From Fertility to Flourishing: A Functional Medicine Approach with Dr. Susan Fox

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Listeners, we are so excited to have you back listening today. Today we are so thrilled to welcome Dr. Susan Fox to the show. Dr. Fox is a recognized leader in the women's health and functional medicine space with a special passion for supporting women on their fertility journeys. Throughout her career, she has helped countless women and couples understand the deeper story behind their reproductive health, looking way beyond symptoms to uncover root causes that impact hormones, cycles and overall vitality. Her approach blends the best of modern medicine with functional and holistic strategies, empowering women with knowledge, personalized care, and practical tools to optimize their fertility naturally. What makes Dr. Fox's work so powerful is her compassion. You guys are going to hear that today. She knows how overwhelming, emotional, and often isolating the fertility journey can feel. Her mission is to bring clarity, hope, and sustainable solutions so that women can move from frustration to empowerment. Today we're going to be diving into the functional medicine approach to fertility. What it really means to create the best possible foundations for conception and long term Health. Welcome, Dr. Susan Fox. We are so excited to have you here today with us.

Oh, thank you, Lori. It's so nice to be here with you and Kelly, I'm really, really grateful to have an opportunity to share my passion with your listening and viewing audience.

Yeah, I'm really curious, you know, how did this passion for you, our listeners always want to know your story. How did this passion develop for you?

Thank you. I mean, it's not the typical scenario where I went through an infertility journey. It was actually almost a little bit more mystical, if you will, in that when I first got licensed and went looking for a place to work and thought I was going to do gastroenterology work, I ended up across the hall from a reproductive endocrinologist and his patients would be coming to me saying, can you help me? And I said, I would be happy to help you. I've got a lot to learn. And so as we kind of pull up our sleeves and work together, I would be doing everything I can to make you successful at having your baby. So it started in the IVF sector. And then of course, as we know with functional medicine, oftentimes it became much more of a natural conception opportunity. People would come saying, okay, help me prep. And before they got into their IVF appointment, they were pregnant.

Such a familiar story, right, Kelly? Like, we didn't set out to do this and then we just, you know, and I would like to say it's not happenstance. God's way of navigating that course, right? To Bring us in front of those that he is asking us to bless. So that's really cool that you had that experience because it's so similar in the functional medicine space.

Right, right.

I think, I think that when, when we, when we know we're divinely inspired, we can deliver so much more than, than any, any one of our singular brains could. Could offer. It's coming from hearts.

Absolutely. So I spent my first eight years in a clinical practice and ob GYN practice where we dealt a lot with infertility, a whole lot. So I've had my eye on this for many years. I didn't struggle with fertility either. So I'm kind of like you, I didn't fall into that camp. But what I'm seeing Today, you know, 30, almost 30 years later, is the women that struggled with infertility are having a really difficult time perimenopause and menopause. Right. It's like standing out to me. Like, it's like, what are we going to do to help them not fall off the cliff? So I do want to get into that today because I think there's so much from a functional standpoint that we can do to really enhance their health at a very early age so that they don't go down that pathway of really being miserable perimenopausally and then postmenopausally. What would you say to that?

Well, I would say it's just another step across the same bridge of being a woman with ovaries or a person with ovaries. Right. And a uterus is that, you know, if we are struggling with infertility, usually, and I call it sub fertility because really oftentimes there's not a true infertility. It's a toxic load that becomes in a disease process that can be undone and frankly, in my opinion, should be undone for the sake of the health of the yet unborn child. And then the continuation of care for the, of self care that this woman, you know, undergoes will only make her perimeter menopausal years much more comfortable. She will be much healthier because a lot of our uncomfortable symptoms and signs are exactly that which occurred in our 30s and just didn't get undone or fixed or healed so that we could enter and what should be just a natural next phase.

I love subfertility. I love that because it actually opens the door to the hope that we give our clients that it's not an end state, it's repairable and there's hope on the horizon.

Exactly. And presently we live in a dichotomy where there are folks who would say, hurry, hurry, hurry, get your IVF now. Because time is of the essence. And others would say, no, no, no, no, wait. Because we need to make sure you're healthy. And I personally feel that they could happen at the same time. Some women can't wait. And for some people, some families, IVF is the way for them to grow their family. But even if their appointment is tomorrow and they begin doing the healing today with root cause, by the time that retrieval happens or transfer happens, they're going to be healthier and they're going to be bringing in a healthier baby and having their own healthier postpartum and family.

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So can we get into some of those things that would create sub fertility? You mentioned toxicity, right? And I love that. So what are the things that we need to be really aware of? And I would say even if you're not struggling with fertility, right. If you're wanting a healthy pregnancy or if you have a child that's about to be fertility age, right. These are the things I want you guys thinking of. And so what are those things.

