88. Confessions: Ancestral Foodways, Modern Matriarchy, & the Power of Radical Honesty - Katya Nova
Release Date: 04/04/2022
Medicine Stories
My most beloved herbal elder and I talk about our favorite subject- women throughout time using plants for self care, family healing, and community connection. After nearly 4 decades as a practicing herbalist and teacher, and in an age of informational overabundance, Kami has seen what actually works when it comes to truly embodying herbal knowing. (including the peek at what you see when you log in to the course). Two for this episode- an extended conversation with Kami where we share our stories of Mothering Without Elders, and two free videos with Kami entitled Garden Herb Walk- meet 9...
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Suuzi and I continue the discussion sparked by my last episode about culty trends in the wellness space by talking about her past with Kundalini yoga- what drew her in and, eventually, how noticing the state of nourishment of those deepest into the cult precipitated her exit. We then catch listeners up on our midlife metabolic meltdown hEaLinG jOuRnEyS and what path we’re taking forward as we continue to recover our vitality and deepen our understanding of why women’s bodies are so metabolically expensive. for this episode include an extended conversation w/ Suuz about the reaction to the...
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GNM is an alt health trend that has grown in popularity in recent years. It is attractive to so many (including me and my guest, once) because it acknowledges the role that emotions and trauma play in physical health and symptom manifestation, something that mainstream medicine still somehow refuses to do. But just because some aspects of an ideology are true and helpful does not mean that the entire framework is valid. Critical thinking and humility are essential tools for navigating information overload and complex frameworks, especially when it comes to health. The allure of certainty and...
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What metabolic patterns did you inherit from your parents, and what may you have passed down to your own children? Many behavioral issues, and even what are usually considered personality traits (like that of high sensitivity), can be linked to mineral imbalances and overall health. Heavy metals often accumulate in individuals due to stress, compromised metabolic function, or ancestral imprints, not necessarily always due to direct exposure. Heroic detoxification protocols should be approached with caution, as forcing the removal of metals without addressing underlying nutrient...
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Fertility is not just the ability to conceive, but is an indicator of overall health and the capacity to nurture life; it is how we extend genetic strength across time and space into generations we will never know. Pregnancy and menopause are transformative states that reveal underlying metabolic and hormonal imbalances, emphasizing the complex interplay between biochemistry, psychology, and lifestyle. In an age of rampant metabolic dysfunction, let us together find our way to renewed vitality, for ourselves and for those yet to come. course membership (extended convo w/ Niecia) Substack...
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In which I read a few pieces from my new Substack. Bone, blood, milk, and marrow... Nourishing Motherlines is a collection of memoir-adjacent personal writings exploring my evolving understanding of nourishment (not nutrients), how my mitochondria and minerals were inherited from my motherline (and yours from yours), my hEaLiNg JoUrNeY as I navigate hypothyroid and hypoadrenal exhaustion and a host of related symptoms, what I am focusing on as I prepare to help my daughters with seemingly inevitable future health issues as women alive in the 21st century, and your garden variety midlife...
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Chinese Medicine holds that women’s bodies are 10x harder to heal than men’s, as our reproductive system is biologically much more precious and metabolically more intensive to maintain. In this conversation my good friend, third time guest, and Doctor of Chinese Medicine Suuzi and I catch up one year after we both underwent severe energy loss to share how we’ve rebuilt and healed. We talk about shifting away from the mindset of achieving “optimum human health” (an illusion that contributed to our health crises), working and mothering in a state of total burnout, how our childrens’...
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The times are unprecedented and there is no template for the future. We all feel this, and we feel the overwhelm of information, influence, and opinions. Herbalism, as it always has, offers us sanctuary from everything vying to take hold of our attention and life force. Not so that we can check out in an endless fog of self care, but so that we can be truly present and embodied as we navigate this time of rapid and radical change. The plants call us home to ourselves. Kami’s Free Workshop (week of 3/3/24 only) Kami’s Free Webinar (week of 3/3/24 only) Kami’s revered course ...
