What Your Menstrual Cycle Can Tell You About Your Health
In this episode of Fast Metabolism Matters, Haylie Pomroy is joined by Michelle Oravitz, licensed acupuncturist, fertility specialist, and author of The Way of Fertility, to explore what your menstrual cycle can reveal about fertility, hormone health, and overall wellness.
After experiencing irregular periods for more than a decade, Michelle began searching for answers beyond simply managing her symptoms. She shares how that journey led her to acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and a holistic approach to fertility and reproductive health.
Haylie and Michelle discuss why irregular periods and menstrual cycle changes can be important signals from the body, as well as factors that may affect fertility in both women and men. They explore how Chinese medicine views the body as an interconnected system and how practices such as acupuncture and herbal medicine are used to support hormonal balance, menstrual health, and fertility.
Michelle also shares practical ways to support the body's natural rhythms, including morning sunlight, grounding, quality sleep, stress management, and greater awareness of your menstrual cycle.
Whether you're trying to conceive, experiencing irregular periods, navigating hormonal changes, or simply want to better understand your reproductive health, this conversation offers a new perspective on listening to the signals your body may be sending.
Discover the connection between fertility, menstrual cycle health, hormones, acupuncture, and Chinese medicine with Haylie Pomroy and Michelle Oravitz on Fast Metabolism Matters.
If your body feels like it's running on empty, overburdened, or just not responding the way it used to, Haylie's latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do. Download your free digital copy today and start understanding what your body is trying to tell you.
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Michelle Oravitz is the owner and founder of The Wholesome Lotus. Originally trained as an architect, she later pursued holistic healing after experiencing the transformative effects of acupuncture and Ayurveda. She earned her master’s degree in Oriental Medicine as valedictorian and Summa Cum Laude. Today, Michelle is a highly regarded celebrity acupuncturist and fertility coach who empowers women on their fertility journeys. She is also the author of The Way of Fertility and host of The Wholesome Fertility Podcast, where she shares expert fertility advice and interviews leading professionals.
Website: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-oravitz-ap-lac-534b46128/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewholesomelotusfertility
Learn more about The Wholesome Lotus: https://www.thewholesomelotusfertility.com/
Grab a copy of her book, The Way of Fertility, on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wHkN4r
Haylie Pomroy, Founder and CEO of The Haylie Pomroy Group, is a leading health strategist specializing in metabolism, weight loss, and integrative wellness. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked with top medical institutions and high-profile clients, developing targeted programs and supplements rooted in the "Food is Medicine" philosophy. Inspired by her own autoimmune journey, she combines expertise in nutrition, biochemistry, and patient advocacy to help others reclaim their health. She is a New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet.
Learn more about Haylie Pomroy's approach to wellness through her website: https://hayliepomroy.com
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Edited Transcript:
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: You need to look to make sure that you're ovulating, because you could have a perfect 28-day cycle, you could bleed, but that doesn't confirm that you ovulated. And you can even have a positive LH test, an OPK, and that could still not prove that you ovulated.
Haylie Pomroy: You guys, we have a very special guest today, Dr. Michelle Oravitz. She is an acupuncturist who specializes in fertility. You guys know this subject is very near and dear to my heart. My mom was a fertility specialist who specialized in acupuncture. And so I really wanted to seek out an individual who I thought could come into our community and answer so many of the questions that you guys are having. Dr. Oravitz, Michelle, thank you so much for taking time from your incredibly busy practice to spend time with us today.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: It's a pleasure, Haylie. Thank you so much for having me on today.
Haylie Pomroy: I think we're going to have some really good, fun topics. Your book, it's new out, correct?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes.
Haylie Pomroy: The Way of Fertility: Awaken Your Reproductive Potential through the Transformative Power of Ancient Wisdom is, I think, really needed right now. My mom and I have been in practice for over 30 years. But there is a massive increase in individuals having women's health issues. And I feel like the age of what's happening has just gotten younger and younger. Are you seeing that in your practice?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I am, unfortunately. It's something that is not only for women, but for men. It's definitely on the rise, for sure.
Haylie Pomroy: Well, you said something interesting when you said for men. When we were in the thick of things in the fertility space, we could not believe how many people forgot that men make up a significant component in fertility, really more than 50%. That's what we were saying, but I've heard, and it's been a little bit of time since I've been so indoctrinated in that space, but I've heard it's even more.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Well, I mean, it's definitely like a combination, because women ultimately, they also have to work on the inflammation. Even if it's a perfect embryo and it's good health, if she has inflammation or certain autoimmune conditions, because ultimately their body carries the baby. It could definitely be like a combination of things. But for sure, the two are equally important...
Haylie Pomroy: ...to look at.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes.
Haylie Pomroy: Let me ask you, of all the things, I grew up with acupuncture. My daughter, even when she was tiny, she would say, "Grandma, make me a unicorn." She loved it.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, yeah. My daughter used to say that with the third eye point, the Yin Tang.
Haylie Pomroy: Absolutely. But why fertility? What was the inspiration that had you focus on these particular reproductive health issues?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: When I first started my journey into studying Chinese medicine, I started out as a patient. I used to be an architect, and I worked in New York in corporate America and was very stressed out. And I had irregular periods for like years and years and years.
And what I mean by that is like three months would go by with no period. And my circadian rhythm was off, which now we know could impact your period, or is very much linked to irregular cycles. And I had a lot going on that I didn't even realize was off. And then finally, after years of going to doctors and being prescribed the birth control pill, I finally found an acupuncturist. This is like probably 12 years after being completely irregular.
Number one, I could have thought, OK, I'm never going to be normal because that's just my body, because that's what most doctors really told me, and I could have just believed that and never really sought any other solution. And then I did happen to find an acupuncturist who was amazing and who also happened to specialize in gynecology in China before he came to America. He completely regulated my period, and I was blown away. That was just like the beginning of my fascination with Chinese medicine and with natural health. And I eventually met my husband, who's an emergency medicine doctor, like a Western medicine doctor. And he actually encouraged me to go back to school for natural medicine because he saw that I wasn't really as into my work. And so, long story short, I ended up studying Ayurveda at first and then eventually Chinese medicine. I was just really fascinated with natural medicine as a whole. And I think that it was definitely a personal thing. And also, not that this was part of it at the time, but little by little I realized that my mom actually suffered from secondary infertility and had a struggle having me. I'm kind of a product of a woman really struggling for many years to conceive. And interestingly enough, looking back, my dad used to smoke. I'm like, was it her or was it him? You never know.
Haylie Pomroy: I think it was just, yeah, no, what was the contributing factor? You said something that I just want to pull us back to for a second, which was that having irregular cycles, you were told, and this happens so much. I was just digging through our community. We have this membership community where people post questions and people post their experiences. And they were told that something was just them. It was just normal, and there was nothing that they could do. And that's what you were told when your periods were not regular. And I mean, it's cool because I've seen it clinically so much. But I'd love for you to share, if you could, a little bit, some of the signs that might be common but don't mean that they're OK and don't have to stay that way, that you see in your practice.
