My Take on PCOS
Understanding the Label of PCOS
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is a very common label for Artists and Sensitives. It was actually my first and started my healing journey in my late teens. It’s often given when your body expresses abnormal behavior like irregular or paused menstrual cycles, extra hair on the face, nipples and arms, elevated insulin, acne, sleep issues, and stubborn weight gain around the abdomen. What you may also be experiencing is an increased sensitivity to the sun, accelerated aging of the skin, susceptibility to toxins like mold, brain fog, memory loss or struggle with recall, low energy, anxiety, and depression. There’s ALOT going on here that is rarely discussed or identified.
I am not a medical doctor, so diagnoses is not in my wheelhouse, but I can speak to the body’s expression and how we can resolve the symptoms that lead a medical practitioner to qualify you for this box.
Many of these symptoms can range from mild to intense. What’s notable is that you’re good at managing them. You limit your eating (especially carbs), put your body through intense workouts, see estheticians regularly, and if the doctor insists, take medication. What you may not know is that while these attempts may lessen and even fully hide your “flaws” they are not resolving the foundational need causing the body to send these messages in the first place. Your job most likely requires you to look flawless and to have boundless energy. Therefore you have to figure something out. I get it. I really do, but if you want to resolve these messages we have to dig deeper and not just manage.
The Common Cause
The cause of your PCOS label is most likely low hormone production, as a downstream effect of a blood sugar imbalance, caused by elevated cortisol, due to profound emotional trauma experienced as a child.
Wow, right? Now, I know you’re already in therapy or at least consider yourself self-aware… BUT if the symptoms are still manifesting in the body it means your body is still swimming in a pool of fear. Your cells do not feel safe. Just taking blood sugar medication like metformin or focusing on your diet is not going to resolve this. Your hormones are not going to regenerate and produce at healthy levels until your body feels safe. Hormone production is run by your brain (hypothalmus and pituitary) and it considers reproduction the caboose of your primal train. Your body will continue to put all its energy toward keeping you alive and safe over resolving many of your symptoms.
The Mêrfleur Wellness Approach
I feel we need to speak to the body at every level. We must start by supporting your body’s capacity to move through trauma by balancing your neurotransmitters and your stress management organs (think the hypothalamus/pituitary and adrenals). When your stress capacity expands you can utilize powerful tools like EMDR to release the trauma from your stored memory and body. I highly recommend my dear friend and colleague Janelle Nelson. I also love using vibration remedies like flower essences to ease the grief and other emotions that may come up during these therapies. It softens the whole experience!
Next, we rebuild your metabolism through evaluating and rebuilding the pulse of your thyroid gland, so the body is not on a roller coaster of energy every day. Your insulin receptors and glucose levels will begin to tune into this shift and make alterations as well, improving your blood sugar. Any remaining needs can be refined through slight nourishment adjustments to match your authentic nutrient needs.
Once your stress capacity expands, your trauma is disintegrating, your metabolism is firing and your energy is balanced, you may experience a reduction of some of the other symptoms I mentioned above. That brain fog can start to fade, your skin can begin to glow, overall inflammation can drop, and your weight authentically balances, even though all you’re doing is walking or yoga.
It’s at this stage that we can take a look at remaining or lingering messages. We evaluate toxin exposure and address any buildup of metals, mycotoxins or pathogens that have gathered while you were stuck in low capacity. It’s very normal for the drawbridge of your castle entrance to be lowered and the gate unlocked when your body is focused primarily on staying alive. It doesn’t have time to deal with outside issue it’s just trying to feed your brain and keep your heart pumping. It’s in these seasons of life (or perhaps your whole childhood and young adulthood) that you become susceptible to taking on toxins and microorganisms.
I use advanced lab testing to identify your current state. Once we’ve identified your unique situation we make a plan to clear and reset. Guessing at this level (or really any level) is not helpful. You’d be surprised how common it is. Some classics include starting a parasite cleanse or assuming it’s candida (fungal) or mycotoxins (mold toxins) without actually testing the body… if you do any form of eradication it must be guided by what’s truly present in your body. Please know that eradication of any kind can be harmful if it’s done unnecessarily or approached too generally.
After we’ve cleared and reset your body on all these levels, we sit back and wait, watching your menstrual cycle for 3 months. Why? We are giving your body a chance to show us what it can do with all the space and suport we just gave it! Another improtant tip - the body is brilliant. Often times it’s only stuck becuase its to-do list is too long and it’s overhwhelemed. When we check some of those items off the list, suddenly the body can speed up healing tremendously. All your efforts and investments compound over time, my friend.