So it's no secret, right, that we live in a pretty toxic world. And so we just need to do everything in our power to remove as many of the insults as we can. And so that can look like from the nutrition side, you know, eating organic, pesticide free, choosing you know, meats if you're, if you're a meat eater that are, you know, grass fed and finished or wild caught or free range and all of that because each of these little insults, if there's going to affect, affect our hormones and, and you know, there, there are people who have said to me, oh, but it's so expensive to eat that way. And I said, well it's a lot more expensive to have multiple rounds of IVF for sure. A lot more expensive to then have it, you know, a disease process happening 10 years from now that could have been avoided. So, so certainly nutrition, which includes hydration by the way. I think we are chronically dehydrated as, as a nation, you know, even even though we're carrying around the you know, 10 gallon Stanley cups, we oftentimes aren't really flushing ourselves with, with, with purified water and, or electrolytes that would really help clean our cells and then circulation. Right. So we know that we're meant to move, you know, our bodies are designed to move, but here we are in front of our zoom cameras and, or sitting at our desks for far too long. So I'd say, you know, find the time within your schedule to get up for the fertility person. I actually also would say also let's get some targeted circulation because a nice hike is wonderful, it's going to give you some good circulation. But if you want to get pregnant next month, let's get some targeted circulation. And that's the transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation protocols, they call it teas that I had mentioned before that have been shown to increase live birth rate for women over 35 undergoing frozen embryo transfer. So we already know that that's a cohort that has been struggling by 42% and we know the stats of IVF are kind of dismal anyway for that, that woman who's 35, her, her chances of having an IVF cycle bring a baby is only 25%. So 25 to 40. But if you can increase her whole health and her reproductive health and get targeted circulation, that is proven. These studies are more than two are being studied. So it's not just a one off. Why wouldn't you do that?

Right?

And that's something they can do at Home, right?

Absolutely. This is in the comfort of their own home. So I was so grateful to have a colleague of mine who is a researcher be on my faculty at Health University and has designed these three protocols. They're done every other day from the end of a menstrual bleed to ovulation in a cycle where you're trying to conceive naturally or to egg retrieval if you're going through an IVF cycle. So that you really are just getting this time, that this constant attention to getting blood flow to these amazing organs that otherwise oftentimes take a second a backseat to our muscles and our organs that are involved in our fight flight response.

So is that tease procedure? I'm new to this, so I'm pretty excited about hearing. So they can do it in the comfort of their home. Is it something that has to be prescribed? Is it something they can purchase on their own or is it purchasable?

It is purchasable. I have an online course within which is the teas protocol. And if you're local, you can come into my office and I can also just hand it over. But no, somebody purchases the course, which also includes qigong exercises for the four weeks of a menstrual cycle. Mind, body guided imagery that takes people through this is what's happening in your cycle. And some guided images about sort of calming this stress response as well as the nutrition that I had just mentioned. So, yep, it just gets shipped off to you. The videos are right there and you follow along and it's pretty miraculous. I mean, I wish that it was not the best kept secret. I am screaming to the void as much as I can to get the word out because everyone should be doing it, in my opinion.

And it sounds like you've created an easy access to it too. That's what I'm picking up on. Just to reiterate that you have a curriculum, you have an education which they're taught, they don't just get it, they're being taught how to use and maybe even some other modalities alongside of to make it more effective.

Yep, yep. And you know, we're all busy. We're all some kind of too busy. Right. So the beauty of this program is you, you. It's a diy. So the modules are there, the videos are there to say this is how you do it. And then, and then I'm here if there's a question. We can do a video consult call or something like that. But. But I really. No, nobody calls because it's so easy they only call, guess what, I'm pregnant.

Well, I hear you saying it's easy, but what I really hear you saying is that the curriculum is designed in a way that it gives them all that they need. Exactly. But they can reach out to you. Exactly. Knowing that they reach out to you if they needed to is an add on value to what you offer. So that's exactly right.

And that, that's really, that was my impetus is that far too often I would have a person in my practice, just a brilliant person, you know, CEO, lawyer, doctors even say, how do I not know this about my own body? And it just, it both crushed me and then infuriated me that we don't know this and that when, when the remedies are there to, you know, learn about our bodies, learn what's happening at different phases of our cycle, and then work with those phases as, as they did in, you know, hundreds of years ago.