The irregular periods, like people just say, well, go on the pill, that will re-regulate you, except that you're not supposed to get pregnant on the pill. And also there are all kinds of side effects to that. And in the best-case scenario, there are some side effects. So, an irregular period, is that a big red flag if you're going to be kind of looking at your fertility health and stuff?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes. You want it to be somewhat regular. That doesn't mean that it has to be a 28-day cycle. That's textbook. It has to be regular really for you. It could be like a little over 30 days. That's still within a regular amount, or even 26 days could be for some people. Ideally longer than 28 days, because then that ultimately allows for enough time really for things to develop. And also for the luteal phase, where we do conceive, and the egg fertilizes, and it attaches to the uterine lining. But yeah, so that's one of the things. But another thing is also cramps, like really severe cramps. That's not normal. It's common, but it's not normal. And it could be endometriosis, but it doesn't have to be. It could be a lot of inflammation in the body. Typically, inflammation leads to a lot of pain. It could be what we call "folds in the uterus" or stagnation, according to Chinese medicine terms. There are definitely a lot of things like that. You need to make sure that you're ovulating, because you could have a perfect 28-day cycle. You could bleed, but that doesn't confirm that you ovulated. And you can even have a positive LH test, an OPK, and that could still not prove that you ovulated.
Haylie Pomroy: A couple of things that you just said about inflammation. We've had a lot of individuals who have really heavy periods, lots of clotting, lots of cramping. And we will address, from a food perspective or supplement perspective, the inflammatory perspective of the body as a whole: systemic inflammation.
With acupuncture, is that one of the many, and I know you look at a lot of different facets, but is that one primary thing that you look at? Somebody who's having gynecological health or fertility health issues, is inflammation a big one for you?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: It's interesting, because in Chinese medicine, we don't necessarily call it inflammation, but what we do definitely helps inflammation. We could look at something as excess heat and see, like, maybe a deficiency in yin, which is kind of like the moisturizing aspect, the aspect that cools things down. And that can cause a type of heat because it doesn't have that counterbalance.
We look at it really as a whole.
And then we look at the spleen and stomach, which are the gut health aspect of it, which ultimately, if they're not in check and doing their jobs, could lead to inflammation. I do, in my own world, work on that and consider inflammation.
But when we're trained in Chinese medicine, we don't necessarily look at it as inflammation per se. We look at it as elements and kind of like fire, things like that.
Haylie Pomroy: In Chinese medicine, I always love the difference in nomenclature, in naming, and in Ayurvedic medicine too. Oftentimes, the way in which we describe a condition of the body, whether it's stagnation or wind or heat, leans much more into, in my opinion, an observation of what happens in nature.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes, it 100% reflects nature. The laws of nature.
Haylie Pomroy: The laws of nature. And my goodness, I don't know how we got so disconnected in medicine from the laws of nature.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah.
Haylie Pomroy: We plucked humans out of this, the pool of species, and said, no, now you don't integrate with the world, the earth, the soil, your nutrients. But we do.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: It's pretty crazy. I actually saw something on Gaia the other day. I don't remember if it was Transcendence or something. It was a series. I don't know if you've ever heard of Gaia, but they have lots of amazing shows on there. And it's not just yoga. It's like a lot of interesting content. And one of them was about the domestication of dogs and how dogs originally came from wolves. We domesticated them, really shifted how we breed them, and it changed their health, and it impacts their health, actually. And that was one thing where I was like, wow, we're domesticated. And they said the domestication of humans and how we are removed from nature. We used to be hunters and gatherers, and not that we want to go necessarily back, but we're domesticated.
We don't have that. We've sort of severed that connection to nature. And I think some of us are thirsting to get that back, to get back to them.
Haylie Pomroy: I think it's good that we're thirsting to get it back, because I think it's a medical necessity. Oh, 100%. I've just decided, because I'm doing my PhD in neuroimmunology, and I mean, I grew up with Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, homeopathy, you name it. And that was the only way that I was able to change my own personal health trajectory. I've just decided I'm going to layer a bunch of nomenclature that other people are comfortable with into it.
It's so funny. We were talking in clinic the other day, and it was like, we incorporate at the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine (INIM). We incorporate acupuncture for all of our patients. And it's not because the virologist and the immunologist and the hematologist, although they're huge advocates now, but when they come to the institute, it's because nothing else. There's not a drug or a medication with a complex disease or illness that can get a patient to wellness. We might be able to mitigate the chemistry through chemicals. We might even be able to mute some symptoms. But we have not found a way through allopathic medicine to change the trajectory of health in a positive way.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That's true.
Haylie Pomroy: In complex illness. Now, maybe you have a strep infection. You take an antibiotic. I mean, I think there are natural therapies personally, but I can at least understand the connection. But it's not because they wanted to, it's because we get the worst of the worst of the most complex patients, where we say 10 years and 20 doctors before they land in our clinic. And we absolutely engage in herbal, homeopathy, Ayurvedic. Acupuncture is huge for us. There's just no other way to realign the body. Can you explain to our listeners why? Why does it work, first?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: First, you mean Chinese medicine, like acupuncture?
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. Because like you said, it's not reductionistic. I mean, I know there are some herbals that, like, we take Yin Qiao San. We get colds in our family. We're like, who has Yin Qiao San? I mean, that's like our family.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That sore throat one. Yeah.
Haylie Pomroy: We get the sore throat. We get a little burning in the ears or whatever. I mean, there is some symptom or symptoms, or same with Ayurveda. But there is a complex there. There is something for me. It seems magical. There is something so profound. And I don't know, I love to hear the perspective of people who really study this. I get to be a user of... A believer of...
But I've never had the luxury or the time to study it like you. So why does it change the trajectory? Why can it alter the rhythm in a woman's cycle? What's happening?
Hi, it's Haylie Pomroy, your host. I've written six New York Times bestselling books on metabolic pathways. And my latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do when your body's overburdened. If you go to hayliepomroy.com/book, for a limited time, you can download a digital copy of this book completely free. That's hayliepomroy.com/book. Grab your free copy while supplies last. Now back to our show.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I always look at a woman's cycle especially, almost like a train that got derailed. We need to put it back on the rhythm, like back in its own rhythm and alignment. And part of it is really connecting. Like one of the things that I suggest for people to do is connect back with nature, because if you get that early morning sun, that can anchor your circadian rhythm. Even just connecting with that fire, that yang energy. The yang is the fire, the heat. Yin is more cooling. Having those natural elements to help you can benefit you. That's kind of like a separate thing, because that's what Chinese medicine teaches about. But that's not necessarily Chinese medicine.
What we do as Chinese medicine practitioners is we work with really two main pillars, but then we have other accessory tools. But the two main ones are really acupuncture and herbals. Some people really focus on just acupuncture. Some people focus on just herbals. Some do a bit of both, most of them, most practitioners.
And so the herbals work on the chemistry. It's the pharmaceutical aspect. What I love about it, and actually my Ayurvedic teacher said something I'll never forget, and I think what she said was so profound, was that when you're taking herbs versus pharmaceuticals, you're still taking something with the DNA intact. What is DNA but intelligence? That intelligence of the DNA of the herb is connecting with the intelligence of your own in your cells. And so you have this communication that happens, and it's done in a way that is much more compatible. And it's familiar to some extent because we're able to recognize it as something, versus, yes, a lot of pharmaceuticals come from nature, but then they take out the intelligence. It's stripped away down to the chemical. It's like processed food versus whole food. It's kind of the same thing. It's stripped away from that intelligence. And then it becomes like a robot that just keeps going, going, going, causing side effects.
Oftentimes, there are certain herbs as well that can cause side effects; it depends on how strong they are. It's just that herbs should also be kind of taken with caution. But what we do is we usually gear them toward the imbalance that we see or the patterns that we see in the body. Each body has its own ecosystem. They can have something like too much heat, too much cold. We can work on that with herbs, while with acupuncture, we work on really the mechanics and the electricity of the body so that it's able to flow more easily, because the body does its thing. It knows how to self-heal. It's just that sometimes when we work against it or against its own nature for so long, it's going to feel it. Like you can have somebody with the most energy in the world, but if they are exhausted and don't sleep at all, even the most energetic person is going to be exhausted and won't be able to function.