If your body does not show promising signs of rebuilding itself, we bring in temporary hormonal support. We’ll do this until your body can ramp up production of its own healthy amounts of progesterones and estrogens alongside its (most often) healthy levels of testosterone. As a note: I rarely see elevated testosterone. This is very common for the typical PCOS presentation, but as you are not the standard, you may find that the imbalance of hormones actually originates from low levels of progesterones and estrogens. This can cause a false dominant presence of androgens (testosterone) in the body. It’s only ruling the scene and creating symptoms like excess hair because the counterbalancing hormones (progesterones and estrogens) are not robust enough to create equilibrium in the body.
Accuracy & Personalization are Key
All decisions at Mêrfleur are guided by your advanced lab testing, your personal health story, your astrological health map and syndromes and my intuition. There is no guessing and there is no unnecessary pushing or prodding. The goal, whether it’s PCOS or another label, is to get you back to your authentic state. We reset your default.
There’s Always Hope
I hope this has been encouraging and helpful! PCOS does not have to be your reality. You do not have to manage this forever. There are solutions. As a Natural Sensitive, even if you feel you’ve tried everything, I highly recommend you look at it from the perspective I gave above, it may shift your approach and give you the results you’ve been seeking.
Your childhood was intense and there may still yet be another level of unlocking to be found. Give your body the support it needs to go there and let’s see what you find. Here to guide, encourage and hold your hand if needed. Sending love, always.
How the Moon Impacts Your Weight
Weight Gain
Weight. It’s a part of your body that can become all-consuming when it feels wrong, off, or inauthentic. For many of us, our looks contribute to our work or lifestyle in some way and a shift here can feel very triggering and leave us vulnerable, insecure, and tender. Yet, are these feelings and the “weight” real? Let’s look at how the moon can play into not only our weight but how we feel about our weight.
The Moon & Your Internal Sea
Your body has an internal sea, made up of mostly fluids, it is greatly impacted by the gravitational pull of the earth as well as the magnetism of the universe. The cyclical rotation of the moon not only rolls the earth’s oceanic tide forward and back. It also directs the fluids all over the planet, including those inside of you! This includes water, blood, lymph, and all fluid found in between muscles, fascia, and cells. With this in mind can you imagine the shifts that take place inside your body in connection to the earth and moon? You are heavily influenced by the moon’s placement in relation to the planet!
Menstruation is a big player in this relationship. When you bleed and when you ovulate are all ideally in alignment with the moon’s natural rhythms. When it’s off, your body struggles. I’ll save this topic for another moment, but just know that this is a huge part of why the female body is so intuitively connected to nature.
Temporary or Fluctuating Weight Gain
Back to weight… have you ever noticed that during certain times of the month, you feel swollen or heavier? You may immediately assume you’ve “put on weight” and begin falling into patterns of reducing food, increasing exercise or your go-to quick solutions. It’s so important to know that your body does not naturally gain and lose true weight that quickly. The state of your body today is a reflection of how you ate, slept, moved, stressed, and emoted 3 months ago. It takes at least 90 days for your body to manifest your lifestyle physically in the body. Meaning that your panic solutions will not ultimately resolve any true weight gain, unless implemented over the next 90+ days. That being said, there is 1x a month where you may feel like all of a sudden you’ve put on a few pounds. Clothes fit tighter, you look a little puffy, your abdomen is bloated…this is not true adipose-based (fat) weight gain. This is simply an imbalance of your internal sea!
Full Moon’s Tidal Rise in the Body
Remember how I explained that your body is full of fluids, like an ocean swishing around in your body? Well, when the moon rises the oceanic tide, any blocks around fluid clearance in your body will be exacerbated. This occurs every time the moon reaches its peak and shines as a full moon. The body can start to accumulate and hold onto fluids up to 5 days before and 5 days after the full moon. This means that down to the cell level you can experience a water-logging effect. If your body is already struggling to maintain proper hydration and clearance of excess fluids, by balancing minerals like potassium and sodium, then you’re really going to think you gained weight! You can avoid this monthly swelling by helping your body process and utilize its internal sea properly.