So you mentioned stress response, right. And stress is such a big component, right, to dysregulation of hormones. So what do you think is driving, what is the biggest driver that you see of stress for women of childbearing age? And then what are the things that you recommend that they do to help resettle that limbic system, resettle their nervous system so that they do function their best?

Right. Well, I would. It's kind of a two or three pronged approach in that, you know, the stress response first needs to be dealt with if there are again these environments, insults by cleaning up our diet and again taking back our power over our own health, but then also taking the time to wind down to quiet because we are always trained to be so busy that we don't spend that time in quiet. So the guided imagery modules and the qigong modules are also designed to do just that as well. We come out of school and then right on the fast track to either work or post grad school. And so we're almost conditioned to choose stress response over. And we're kind of designed, right, Just as human beings, we're designed to look for danger. So it's. So we really need to practice, and that's why they call all of these things practices in advance, how to calm our mind and spirit, which then calms our hormonal, our physiology, which then calms our nervous system neurotransmitters, which then lets us sleep better at night for restoration and recovery. So just really taking that time to. And it doesn't have to be the modules of guided imagery. It could be whatever you love to do. And I'll often times say to someone, what did you love to do when you were 10 or 11? Because that's usually a good little portal, a thread into what might be your stress recovery activities or time. You know, for some it may be knitting, and for others it's really good to have that guided imagery.

So, Dr. Fox, you said something that I think we need to go back to. It was so profound. But the human experience of being stressed is a natural response to our environment.

Exactly.

It saves our life on a daily basis.

Right.

And oftentimes we get so frustrated with ourselves because we're stressed out and we can't get this thing figured out. And what we have not built into our society in a powerful way is the practice of controlling our stress response or being calm. That's what's missing. So all of our moms out there listening, I think, really training our little ones and how do we get to a calm place? I know I didn't train my little ones that way. I was like, just suck it up and let's go.

I didn't train my little one. But thankfully her kindergarten teacher was a black belt in, I want to say taekwondo, but it was more meditative. And they would have practices every day where they would center before they entered the classroom and they would have meditation time. Time in their. In their day. And it really, you know, that actually helped teach me to teach her to. To continue it long after kindergarten.

I just love our teachers.

Right.

They have such a good spirit and heart and, you know, to teach your little one to teach you. That's how it usually happens.

Right.

We learn things through our kids.

Still does. She's 33 and it's. And she's still teaching me. We can relate to be looking for danger, but we're also designed to then shake it off. Right. You know, we'd beat or run away from that saber tooth tiger, but then we'd get to our cave and be able to then, you know, re regulate. And in our lifestyle today doesn't give us opportunities to take that time to shake it off or to rest and recover. So we just need to claim it. I mean, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. And so we can all find 10 minutes, as you know, to, at the beginning of the day and the end of the day to say, this is. This is how I want my day to unfold and how did I do and how can I repair?

And after they start doing that, like as you said, through practice, they begin to see that their day is Better they begin to see how they respond and show up to things in a more positive, favorable way. They like how they show up and it does become more repetitive for them to do it. But to your point, it does take practice and it's not a natural default.

Pattern, unfortunately, but it can become that again with the practice. And then, and then we take it also into the. Okay, if they're going into ivf, they, they have a little, they have more agency in their, in their, from their place of calm to be fully engaged in their process. So they're not quite feeling subject to or victim. Victimized by the, you know, the, the medical intervention that, that they're, you know, needing or choosing for. Bring babies.

So can we go back and talk about timing?

Yes.

Oh yes, Because I think this is such an important conversation to have. My daughter went through not infertility, but she had endometriosis diagnosed at age 15 and had a very astute obgyn that looked her in the eyes and said, find your person and have your babies early. And she did that. And at the time she said that to my 15 year old, I was like, don't you dare say that to my 15 year old. She needs to have a career and she needs to do all the things and travel before she thinks about babies. But I think that was very wise advice for her.

Right.

She's had four healthy pregnancies, has done really well in that regard. But I think that most people don't have the opportunity to really think about their priorities in life and what they really want to do.

Right.

And how does that, even if it.

Is a priority, perhaps life doesn't bring that partner to them until.

Yeah. And so I would just say to the women out there that they don't even think about having babies until they have finished their college degree and their graduate program and they've set in their career. And now, now it's like, okay, I'm ready to have babies.

