, and I just got so angry, and that's when I started researching endometriosis, found out.

Katie: What it [:

Katie: So you don't just like, Catch endometriosis, which is why I thought, oh, I just got endometriosis, like the flu. I'm so unlucky. I always get these diseases. Woe is me. You know, here's my violin. I'm another chronic disease for Katie. But, it was actually almost through the process of digesting that information, changing my life completely, finding remission, and then finding the passion and drive to write that book while, raising a baby at the same time.

to motherhood is like a huge.[:

Katie: It's almost like the death of your former self, not to sound gross about it, but you say goodbye to the maiden and now you're the mother and there's some big transitions. So I feel like I'm right there now. I am like, probably a decade behind you and getting there. But, but it's been this enormous process of shedding layer after layer, like an onion to the point that Being vulnerable in all the right ways doesn't make me freeze up with this my shield is perfectionism, and, like creating barriers rather than opening doors for relationships and opening doors to release that, what I've been holding on to.

Katie: So I'm like in the process right now of facing everything that I think I need to.

Meredith: I so relate to that too. I think people think of. And we're trained to think of things in like this, Oh, you have this disease. Are you caught this now? Take this and you're healed or now do this and it's healed. And healing really is not a destination.

th: It's so much the journey [:

Meredith: but there's so much more you didn't even realize was on the menu because you couldn't even conceive or have the capacity to understand that you could feel that good because our normal. It's totally just based in, like, how we're feeling now,

Katie: I know exactly how you're feeling, because I, I used to journal a lot, and it was, like, Four or five months after I had like really changed my diet because for me the shift in diet was the very first thing that actually helped me.

ng liver and organ meats and [:

Katie: And, it, I was just really hanging on by caffeine. The thing that kept me like standing up and suddenly I had natural energy and I don't even remember when I'd had natural energy before. And I was like, ah, I'm healed, you know, and this is like four months into my journey, but it was only because I felt that much better.

Katie: And I, that was, I don't know, maybe 10 years ago, so I'm 10 years older and I feel so much better than that person who had quote unquote just healed Because yeah, it's like you add in all the processes and it's no crash diet like You're morphing, you're evolving and, every year you should feel a little bit better.

Katie: of course, I feel a little older in certain ways, a little slower in certain ways, but, but heck a lot wiser after, such a big journey.

: Totally. One thing, one of [:

Meredith: So I think we are definitely returning to, an introspection or reflection, like we were just talking about with Mercury retrograde, but not only just spiritually, mentally, but also in health, really critically looking. Is this even food on the shelves? what is it actually on that ingredients list and how is it making my body feel?[00:14:00]

Meredith: And this is definitely something in your book. You just have such an important voice to share in the world of health and. It's just, it's so evident when you take a look at your book. There's no one size fits all approach to healing endo like you said. you had natural energy after returning to eating meat

Meredith: For me, it's completely the opposite. So, there really is no one size fits all but I think it's more about why I've enjoyed reading your book so much. It's about listening to your body and those nutrient dense foods, regardless fruits, vegetables, meat, wherever you lay on the spectrum, the nutrient dense diet and blood sugar regulation and nervous system regulation.

[:

Meredith: Can you share a little bit about your philosophy, including all of those things and in approaching endometriosis

Katie: Yeah, so I guess [:

Katie: it's like a house cat versus a tiger. they're really different. And then it's activated into your tissue. And then there's the whole stages of progression into worse forms of disease.

Katie: You're looking at scar tissue adhesions. So this process is called endoing. And I think that is such a huge, important factor to understand. That endometriosis evolves like a verb inside of us. You don't, you weren't born with stage 4 endometriosis. you can be born with an endo like cell, but you're not even necessarily born with a lesion.

tivated as a lesion, that is [:

Katie: And this is why cancer is also can be referred to as cancering. It's the process of cancering inside your body. Your immune system takes care of it. When your immune system is acting irrationally, or it's overloaded, or it's exhausted, suddenly it can't do the job that it's supposed to do, or it's doing things that it's not supposed to, and it does both with endometriosis.

Katie: A, it establishes it as the lesion, so it actually is, your immune system is what grows the blood supply, I think the nerves that go into it establish oxygen nutrients to it, and then your immune system also fails to see the lesion and clean it up. Add more inflammation thanks to the immune system, and you're looking at worse forms of disease and progression, the scar tissue adhesions.

ke an unfortunate person who [:

Katie: it's none of our fault. But. It takes your agency away from you is what it does your ability to affect change. when you look at endoing as a process and you say, okay, it starts because of the immune dysfunction and inflammation it's associated with estrogen. It's not caused by estrogen.

