Can Female Entrepreneurs Boost Their Business Success with Cycle Syncing? With Samantha Howarth

What if syncing with your cycle was the key to unlocking next-level productivity and business success?

In this episode of The Remote CEO Life, I sit down with women’s health guide Samantha Howath to talk about how cycle syncing can completely transform the way we work, plan and grow our businesses as female entrepreneurs. We’re breaking down the real link between women’s health, burnout, and how ignoring our natural rhythms has been holding us back - not just physically, but energetically and professionally.

Sam’s story is one I resonate with deeply - from burnout and hormonal imbalance to discovering a more holistic, body-led approach to life and work. This isn’t about doing less - it’s about doing what’s aligned, and watching your business respond accordingly.

We cover:

• What each phase of your cycle means for your energy, creativity and output
• How to structure your calendar and workload around your hormonal rhythm
• Why burnout is often a sign you’re working against your natural design
• The connection between moon cycles, mindset shifts and sustainable success
• Practical tips to start cycle syncing - even if your life feels chaotic

This episode is your permission slip to stop forcing productivity and start building success that works with your body, not against it.

Connect with Samantha Howarth:

Website: https://www.thewayshewasmade.com

Instagram: @thewayshewasmade

Sam offers group coaching, 1:1 mentorship, retreats and more for women who want to grow their business in alignment with their cycle, energy and purpose.

#CycleSyncing #ProductivityTips #BusinessSuccess #FemaleEntrepreneurs #WomensHealth #NaturalRhythms #BurnoutRecovery #MindsetShifts

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Sam's Journey
• 3:28 The Impact of Burnout and Hustle Culture
• 6:23 Transitioning to a Balanced Lifestyle
• 9:12 Understanding Cycle Syncing
• 13:00 The Phases of the Menstrual Cycle
• 15:45 Navigating the Luteal Phase
• 18:24 Mindset Shifts for Success
• 21:34 Redefining Success for Women
• 24:10 Practical Tips for Cycle-Syncing
• 27:37 Tracking Your Cycle and Energy Levels
• 30:32 Exercise and Nutrition in Sync with Your Cycle
• 34:10 The Moon's Influence on Our Cycles
• 38:59 Understanding Freedom in Business and Life
• 41:04 Aligning Business with Natural Rhythms
• 41:57 Cycle Seeking: The Key to Balance and Productivity

Transcript

Sophie (00:00)
Imagine we could find a way to run our business, our health and our life in alignment with our natural rhythm instead of constantly fighting against it. Our whole lives as women, we've been told to hustle harder, push through and ignore our cycles. But what if our cycles actually are blueprint for success in business? Today in the Right to See a Life podcast, I'm joined by Samantha Howard, a women's health guide who helps ambitious women reconnect with their mind, body and soul and business.

through wisdom of their unique Brooklyn and cycle. Using tools like human design, astrology, the moon, intuitive guidance and cycle thinking, she shows us that energy isn't something to battle against, it's something to flow with. What I loved most about our conversation with Sam is how real and relatable it actually is. And she's really been through, you know, that safe nine to five path. She's ticked off all the boxes, she has gone through the burnout, very much similar to my own story. And she's the same as me, realised she could no longer sacrifice herself for stability.

and her success and how to redefine her version of success so that she could not only unblock more income than she ever thought possible, but also make it back to her most authentic and magnetic self. So today in this episode, we're going to talk about cycle seeking and how that can actually be the missing link for women between burnout and true balance and how to tap into your body's natural rhythm to boost your productivity and success. So I'm really excited about this conversation. Let's dig right in.

Sophie (01:19)
Hey Sam, welcome to the Right to See Your Life podcast, how are you?

Sam (01:22)
I'm good, thank you so much for having me.

Sophie (01:24)
Amazing, thanks so much for joining me. Do want to give everybody a little bit of an overview into who you are, a of your backstory, tell us everything we want to know.

Sam (01:32)
Yeah, so I guess my story is probably the easiest way to kind of paint the picture of where I'm at and what I'm doing. So I own my own company now, it's called The Way Shoe is Made. And about, I guess it's almost three years now, I suffered from phase three adrenal fatigue where I completely burnt myself out and my hormones went post-menopausal.

So by the time I was 27, my hormones, if you were to just look at my test, looked like I was 70 years old, which was nuts. I didn't know that could happen. And that kind of kickstarted my journey into learning about functional medicine and just kind of really trying to understand how did I get to this point? I remember like driving down the road to work, a job that I went to every single day and just not remembering where I was. I had brain fog. I was getting dizzy. I had like all of these weird symptoms and the doctors were telling me like, you're totally fine. Everything's normal.

But I was like, something is off. Like my spidey senses were tingling. So that kind of kickstarted me down the holistic functional path, which introduced me to cycle syncing. And I learned about human design and astrology. And all of these things started to come together. And it really helped me to understand who I am and also how my body works and how I'm designed to connect with the world. And it kind of really kickstarted my self-discovery journey on a whole new level.