So timing wise, what I would say to that person is to at least get your labs done. Get, you know, get some basic labs done at age 27, 28. So, you know, are there markers that are of concern that you want to take into account? And frankly, something like endometriosis can't. Or polycystic ovaries. There are many disease patterns, if you will, or diagnoses that can be reversed. They can at least be arrested and can be reversed. So find out what is the state of your fertile health if you want to have babies. And frankly, even if you don't want to have babies because the state of your fertile health, as we said at the beginning, is indicative of the state of your perimenopausal and menopausal health. Our ovaries are not solely for purposes of producing eggs and getting, you know, having babies. They communicate with just about every organ in our body forever. So we really want to do our part to help them be as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

And I think in that, them understanding too that these labs aren't labs that are traditional medical doctors are doing, you know, these, these labs that you're speaking of or biomarkers that you're speaking of are more of the preventative health proactive because, you know, you're speaking to a state of dysfunction, not disease.

Right, right.

And so really seeking out a qualified health care practitioner, right. Who's looking at these biomarkers in a preventative health way, looking at these hormonal shifts or imbalances, these early markers to really give those. Because there's lots of clues and cues right there. That data that can give you that foresight to listen on the horizon is this. But if you do this, this and this. And that's what I've heard you say a couple times already today, and this is something that Kelly and I talk about a lot is if you do these three things that are very impactful, you have the potential to, to reverse this and maybe not even have to deal with the frustrations.

So yeah, I mean, some of them are the, you know, the sort of the traditional markers. Right. We do need to know, you know, what, you know, what is the state of our, of our, for a woman, of our ovaries, for it's not a bad idea to get a sperm analysis early so you, you can see what's going on. But to your point, there's much more than, you know, the fsh, amh, progesterone, estrogen question. There's how, you know, how is your vitamin D, how is your thyroid? Are there, is there any antibody activity taking place? Are there any other inflammatory markers showing up or symptoms showing up? Because sometimes we don't see it in a lab, but if the symptoms are presenting, then we want to, to pay attention to that. So to your point, absolutely. We need, you want to find a qualified functional medicine provider because I mean, no disrespect to the conventional medicine model, but they have their limitations almost by design of the system where if you are not showing an out of range pathology, you're fine. And so many people are sent home saying Your labs look fine when they're like, well, if my labs look fine, what do I feel like? Crap. Pardon my French.

Yes, well, you are.

You are in light company. We say it all the time. You know, finds not fine's not fine. You know, I don't want to feel fine. I want to feel excellent. And I want to bring back those markers. I love that you actually mentioned them because we do have a following of listeners that have been on this journey for quite some time, and they have more advanced speak. And so I would add to that, and certainly correct if wrong, but insulin, I would say, and C peptide and some of those advanced markers in blood sugar dysregulation, too, and inflammatory markers.

Yep, yep, yep. Especially blood sugar dysregulation with insulin, you know, showing signs of insulin resistance or high A1C inflammatory markers for that person whose metabolic dysregulation is then creating the polycystic ovarian syndrome diagnosis. And it pains me to see in the fertility field that siloing of PCOS as an issue solely related to fertility, when in fact, we know this is a metabolic issue that's going to affect this person for the rest of her life and possibly her progeny, her children, and her grandchildren, because we are the result of our grandmother's egg that were in her body when our mother was in utero. So. And we can make that shift now and again. That's where I feel almost like an activist. Like, I feel it's so empowering to say, if you make this change now, you're literally changing the future of health.

Not for just one generation.

Right.

For three generations at least. We're changing the trajectory of that health. And so it is so impactful. I told Lori a couple of years ago, A4M came out with an infertility core course that I did the certification for, because I felt like that I felt like we've got to be doing something about this. Not just for conceiving, but having a healthy pregnancy and then protecting the health of that mom throughout her life cycle.

That baby is going to grow up to be a decision maker having an impact on the world. And if that. If that decision maker is coming from a place of dis ease or ill health, guess what kind of decisions they're going to be making. Well, we're kind of finding ourselves in that pickle right now, aren't we? Having having come off, you know, decades of, you know, processed foods and poor nutrition, people are not always making the best choices, and it's because their brains were not fed so they could do some critical thinking as youngsters.

I would say their palates were not developed either. Right. They grew up eating highly processed foods, and so that's what their palate craves. And so it's a very difficult shift to make if that's how they started out eating that way.

Right.

As a small child. Yeah.

And I want to go back to something you said, Kelly. Yes, you did say that. And I truly got chills as you were speaking. You know, Dr. Fox, just about that, because that has been our heart and soul. And I think you layer on the C word.

Covid.

That's the other C word.

Right.

That just the current C word.

That just layered on another layer of difficulty. And so I think that we really do have to collect effectively, be loud and clear and out there and really helping our children and their children and just getting the word out that it doesn't have to be this way. And, you know, I want to add in one other biomarker, and that's probably genetics.

Yes.

You know, and genetics around methylation, genetics around inflammatory markers. And I'm sure that there are more, but those play a role too.