Katie: basically everything you do in your life can help prevent the endometriosis progression, potentially prevent its establishment in the first place. And I really, I've mentioned cancer a few times, so it's very similar to cancer that you can stack the deck in your favor in every way through diet and lifestyle aids.

ly stressful childhood event.[:

Katie: That's the worst kind you can have is from an incident like that as a kid, then you have, if you eat enormous amount of antioxidants, you're eating the nutrient dense foods, you, you're, focusing on your Breathing your nervous system, your sleep, your, it's like the absolute foundational needs of your cellular health.

Katie: You are less likely to get into the worst categories of endometriosis.

Katie: Every time you open up your body, you're putting yourself at risk.

Katie: So with new imaging, which they're really getting good at, they're going to be able to tell these sorts of things like what endometriosis is doing. But for now, what we can do is We can see how animals behave before and after these types of inputs, the nutrient dense diet, the antioxidant rich diet, the stress levels, the sleep, everything.

y that the amount of healthy [:

Katie: the studies along those lines aren't looking at the factors that did prevent it. It's just showing. Right. Endometriosis can behave all these different ways.

Katie: We're at stage four, like lots of scar tissue and adhesions going on, where it's like the last place you want to

Meredith: end up.

Katie: So you have these, it's like the stories like you, that the anecdotal ones, right? Where they're not going back in and seeing your lesion with the camera, what's going on, but your life is completely reclaimed.

can do is. Think, okay, how [:

[00:20:15] For people in pain, start here

Katie: It's, it can be so helpful.

You know, it's and we've all [:

Meredith: Help you heal disease in that way as well through actually going into the pain.

ain, become more comfortable [:

Katie: To release the pain and to make it through the other side without collapsing all of your hope, you've been working so hard, you're doing all of this and you have another flare or something's like going on. The sex is still painful. The period still suck and learning to sit with that and to be with that and say, This is part of the process because there's no changing it.

lly similar across the board [:

Meredith: Absolutely. It's, we only feel pain because of resistance to begin with. That is very deep. What I just said, but absolutely coming from anyone else, it'd probably be super insulting, but I've definitely, been, I've been there. I've been there. And I, out of all the things I wish someone would have told me, I wish that I would have heard that from someone.

Meredith: So definitely. and this brings up a good point. So for all of those girls and women out there that are experiencing endo pain, what would you say was most significant for you in helping you heal?

Katie: so my brain is like much more analytical. And so for me, the biggest thing was actually learning what endometriosis is.

ause before I had been doing [:

Katie: So it was just like spinning my wheels, trying to do, I was on the cleanses, the detoxes, the insane, very restrictive diet. So it was everything that seemed really great, in a beautiful white bound book of like just grains and herbs and stuff. And, my body was freaking out inside. So once I understood what Endometriosis is, how it develops, that it's immune dysfunction at the time, I knew what a non immune disorder was because I had them when I was a kid.

Katie: So even though it's not an autoimmune disorder, it was the same thing. Oh, it's immune dysfunction. Well, I know plenty of stuff that this, can work on immune dysfunction. We're talking about getting all the chemicals out of your bath and body products. I like made a bag, I called it my cancer bag.

at's like not organic. And I [:

Katie: That was me, and I know now that plays a direct role in the creation of an endo like cell. A direct role. okay, I can do better. But it was learning that, okay, nutrient dense diet, I realized just how malnourished I was. That my food had nothing to do with calories or the amount of protein that I got from my tofu or whatever,

Katie: So I had to like, change basically everything, but the change for me came after learning what the disease was, and that was the catalyst, because without it, it's just another Trendy diet. It's just another whole 30, 30 days and my life is changed.

my lesions are to the entire [:

Katie: So that's why you can have so many seemingly disconnected symptoms. Like mine was chronic fatigue. Other people have. Migraines or crazy rashes or eczema or acne, you know, just anything that is an in chronic inflammatory issue, you say, well, that's not related to my endometriosis. Well, they're both related to that chronic systemic inflammation and immune dysfunction.

Katie: once you address all of that through these other seemingly unrelated factors, you can feel so much better. So that was where. My, my personal catalyst was and not everyone I find likes to know the same depth of information that I do. But, but in my book, it does explain what endo is so that everyone I feel can walk away just with more confidence saying, okay, maybe I don't agree with some of what Katie says.

osis is, I feel so much more [:

Meredith: knowledge truly is power. Just knowing the truth and being able to have, like you're saying, feel again like you can have some kind of agency. Over your body because you're really looking at, exactly what you're dealing with, like awareness and clarity. It's everything. It's the precursor to all choice to any choice you make.