So I saw the impact of that on myself and I started to weave some of these things into the marketing work that I was doing. I was doing a lot of freelance work and working with different customers and I was like, well, why is what's working for me not working for you? So that's where I started to apply some of these concepts of how can we A, do it more sustainably as women and build our businesses in a way that doesn't burn us out. That's where the cycle singing came in for me. And then the human design aspect of how are we designed to connect with the world? How are you designed to show up or be most magnetic?

and kind of integrating all of those things together. So within my business today, I coach women on how to do that and how to blend all of those things together through group coaching and one-to-one sessions and also immersive experiences like retreats and workshops and different things like that. Because I just feel like it's so important to understand those different things, to work more sustainably and build a foundation that actually is going to help you to get where you want to go.

Sophie (03:35)
Amazing. I love that and it's so relatable. I honestly have gone through basically the same journey as you. Like I got myself to a full-on burnout and kind of same symptoms, complete memory loss, kind of would go into rooms, not have a clue why I was there. There were so many signs leading up to a burnout that I completely ignored and just push through, push through. And I got to a point where I was like, enough. Like I can't, I can't keep doing this. I've burnt myself out multiple times.

and I am now seeing the knock-on impact of what that does to your body, physically through autoimmune conditions that are coming through, intolerances, histamine allergies, things like the stress, the burnout, the fatigue that I cause my body is ravaging my body and I'm now having to go back and try and reverse and course correct all of the damage that I did back then, which is crazy. And I've also tried to go down the holistic route because

I didn't get the answers from the Western medicine doctors that I was trying to understand. So I fully feel your pain of going through all of that and I fully understand your mission now because I'm also on the same mission of like helping people build businesses that actually allow them to have balance in their life and don't, we're not just focused on hustle culture and burning ourselves to the ground to build something that's successful on paper. So I love your mission. I love everything you stand for.

And I would love to know a little bit about like how did you end up in that fatigue into that burnout? Like what was the story kind of leading up to that?

Sam (05:06)
So I feel like it's a lot of different things. think like what you talked about where it's just we live in a society that is so hustle culture. Like I grew up in Pennsylvania in the United States, which is around like New York, New Jersey, and it's just constantly go, go, go. And I think that's how we contribute our success is like when you're continuing to hustle and that's the only way to get results. So that's how I was kind of raised is like you just you work hard and that's how it is. And I was always the hardest critic on myself. So once I left there, I came to college.

I finished a four-year degree in three years, so pushed myself through, was working at the same time that I was going to school and just kind of continued because that's how I thought I did everything you were supposed to do. After that, I went and got a corporate job. I was sitting in a cubicle working more than nine to five. I was getting calls on nights and weekends sometimes, just continuing to push through, not giving myself the time of day. And it's just like Groundhog Day where it just keeps happening over and over again.

So I think part of it, now that I understand my design too, is that I wasn't listening to my body like you said. I was just pushing through a lot of that. And then I wasn't following the spark. I wasn't following my joy. I was just doing things because that's what we were supposed to do, but that's not actually what fuels me and gives me energy. So that in itself was starting to burn me out. And I started to kind of notice that during 2020. So that is when my mindset kind of shifted about what work can be or what it should be because...

I think we all kind of got that wake up call where it's like you're working from home. I got everything that I needed to get done by 11, 12 o'clock and then I could have the rest of my day or I could just, you know, be online somewhat, but I didn't, I did everything that I needed to do. So I started to see I can have more balance in my life if I work from home or if I do something like that. So from that point on, I put myself into trying out different career paths. I did the freelance design. I worked with some small businesses. The biggest thing that pushed me to burnout though was honestly wedding planning.

because that was a job that I had always wanted to do, was be a wedding planner. And that is very much hustle, hustle, hustle constantly. So it's like nights and weekends, very late nights, it's early mornings, you're not eating enough, I wasn't fueling my body, I was still continuing to work out because that was my routine, but even though that's a good stress on the body, it's still a stress. And that on top of all of the wedding stress and everything like that really pushed me to the point where I started to see my body break down. And I too, I found out that I had celiac disease.

severely allergic to gluten and had all those different intolerances come on after that because again, you just, your body can't keep up with that type of hustle.

Sophie (07:34)
No, it really can't and we try, we really try, we really are like, let's go after this because I relate to everything you said there as well. Like I grew up just outside of London, so probably very similar to where you grew up and like in terms of you have to work hard to get the things that you want in life and like it is, I used to also work a bit in New York, that was in my earlier career and it is just hustle culture. It's like everyone's working in the US, you don't even get much holiday allowance. So like the whole work.

the whole work environment is designed to keep you in a state of overwhelming stress because when on earth with like what is it you get on holiday like 14 days holiday allowance or something sometimes in the US like some companies that when on earth are you meant to have downtime like that's wild that is wild

Sam (08:14)
It's way less. Right. Yeah, yeah, it's way less.