How to Prevent Fluid Retention Around the Full Moon
Balance your inner sea minerals
Test your levels with a standard Complete Metabolic Panel (CMP) and check your sodium, chloride, and potassium status. I include this in my standard blood chemistry panel offered in my single session with labs. If you’re showing depletion in all of them, then add mineral-rich foods to your diet, think seafood and vegetables from biodynamic or regenerative soil. Please also add a pinch of quality sea salt to your food and water daily or a dropplet of a sea mineral blend. If you’re only showing depletion in one or two, then consume foods rich in that particular nutrient and/or supplement by adding a liquid ionic mineral extraction for that singular mineral. See the bottom of this post for my supplement recommendations. The most common depletion is potassium. Food rich in potassium include:
Dried Apricots – ~330 mg/oz
Sun-dried Tomatoes – ~300 mg/oz
Raisins – ~210 mg/oz
Avocado – ~180 mg/oz
Spinach (cooked) – ~160 mg/oz
White Beans (cooked) – ~160 mg/oz
Lentils (cooked) – ~150 mg/oz
Bananas – ~120 mg/oz
Potatoes (baked, with skin) – ~110 mg/oz
Wild Salmon – ~100 mg/oz
Move Your Lymph & Blood
Rebounding - bounce or jump daily for 5-15 minutes to improve circulation and fluid flow through detox systems
Massage - manipulates fluids between muscles and fascia from top to bottom of the body, improving skin and urinary excretion of excess fluids
Dry Brushing or Gua Sha - directs fluids under the skin toward detox pathways
Heat Therapies: Sauna, Baths, Red Light - enhances skin and cellular release of excess fluids
Keep Your Fluids Thin & Flowing
Support healthy thin blood by eating or supplementing with healthy omega 3s, taking proteolytic enzymes to consume any fibrous blocks in arteries and veins, and supplementing with niacinamide or no-flush niacin to prevent clotting. I included my recommendations at the bottom of this post. I highly recommend booking a 1:1 session with me for support with dosing if you are unfamiliar with this approach.
Keep Bowel Movements Regular
Eat according to your unique dietary needs - start with the blood type diet as your foundation, then personalize from there
Sleep 8+ hours every night
2-4 oz of whole Aloe Vera juice on an empty stomach first thing in the morning
16 oz of spring water first thing in the morning to promote a flush
Supplement with quality magnesium before bed, increase capsule until stool is loose, then reduce by 1 capsule
If backed up, chew a small slice of lemon rind
If trouble continues, look into your thyroid hormone production levels with me in a single session with labs
Emotional Impact of the Moon
Now that you understand how deeply the moon influences your inner fluids, you can make the connection between the internal sea and those tender, vulnerable, and insecure emotions that can rise during a full moon and potentially make you take that unnecessary dramatic action to “reduce weight”!
Dr. Emoto and many other practitioners have come to the conclusion that water (all fluid) is influenced by emotions. If you’re interested in seeing microscopic images of the pattern changes that occur when an emotion is felt or written near water, then I highly recommend Dr.Emoto’s book. If you become fascinated by how water reflects back emotions, thoughts, energy, and more, another fun resource is Veda Austin’s experiments with freezing water.
Your body holds your old unprocessed and present fresh emotions in its fluids. When the moon is at its fullest and your internal ocean is at its high tide, extra pressure is created around your organs, like the brain (the amygdala stores your unprocessed trauma), you will feel a sudden surge as your organs release/face these emotions. If you’re not actively and intentionally moving them through your body, they will involuntarily explode out of you around the full moon. The tale of full moon craziness is not without merit! All this to say, combine a feeling of swollenness/heaviness and emotional eruption and it makes sense that you feel vulnerable, tender, and insecure 1x a month!
This doesn’t have to be your story. Use my recommendations above to support healthy balance and your full moon “weight gain” will become almost imperceptible. Be kind to yourself until then and avoid any harsh or dramatic actions. You’ve got this!
The body is always trying to communicate with you. It’s oceanic rise and fall is here for you. Listen to the body’s cries for help and instead of punishing it, support it. The closer you align with the rhythms of the moon and the earth the easier it will be for you to create effortless glowing health and maintain your authentic weight.
Your Body's Symptoms are a Measurement of Your Alignment
Your Body is Rare
You came into the world with specifics. You are a unique arrangement of cells, fluids, bones, colors, textures, energies, expectations, passed down traumas, and purpose. We are all human, but there is much variety within humanity. Yet, understanding these nuances can be challenging if we haven’t been shown how to identify them. We grew up in a culture that needed to generalize in order to serve a large population, so everything got categorized. In the health world if you don’t fit into these categories, your complexity will be reduced and you’ll be shoved into one to maintain the system.