Meredith: You have to be aware and clear about what you're dealing with. For me, it was very similar. It was really learning about the phases was. Just everything like realizing that it's not just your period like this is your life And then you have menopause, you have perimenopause and then menopause. This is your whole life.

cted like you said the whole [:

Katie: It's empowering. It does take some release, right? When we're taught to, everything is linear and like the phases of the reproductive system are easily overridden by birth control. So just go on that, right?

Katie: if you're tired, drink caffeine. If you, if you can't sleep, take a sleeping pill. It's just this, it's like. You are in control of your body. That's like the feeling that we're told. So when our body feels out of control, it feels like we've lost control of everything, like drugs aren't fixing it anymore, all of our inputs.

d. I'm just getting my cycle [:

Katie: I just am. Yeah. And I have that. And, part of me was like, wow, it'd be so helpful if I didn't have this, but at the same time, like we evolved to be like this for a reason. And that's that like divine acceptance of. What lessons is it teaching me, Katie, who must always go a million miles an hour, that you have to slow down sometimes, like the yin and the yang, and, I have to show my kids what it looks like for a parent, for a woman to model, that it's okay to relax and not always just be so on the go and tense all the time.

n a nonprofit, you can be an [:

Katie: But I had no women who were actually like slowing down, taking that time showing me what proper rest looks like, what a life looked like. That wasn't just scrambling for achievement and accolades all the time. That's what it felt like you're groomed for. And that's what your menstrual cycle helps you do those ups and downs, right?

[:

Katie: So you do the fast and the slow, the same, within the same beat, so to speak. so I'm, like I said, I'm still learning so much about myself and what it is just to be like a woman in 2023.

Meredith: Speaking of, if you could have a gigantic billboard, anywhere, with anything on it, Metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions of people, what would it say and why?

, which I already touched on [:

Katie: Tied to community and that like safe touches. Okay. And not just okay, but necessary. there's just so much, stopping of touch now because of unsafe touch. Right. Which exists, but everyone, no matter who you are, you need safe touch and you also don't need unsafe touch. So there are two different things.

Katie: And I just love the idea of, people being able to choose who that person is, that they're going to be able to have that. it's not like sexually intimate, but like intimate touching with, and how much that helps. calm everything down and make everything better. Like I think when I hold my kid's hands and it like really makes them feel better.

everyone could use a little [:

Meredith: Amen. So important. So important. Especially someone that I've been through sexual abuse, I know what unsafe touch really is. What it's like. Definitely, absolutely contributed to my endometriosis. you're so right. That feeling of safety. What else is there? Safety, acceptance, love, that's really what we're all just re remembering at the end of the day.

Meredith: So it's such, so important, it'd be an awesome billboard and reminder of that truth for everyone.

Katie: I'm sorry about the sexual abuse you endured, but is you just saying, safety is at the end of the day? What we seek and, and that is, that is our nervous system's right?

, and maybe you don't have a [:

Katie: well, none of those things are going to work for me. And at the end of the day, it's sometimes just choosing. what feels safest that will allow you to move forward. just choosing your next step of what you're going to do if things seem out of reach is creating whatever safety it is in your world, making that firm in your mind so that even if your life doesn't feel safe for whatever reason, they're called safety anchors and you can.

lace of safety, that's when, [:

Katie: And if you don't feel safe, that nutrient dense diet isn't going to be that helpful and, sleeping better and moving better and everything I talk about in my book isn't going to be. That helpful. yes to safety on every level. It's what we really need to feel inside. No matter where you are, what you're doing, just to

Meredith: feel safe.

Meredith: Yeah, And going back to talking about reforming your relationship with pain. It's the same thing there. I think people, when you get on the healing journey, you can become obsessed with like, oh, I'm having to take painkillers, that's bad. Or oh, I have this hot water bottle.

ave to take painkillers, who [:

[00:35:21] Katie's Comprehensive Endo Program

Meredith: So it's so important though establishing that trust and safety So you're absolutely right on which speaking of let's chat about your new comprehensive endo Program that you're developing to re regulate the body.

people wanting to work with [:

Katie: Missing out, of course, things like pharmaceuticals and surgery, which can be very important in endometriosis as well. So I decided I'm actually just going to start a program and, Something I'm really excited about is, well, a, how comprehensive it's going to be. I was thinking a small program, but now I really want to do something that like it walks everyone through the steps to do, it's seen through the lens of nervous system, re regulation that safety aspect you're talking about.