Haylie Pomroy: And we always said, like when you just said, if we're working against our body, I think sometimes it's hard to see what in the environment is working against our body too.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah.
Haylie Pomroy: It's not our fault. Like, working really hard to eat organic and get vitamin G, we're getting our bare feet in the sand or in the grass during the day, and we're getting sunshine, but smog, pollution, chemicals, toxins, all of those things are things that we have to adapt to. And I loved what you said about herbal medicine and philosophically working on the ecosystem of the body, because we have to adapt to our environment internally and externally. And I think with the reductionistic aspect of medicine, it's almost like it says do this, and it doesn't tell an intelligent body the why, the how; there's no story.
And in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, that medicine is a teaching as opposed to a directing. I feel like that's why the healing happens. As opposed to, like, a person who came in the other day who said they didn't have a problem with their cholesterol, but he was looking at things and seeing some of the, we go through this large questionnaire, and I said, you're sure you don't have a cholesterol issue? Gosh, a lot of the manifestation of what you're telling me and the energy and your hormones, your vitamin D being low, really would be an indication of someone not being able to metabolize cholesterol. And they said, well, no, because I've been on statins for 15 years. And I said, okay, so you've been on a drug that makes your chemistry better, but there's no teaching of how to metabolize the cholesterol. And so there's no healing that's occurred. So, go off the med, but we know when you go off the med, the cholesterol comes back up. It's the difference in that Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine; it's a reteaching of the body, too.
And I know, Michelle, in your practice, you see people in person, but you also, which I think is really important to our community, you also do kind of like tele-coaching, right?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes.
Haylie Pomroy: Okay. Zoom calls and things of that nature. How do people get a hold of you? I wrote books. And I wrote books so that I could help all the people that I can't see in the clinic. And so The Way of Fertility, I love, because you have all of these learnings that people, it's kind of more like a handbook.
People need to have this. It gives them real practical things to do that they can change on a daily basis to enhance their fertility, both from a male and a female perspective. Everybody, and I think you should start young, guys.
I think we need to teach our young women and men about this stuff. Really, this is what should be taught in class: how the body works, how the reproductive system works, the learnings of nature, how to care for your health, because it's more than just making babies. In Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine, it's about creation and creative energy. And of course you were an architect; you built things. To me, it's super organic that you're here in the position that you're in now, because you're helping people build families and build lives and build energy to carry on the next generations. But how do people get a hold of you if they want to physically, like, talk to you or talk about their fertility?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah. So, I mean, they can go to my website, michelleoravitz.com. That's usually where they can find all of the information, including the book. And also, I'm on Instagram at The Wholesome Lotus Fertility, and people can DM me. I get a lot of DMs asking me questions. Of course, I always say I can't give any medical advice, especially if I don't really know a person's background and details.
Haylie Pomroy: You guys, please only DM for an appointment or a book. Otherwise, don't DM your questions. It's just not practical. That's what I always tell people. Look, we have a lot of ways to contact us.
It's like, set up an appointment with one of our coaches, set up an appointment with one of our team. You have curated generations and centuries of knowledge down into your practice to be able to give that to other individuals. And so that's what we want. Don't DM her just your questions. And for the love of God, don't send her your labs.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I don't want to see that. Unless we have it in a HIPAA-compliant system, which I have; I have, like, an EHR.
Haylie Pomroy: Of course, but our community, we post everything. We love, we love it. I want to ask something that our community asks us a lot, like two things. One, why are we seeing, why do you think, what the heck is going on where we're seeing so many issues with fertility?
My daughter's 22, and her girlfriends, we're together a lot. We were all just in Vegas this last December. And the questions about their periods and IUDs and fertility, I didn't even think about that in my twenties, but there are issues. And then the other thing that our community wanted is, on the other end, if we have imbalances in our periods, is that sometimes an indication of what menopause is going to be like for us?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That's a good question that I don't really know, but I would imagine that it could definitely, for sure, impact it if it is not addressed. I'll say that. I think that once things do get addressed.
For me, for example, because you could look at every part of a woman's life and the progress that her reproductive health makes. And you could say that my irregular periods, really as a foundation, would have impacted my fertility, which would be the next thing in line. But because I fixed that or regulated it, my fertility was fine; but if I hadn't, I would have had many challenges, because when in the world was I even ovulating?
So, you could look at it the same way into menopause, that if things are not regulated, and I see it not just as a physical manifestation, I see it as a, and this is why Chinese medicine is different from Western medicine. They acknowledge and they consider the human spirit and the spirit of the organs and the personality and the emotions and all of it; all of it matters. Whatever is happening to you emotionally could manifest physically. And if you are really working on that and the energetics, like people coming in to me, they don't come in for anxiety. They're coming in for maybe headaches, and then we resolve the headaches, but the anxiety gets resolved as well. Why? Because it's all part of the same energetic frequency. All moving. And once it starts to work better and to have more increased vitality, it impacts the mind as well.
Haylie Pomroy: I love that point. We had a whole episode on medical gaslighting. I hate that we even, don't get me started.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I don't know, the stuff that I hear.
Haylie Pomroy: No. And I actually shied away from that word for a really long time. And I just feel like my community is just behind me, like shoving me forward, because people are angry, and for a while I think people were intimidated and maybe hurt privately, but now people are mad. And it's women and men, but for some reason, this disconnect. We have a lot of individuals in our community who are going through different aspects of menopause. And I'm like, look, just because it's common doesn't mean it's normal, and we don't accept it. And there are so many things that you can do for it.
But that disconnect between the spirit, people saying I'm sad or I feel like I have a wet blanket over me. I can't really identify it, maybe with depression or anxiety, but I just don't feel myself. I feel clumsy or foggy. And they're like, well, it's just menopause.
Hi, it's Haylie Pomroy, your host. When I was going through my health crisis, the worst part of it was feeling lost and alone, and I decided that I didn't want anybody else to feel as desperate as I did. That's why we set up a private membership group where you can come in, ask questions, get support, be connected with people who can actually help you on your health journey. If you go to hayliepomroy.com/member, you can join me for 30 days for free. I'll see you there. We can jump in and we can start to organize the path for your wellness. That's hayliepomroy.com/member. I will see you there. Now, back to our show.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I have a theory about that.
Haylie Pomroy: Okay, I would love it.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I think that when we're younger, it's almost like my husband, he would abuse his body when he was younger, go with no sleep, this and that, went to medical school, whatever. When you're younger, you can deal with a lot more abuse, I guess, like you kind of abuse your body and shut down emotions that are there. You're stronger; you have a stronger lid to shut down those emotions. When you get to a certain point, when you're approaching menopause, that lid gets weaker, and it starts to flap, and those emotions start to come out. But they're not just new emotions; they're emotions that were probably suppressed, and it's just that now you can't hold them down as strongly.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. And maybe with age, we have knowledge of the value of expressing them too.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That wisdom that comes in.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. We always, in Chinese medicine, I love, and correct me if I'm wrong, again, I'm just a fan of it. And it changed my life. I mean, I have an autoimmune disorder, and I'm a huge proponent of Chinese medicine, both from an herbal and a physical application.