Without a doubt. Doubt. We know that MTHFR gene mutation is oftentimes the cause for recurrent pregnancy loss. And that person is loading herself up on folic acid that she's not translating into folate. And so that baby is getting no folate, and she's getting way too much folic acid buildup in her system. So these are the kind of discrete ways in which a functionality medicine provider will look at you in your labs and will investigate things like, you know, what are the clotting factors looking like? What are the inflammatory markers looking like? Yes.

And with that is also sitting down, as I'm sure you do with the clinic, the, you know, the clients that come into your clinic is sitting down and really gaining that history too. You know, 80% of what we do really is in that history. And that is so, so important. But I think we're conditioned as clinicians in traditional medicine to really rely just SOL maybe 80% diagnostics and 20% history. And we really need to flip that around because that piece is so important.

Yeah, absolutely. And as a Chinese medicine provider, that's my doctorate is in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Our training is absolutely. That we don't work with diagnoses in the conventional medicine model. We will say the words, but really we're looking at pattern irregularities that have taken place, pattern dysregulation. And if the pattern pattern is is dysregulated. And you're seeing it as a pattern. It's a lot easier to see how to rectify it. If someone is too hot, you know, inflammation and, and, you know, and, and even emotionally too hot, hot and bothered, that. That will give us a way in which to say, okay, this is what I'm seeing happening for you. And almost like viscerally, they feel it, they feel seen. They're like, that's exactly it. And that's not going to show up in labs, right? There's this, it's not a fever.

So we're energetic beings, right? In your world of acupuncture, what would you say about that? Like, how do you help balance out energetically a person? And then what does that lead to? How does that help them?

We are energetic beings, right? We know, we use the term qi. We know that life force continues after the body is done. And so our job is to work with that chi, that life force, and say, okay, if it's feeling dysregulated, if it's feeling stuck, how do we open it up and move it? And that's where acupuncture can be brilliant. If it's feeling deficient, how do we support it? And that's usually where herbs and supplements and diet and that kind of thing can come in. But we're always trying to find homeostasis, right? Harmony. And so that's the goal is to say, okay, where, where do I feel out of alignment and how do I find my way back to, to that alignment? And it would, it would take probably a week to go into the five elements and what we would look like. But I'll give you, I'll give you five simple examples so that people can say, oh, this does make sense. So with that hot and bothered kind of person, that heat that tends to be someone who's, who either their liver, Qi is that. I'm not just speaking of your organs, of detoxification, but your creative process is being squelched. And so that person is going to find herself being more irritable or depressed. And so we've, again, like, that's a sign you're not going to see that in a lab. But she knows she's having mixed experience and rather than take a pill for that, let's find a way to get that qi moving again so she can kind of remember her creative potential, the spirit she came in to be and to deliver. If another person is feeling, feeling bogged down is the word I would use. You know, they're, they're just feeling foggy headed, they're, they're gaining weight, they're feeling lethargic. We refer to that as the earth and the spleen digestive system. So that's a sign for us to say, oh, we need to look into that a little bit more. And we probably would do a deeper dive into the, you know, dietary and lifestyle things. That person needs to warm up so she can kind of melt off some of this, this, this accumulation that's happening. If someone is actually really being. What's the, almost like a tendency to dread the other shoe dropping? You know, they wake up in the morning and regrettably the first thing they're doing is to see, you know, what, what terrible news has befallen overnight. That person needs to have her, we call it the water element her, her kidney organ system fortified because that really is our, that is our, our energetic trust fund that we were born with and that needs to sustain us through our last breath. And so we really need to cut, you know, really help that person do what she needs to do, whether she needs to. Actually in some cases it is to warm up, in other cases it is to rest and cool down. But those are just some examples how we use patterns that are patterns in nature that we mirror inside of ourselves to course correct and get back to that state of. We use the term harmonize, but it's homeostasis.

The human body is so incredible.

It's interesting the different ways we can look at something and assess something and come up with solutions for, for that issue. What came to my mind when you were describing those is we treat a lot of patients with chronic illness, right. And limbic system dysregulation can become a part of that. And so when I heard you say, you know, the person that gets up thinking about what, what other shoe is going to drop, you know, maybe they feel really good, maybe they're making progress, but they're in the back of their mind thinking, okay, when is it going to get worse again? When am I going to feel bad again? Do you have any things that you use, any techniques that you use to kind of calm the limbic system in that way way for ongoing support? Like what does that tell you?