It's true. We're taught to not like take a break or pause. And we're taught that that's not successful. It's not productive. So we just we don't do it.

Sophie (08:29)
Yeah, when actually it's the most productive thing we can actually do for ourselves in hindsight. Now we've come out the other side of all of these things, but I still, even now, sometimes struggle to just rest. Like we were talking about it, I've been sick the past few days and my biggest thing was like, my God, I can't work. Like I've got cancer, I'm stressed. Like that in itself causes me stress because I was like, okay, because it was out of my control, right? Like if this was in my control and I was like, okay.

Sam (08:33)
Exactly.

Sophie (08:55)
I'm gonna take a week off holiday, da da da, I'm gonna choose not to work, that would have been fine, I probably could have relaxed and rested and done all the things I wanted to do. But because this sickness just crept up on me out of nowhere, and it makes sense because I've been on the go for a couple of weeks and I've been going quite hard and my body's like, please calm down, but I was like, no, it angered me, I was like, my god, this has knocked off my whole week and really struggled to kind of come back into that mindset of like, no, rest is healthy, my body obviously needs this because it's...

telling me I'm sick I need to just sit down and relax for a few days but it was really hard to come to terms with so I guess there's a real mindset piece around like coming out of that like hustle culture mindset mentality burnout stress environment into this world of like let's be a bit more balanced let's learn how to look after ourselves and support our body

with the environment, with the business and everything that we're doing, make sure it actually aligns to us rather than us align to that. So how did you kind of transition everything and make it feel more balanced for yourself?

Sam (09:59)
I think it's still an ongoing process always of just kind of like tweaking and seeing what happens or like see what feels good because I do the same thing. mean, two weeks ago, I sprained my knee really badly and couldn't go to the meetings that I wanted to or I had an event that I was supposed to do and like I had to pivot to certain things. So there is always that mindset shift and that kind of wake up call of like, we're not in control and we need to listen to our body and your body needs to lead.

So I think it's a lot of unlearning to that point of just what our body's been conditioned to and also making it feel safe to rest because a lot of times it doesn't feel safe to rest. We feel like, okay, this is going to affect my paycheck. It's gonna affect my ability to go further because I'm taking a break and I'm not working, which means money's not coming in. So kind of removing the layers and telling your body and working with your body, whether that's through somatic work or doing breath work or just finding a way to...

be productive in a way that is more aligned. And my cycle syncing is something that has helped me a ton, where it's like just kind of, OK, I don't need to work out every single day doing the same thing. Your body as a woman is not designed to do the same thing day in and day out. So we are actually working against our bodies and working against our design and pushing ourselves to that burnout when we don't intentionally set time to say, OK, this is my menstrual phase this week. I'm going to take a pause and take a step back.

I don't need to push myself, I don't need to book meetings. So kind of scheduling that in or to this point, like your body will schedule it for you unexpectedly where you'll have to take a break when you don't intentionally do that. And your body can kind of relax into that a little bit more knowing that there's a cycle of like, okay, this week is my go week, I'm gonna have a bunch of meetings, I'm gonna do some podcasts, I'm gonna do this and that. And then next week, I'm gonna do editing, closing up loose ends.

and then have a rest before you kind of start that cycle again and you start to go back into that. So I think the cycle for me really opened my eyes to what productivity actually is and redefining success for yourself, not just in general, but also on a weekly basis of like, okay, success for me during my menstrual phase is very different for me than it is when I'm like in my ovulatory phase because...

I have so much more energy during like follicular phase and ovulation versus coming back to the menstrual phase where it's like, have no energy to do anything and I'm just, I'm not going to be as productive. So pushing myself to do something is not going to benefit anybody in that instance.

Sophie (12:22)
Yeah, and I really want to talk more about the cycle syncing with you because I think this is so important and it's not something that we prioritize because we don't get taught it. We're never taught this in school from my personal schooling. I don't know about yours, but from what I understand for most women, we're not taught about this at all. We're not taught that our body works on a monthly cycle. Obviously we know we have a monthly period. We're not taught about the fact that we work on a 28 day to 30, however long your periods are cycle when men have

Sam (12:34)
Mm-hmm.

Sophie (12:50)
their system resets every 24 hours. So like we are literally working, literally like they have a fresh opportunity and they're in the same mood every single day. We are going to fluctuate throughout the month based on our cycle. So I think it's so, so important that young women specifically, so they can manage it from the point of actually getting their first period, are managing this and structuring their life around it because it's scientific facts. There's nothing we can do to change that.

Sam (12:52)
every day.

Mm-hmm.

Sophie (13:19)
like it is what it is and we can either work with it or we can work against it and for most of our lives particularly if you've worked from 9 to 5 you are normally working against it and that is generally probably what causes quite a lot of the stuff that we talked about earlier around like the burnout, the stress, the fatigue, everything that happens to a woman's body when we are pushing and pushing against the natural rhythm of it so talk me through what actually is cycle syncing I do know what it is but just for anybody that's listening that maybe doesn't

and why is it such an important tool for us to understand as a woman.