This is my personal rebellion - to fight against the generalization of humanity, especially when it comes to holistic health.
You’re more than your symptoms, you’re more than your gut microbiome, you’re more than your exercise or diet choices. You are both an energetic invisible and tangible visible being, here to make and give something to this world before you leave. Any time you forget that and leave your purpose, things in your body and your life and your soul will go awry.
Alignment is Everything
Dis-ease of the body, mind, and spirit, at all levels, is simply misalignment with your core self.
If you’re experiencing any imbalance or confusion or dysfunction, the first step is to remember or perhaps for most of us learn our true alignment.
This is where I have landed after years of pursuing all the layers of the health world and also getting to serve and witness many Sensitives in my practice. It always comes back here. I know that’s frustrating and can be tough to hear, but it’s the truth. Please don’t let yourself get caught up in the temptation of following one dramatic health answer to another. Drop everyone else’s opinions and uncover YOU.
Uncovering Your Core Nature
There are many systems and approaches to finding your core self. My current obssession is astrology mapping. Using a centuries-old system that continues to provide accurate data through multiple cultures and human eras catches my attention and earns my respect. I am tired of the roller coaster of trendy health fads. Whatever is demonized today will be the solution in 5 years. I’m no longer interested in the new killer toxin, healing food, short-cut treatment or “root cause” solution. I’m only interested in uncovering who YOU and I are meant to be, then focusing on increasing what’s meant to be and clearing out anything is not.
My Personal Embodiment Journey
I am living this right now. It’s not the easy road, that’s for sure. What started as a purely standard natural health journey back in 2008 with an old school IgG food sensitivity test led to a decade of trying everything under the sun to heal myself. In 2018 I became a “practitioner” and began helping others navigate the convoluted world of natural health. From Weston A Price to lab testing to muscle testing to vibrational therapies to nervous system regulation to radiation fear to mold detox to somatic releasing to fascial movement… I’ve journeyed through the last 15+ years of trends and “answers”. The problem is that these all put me into a deep hole of fear. I was out of control and simultaneously obsessively attempting to grasp control. I felt so vulnerable and frustrated and weary. When would it ever stop? How could I master my body and gain sustainable resilience? Underneath all these trends I kept coming back to this idea of individualization and understanding my purpose and unique physical wiring. It’s grown and built up especially over the last 2 years… it started with flower essences, then enneagram, and human design. Finally, I dug into the big one - astrology. I avoided it for as long as I could because of the warnings I’d received as a youth. Now, well as I said, I’m obsessed. I have been sitting on this one much longer than I normally do, but that’s because I didn’t want to bring it truly forward into my work and world until I knew it wasn’t just another passing phase. It’s BIG. It’s DEEP. It’s what I feel I’ve been looking for since 2008.
Astrology for Health
I value modern science and medicine, but it’s not yet reached a point of sustainability. It’s constantly revolving, as it should because it’s experimental. No matter how many clinical trials you run, it’s still susceptible to current bias and funding. Go where there is NO money. Unfortunately, our current scientific community is not that place.
Astrology on the other hand is incredibly accessible. Pull up your birth chart on any free site, like AstroSeek, and use Google or chat GPT to learn about your natural core. It’s about as objective as you can get and it’s one of the few sources that can actually map out everything about you. It’s truly holistic - revealing your unique emotional, physical, and spiritual expression.
Once you have your astrological map, you can look at the elements that speak to your physical body for direct guidance. BUT, also… living in alignment with the entirety of your map is what will create the environment for the physical change. Your body is the visible expression of your past and present emotional and lifestyle choices. Ideally, I suggest addressing both. Begin to gently reduce what does not match your true nature and increase what does in ALL areas of your life. Alongside this, you can start supporting and treating the areas of your body that need your attention. For the sake of keeping it simple today, let’s just look at the body part of astrology.
In ancient medicinal astrology, your body is organized into 12 zones. Each zone is ruled or attributed to a sign that carries certain characteristics and tendencies. It is also placed in a specific house/area on your map that influences how this sign plays out in your unique body. Specific areas in your map like houses 1, 6, 7, 8, and 12 all demonstrate areas that should be reviewed and potentially even supported regularly to prevent imbalances. There are also planets and points like your North Node (where your entire life should be focused) or Chiron (reveals childhood wounds impacting your present) or Saturn (often reflects causes of chronic illnesses) that can reside in these houses under these signs and provide further insight.