Well, I mean, so in private practice it would be acupuncture for sure. I mean it's just an amazing influential tool to help regulate systems, the nervous system that's gone out of balance. If a person is not able to get in to see her acupuncturist, I would say these very tools that we have already mentioned the practices of mind, body awareness, mindfulness. Mindfulness are your ticket to freedom. So before you pick up the phone and to see what has befallen us overnight, instead put on a guided imagery app.

So interrupt the pattern.

Exactly. Create a new pattern. Because it's really hard to stop an old habit, but we can replace it with a new good habit. And then pretty soon it only takes a week or two to really say, oh, I'm feeling the benefit of this. Maybe I won't pick up my phone just because I used to. Maybe instead I will do my mindfulness. You know, prayer, meditation, journaling, music, you know, whatever, whatever brings you to your spirit.

And we know we've heard it over and over again when, and so often we are conditioned to roll over, pick up that phone and read the first thing that, you know, pops up on the screen. And we've heard over and over again that we really. That needs to stop immediately.

Exactly.

Because the reality of that is that self perpetuates so many other things throughout the. And it's. It really is driving us. It's driving a pattern of unhealthiness. Exactly. It's making it up even if it's not in your bed and doing those practices. But get into some of those new habits. Get outside, look at natural light.

You just took the words right out of my mouth. Get used to the sun.

Oh yes. Go see it. Yes. And what that brought to mind. I love that Kelly went back and. And said what it brought to mind as you were sharing some of those things as what you do in your clinical practice thinking. It is definitely a reminder of how important it is to have a team of providers of care who's on your wellness team. Because it can be very. It can be very. The likelihood of finding all of these services in one location, under one roof is quite unlikely. And so really the importance of thinking about things like who is in your local area, who is able to do things like acupuncture, massage, some of those other things, those modalities. And we talk about that a lot with our clients is developing that team. So I did want to ask you. The question is how does one find a qualified. What would someone look for when they're seeking out acupuncture?

Sure. So for a fertility specialist, there is an international group called the Acupuncture and TCM Board of Reproductive Medicine Aborm and we are a self tested and rigorous. So the testing is harder than getting your licensing degree or certification. To demonstrate that we have done the study that the level of study that will help us translate the IVF world to human speak so that we can really help this person navigate through, through her fertility journey. Again, somebody doesn't need to be going through ivf, but that is sort of the standard that we use because it's such a foreign world. It's full of foreign languages or foreign words. So that would be a resource that the fertility folks could actually just go on and feel that they can have a vetted, trusted resource source. Otherwise, I would say, if you're not looking for fertility or for women's reproductive health and you find someone in your area, do your research, go to the board to see, is there any complaint against this person. Ask around, ask the people who you do trust, who would you recommend? And usually those of us who are in the work, doing the work. We have our own network, right? We, we. So I have reproductive endocrinologists that I, that I know will be the right person for, because it's much. It's not just the clin, it's not just the IVF center, it's the person. So, so I, I will, I will make my referrals based upon the patient in front of me. So, you know, your personality would really go well with this person, whereas your personality would really go well with this other person. And then a whole, you know, group. Group of psychologists, because, again, it's, you know, it's a stressful experience. Doulas, postpartum lactation consultants, you know, there's a whole perinatal community that I can just say, here you, here you go. You've got all of these trusted resources, like synergy.

It doesn't.

Yes, synergy, exactly.

Does that matter?

Hence the name. So I am not familiar, I hate to admit this, with tactics, Tai Chi. Like, I don't think I've ever experienced Tai Chi. So I'm curious if that modality would be considered like a somatic exercise. Like.

Yes, it is. It is a moving meditation. Qigong and Tai chi are. They're very, very similar. They're both, you know, East Asian, Asian moving meditation. And they're, they're like yoga. There are specific movements that we do to help move the Qi through the various meridians so that we are balanced at the end. So, yeah, it's a whole study. It's beautiful. And frankly, it looks like a beautiful dance, but when you, when you really, you know, utilize it and becomes part of your being, it's also self defense because these very movements that look like just a fluid dance movement is also the movement that will push someone out of your way with, without the stress of fighting, influence fleeing. It heightens one's awareness about the world around them. So you can either get out of the way of an anticipated, you know, or you know, a moment where you go something's not right over there or it helps you to just kind of deflect if that, if, if that's what needs to happen.

I think that's so important. You know, we're so hyper stimulated but oftentimes we're also very narrow focused when we're out in the world and we're not aware of what's going on around us and dangers maybe that we should be aware, aware of. So it is interesting, right?