Sam (13:52)
Yeah, so we were not taught this at all in school either. we, mean, I feel like the version that we get is your cycle is your period and it's gonna happen one week a month and that's the cycle and it's gonna suck and you're gonna have to suffer through cramps and pain and all of this stuff and you just have to push through it. And that's kind of the messaging that was ingrained for a lot of women is that A, it has to suck and B, that's.

it when in reality your cycle is so much more than that and it can actually be like your superpower when you tap into it. So cycle syncing is basically aligning with your cycle and it is to balance your hormones but it's so much more than that because if you look at your hormones like we talked about burnout and people don't realize at least I didn't fully connect the facts that cortisol is a hormone so stress is hormones like it's affecting your hormones specifically.

So when you have stress in your day to day, we often, we can't avoid, you're gonna have some sort of stress, whether it's good stress or bad stress, you're gonna have that throughout the day. But when you look at your cycle as a whole on the 28 day cycle, not just the one week, it's actually divided into four different phases. So you're able to manage stress differently, you're able to manage tasks differently, you're able to manage, well your mood is different during each of those phases, your capacity to do different things is different during those phases.

So each one of those phases, it's kind of like an inner season, if you will. So if your menstrual phase is like an inner winter, that's the week that you have your period or the three to five days, three to seven days, whatever it might be, that's the week that you have your period. That's more internally focused. If you think winter time, it's you want warm things, you want comfort, you want to just relax. Your brain is actually, your left brain and your right brain is actually able to work.

better at that time, like communicating with each other so you can make more sound decisions, which is interesting to me. But you have to allow yourself to rest in order to be able to do that. Not to say that you're supposed to act on those things, but it's more of like receiving during that time. Then you move into your spring, which is your follicular phase. So that's thinking about like planting seeds if you're in your business or starting new projects, being more creative, you have more energy.

So your hormones go on a bell curve. Your menstrual phase is like the very bottom. And then you start to go up for your spring phase. So your energy is going to be rising. The workouts, you can do more strength training or cardio or add in different things where your menstrual phase, it's really going to be more like light yoga or mobility work or different things like that. And then your ovulatory phase is that peak. So think of like summer energy, your inner summer. That's when you can be like on stage, meeting with different people, going out to events. You're very bubbly. You have like your highest energy during that time.

And then the last half of your cycle is the luteal phase. So that's your inner fall. And your hormones start to drop off during that point. So your mood is going to start to drop from that real high that you were on from the spring and summer. It's going to start to drop. you're going to probably, this is probably the time of the month when you start to feel a little bit more critical about yourself. You start to question things. You're like, why am I not successful? Why am I not as productive? I was able to do these things a week ago.

So if you kind of understand that, this is the second half of my phase, I'm not meant to do all of these different things and kind of prioritize and just close up loose ends, close up projects, of lighten your workouts, do more Pilates or strength training, different things like that, and fuel your body, then you can have an easier period and allow yourself to rest that week because you know that you've closed up the loose ends that fall and then you can start back up again in the spring. So that's kind of, I like to associate it with the seasons because I think it gives you a picture of what your body's meant to do.

Sophie (17:19)
definitely is, that's a really clear picture so thanks for explaining it like that. I still struggle with the luteal, right? Let's talk about the luteal because this is literally, I said this to my friend the other day, I was like, I feel like there's literally only two weeks of the month that I'm actually a fully functioning human being and how is that fair? Because I mean, I know that I have some hormone balancing to do for sure and I am on a naturopathy plan right now to try and do that in a natural way.

Sam (17:26)
Yes.

Yep.

Sophie (17:46)
But I still just get to that luteal phase every month and I'm still questioning my life. I'm still wondering why I'm feeling like that. Doesn't matter how much I know about this cycle and how much I do that. It just feels so unfair. I don't know if anyone else can relate. don't know if you can relate to this. But it just feels so unfair. I'm like, how is it possible that I only have two good weeks of month that I can really like go full steam ahead in my business? It is very, very difficult to be an entrepreneur as a woman.

Sam (17:51)
you

Okay.

Sophie (18:14)
when you have these battles in place, particularly if you're not on the pill, which generally masks quite a lot of all of these things. Because I don't think I had the same... When I came off the pill, probably like three years ago, I was on the pill for most of my twenties, and I realised how much my mood actually changed when I came off of that. Because I think when I was on the pill, I was pretty stable actually, like through the whole month, or maybe...

if I wasn't it would be like the odd day here or there but I wasn't tracking it obviously so now that I do track it now that I understand it I'm not on the pill I am like wow like this this is wild that I only get this small little window here to be really productive in my business and then I have to have to try and make accommodations for the fact that my body is doing this so I still really struggle with it so like do you have any mindset tips on anybody else that's really struggling with that because I think it's something that

we all, know that there's like gender imbalance in the workplace, but there really is a gender imbalance even from like a physical level as well. So that's something that we can't actually change. Like that is just who we are. So how do we come to terms with that and get okay with the fact that we probably are only gonna be like really, really productive for a couple of weeks of the month. And then the rest of it, we might need to like accommodate.