Katie: And from safety, it's, eating the right kinds of foods that your body needs. The, the blood sugar regulation aspect, it talks about proper breathing mechanics, which seems. really boring, but it's like most of our breathing mechanics are reversed. We're breathing through our chest, not our diaphragms.

, that not only deoxygenates [:

Katie: If you've read my book, I'm really into functional movement. It's not like. Doing a HIIT class. It's how do you move every day? Like most people who have endometriosis cannot do a squat not because they're not strong enough But because their body mechanics are totally wonky enough and this is me when I was like, I'll do a squat challenge Like oh, my knee is now broken and my quadricep is pulled and it's Your knees your quadriceps have nothing to do with the squat like it really should be so much of the glutes and the ankles but with zero mobility you can't do these basic primal movements, which, is actually.

t? And that involves special [:

Katie: which is a great deal of people in populations around the world today. So it's going to talk amongst all these. Things and more, and I hope to keep it at a really affordable price because working with, a qualified nutritionist or nutritional therapist is thousands and thousands of dollars.

Katie: And for good reason, they really help you and hold your hands. It's just that the majority of people can't afford something like that. So it's going to be affordable. It's going to be a comprehensive program and you'll have access to me as well without me having to spend so much time just with clients.

Katie: 1 on

Meredith: 1. so valuable because we are, we're, you can't afford it, so you are looking and digging for this information and through books and other resources and like you said, a little bit of a, maybe even starting with a throw it against the wall and see what sticks approach.

a program where it's already [:

Meredith: Having that whole round approach into treating this is also so important and so valuable. So valuable.

Katie: Yeah. I think of what you said that you wish you had this book when you were first diagnosed and I wish I had the book when I was first diagnosed. I wrote the book to my 20 year old self. It was my way to translate all of the scientific information into a readable format that people could understand.

hing. let's not make all the [:

Katie: Almost everyone I know makes the exact same mistakes that I made. Like anyone who starts to look down the endometriosis channels. and what you end up doing is actually making yourself worse. Before you get better, right? Cause you're trying all these things that are wrong. So you can actually like create nutritional deficiencies.

Katie: You can do, you're creating more problems. So if you can get there on a baseline before you've created more problems for yourself, and then from there really work to feel better and better. And I say, at the end of the program, however long it takes someone to finish it, if it's three months or six months or nine months, by the end of the program.

that they couldn't tolerate [:

Katie: Or maybe at the end of the program, you feel like you're in complete remission, right? There's such a huge spectrum of what you can achieve from these, from the changes. It just depends on where your body is at, but at least, and it goes along with following all the clues that your body is telling you that is, is wrong.

Katie: Like you follow the clues and see what can you banish. And from there you say, well, this is the extra support that I need.

Meredith: Yeah, absolutely. And regardless of, being actually able to afford all of this stuff, having it right there, it's just awesome.

Meredith: And then at the same time, there's these doctors that it's not even an affordability question, which again, this could be another episode. We've come up with three episodes during this one, but just that people aren't even equipped to have this, to even talk, to even have a conversation about it.

aren't trained in nutrition. [:

Meredith: And it's really robbing people, not only of their health, but then a future generations of their fertility of many things, which is why it's so criminal. but like I said, we could go on and on with that for another episode as well.

Katie: That could be another one of my billboards actually, endometriosis is treatable.

Katie: that's the whole slogan that like, you treat the disease and it goes away. There's so many treatments that really work that, the confusing thing, and I don't like the word confusing. It's like the complex, the complexity of it is that some treatments work better for some women than others, but that shouldn't stop.

just means we need to sleuth [:

Katie: You're saying it's, it should be criminal, but it has gotten to be at the point that it has gotten really criminal.

Meredith:

[:

Meredith: So now you brought us to my favorite time. It's the biohacking with art time. Are you ready?

Katie: Yeah, I think

Meredith: so. Good! It is our finale question. If you could describe healing endometriosis with any art medium, how would you make it and what would you choose?

Meredith: Okay,

t like year and a half since [:

Katie: Like where people are just going nuts and like rootsy dancing with drums and there's like fireflies around and everyone's doing their own thing and just like really feeling it the nirvana of everything has aligned perfectly between everyone around us, like the holding hands thing internally, like not being self conscious to do the dance as needed and having the amount of energy and happiness that it takes to get up and dance without inhibition, That takes a lot. That really takes a lot, especially if you're not trained in it as a community. Like I saw when I was in Senegal, people would just dance all the time. Like we don't do that. So I think that's to me, it's almost like healing from endo in a nutshell is like we heal together, we heal alone, but at the end of the day we can heal.