And that's our spirit again, right? That's our, that's our, our intuition is our spirit trying to engage with us. But we are so enamored with our frontal lobe only that we, that we don't take the time to, to pay attention to this, to this other way of knowing that is frankly oftentimes much more intelligent than our, than our calculating brains. So yes, all of the, that just takes us back once again like really, really, really do yourself a, by taking time back for yourself. You know, you're a precious being. Come into the world to do something very important in the world. Why wouldn't you recognize that for yourself? Why wouldn't you fortify that for yourself so that you can give better of what your special gifts are?

So oftentimes Lori and I will say, you know, you've got to put your oxygen masses on first right before you can be taking care of the other people that are important to you in your life. And the pushback is always time. Yes, right over commitment and time.

And I, and I will say the same thing and I often try to try to throw myself the same excuse and then I have to just stop myself saying nobody has more time than I do in a 24 hour day. So it's just about making that decision of, you know, maybe it is getting up a little earlier. Maybe, maybe you set your alarm for 5:30, which means you go to bed a little earlier because you don't want to forfeit your sleep. But whatever's going to let you in your lifestyle reclaim some of that time. And it doesn't have to be a lot. It really will open up all of these other ways of fully being human so that we're not just little gerbils on the wheel trying to get through yet another day.

I think about, you know, we oftentimes talk about food waste and economizing with food because people also say that food is expensive. Right. And so we look, we look for waste first as a way to economize. What am I throwing away? What could I be doing better in that way? And I think about time in the same way. Like what are we wasting our time focused on and doing that's not really serving us? How can we get those minutes back and then how much because we have such lack of energy and vitality. Reality. How much time is it taking us to do a task that should take us five minutes and it's taking us 20 minutes, maybe an hour because of lack of focus. Are there any other things you would say about time? Like how do we, how do we, how do we pull that back and get control of that?

I. I would say it's. It's first for again, oxygen mask on before assisting others. So that, that 10 to 15 minutes for yourself. So there is a self to be in relationship with others and then the relationship with others. Right.

So.

So who in world is, you know, is important to your heart? That should be priority number one. So you know, we. And the God within is. Is. Is required in order to be in relationship with any. Anybody else. But, but so often we also forfeit some of our most important relationships because we're too busy what running through our. An email list where we really don't even care what's, you know, on the email list. So unsubscribe to a lot of subscriptions. That'll free up a lot of time. Even clean mailbox every day.

Social media. Get off of social media. Yeah, that could be one too. You know, I often say, and this, you know, came to me, I have these epiphanies sometimes on my walks or whatever. You get out in nature and all kinds of things flood in, right?

Oh yes, my dog is my best spiritual counselor.

Exactly.

But you know, we leave leftover time, we're going to get leftover results. If we're leaving leftover time to do the things that are most important to us, we're going to get leftover results.

Results.

And to your point, it's really prioritizing those things and that reprioritization doesn't happen one and done. That's what I hear you saying. It's a constant reevaluating, you know, with what's, what's important to you and choosing to make sure that you are changing things around that aligns. We talk a lot about congruence because at the end of the day if we are not actively in pursuit of the things that are most important for, for us. And we end up distracted to the things that. Not. That are not. We end up misaligned, incongruent, and that leads to chaos.

Exactly. And when we, and we take that time to, to respect ourselves and the wonderful precious gift that we've been given, then the things that aren't congruent will oftentimes fall away. And that can be, you know, friendships or relationships or, or communities that we may have outgrown. You know, so bless it and move on and back into being true to oneself and one's purpose.

Yes, for sure. Would it be okay, I would like to move into postpartum if that would be all right? Because I know we talked a lot about the infertility and kind of leading up to, but postpartum recovery can be a really difficult time. And I was just kind of wondering, you know, do you have some recommendations for what one can do as a family to create whole body health in that postpartum time frame?

Absolutely, yes. We refer to the postpartum time as the fourth trimester in Chinese medicine. And we, and we refer to the, the act of what is called mother warming. Because, because a mother, a mother having delivered her baby and nursing her baby, we refer to breast milk as blood, the mother's blood. And so it can be very depleting. And so whereas in the past when we lived a village life, you know, all of the women of the village would come in and help take care of, you know, feed the rest of the family so that you could, and feed the new mother so she could be fully fortified. We don't have that anymore. So once again, I'm sorry to say, the onus is upon us to create that beforehand. If you wait until after the baby's born, you know, it's going to be harder to say, okay, what do I need? Because, you know, we're, we're 110% dedicated to keeping this new, new being alive. But, but we can start in, in before delivery by finding out, like, is there a mother's club in your area? Join it. Is there another kind of support group in your area? Sign up for it. You know, do you live near family? Ask for some help in advance, you know, like maybe, maybe a meal train or something for a couple of weeks or just coming to do the laundry or something like, mother can rest while baby's resting. Because I mean, really, if she can get good rest in that first three to four weeks, she's pretty much golden. You Know, if she can't, she's going to be depleted for probably a good year and a half.