Sam (19:14)
Mm-hmm.

Sophie (19:34)
our lifestyle, our businesses to work better for us. So like how can we shift our mindsets into being okay with that?

Sam (19:41)
Well, I think that's the thing is like it really is a mindset shift and it's an ongoing thing. So when I say like redefining success, I think is a really big topic. So even if you're looking at defining success each week or each day, or kind of giving yourself a baseline of like, this is where my energy is at today. I feel like it teaches us that self acceptance, which women we are taught to constantly push through for everybody and not just ourselves and to kind of take care of everybody.

But I feel like it's an opportunity as an entrepreneur to use it as a tool to make yourself successful by allowing you to receive. Because I think that's the other part that we don't do is we don't allow ourselves to receive that. So one of the thoughts that came through my head recently was I'm constantly outputting. So I'm not able to receive inputs or like the creative ideas. I'm not being as creative because I was kind of working against myself because.

I moved recently, I had all of these things going on, I'm trying to balance my life and business and kind of ramping up for the fall and doing all of these things and I was not setting myself up for success because I wasn't able to fully align with my cycle or to fully honor that. So I think it's a work in progress and even shifting, like gamifying it if you will, where you're like shifting your morning routine where you have one morning routine each week and you kind of rotate it.

So it's like maybe you have a longer morning routine during your menstrual phase or your luteal phase where you're setting yourself up, grounding a little bit more, doing breath work. Maybe you give yourself like a facial or a mask or something like that where you're just kind of doing these things that you enjoy doing. So kind of shifting your mindset that way by creating habits that support you in that way so that you can look forward to some of those things versus constantly feeling like success is only when you're outputting. So I think also going back to the place of where we can

set our businesses up for success. I think as women we are, or in general, because we come from the nine to five in the hustle culture, we think a business has to be set up a certain way where we have to work from nine to five or we have to set a certain number of hours. Success looks like or productivity looks like a certain way based on, it's really on a masculine structure, like all of these things. But if we redefine what that looks like where it's like we have a week off every month for our period where we can reset and we can just.

recalibrate and take care of our life things and handle those things. During the luteal phase, it's maybe like half days or like you're doing something a little bit different. And then also passive income is huge for women. So setting yourself up for success in that way where it's like you can work for two weeks a month and knock out a whole bunch of stuff. And then it doesn't, you give yourself some flexibility where it doesn't necessarily matter. Not that it doesn't matter, but like if you don't have as many meetings or you don't have...

as much output those two weeks, it's not going to really hit your bank account or hit, you know, make that success, redefining what success looks like. Because it's also energetic too of like, how do I feel? If you feel crappy, but you're making a ton of money, what's the benefit to doing that too?

Sophie (22:33)
Yeah, definitely. I think the other bit that I struggle with sometimes is like lifestyle factors because I do travel a lot. Like I'm a bit more settled now. Like I have a home base in Thailand, but previously I was traveling. it was like, I was almost like setting myself up for a disaster because I would be traveling, let's say in my...

in my ovulation phase and then obviously then go into like your, it's like a luteal strain after your ovulation, right? And then like in, when then I'd go into luteal, so I'd like maybe be traveling when I'm like at my peak, but then obviously when I'm traveling, maybe I'm not.

Sam (22:58)
Yes.

Sophie (23:07)
I'm not working, so I've already taken three or four days off and then I get into the loo tour and I'm not ready to go. No, no, no, my energy's dipping. I'm like, give me a break. How am I meant to deal with all of these things? Do the travelling, go and do my work through these things. So think it really just has come down to planning and being a little bit more strategic with it. And I like what you just said there about gamifying. I think that's a really good way to look at it it feels a bit more fun than being bit more strategic about your cycle.

Give us some really practical tips for people that are in the same situation, talking about, moaning about the same things that I am, and that they're really struggling to kind of keep up with this. And they want to start cycle-sinking. Because I have, I would say I have started cycle-sinking. I think I started probably about six months ago, but I still don't feel like I've nailed it. I still feel like every month I'm struggling a little bit with managing all of these different things, just mainly because of lifestyle factors. But...

Sam (23:51)
Mm-hmm.

Sophie (24:00)
Do have any really solid top practical tips that somebody that wants to start cycle thinking can take on board?