Katie: [:

Meredith: wow. Beautiful. I see really the choreography and it's it's such a perfect description because it also is in alignment with the idea, that no one achieves anything alone. We are alone. I suffered alone, as did you, but I found a resource in a book, and then another book, and then something else, and then a pelvic floor physical therapy.

Meredith: And then sex therapy, and it's like we're doing this dance together and now here we are on the podcast and it's like sometimes we're solo and we're like breaking out like our own kind of dance fight with someone else and then sometimes it's like the festival where we're like dancing our way over to like pelvic floor physical therapy and it's oh my god this is a whole other soundtrack I hadn't realized.

e: It's just. Like a hundred [:

Katie: And that's where the, we can all do it together. It's way too hard to do alone. But even our deepest trenches, finding the joy is So important, even if it feels really hard.

message. So important. Yeah. [:

Meredith: Please let everyone listening know how they can connect with you and where they can find you and learn more about your work.

Katie: Yeah, I have a free blog that is really extensive, so that's the first place you could end up. It's HealEndo, this is sounds. com. I'm at heal. endo on Instagram, and then you can find my books on Amazon.

Katie: You can search HealEndo or Katie Edmonds. It's my other one is the four week endometriosis diet plan. That's like really specific for, You want a diet and meal and recipes and then the other one is heal endo and anti inflammatory approach to healing from endometriosis So there's a few ways but healendo.

Katie: com is the easiest way it can connect to everything. You can email me from the site

ill also totally list all of [:

Meredith: But I hope everyone is able to take away something from this conversation today to help them go out, face their shit, therefore healing themselves. And remember, as always, the truth will set you free. We will see you all next time. Bye!

Meredith: If you liked this episode or you think this show would be useful for someone else, the best way you can show your support is to share it on your social media outlets with

're feeling really generous, [:

Meredith: YouTube or on Apple Podcast and pick up a signed copy of my book about how I healed myself from endometriosis on my Instagram at Meredith w Ochoa. Thank you so much for listening and for having the bravery to face your shit and heal yourself.

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About the Podcast

Face Your Shit, Heal Yourself
where science & spirituality intersect.
How to heal yourself by looking at the things no one (including you) really wants you to see. We discuss female cycle syncing, hormonal nutrition, functional medicine, Ayurveda, Taoist Healing Love, Reiki, Ovarian Kung Fu, spirituality, sexuality & mental health as well as the inconvenient truths of our modern health care system that keep these modalities hidden & falsely marketed so we’re left wondering why the hell no one knows about this.

My name is Meredith Ochoa and I’m another f*#%ing artist, with a mission. My mission is to show others how to face their pain and see themselves for who they really are. I developed this mission from facing my own debilitating pain every month dealing with Endometriosis for over 17 years. After surgery, crossing over to the other side, and dying from the excruciating pain one too many times, I began to unravel all of the medical lies I had been told and educated myself on how women’s hormone’s actually work and I healed myself. I remember the first day I felt freedom, I could feel the shackles literally just fall off as I got present to the fact that I had minimal to no pain in my life with my intimacy, sex, and every month with my cycle.

What I learned through my experience is that all healing starts with being authentic (men AND women), which is why I encourage others to face all of their shit. And of course, I made (and continue to make) an ongoing art series about it! Every Phase–colorfully illustrating the phases of the female cycle infradian rhythm clock.

Even though I was lied to for years by countless doctors promoting big pharma, I was able to find experts who helped me achieve what I thought was impossible. I'm using this space to introduce some of them as well as these practices to you.
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About your host

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Meredith Ochoa

A true explorer and creative, Atlanta artist Meredith Ochoa began her visual arts journey in 2006 at 17 years old, after being a ballerina for 14 years, coming out of an eating disorder, and becoming fascinated with light and shadow– how one can only see the light because of the shadow and vice versa. This contrast showed up not only in her photography but in her life.

She started making her own pinhole cameras and began exploring the alchemy of the darkroom, so when she received a miraculous scholarship to SCAD, she was pretty upset about the digital 'takeover' within the photo world.

She decided to make a 'mockery' of digital photography--turning a scanner into a sort of 'large format' camera. This became an entire practice & technique within itself, and became the scanning process that she is known for today. The subject becomes the "negative" describing the subject digitally with a flattened focal plane.

This technique is depicted throughout her work and was the artistic beginning of her realization that all healing starts with being authentic. She describes her work with the statement…

Through my art I am healed, and I heal others.