So that investment for the first three to four weeks is huge in the outcome for the next 18 months. Really?

Yeah.

That's incredible.

I love what you said about planning, planning ahead because again, when we are reactive and we are already overwhelmed.

Change.

Right. Particularly with the first one, I, I think, you know, maybe I could be wrong. But, you know, as you have, you know, the next one and the next one, there's certainly the nuances between them, but that first time is probably one of the hardest. And planning ahead just as if you would plan anything else. I remember a situation with a. I have, I have some girls that I have birthed and I've had the blessings of being able to help them learn from my stuff, of course, passing it on. And I remember having a conversation with my daughters about that. And even from the second, you know, you come home is setting some boundaries in respect to visitation.

Oh, absolutely.

Those are things where they're like, you know, that those are, those are challenging times because they're like, they, they want everyone to be able to come because everyone's so excited too. But, you know, having even leaning into maybe some help in making those decisions because you don't really know what you're going to be facing. So I would imagine a counselor, someone that they talk to to make those decisions would be helpful too, to have on their wellness team.

Yep, absolutely. You know, have that almost in writing so, so that you can, so that you can share it with, with ease with everyone. You know, thank you in advance for honoring that. This is how we're going to start our family. And, you know, and we'll, we're, we'll be, we'll send out photos, but when we're happy to have you come on in, you know, and, and meet, meet this, the baby and meet our new family in a few weeks. But we need this time to just be in the veil of brand new, new parenthood, brand new family, even, even with. Not just the first, with, with, with additional children as well. And I just wanted to give a little, a little tidbit of like, how to plan. Like what, what's an example of how to plan? Make some bone broth well in advance, freeze it, put it into ice cubes so that you can just, you know, have that because, because it's very replenishing for, you know, blood loss and for the nutrients and the minerals. So have that at the ready. Maybe have some really healthy oat milk at the ready. Because if you're struggling with lactation, we know that oats are very galactagogues. And so just having some oat milk at the ready, so you're not wondering later, oh, my gosh, I'm struggling. I'm not producing breast milk now what do I do? And it's kind of hard to eat enough oatmeal without becoming too full. So those are the kind of things to have. Some soups at the ready, some stew, some casseroles in Chinese medicine. You know, we like to have things cooked. And so, and we like it, and we like it cooked in, in a pot so that, so you get, you're not missing nutrients. Right. You're not cooking something on the grill or boiling, you know, or boiling or roasting the vegetables. If it's all cooked in this in the same pot, you're going to get all of that, that, that benefit. And it's easy to digest because again, a mama's body has been through a lot during pregnancy and delivery and postpartum, so get those nutrients into her.

Well, this has been incredible. Such a blessing to have you, have you on. And I look forward to meeting you face to face next week at the upcoming conference. I think that's going to be incredible. Are there anything, any parting things you want to share with the audience?

Yeah, I think I would just like to say you've got this. You know who we don't know, no one knows what life can. Is going to bring. But, but trust in yourself, trust in your life and be your advocate. Demand that people treat you the way you want to be treated and that you treat others accordingly. And that includes things like your nutrition and hydration, your circulation, your sleep, your social relationships so that you really can live the most fulfilled life, be the healthiest mother, raise the healthiest family, participate in the healthiest community. And as I said, like, let's, let's take, let's change the future.

And the time is now. Wait.

Absolutely. The time is always now. It's never too late. And don't wait.

Yes.

So how would one get in touch with you? Again, to Kelly's point, thank you so much for taking the time and for your expertise and just your honesty, transparency, and obviously your commitment to the betterment of those that you get a chance to serve. And so it's an honor to be here with you today. So how do people get in touch with you?

Thank you. So if you're in the San Francisco Bay area and want to see me in person, my website is DrSUSanfox.com d r s u s a n f o x.com if you are interested in doing like the online course, the teas that I had mentioned, that is another website called HealthUniversity Co and University is spelled Y O U because it's the university diversity of you and, and, and there, there's, you know, you can reach me through email through that website as well, or just go ahead and check out the courses. Yeah. And, and feel free to email, you know, through either of the websites I make myself available. This is, there's, there's not, there's not a barrier.

Well, thank you so much for all of your inspiration today. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.

I will, I will. This has been a fantastic conversation. Thank you so very much and I look forward to seeing you in person next week.

The Synergy Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional healthcare services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor patient relationship is formed. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical conditions they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.