Sam (24:06)
Well, will say just being, cycle thinking I think is a great tool and it's a framework for you. Not to say that it's gonna be perfect. Like there's gonna be some times when you're traveling during your ovulation phase and you have to work during your luteal phase. But now that you're aware of it, you can use it as a tool. Like I have a monthly planning session within my membership where we plan in alignment with our cycle and we look at the astrology. So it's more of like an intuitive sense. And I use it as a tool to really.

just understand your body, getting out of your head and into your body. So if there's, I think a morning routine is super important. And for some people, a structured morning routine works. For some people, it's like just another thing to add onto the list. So I had a client that I was working with her with her human design, and she was like, I just cannot get a solid morning routine done. And it's stressing me out because of that. So I had her write down some self-care things or like,

breath work or a facial, whatever that might be, like these little things, how to write them down on popsicle sticks and then put them into a Mason jar or something that she could pull out. And then it's like, okay, today, this feels really good so that you can respond to it, because she was a generator. So tapping into your design and kind of understanding that. So looking at ways that, how can you make this more fun or use it in a way that it's not stressing you out, like, my gosh, I just wasted my most productive week by doing these things and now I have to do this.

and it's more of like taking into consideration or really tapping in with yourself of like, okay, this happened because I was doing the same thing. When I was moving, I realized the month or two beforehand, my body was like short circuiting by the time I got to my ovulation phase, because my hormones were peaking, but my nervous system couldn't handle like the good stress of those hormones and everything like that. So I was getting sick and I was so frustrated because I was like,

This is the time I'm supposed to be the most magnetic. I should be going out and having events, like doing events and doing all of these things and I can't because I'm sick. So what's going on? So using it as a tool to just reflect back and even journal about like what am I feeling right now? Checking in with yourself as far as starting I think is always the great place of what is my mood today? What is my energy level today? What does success look like today for me? And if you get that one thing that don't make it like a whole list of 10 things, like what is that one to two things?

that you can get done that would be successful or be moving the needle based on where you're at is a great way to start. then finding those little ways of giving back to yourself in a way that feels good or that is fun. Or even you could do like a little punch card of like, okay, if I get these done or if I track my goals and I get these three things done, I go out and get a coffee or something like that. So.

I really think the gamifying and making it an experience for yourself and using it as a tool to just check back in with yourself and really give yourself grace of like, this is where I'm at today and that's okay. And knowing that it's still unlearning, like the fact that I've been doing this for two or three years, I still look back and I'm like, yeah, I totally should have shifted my schedule around or I'll plan my Ludio phase during my follicular phase and be like, yeah, I put way too many meetings in the second half of my month. So it's just kind of going back.

doing a calendar audit, seeing how I can move forward in a more aligned way each month and giving yourself forgiveness for the fact that you're not perfect. You've learned this for 20, 30 years of doing it a different way. So six months of doing it, you're not gonna be perfect at it or even a year of doing it. It's just how can I be more intuitive and check in with my body more?

Sophie (27:27)
Definitely, I think it does come down a lot more to intuition and really listening to your body and what it's got to say to you. Do you use any apps or do you have any specific time blocking processes that maybe you use with yourself and your clients to be able to track this? Because I'm sure, obviously, the first step to actually being able to cycle, think, is understanding the cycle, right? And your cycle, because everybody's is different, and how it impacts you. Because I know that for me, for a while, because my hormones were so out of sync,

Sam (27:33)
Thank

Sophie (27:55)
actually, yes, I was having a normal cycle, but my symptoms of the cycle did not match up to the right phases, like in the traditional sense, because my hormones were so out of balance, which they're starting to come back into sync now. But do you have any kind of recommendations for somebody that wants to start looking at this? Like, how can they start tracking it and how are they then managing that within their calendar?

Sam (28:02)
Thanks.

Yeah, that's great. So even I will say that even if you don't have a cycle, like if you're on the pill or you have an IUD or something that is altering your natural cycle, you still work cyclically. So it's going to give your body. It's your body can still work cyclically and you can do that just by kind of tracking your energy levels or using the moon cycle is really great because the moon cycle is actually also 28 days. So even if you've you don't have a period anymore, you have you've gone through menopause or whatever that might be or you're on the pill.

If you track it with the moon cycle and use like the new moon, for example, as your menstrual phase and the full moon as your ovulation phase, you can start, your body will start to re-sync because it starts to feel that rhythm again. And you can kind of tap into that. So if you have no place to start, I would recommend using like the moon cycle and just starting with that and kind of syncing with the moon cycle. Cause your body will actually naturally come back into flow eventually with that. And it can help you to regulate some of those hormones if you're

getting into the rhythm because it feels safer for your body versus coming from a state of chaos and just being like, my gosh, I don't know where to start. So that's a great way to do it. As far as apps and stuff like that, I use Notion Calendar for everything. So there's different templates that you can use. I have a couple of templates and I'll just I'll track like where the moons are and then I'll also kind of note, OK, this is where my period started and then just track your energy levels each day or do like a quick check in with yourself in the morning and kind of see how it syncs up in the beginning.