But we were talking about the energy moving up into the heart. The kidney and kind of moving up into the heart through menopause. And our spirit is more awakened and alive. And maybe it just won't tolerate some of the bullshit that we've tolerated for so many years.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I think it's natural, it's a natural progression. And I think that anything that at first seems like a challenge is a great opportunity, because I see it as, like, it's awakened, even if it's awakened triggers when things come out, and it's really uncomfortable, although it's very uncomfortable. And I think that as humans, we don't like to feel uncomfortable, especially in our modern-day times. It's such an opportunity.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah, it is an opportunity. But it's so frustrating when you walk into a visit where you're expressing how you feel. And maybe your vulnerability, and you're using your words to articulate kind of what's going on. And you're told maybe your labs are normal. Maybe the three that they actually ran are normal.
I love that you said that in Chinese medicine, the spirit is so important.
Our community right now, can you give us some either Chinese or Ayurvedic principles that, today, like, I would love three things. I always love three things that we can incorporate that will help the balance between our physical body and our spiritual body. Which, if we're in that rhythm and in that balance, we're walking more rhythmically toward wellness. What are some things that we should do every day? I love the getting up and exposing yourself to sunshine. That one I wrote down.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah. That is really important. But really connecting with the elements of nature, like being outside a little bit more, listening to the birds. We know there's research that the sound of birds actually has a very calming effect on our nervous system. And getting that early morning sunlight will help anchor your circadian rhythm, which is going to help you sleep better, which I know is one of the common difficulties, the common symptoms that happen when our hormones shift in peri- and postmenopause. That's going to help.
But also grounding helps the circadian rhythm, putting your feet on the earth.
Haylie Pomroy: And getting rid of the rubber soles for a minute. If you think about, we were driving, and a big bolt of lightning hit this tree in front of us and pulled an electrical line down. It was with a friend of mine in Florida, and we ran right over it. And I called a firefighter friend of mine and said, why didn't we get electrocuted? And he said, it's the rubber tires. It blocks the energy. And yet the development of rubber-soled shoes, I mean, it separates us from the earth.
And someone said, I don't really believe in energetically correlating with the earth. And I said, well, what about the magnetic pull, and how come gravity impacts you?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: He doesn't have to believe it; they don't have to believe it. They've done this in the earthing movie. They have a machine that can measure it in your body.
As soon as you put your feet even on a grounding mat, it changes.
Haylie Pomroy: But also you just don't fly off into outer space, because you are a participant in gravity. Like, okay, you cannot believe the Earth is flat, whatever. It's just kind of a funny concept when people say that. I love that. And I'm just going to jump into sleep for a second. I always, I believe, I firmly believe that if we had sound, meaningful sleep and ate well, we would probably eliminate 70, 80-plus percent of the disease processes that we see.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, big time. Sleep is so important. And you could also do certain sleep hygiene exercises or routines. At night before you go to sleep, try to minimize artificial light in the house. If you do have some light, it could be dim and low, because our brains know that the sun is high, and blue light, which tends to be the light that we get during the day, is what wakes us up. It confuses us when we have artificial light at night. Starting to do that, then having the room cool and keeping the room dark. And those are little things that can happen over time. You'll start to anchor your rhythm. It'll start to get easier and easier to sleep better.
Haylie Pomroy: And Michelle, I love all of those tips and tools. I do know that in our practice, a lot of times I need people to see a practitioner like you, though, because when you create a new homeostasis of disease or chronic disease or infertility or inflammatory issues, the body tries to strike a balance. And so sometimes we need that intervention of needling or moxa or cupping for our patient base to get the homeostasis shifted. I call them positive hormetic events, positive influences that encourage the body to establish those rhythms. Where are you located?
Where can people physically see you?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, so that's in South Florida, Miami Beach. And I have a practice called The Wholesome Lotus, like you mentioned before. And it's me and two other practitioners. And one of them actually does fertility massage, prenatal massage. She's amazing. She also does regular massage.
She's really good.
Haylie Pomroy: I'm in Florida all the time. I'm coming.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, awesome. We're in Florida.
Haylie Pomroy: Our institute is in Davie, but we have offices in, yeah, our V.A. offices are right in Miami in Kendall.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, awesome. I know. So you live in Florida. Where do you live?
Haylie Pomroy: I split my time. I live in Colorado.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, nice. Beautiful. Talk about nature.
Haylie Pomroy: It is. I know. I have a ranch. I always say that it's one of my most important medicines that I take on a regular basis. I saw a client the other day who talked about water being an aspect of medicine when you talk about the elements and the five elements. And he said someone said, you built a pool. Do you ever use your pool? And he said, yeah, every single day, several times a day, because I listen to it and I look at it. And that's the ranch for me. It's a really important part of my health and wellness. We just had a retreat. We train nutrition coaches, and we just brought our coaches out to the ranch. And part of why we do our learnings there versus in a congress or a conference hall is because the elements of nature open the hormone receptor sites, open the body's capacity to learn.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, I love that. That's great.
Haylie Pomroy: And then how do people, what if we wanted to, I've got a couple of clients right now who are really struggling with some of their fertility. Obviously, they can grab the book, The Way of Fertility. I love the way that's, like, really practical things. But how can they coach with you? Where do they go?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah. michelleoravitz.com would be the best way. And they could book a discovery call and ask any questions. And either myself or my assistant will reach out to them and give them all the information that they would need and the options that we offer.
Haylie Pomroy: So, Michelle, we have a really large, robust, and lifelong learner community. Like, I'm back in school getting my Ph.D. They're doing coaching training. Everybody's learning about inflammation and toxins and toxicity. Like, we are just striving to populate our body with more and more knowledge. Can you please come back? I know we're going to get a host of questions after getting to spend time with you. Can you please come back?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Of course, I'd love to. And also, I do certification for fertility coaches. If anybody's interested, I do offer that.
Haylie Pomroy: Oh, that's cool. Really cool to layer in, guys.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That's really fun.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. I will tell you, someone said the other day to me that it was just that people are more open to talking about it. And I said, I don't think so. I mean, we are having people, people used to feel like before 35, they had no problem, no issue in their 20s.
Before my mom retired in her practice, she still gets people, she moved up to the mountains, who drive up to the mountain to see her. But when we were in Beverly Hills, we were getting referrals from our fertility docs younger and younger and younger. And in L.A., which is where the practice was, we worked with a ton of different docs, and the referrals were coming in, and the irregular periods, but also premature ovarian failure, individuals who lose the opportunity for fertility much younger than we ever thought. It's critical. And again, in our clinic, we're hiring a new doc right now, and we're in the search process, and we're like, how open are you to Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine? Because it's a tool that we don't know how to get people well without. You cannot address the body without addressing the body holistically, especially in a complex disease.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Haylie Pomroy: Well, I feel very fortunate to have gotten to spend time with you. And my community is going to be thrilled that you just committed to coming back, because I know that they're going to have a lot of questions that pertain to them specifically. And this is why I do this. I really, really appreciate your brilliance, but also your effort in taking centuries of medicine and helping distill it down for our own personal wisdom. Thank you so much for being here, Michelle. And you guys, grab the book, The Way of Fertility. It should be in all of your libraries, because whether you're dealing with fertility or not, we're going to have a friend, a family member, a loved one. You all are CMO, chief medical officers, of your family, of your tribe, of your community. It is a subject that's really important right now. Thanks for writing the book, Michelle. I know how much work that is. And I wish you the best of success with it.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, Haylie, this was such a pleasure talking to you today, and I really appreciate you having me. Thank you.
Haylie Pomroy: Absolutely. We'll talk soon. Thank you.
In this episode of Fast Metabolism Matters, Haylie Pomroy is joined by Michelle Oravitz, licensed acupuncturist, fertility specialist, and author of The Way of Fertility, to explore what your menstrual cycle can reveal about fertility, hormone health, and overall wellness.
