This week's episode steps into one of the most under-discussed chapters of a woman's life: perimenopause, the hormonal shift that arrives long before menopause, and that medicine has largely ignored.

The first signs rarely come with a warning.

Anxiety out of nowhere. Sleep that won't come. Brain fog. Weight changes.

And a healthcare system that responds with dismissal.

But this phase carries profound wisdom, and it deserves real, evidence-based care.

Dana Culp, DNP, founded Thrive Midlife Medicine after visiting four providers and still not getting the care she needed, despite 25 years in healthcare herself. She knew women deserved better.

In this episode, Riva and Dana cover what's really happening hormonally, why estrogen's fluctuations affect everything from mood to libido, and why symptoms in your 30s are valid.

They bust the myth that hormone therapy causes cancer and talk about what to actually ask your provider.

This is the conversation women have been waiting for.

Connect with Dana Culp & Thrive Midlife Medicine:

Not sure if what you're experiencing is perimenopause? Start here — Dana's perimenopause quiz takes just a few minutes and gives you real clarity: thrivemidlifemed.com/perimenopausequiz

• Website: thrivemidlifemed.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thrivemidlifemed
• Facebook: facebook.com/thrivemidlifemed
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/thrive-midlife-medicine

Send us Fan Mail

Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering.

This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy.

You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are.

Looking for more support or resources?

Check out these links:

• Free Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: Begin your healing journey today.

• Website: Learn more about our services and mission.

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healingherstorypodcast/

• Book a Free Consultation: Connect with me for personalized support.

• Insight Timer: Join me for free meditations to help you find inner calm.

• Full Video Version: Watch the music video for "Reclamation" featured in the intro and outro podcast.

Subscribe and Stay Connected:
Make sure to subscribe to Healing Her Story so you never miss an episode! Let’s heal, grow, and rise together.


You're also welcome to reach out via email at riva@windsofchangesac.com or send us a DM on Instagram at @healingherstorypodcast

This week’s Cycle Sync episode explores the energy of the Waxing Moon, a phase of the lunar cycle associated with momentum, growth, and new beginnings.

This particular waxing moon arrives alongside several powerful shifts:

• Spring in the Northern Hemisphere
• Mercury moving direct
• The beginning of Aries season

Together, these influences bring a noticeable surge of fresh energy and forward momentum. But with that momentum can also come pressure to move too fast, do too much, and push ourselves toward burnout.

In this episode, Riva explores the art of pacing — learning how to build momentum in a way that supports your nervous system, healing journey, and natural rhythms.

Drawing from her own lived experience with workaholism, addiction recovery, trauma-informed somatic healing, and menstrual cycle awareness, Riva shares why this phase of the cycle can feel activating — and how to work with that energy in a way that is sustainable rather than overwhelming.

Instead of rushing ahead, the Waxing Moon invites us to find our “Goldilocks pace” — not too fast, not too slow, but just right.

Resources to Explore This Week:

🤲🏼🌹

Mira Hormone Tracking Device

Learn more here:
https://shop.miracare.com/

Cycle Support Map

If you’re ready to begin working more intentionally with your cycle, Riva created a simple guide called the Cycle Support Map.

Download the Cycle Support Map here:
https://rivajeanpaul.simplero.com/cart/246478-Cycle-Support-Map

Send us Fan Mail

Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering.

This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy.

You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are.

Looking for more support or resources?

Check out these links:

• Free Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: Begin your healing journey today.

• Website: Learn more about our services and mission.

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healingherstorypodcast/

• Book a Free Consultation: Connect with me for personalized support.

• Insight Timer: Join me for free meditations to help you find inner calm.

• Full Video Version: Watch the music video for "Reclamation" featured in the intro and outro podcast.

Subscribe and Stay Connected:
Make sure to subscribe to Healing Her Story so you never miss an episode! Let’s heal, grow, and rise together.


You're also welcome to reach out via email at riva@windsofchangesac.com or send us a DM on Instagram at @healingherstorypodcast

Many spiritual traditions teach us to transcend the body.

To rise above sensation.
To witness instead of feel.
To go “up and out.”

But what if that very move is why so many women feel spiritually informed… yet internally disconnected?

In this Aries season conversation, I sit down with Cynthia Abulafia, author of Embodying the Goddess, to explore the cost of spirituality that excludes the body — and the feminine path of returning “down and in.”

Many non-dual or transcendence-based traditions emphasize:

• Rising above the body
• Detaching from emotion
• Escaping identification

These practices can be meaningful.

But what they don't always teach is how to go down and in. And for women especially, that absence matters. Because when spirituality prioritizes ascent without descent, the body becomes secondary — sometimes even suspect.

This isn’t anti-spiritual. It’s a restoration of the feminine current within spirituality, and seeing the body is not an obstacle to awakening, but as the doorway.

Connect with Cynthia:

Follow Her on YouTube

Order Her Book - Embodying the Goddess

Visit Her Website

Follow Her on Substack

Send us Fan Mail

Our intro and outro song, Reclamation (Reborn), is an anthem of remembering.

This song was created as a companion for the healing journey, especially for women reclaiming their voices, their rhythms, and their belonging in a world shaped by patriarchy.

You’re invited to listen, feel, and let the music meet you wherever you are.

Looking for more support or resources?

Check out these links:

• Free Trauma Recovery Mini-Course: Begin your healing journey today.

• Website: Learn more about our services and mission.

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healingherstorypodcast/

• Book a Free Consultation: Connect with me for personalized support.

• Insight Timer: Join me for free meditations to help you find inner calm.

• Full Video Version: Watch the music video for "Reclamation" featured in the intro and outro podcast.

Subscribe and Stay Connected:
Make sure to subscribe to Healing Her Story so you never miss an episode! Let’s heal, grow, and rise together.


You're also welcome to reach out via email at riva@windsofchangesac.com or send us a DM on Instagram at @healingherstorypodcast