And then you can kind of start to plan your weeks where it's like, okay, the first week I know that I'm in my menstrual phase, the second week I'm gonna be having more energy, and then so on and so forth. Any of the period apps, it's kind of what works for you. Some people work more digitally, some people like to work more in their agenda or being able to write things out. So just kind of trial and error and seeing what happens as well. I don't have like a specific period tracker app. I know that In the Flow, which is a great book.

to start with as well. That teaches you kind of the whole background on cycle syncing. But she also has an app, which is great because it gives you some insights and tips and recipes and things like that as well.

Sophie (30:22)
Amazing. And there's also the other side of it, which is exercise during the cycles as well. Like the way that we exercise, the way that we eat. We've obviously spoken specifically around business, but there's a whole other side of it as well, isn't there, that we need to be factoring in? There's a lot of different things to think about. Have you got any tips specifically on like how we can manage that side of it as well?

Sam (30:30)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so actually I started cycle syncing with my workouts just because I was for that was something that was pushing me to burn out because I wasn't syncing up my workouts. I was just constantly doing a HIIT workout or a strength training and pushing through because I felt like that's my routine. I'm going to do it five to seven days a week and doesn't matter what my body feels like. So if you're a person who does regularly workout or you have the same workout five to seven days a week or something like that, that could be a great place to start actually.

because I think it gives you tangible ways to say, okay, during my menstrual phase, I'm just doing like mobility work, for example, or very low key something that's nourishing for your body that gives you some hip mobility, can help relieve some of those symptoms and different things like that breath work. And then, you then you move into strength training or add in some cardio spring follicular phase into ovulatory phase and then luteal phase, it's coming back down the scale a little bit. So it's doing like Pilates or just.

steady strength training and then slowing down so that your body can rest or can relax during those phases, your menstrual phase. So that's like a great place to, if you're used to working out consistently to kind of start into that. And if you haven't worked out before, but that's something you're looking to get into, I think that is a great way to ease yourself into it too, where knowing that you're not gonna be doing the same workout day in and day out and you can kind of cycle through the different types of workouts or what your body needs.

And then nutrition wise, think seed cycling is a great place to start with that too. There's like the first half of your phase, your body needs certain nutrients. During each phase, your body needs actually different grounding nutrients. So even if you sync it with the seasons as well. So the menstrual phase and the luteal phase is more like warming foods. So cooking your vegetables versus like a cold salad or something like that. Think of like the autumn vegetables as far as squash and.

like the warm soups and different things like that are really nourishing for your body during that time. And then in the spring summer phase, you're able to incorporate more of like the salads and the fresh fruits and your body can process things more. It's also interesting that the luteal phase, because your body's getting ready to menstruate is you need more calories during that time. So protein is also key throughout for any hormone balancing protein is key, like starting with a heavy protein breakfast in the morning.

is great. Also eating before you workout or eating before caffeine, before coffee, before like a pre-workout or anything like that. And just giving yourself a kickstart for the day so that your body can process these things. Healthy fats throughout the month, different things like that are really great. I have like, I made myself screen savers for my phone. So it's like the lock screen on my phone has what fruits and vegetables I need for the month, what my, you know.

activities should be, what the workouts should be, because I think that's a good reminder too if you're starting to cycle sync. So I have those as like one of my freebies so that you can kind of just take a glance back and look at it.

Sophie (33:26)
love that, that's such a good way. We look our phones often and it's a great way to remind yourself where you're at. One thing I want to touch on actually, because you mentioned earlier, is the moon. Let's talk about the moon and the correspondence to our cycles because I truly, truly believe that the moon has an impact on us and how we function, how we sleep. I can tell it pretty much like clockwork every month on the full moon specifically. I really struggle to sleep.

So tell us everything you know about that crossover, the link between our cycles and the moon.

Sam (34:00)
So what's interesting is, well, there's a lot of interesting facts about the moon and how we are so synced. But if you look at, we were talking about how men's hormones reset every 24 hours, which is based on a solar energy. The women's hormones reset every 28 days, which is based on the lunar cycle. So we are very tied to that. Like I said, if you don't have a cycle and using the new moon, for example,

that really is like a menstrual phase. That's a reset. It's like where you're putting intentions in. You're kind of looking at that. If you look at the sign that the moon is in, it can kind of help guide you into what those intentions might be or what the themes might be coming through for you, different things to journal on and think about versus the full moon. That's when it's like very illuminated. Again, that's the higher energy ovulation period. So that's like the time where you have peak energy levels. Things are going to be at their highest, like the high tides even.

our bodies are made up of mostly water. to think that the moon can change the tides and the oceans, but it can't affect our body is crazy to me. Something very cool too that I learned when I was cycle-sinking and learning what cycle-sinking was is in ancient times, before we had all of these endocrine disruptors and cell phone lights and all the blue lights and everything that was disrupting our hormones and wreaking havoc within our bodies, when we were just living naturally and more in sync with

nature, mother nature, women would sink their cycles, like their cycles would sink with the moon. So they would ovulate or during the full moon. And that's why they had fertility dances during the full moon. And that's why those fertility dances worked, because all the women were ovulating during that time, versus the new moon, where it's like you're menstruating. That's the very low energy. And they would kind of like sit in circle and just be nourishing with each other and kind of help each other out during that time to give support. it's,

The parallels between the moon and women and just tapping into that energy is so powerful. Even just from an intention setting standpoint of, I'm gonna be more intentional, I'm gonna give myself more time, I'm gonna be more reflective, I'm gonna journal more during the new moon versus what happens on the full moon. Or another thing that I like to do is just really set the intention behind any even like mundane things. So like if you're washing your face, kind of.