After experiencing irregular periods for more than a decade, Michelle began searching for answers beyond simply managing her symptoms. She shares how that journey led her to acupuncture, Chinese medicine, and a holistic approach to fertility and reproductive health.
Haylie and Michelle discuss why irregular periods and menstrual cycle changes can be important signals from the body, as well as factors that may affect fertility in both women and men. They explore how Chinese medicine views the body as an interconnected system and how practices such as acupuncture and herbal medicine are used to support hormonal balance, menstrual health, and fertility.
Michelle also shares practical ways to support the body's natural rhythms, including morning sunlight, grounding, quality sleep, stress management, and greater awareness of your menstrual cycle.
Whether you're trying to conceive, experiencing irregular periods, navigating hormonal changes, or simply want to better understand your reproductive health, this conversation offers a new perspective on listening to the signals your body may be sending.
Discover the connection between fertility, menstrual cycle health, hormones, acupuncture, and Chinese medicine with Haylie Pomroy and Michelle Oravitz on Fast Metabolism Matters.
If your body feels like it's running on empty, overburdened, or just not responding the way it used to, Haylie's latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do. Download your free digital copy today and start understanding what your body is trying to tell you.
Free Download: Get Your Copy of Toxic Overload 👉 https://hayliepomroy.com/pages/toxic-overload?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=michelle_oravitz
You don't have to figure this out alone. Inside Haylie's private membership community, you get personalized guidance and support, member discounts on supplements and shakes, and the ability to ask questions directly to podcast guests like Dr. Systrom. Join free for 30 days and take the next step on your health journey.
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Michelle Oravitz is the owner and founder of The Wholesome Lotus. Originally trained as an architect, she later pursued holistic healing after experiencing the transformative effects of acupuncture and Ayurveda. She earned her master’s degree in Oriental Medicine as valedictorian and Summa Cum Laude. Today, Michelle is a highly regarded celebrity acupuncturist and fertility coach who empowers women on their fertility journeys. She is also the author of The Way of Fertility and host of The Wholesome Fertility Podcast, where she shares expert fertility advice and interviews leading professionals.
Website: https://www.michelleoravitz.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewholesomelotus/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-oravitz-ap-lac-534b46128/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewholesomelotusfertility
Learn more about The Wholesome Lotus: https://www.thewholesomelotusfertility.com/
Grab a copy of her book, The Way of Fertility, on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wHkN4r
Haylie Pomroy, Founder and CEO of The Haylie Pomroy Group, is a leading health strategist specializing in metabolism, weight loss, and integrative wellness. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked with top medical institutions and high-profile clients, developing targeted programs and supplements rooted in the "Food is Medicine" philosophy. Inspired by her own autoimmune journey, she combines expertise in nutrition, biochemistry, and patient advocacy to help others reclaim their health. She is a New York Times bestselling author of The Fast Metabolism Diet.
Learn more about Haylie Pomroy's approach to wellness through her website: https://hayliepomroy.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayliepomroy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hayliepomroy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hayliepomroy/videos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayliepomroy/
Edited Transcript:
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: You need to look to make sure that you're ovulating, because you could have a perfect 28-day cycle, you could bleed, but that doesn't confirm that you ovulated. And you can even have a positive LH test, an OPK, and that could still not prove that you ovulated.
Haylie Pomroy: You guys, we have a very special guest today, Dr. Michelle Oravitz. She is an acupuncturist who specializes in fertility. You guys know this subject is very near and dear to my heart. My mom was a fertility specialist who specialized in acupuncture. And so I really wanted to seek out an individual who I thought could come into our community and answer so many of the questions that you guys are having. Dr. Oravitz, Michelle, thank you so much for taking time from your incredibly busy practice to spend time with us today.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: It's a pleasure, Haylie. Thank you so much for having me on today.
Haylie Pomroy: I think we're going to have some really good, fun topics. Your book, it's new out, correct?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes.
Haylie Pomroy: The Way of Fertility: Awaken Your Reproductive Potential through the Transformative Power of Ancient Wisdom is, I think, really needed right now. My mom and I have been in practice for over 30 years. But there is a massive increase in individuals having women's health issues. And I feel like the age of what's happening has just gotten younger and younger. Are you seeing that in your practice?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I am, unfortunately. It's something that is not only for women, but for men. It's definitely on the rise, for sure.
Haylie Pomroy: Well, you said something interesting when you said for men. When we were in the thick of things in the fertility space, we could not believe how many people forgot that men make up a significant component in fertility, really more than 50%. That's what we were saying, but I've heard, and it's been a little bit of time since I've been so indoctrinated in that space, but I've heard it's even more.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Well, I mean, it's definitely like a combination, because women ultimately, they also have to work on the inflammation. Even if it's a perfect embryo and it's good health, if she has inflammation or certain autoimmune conditions, because ultimately their body carries the baby. It could definitely be like a combination of things. But for sure, the two are equally important...
Haylie Pomroy: ...to look at.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes.
Haylie Pomroy: Let me ask you, of all the things, I grew up with acupuncture. My daughter, even when she was tiny, she would say, "Grandma, make me a unicorn." She loved it.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, yeah. My daughter used to say that with the third eye point, the Yin Tang.
Haylie Pomroy: Absolutely. But why fertility? What was the inspiration that had you focus on these particular reproductive health issues?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: When I first started my journey into studying Chinese medicine, I started out as a patient. I used to be an architect, and I worked in New York in corporate America and was very stressed out. And I had irregular periods for like years and years and years.
And what I mean by that is like three months would go by with no period. And my circadian rhythm was off, which now we know could impact your period, or is very much linked to irregular cycles. And I had a lot going on that I didn't even realize was off. And then finally, after years of going to doctors and being prescribed the birth control pill, I finally found an acupuncturist. This is like probably 12 years after being completely irregular.
Number one, I could have thought, OK, I'm never going to be normal because that's just my body, because that's what most doctors really told me, and I could have just believed that and never really sought any other solution. And then I did happen to find an acupuncturist who was amazing and who also happened to specialize in gynecology in China before he came to America. He completely regulated my period, and I was blown away. That was just like the beginning of my fascination with Chinese medicine and with natural health. And I eventually met my husband, who's an emergency medicine doctor, like a Western medicine doctor. And he actually encouraged me to go back to school for natural medicine because he saw that I wasn't really as into my work. And so, long story short, I ended up studying Ayurveda at first and then eventually Chinese medicine. I was just really fascinated with natural medicine as a whole. And I think that it was definitely a personal thing. And also, not that this was part of it at the time, but little by little I realized that my mom actually suffered from secondary infertility and had a struggle having me. I'm kind of a product of a woman really struggling for many years to conceive. And interestingly enough, looking back, my dad used to smoke. I'm like, was it her or was it him? You never know.
Haylie Pomroy: I think it was just, yeah, no, what was the contributing factor? You said something that I just want to pull us back to for a second, which was that having irregular cycles, you were told, and this happens so much. I was just digging through our community. We have this membership community where people post questions and people post their experiences. And they were told that something was just them. It was just normal, and there was nothing that they could do. And that's what you were told when your periods were not regular. And I mean, it's cool because I've seen it clinically so much. But I'd love for you to share, if you could, a little bit, some of the signs that might be common but don't mean that they're OK and don't have to stay that way, that you see in your practice.