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Nothing exemplifies the magic of nature more than honeybees. They are insects yet their colonies are akin to a mammalian being, they produce numerous healing substances from their bodies and within their hives, and they have been revered and mythologized since time immemorial by countless cultures. Beekeepers live longer than folks in any other profession, and being in relationship with bees is deep medicine for the spirit in these frazzled times. Let us relearn ancestral ways of tending and listening to bees so that we may maximize our chances of reclaiming a vibrant and thriving Earth....
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“I pray to the dead to help me remember who I am while I’m still alive.” To be in relationship with those who’ve gone before us is a deeply human way of being. Our ancestors knew that the “departed” never left, and that they answer when called. The way modern Western people conceive of the dead is a deviation that discards millennia of human knowing. Let us pray to the ancestors to help us sober up from civilization, remember what we’ve always known, and reclaim the long story of the soul. RESOURCES: Perdita’s website (book giveaway & course coupon code) by Bernd...
info_outlineDid my guest get more hate when she announced she wasn’t vegan anymore or that she was flying out of the country to connect with an ex lover while pregnant with her fourth child? Leave your judgements behind and explore food, sex, motherhood, and what is gained when you hurl yourself into the abyss only to discover that it’s a feather bed.
Get access to Confessions of a Well Nourished Woman.
Check out the free masterclass Cosmic Meal Plan for Picky Eaters.
TOPICS:
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The kindness Katya showed me as I sobbed my heart out when we were still strangers
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A life history in geography- from Ukraine to Canada to Dominican Republic and now Costa Rica
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What does it mean to be a woman rooted in her peoples’ traditions healing her ancestry?
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The grief and joy of childhood lost and how memories live with us when people and places are gone
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Being someone who takes leaps of faith over and over again
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How having kids changes a sexual relationship
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How do we follow our dreams and desires while being mothers and partners?
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Practice following the impulse that brings your heart forward
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Our diet is reflected in our reproductive & sexual tissues- painful sex, low libido, and slow childbirth recovery can be related to lack of nutrients in the diet
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The twisted vegan logic of believing that “there’s no death on my plate”
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We must look at long term personal and generational health when assessing the value of different diets ("but I feel good” doesn’t cut it)
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The common story of childrens’ teeth crumbling on a vegan diet (it happened to Katya) and how to remineralize them
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Eat for your biology, not your ideology (it’s a song- sing it your way!)
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Nourishing ourselves with ancestral foods
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The birth of the Matriarch Collective & Confessions of a Well Nourished Woman
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Losing all fear and choosing radical honesty about who you are
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After restrictive eating- where do we go from here?
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The opposite of holding on isn’t letting go, it’s digestion
RESOURCES (if listening on an app that doesn’t support embedded links, find these at https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast):
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Patreon podcast bonuses (online dating & sex bonus audio interview + 15 Ancestral Kitchen Tips eBook)
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Katya on Instagram
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Mythic Medicine (me) on Instagram
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Take our fun Which Healing Herb is Your Spirit Medicine? Quiz
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Medicine Stories episode 18 with Suuzi Hazen Land Based Living, Mothering, & Eating
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Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice
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Mineral Shaman on Instagram
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Honestly Podcast with Bari Weiss episode Things Worth Fighting For
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Healing Pelvic Prolapse and Why Kegels Don’t Work w/ Christine Kent, episode of Katya’s HoneyTalks Podcast
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Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha
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The Ethical Slut by Janet Hardy and Dossie Easton
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Motherfoods class taught by Rachelle Garcia Seliga and Carly Rae
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Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nigel
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Medicine Stories episode 86 all about prometabolic- Elemental Interbeing, Food Information Overwhelm, and Cell Deep Nourishment for Women with Kymber Maulden
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Medicine Stories episode 86 all about psychedelics- Generations, gene Codes, and Entheogenic Earth Healing with Mikaela de la Myco
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Kymber Maulden’s post on Why You Should Have a Bedtime Snack
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My website MythicMedicine.love
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Medicine Stories Facebook group
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Music by Mariee Sioux (from her beautiful song Wild Eyes)