You know, I think of it as like I'm cleansing the energy. I'm like resetting my energy, so to speak. So if you do that with like the moon cycle where you have a new moon ritual where it's very nourishing, you're, you know, really focusing on your self care on a deeper level. Maybe you get a massage or there's some body work or a facial or whatever that might be where you can really give back to your body and give it, allow it to feel safe to relax during that time. And then you have like an opposite of that during like the full moon where you're celebrating something or you're

a lot more energetic, you have more people around you, you're connecting with others and you're more outwardly focused, but you're still intentionally connecting and aligning with those times. I think that's a great way to just kind of tap in and also know that you don't have to do things all at once, but doing those things cyclically is gonna be helpful.

Sophie (36:55)
Yeah, I love that. That's so good to get a bit of validation that the moon actually has an impact on us. Because I know, I mean, I live in Thailand, I live on an island, I'm surrounded by water all the time, so I can see how much impacts the tides and I know that we are.

Sam (37:01)
Yeah.

Sophie (37:12)
made up of mostly water so like I can understand why it would impact us but sometimes you do are like let's blame it on the moon let's blame it on the moon but actually no there is actual there are actual facts that this can impact us especially as a woman so I think that that's that was a great little point to just finish finish on but thank you so much for sharing everything that you shared today I'll go for it

Sam (37:23)
Thanks.

And I will say, yeah, for sure. One

more thing on the moon, because as you said that, I just thought, and it's like, we tend to think of these, those things after the fact of like, why was I, why couldn't I sleep? Why was I thinking about these things? Why is all of this illuminated right now? And we, we, if you use that intentionally prior and you use it as a proactive thing of like, okay, I know the full moon is going to be next week. So this is what I'm going to do. Or look at those things that week. Same way that you would with your cycle of like, I know I'm going to have lower energy or higher energy.

doing it proactively makes such a difference, because then you're not like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense, but you can actually plan for it.

Sophie (38:06)
Yeah, you're not tossing and turning at night being like, what is wrong with me? You actually can kind of understand why. Yeah, I think sometimes understanding comprehension is the best way to understand something and understand it pre it happening is even better because then you don't get so frustrated by it. So yeah, really, really good tips there and amazing advice around cycle thinking. I really appreciate you talking about that.

Just before we kind of wrap up, I always like to ask the question, what does freedom mean to you? Because I'm all about helping people actually create more freedom in their life by starting an online business and specifically in a business that allows them a healthy work-life balance. So tell us a little bit more about what is your kind of big freedom goals and what does freedom mean to you?

Sam (38:49)
I think the biggest one that I'm working on is, well, first of all, accepting or noticing the freedom that I already have in my life because I did create my own business in order to have that time freedom. So taking advantage of that and not constantly working or pushing through projects. So taking advantage of the fact like, hey, it's a Thursday and I want to go have coffee with a friend. I'm going to go have coffee with a friend. So being intentional about that in my day to day life and just allowing that to create more freedom.

working towards like the financial freedom to just be able to build the life that I want and to do all of the fun things and not worry about any of those other things. So just having certainty that following this path and aligning with that will create that freedom. And overall, like what it means to me is just having the ability to really not be tied down or boxed in how like we society kind of paints the picture to come out of the matrix, if you will, and to just be able to

have that freedom of choice and go all in on whatever that dream might be and follow that spark and just trust that everything's going to fall into place. That's really what true freedom is, I think.

Sophie (39:48)
Amazing. Yeah, there is such a big element of trust when it comes to freedom, like trust that it will all fall back into place. But from experience, it always does. So I really love that. Thank you so much for sharing. And if anybody that wants to connect forever with you, understand more about their own personal cycles and work with you on a deeper level, how can they get in touch with you?

Sam (40:06)
Yeah, so my website is the way she was [made.com](http://made.com/) and on all the social channels. So threads, Facebook, Instagram, all at the way she was made. I also have a sub stack same at the way she was made. So you can find me, find me anywhere there. And as far as working with me, I do, I have a membership program that is a group coaching style. And then I also have one-to-one coaching and mentorship options or even one-off breakthrough sessions. If you're really struggling with a pattern or block, we can take a look at your

Human Design Astrology and then how we can implement that with your cycle within that session.

Sophie (40:38)
Amazing. Thank you so much. Thanks so much for joining me and for sharing all of your knowledge on cycle thinking. sure it's been very insightful for a lot of people to hear and reassuring for anybody that's already on that journey.