The irregular periods, like people just say, well, go on the pill, that will re-regulate you, except that you're not supposed to get pregnant on the pill. And also there are all kinds of side effects to that. And in the best-case scenario, there are some side effects. So, an irregular period, is that a big red flag if you're going to be kind of looking at your fertility health and stuff?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes. You want it to be somewhat regular. That doesn't mean that it has to be a 28-day cycle. That's textbook. It has to be regular really for you. It could be like a little over 30 days. That's still within a regular amount, or even 26 days could be for some people. Ideally longer than 28 days, because then that ultimately allows for enough time really for things to develop. And also for the luteal phase, where we do conceive, and the egg fertilizes, and it attaches to the uterine lining. But yeah, so that's one of the things. But another thing is also cramps, like really severe cramps. That's not normal. It's common, but it's not normal. And it could be endometriosis, but it doesn't have to be. It could be a lot of inflammation in the body. Typically, inflammation leads to a lot of pain. It could be what we call "folds in the uterus" or stagnation, according to Chinese medicine terms. There are definitely a lot of things like that. You need to make sure that you're ovulating, because you could have a perfect 28-day cycle. You could bleed, but that doesn't confirm that you ovulated. And you can even have a positive LH test, an OPK, and that could still not prove that you ovulated.
Haylie Pomroy: A couple of things that you just said about inflammation. We've had a lot of individuals who have really heavy periods, lots of clotting, lots of cramping. And we will address, from a food perspective or supplement perspective, the inflammatory perspective of the body as a whole: systemic inflammation.
With acupuncture, is that one of the many, and I know you look at a lot of different facets, but is that one primary thing that you look at? Somebody who's having gynecological health or fertility health issues, is inflammation a big one for you?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: It's interesting, because in Chinese medicine, we don't necessarily call it inflammation, but what we do definitely helps inflammation. We could look at something as excess heat and see, like, maybe a deficiency in yin, which is kind of like the moisturizing aspect, the aspect that cools things down. And that can cause a type of heat because it doesn't have that counterbalance.
We look at it really as a whole.
And then we look at the spleen and stomach, which are the gut health aspect of it, which ultimately, if they're not in check and doing their jobs, could lead to inflammation. I do, in my own world, work on that and consider inflammation.
But when we're trained in Chinese medicine, we don't necessarily look at it as inflammation per se. We look at it as elements and kind of like fire, things like that.
Haylie Pomroy: In Chinese medicine, I always love the difference in nomenclature, in naming, and in Ayurvedic medicine too. Oftentimes, the way in which we describe a condition of the body, whether it's stagnation or wind or heat, leans much more into, in my opinion, an observation of what happens in nature.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes, it 100% reflects nature. The laws of nature.
Haylie Pomroy: The laws of nature. And my goodness, I don't know how we got so disconnected in medicine from the laws of nature.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah.
Haylie Pomroy: We plucked humans out of this, the pool of species, and said, no, now you don't integrate with the world, the earth, the soil, your nutrients. But we do.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: It's pretty crazy. I actually saw something on Gaia the other day. I don't remember if it was Transcendence or something. It was a series. I don't know if you've ever heard of Gaia, but they have lots of amazing shows on there. And it's not just yoga. It's like a lot of interesting content. And one of them was about the domestication of dogs and how dogs originally came from wolves. We domesticated them, really shifted how we breed them, and it changed their health, and it impacts their health, actually. And that was one thing where I was like, wow, we're domesticated. And they said the domestication of humans and how we are removed from nature. We used to be hunters and gatherers, and not that we want to go necessarily back, but we're domesticated.
We don't have that. We've sort of severed that connection to nature. And I think some of us are thirsting to get that back, to get back to them.
Haylie Pomroy: I think it's good that we're thirsting to get it back, because I think it's a medical necessity. Oh, 100%. I've just decided, because I'm doing my PhD in neuroimmunology, and I mean, I grew up with Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, homeopathy, you name it. And that was the only way that I was able to change my own personal health trajectory. I've just decided I'm going to layer a bunch of nomenclature that other people are comfortable with into it.
It's so funny. We were talking in clinic the other day, and it was like, we incorporate at the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine (INIM). We incorporate acupuncture for all of our patients. And it's not because the virologist and the immunologist and the hematologist, although they're huge advocates now, but when they come to the institute, it's because nothing else. There's not a drug or a medication with a complex disease or illness that can get a patient to wellness. We might be able to mitigate the chemistry through chemicals. We might even be able to mute some symptoms. But we have not found a way through allopathic medicine to change the trajectory of health in a positive way.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That's true.
Haylie Pomroy: In complex illness. Now, maybe you have a strep infection. You take an antibiotic. I mean, I think there are natural therapies personally, but I can at least understand the connection. But it's not because they wanted to, it's because we get the worst of the worst of the most complex patients, where we say 10 years and 20 doctors before they land in our clinic. And we absolutely engage in herbal, homeopathy, Ayurvedic. Acupuncture is huge for us. There's just no other way to realign the body. Can you explain to our listeners why? Why does it work, first?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: First, you mean Chinese medicine, like acupuncture?
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. Because like you said, it's not reductionistic. I mean, I know there are some herbals that, like, we take Yin Qiao San. We get colds in our family. We're like, who has Yin Qiao San? I mean, that's like our family.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That sore throat one. Yeah.
Haylie Pomroy: We get the sore throat. We get a little burning in the ears or whatever. I mean, there is some symptom or symptoms, or same with Ayurveda. But there is a complex there. There is something for me. It seems magical. There is something so profound. And I don't know, I love to hear the perspective of people who really study this. I get to be a user of... A believer of...
But I've never had the luxury or the time to study it like you. So why does it change the trajectory? Why can it alter the rhythm in a woman's cycle? What's happening?
Hi, it's Haylie Pomroy, your host. I've written six New York Times bestselling books on metabolic pathways. And my latest book, Toxic Overload, tells you exactly what to do when your body's overburdened. If you go to hayliepomroy.com/book, for a limited time, you can download a digital copy of this book completely free. That's hayliepomroy.com/book. Grab your free copy while supplies last. Now back to our show.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I always look at a woman's cycle especially, almost like a train that got derailed. We need to put it back on the rhythm, like back in its own rhythm and alignment. And part of it is really connecting. Like one of the things that I suggest for people to do is connect back with nature, because if you get that early morning sun, that can anchor your circadian rhythm. Even just connecting with that fire, that yang energy. The yang is the fire, the heat. Yin is more cooling. Having those natural elements to help you can benefit you. That's kind of like a separate thing, because that's what Chinese medicine teaches about. But that's not necessarily Chinese medicine.
What we do as Chinese medicine practitioners is we work with really two main pillars, but then we have other accessory tools. But the two main ones are really acupuncture and herbals. Some people really focus on just acupuncture. Some people focus on just herbals. Some do a bit of both, most of them, most practitioners.
And so the herbals work on the chemistry. It's the pharmaceutical aspect. What I love about it, and actually my Ayurvedic teacher said something I'll never forget, and I think what she said was so profound, was that when you're taking herbs versus pharmaceuticals, you're still taking something with the DNA intact. What is DNA but intelligence? That intelligence of the DNA of the herb is connecting with the intelligence of your own in your cells. And so you have this communication that happens, and it's done in a way that is much more compatible. And it's familiar to some extent because we're able to recognize it as something, versus, yes, a lot of pharmaceuticals come from nature, but then they take out the intelligence. It's stripped away down to the chemical. It's like processed food versus whole food. It's kind of the same thing. It's stripped away from that intelligence. And then it becomes like a robot that just keeps going, going, going, causing side effects.
Oftentimes, there are certain herbs as well that can cause side effects; it depends on how strong they are. It's just that herbs should also be kind of taken with caution. But what we do is we usually gear them toward the imbalance that we see or the patterns that we see in the body. Each body has its own ecosystem. They can have something like too much heat, too much cold. We can work on that with herbs, while with acupuncture, we work on really the mechanics and the electricity of the body so that it's able to flow more easily, because the body does its thing. It knows how to self-heal. It's just that sometimes when we work against it or against its own nature for so long, it's going to feel it. Like you can have somebody with the most energy in the world, but if they are exhausted and don't sleep at all, even the most energetic person is going to be exhausted and won't be able to function.
Haylie Pomroy: And we always said, like when you just said, if we're working against our body, I think sometimes it's hard to see what in the environment is working against our body too.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah.
Haylie Pomroy: It's not our fault. Like, working really hard to eat organic and get vitamin G, we're getting our bare feet in the sand or in the grass during the day, and we're getting sunshine, but smog, pollution, chemicals, toxins, all of those things are things that we have to adapt to. And I loved what you said about herbal medicine and philosophically working on the ecosystem of the body, because we have to adapt to our environment internally and externally. And I think with the reductionistic aspect of medicine, it's almost like it says do this, and it doesn't tell an intelligent body the why, the how; there's no story.
And in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, that medicine is a teaching as opposed to a directing. I feel like that's why the healing happens. As opposed to, like, a person who came in the other day who said they didn't have a problem with their cholesterol, but he was looking at things and seeing some of the, we go through this large questionnaire, and I said, you're sure you don't have a cholesterol issue? Gosh, a lot of the manifestation of what you're telling me and the energy and your hormones, your vitamin D being low, really would be an indication of someone not being able to metabolize cholesterol. And they said, well, no, because I've been on statins for 15 years. And I said, okay, so you've been on a drug that makes your chemistry better, but there's no teaching of how to metabolize the cholesterol. And so there's no healing that's occurred. So, go off the med, but we know when you go off the med, the cholesterol comes back up. It's the difference in that Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine; it's a reteaching of the body, too.
And I know, Michelle, in your practice, you see people in person, but you also, which I think is really important to our community, you also do kind of like tele-coaching, right?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yes.
Haylie Pomroy: Okay. Zoom calls and things of that nature. How do people get a hold of you? I wrote books. And I wrote books so that I could help all the people that I can't see in the clinic. And so The Way of Fertility, I love, because you have all of these learnings that people, it's kind of more like a handbook.
People need to have this. It gives them real practical things to do that they can change on a daily basis to enhance their fertility, both from a male and a female perspective. Everybody, and I think you should start young, guys.
I think we need to teach our young women and men about this stuff. Really, this is what should be taught in class: how the body works, how the reproductive system works, the learnings of nature, how to care for your health, because it's more than just making babies. In Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine, it's about creation and creative energy. And of course you were an architect; you built things. To me, it's super organic that you're here in the position that you're in now, because you're helping people build families and build lives and build energy to carry on the next generations. But how do people get a hold of you if they want to physically, like, talk to you or talk about their fertility?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah. So, I mean, they can go to my website, michelleoravitz.com. That's usually where they can find all of the information, including the book. And also, I'm on Instagram at The Wholesome Lotus Fertility, and people can DM me. I get a lot of DMs asking me questions. Of course, I always say I can't give any medical advice, especially if I don't really know a person's background and details.
Haylie Pomroy: You guys, please only DM for an appointment or a book. Otherwise, don't DM your questions. It's just not practical. That's what I always tell people. Look, we have a lot of ways to contact us.
It's like, set up an appointment with one of our coaches, set up an appointment with one of our team. You have curated generations and centuries of knowledge down into your practice to be able to give that to other individuals. And so that's what we want. Don't DM her just your questions. And for the love of God, don't send her your labs.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I don't want to see that. Unless we have it in a HIPAA-compliant system, which I have; I have, like, an EHR.
Haylie Pomroy: Of course, but our community, we post everything. We love, we love it. I want to ask something that our community asks us a lot, like two things. One, why are we seeing, why do you think, what the heck is going on where we're seeing so many issues with fertility?
My daughter's 22, and her girlfriends, we're together a lot. We were all just in Vegas this last December. And the questions about their periods and IUDs and fertility, I didn't even think about that in my twenties, but there are issues. And then the other thing that our community wanted is, on the other end, if we have imbalances in our periods, is that sometimes an indication of what menopause is going to be like for us?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That's a good question that I don't really know, but I would imagine that it could definitely, for sure, impact it if it is not addressed. I'll say that. I think that once things do get addressed.
For me, for example, because you could look at every part of a woman's life and the progress that her reproductive health makes. And you could say that my irregular periods, really as a foundation, would have impacted my fertility, which would be the next thing in line. But because I fixed that or regulated it, my fertility was fine; but if I hadn't, I would have had many challenges, because when in the world was I even ovulating?
So, you could look at it the same way into menopause, that if things are not regulated, and I see it not just as a physical manifestation, I see it as a, and this is why Chinese medicine is different from Western medicine. They acknowledge and they consider the human spirit and the spirit of the organs and the personality and the emotions and all of it; all of it matters. Whatever is happening to you emotionally could manifest physically. And if you are really working on that and the energetics, like people coming in to me, they don't come in for anxiety. They're coming in for maybe headaches, and then we resolve the headaches, but the anxiety gets resolved as well. Why? Because it's all part of the same energetic frequency. All moving. And once it starts to work better and to have more increased vitality, it impacts the mind as well.
Haylie Pomroy: I love that point. We had a whole episode on medical gaslighting. I hate that we even, don't get me started.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I don't know, the stuff that I hear.
Haylie Pomroy: No. And I actually shied away from that word for a really long time. And I just feel like my community is just behind me, like shoving me forward, because people are angry, and for a while I think people were intimidated and maybe hurt privately, but now people are mad. And it's women and men, but for some reason, this disconnect. We have a lot of individuals in our community who are going through different aspects of menopause. And I'm like, look, just because it's common doesn't mean it's normal, and we don't accept it. And there are so many things that you can do for it.
But that disconnect between the spirit, people saying I'm sad or I feel like I have a wet blanket over me. I can't really identify it, maybe with depression or anxiety, but I just don't feel myself. I feel clumsy or foggy. And they're like, well, it's just menopause.
Hi, it's Haylie Pomroy, your host. When I was going through my health crisis, the worst part of it was feeling lost and alone, and I decided that I didn't want anybody else to feel as desperate as I did. That's why we set up a private membership group where you can come in, ask questions, get support, be connected with people who can actually help you on your health journey. If you go to hayliepomroy.com/member, you can join me for 30 days for free. I'll see you there. We can jump in and we can start to organize the path for your wellness. That's hayliepomroy.com/member. I will see you there. Now, back to our show.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I have a theory about that.
Haylie Pomroy: Okay, I would love it.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I think that when we're younger, it's almost like my husband, he would abuse his body when he was younger, go with no sleep, this and that, went to medical school, whatever. When you're younger, you can deal with a lot more abuse, I guess, like you kind of abuse your body and shut down emotions that are there. You're stronger; you have a stronger lid to shut down those emotions. When you get to a certain point, when you're approaching menopause, that lid gets weaker, and it starts to flap, and those emotions start to come out. But they're not just new emotions; they're emotions that were probably suppressed, and it's just that now you can't hold them down as strongly.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. And maybe with age, we have knowledge of the value of expressing them too.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That wisdom that comes in.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. We always, in Chinese medicine, I love, and correct me if I'm wrong, again, I'm just a fan of it. And it changed my life. I mean, I have an autoimmune disorder, and I'm a huge proponent of Chinese medicine, both from an herbal and a physical application.
But we were talking about the energy moving up into the heart. The kidney and kind of moving up into the heart through menopause. And our spirit is more awakened and alive. And maybe it just won't tolerate some of the bullshit that we've tolerated for so many years.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: I think it's natural, it's a natural progression. And I think that anything that at first seems like a challenge is a great opportunity, because I see it as, like, it's awakened, even if it's awakened triggers when things come out, and it's really uncomfortable, although it's very uncomfortable. And I think that as humans, we don't like to feel uncomfortable, especially in our modern-day times. It's such an opportunity.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah, it is an opportunity. But it's so frustrating when you walk into a visit where you're expressing how you feel. And maybe your vulnerability, and you're using your words to articulate kind of what's going on. And you're told maybe your labs are normal. Maybe the three that they actually ran are normal.
I love that you said that in Chinese medicine, the spirit is so important.
Our community right now, can you give us some either Chinese or Ayurvedic principles that, today, like, I would love three things. I always love three things that we can incorporate that will help the balance between our physical body and our spiritual body. Which, if we're in that rhythm and in that balance, we're walking more rhythmically toward wellness. What are some things that we should do every day? I love the getting up and exposing yourself to sunshine. That one I wrote down.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah. That is really important. But really connecting with the elements of nature, like being outside a little bit more, listening to the birds. We know there's research that the sound of birds actually has a very calming effect on our nervous system. And getting that early morning sunlight will help anchor your circadian rhythm, which is going to help you sleep better, which I know is one of the common difficulties, the common symptoms that happen when our hormones shift in peri- and postmenopause. That's going to help.
But also grounding helps the circadian rhythm, putting your feet on the earth.
Haylie Pomroy: And getting rid of the rubber soles for a minute. If you think about, we were driving, and a big bolt of lightning hit this tree in front of us and pulled an electrical line down. It was with a friend of mine in Florida, and we ran right over it. And I called a firefighter friend of mine and said, why didn't we get electrocuted? And he said, it's the rubber tires. It blocks the energy. And yet the development of rubber-soled shoes, I mean, it separates us from the earth.
And someone said, I don't really believe in energetically correlating with the earth. And I said, well, what about the magnetic pull, and how come gravity impacts you?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: He doesn't have to believe it; they don't have to believe it. They've done this in the earthing movie. They have a machine that can measure it in your body.
As soon as you put your feet even on a grounding mat, it changes.
Haylie Pomroy: But also you just don't fly off into outer space, because you are a participant in gravity. Like, okay, you cannot believe the Earth is flat, whatever. It's just kind of a funny concept when people say that. I love that. And I'm just going to jump into sleep for a second. I always, I believe, I firmly believe that if we had sound, meaningful sleep and ate well, we would probably eliminate 70, 80-plus percent of the disease processes that we see.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, big time. Sleep is so important. And you could also do certain sleep hygiene exercises or routines. At night before you go to sleep, try to minimize artificial light in the house. If you do have some light, it could be dim and low, because our brains know that the sun is high, and blue light, which tends to be the light that we get during the day, is what wakes us up. It confuses us when we have artificial light at night. Starting to do that, then having the room cool and keeping the room dark. And those are little things that can happen over time. You'll start to anchor your rhythm. It'll start to get easier and easier to sleep better.
Haylie Pomroy: And Michelle, I love all of those tips and tools. I do know that in our practice, a lot of times I need people to see a practitioner like you, though, because when you create a new homeostasis of disease or chronic disease or infertility or inflammatory issues, the body tries to strike a balance. And so sometimes we need that intervention of needling or moxa or cupping for our patient base to get the homeostasis shifted. I call them positive hormetic events, positive influences that encourage the body to establish those rhythms. Where are you located?
Where can people physically see you?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, so that's in South Florida, Miami Beach. And I have a practice called The Wholesome Lotus, like you mentioned before. And it's me and two other practitioners. And one of them actually does fertility massage, prenatal massage. She's amazing. She also does regular massage.
She's really good.
Haylie Pomroy: I'm in Florida all the time. I'm coming.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, awesome. We're in Florida.
Haylie Pomroy: Our institute is in Davie, but we have offices in, yeah, our V.A. offices are right in Miami in Kendall.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, awesome. I know. So you live in Florida. Where do you live?
Haylie Pomroy: I split my time. I live in Colorado.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, nice. Beautiful. Talk about nature.
Haylie Pomroy: It is. I know. I have a ranch. I always say that it's one of my most important medicines that I take on a regular basis. I saw a client the other day who talked about water being an aspect of medicine when you talk about the elements and the five elements. And he said someone said, you built a pool. Do you ever use your pool? And he said, yeah, every single day, several times a day, because I listen to it and I look at it. And that's the ranch for me. It's a really important part of my health and wellness. We just had a retreat. We train nutrition coaches, and we just brought our coaches out to the ranch. And part of why we do our learnings there versus in a congress or a conference hall is because the elements of nature open the hormone receptor sites, open the body's capacity to learn.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, I love that. That's great.
Haylie Pomroy: And then how do people, what if we wanted to, I've got a couple of clients right now who are really struggling with some of their fertility. Obviously, they can grab the book, The Way of Fertility. I love the way that's, like, really practical things. But how can they coach with you? Where do they go?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Yeah. michelleoravitz.com would be the best way. And they could book a discovery call and ask any questions. And either myself or my assistant will reach out to them and give them all the information that they would need and the options that we offer.
Haylie Pomroy: So, Michelle, we have a really large, robust, and lifelong learner community. Like, I'm back in school getting my Ph.D. They're doing coaching training. Everybody's learning about inflammation and toxins and toxicity. Like, we are just striving to populate our body with more and more knowledge. Can you please come back? I know we're going to get a host of questions after getting to spend time with you. Can you please come back?
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Of course, I'd love to. And also, I do certification for fertility coaches. If anybody's interested, I do offer that.
Haylie Pomroy: Oh, that's cool. Really cool to layer in, guys.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: That's really fun.
Haylie Pomroy: Yeah. I will tell you, someone said the other day to me that it was just that people are more open to talking about it. And I said, I don't think so. I mean, we are having people, people used to feel like before 35, they had no problem, no issue in their 20s.
Before my mom retired in her practice, she still gets people, she moved up to the mountains, who drive up to the mountain to see her. But when we were in Beverly Hills, we were getting referrals from our fertility docs younger and younger and younger. And in L.A., which is where the practice was, we worked with a ton of different docs, and the referrals were coming in, and the irregular periods, but also premature ovarian failure, individuals who lose the opportunity for fertility much younger than we ever thought. It's critical. And again, in our clinic, we're hiring a new doc right now, and we're in the search process, and we're like, how open are you to Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine? Because it's a tool that we don't know how to get people well without. You cannot address the body without addressing the body holistically, especially in a complex disease.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Haylie Pomroy: Well, I feel very fortunate to have gotten to spend time with you. And my community is going to be thrilled that you just committed to coming back, because I know that they're going to have a lot of questions that pertain to them specifically. And this is why I do this. I really, really appreciate your brilliance, but also your effort in taking centuries of medicine and helping distill it down for our own personal wisdom. Thank you so much for being here, Michelle. And you guys, grab the book, The Way of Fertility. It should be in all of your libraries, because whether you're dealing with fertility or not, we're going to have a friend, a family member, a loved one. You all are CMO, chief medical officers, of your family, of your tribe, of your community. It is a subject that's really important right now. Thanks for writing the book, Michelle. I know how much work that is. And I wish you the best of success with it.
Dr. Michelle Oravitz: Oh, Haylie, this was such a pleasure talking to you today, and I really appreciate you having me. Thank you.
Haylie Pomroy: Absolutely. We'll talk soon. Thank you.