There are many layers to using Astrology for health, but that’s what we need and want. That’s why it has stood the test of time. Because you are not simple. You are beautifully complex and that is GOOD.
How to Use Astrology for Your Health
The main takeaway is that this system can tell you exactly where you may be vulnerable and where you may be blocked. For example, let’s say your map is showing a dominant pisces presence and your body is battling piscean syndrome. Well, then we know to immediately begin supporting your lymphatic system, regardless of your symptoms. You would be shocked to see that a multitude of your odd and hard-to-track or explain symptoms suddenly resolve, all by addressing one of your body’s core needs. Pisceans have slower lymphatic movement naturally, so incorporating daily fluid flow will clear any built-up infections or toxins and prevent future imbalances. Addressing your core can resolve alot of the seemingly overwhelming symptoms that can serve as distractions if you are not aware of how your body is meant to function.
Your body’s version of health will look different from everyone else’s too, so your baseline cannot be compared to others or generalized through social media, familial or medical standards.
When you know how you’re wired, addressing deeper chronic dis-eases also becomes simpler. Choices for further testing, therapies or treatment are clear. My favorite part is that the routes you choose will also be far more effective! You’ll see the results you’re looking for because you’re properly interpreting and matching your body’s needs, not just trying another trend that worked for your friend or that influencer practitioner.
Stop borrowing others’ misinformed confidence. Choose to build confidence in your own body.
I look forward to sharing more and more about this empowering system with you! If you want help diving into your map, meet with me HERE.
Processing Chiron Wounds with Flower Essences
Emotional Therapy for Your Chiron Wounds
Now that we’ve identified the past childhood wounding of your Chiron sign HERE, we can meet it with a beautifully potent and gentle remedy!
I know you’re already aware of most of your woundings, bc well… it’s your nature to self-observe, reflect and grow. It’s one of your specialties as a Sensitive and Artist. What you may not know is what to do with these wounds and resulting emotions - other than the standard approach of talk therapy.
And while this medium can be powerful, it often needs other supports like somatic/body work, EMDR, brain reprogramming, and (my realm) nervous system regulation, emotional frequency harmony and internal organ rebalancing.
That’s a lot of options and in reality you may need them all (and more) in the end, but the most aligned and accessible therapy of them all for your unique sensitive makeup is definitely flower essence therapy (emotional frequency harmonizing). Edward Bach’s 38 is my preferred collection. It’s classic, tried and true. I still recommend working with a talk/somatic therapist, but pair that with flower essences and you’re going to see much quicker and more profound transformations within yourself!
Matching Your Chiron Sign With Flower Essences
When using essences for the first time, always take Star of Bethlehem to break apart the grief and shock that accompanies childhood wounds. You will also want to take Walnut to ease the transition process of releasing past patterns and clearing old ties.
These two are your base essences, now we will add one more essence to create a beautiful potent remedy to move through your stored emotions. This essence is hand-chosen by me for this unique sign expression in this setting. It doesn’t mean that this essence will always be needed, but until these woundings are fully cleared you may see this essence appear often for you in flower remedy formulations if you have a practitioner create one or you learn how to test yourself with the subconscious swing taught in my Natural Sensitive Method and create your own. Simply match your Chiron sign with the flower essence recommended.
Chiron Sign Matched to Flower Essence
Aries Chiron ~ Centaury
Taurus Chiron ~ Willow
Gemini Chiron ~ Larch
Cancer Chiron ~ Centaury
Leo Chiron ~ Oak
Virgo Chiron ~ Pine
Libra Chiron ~ Cerato
Scorpio Chiron ~ Vine
Sagittarius Chiron ~ Mimulus
Capricorn Chiron ~ Cherry Plum
Aquarius Chiron ~ Water Violet
Picsces Chiron ~ Centaury
How to Make Daily Remedy
You can find these essence tinctures in just about any health food store. Simply add 1-4 drops of each essence to a glass of spring water. I love to make a large batch for the day, by filling a carafe or my glass water bottle with the spring water and dropping in the essences. You can make a long-term official flower remedy tincture yourself, but you’ll need to add a preservative and measure it all out. This daily option is my preferred when you’re just starting out so that you remain intentional and have a daily reminder to observe the impact of your essences. It’s often how I do it for myself too, even after taking essences for around 9 years.
I recommend sipping your remedy water throughout the day. Every sip counts as a “dose” and introduces your body to the essence frequencies, encouraging emotional balance, peaceful release, and gentle healing.
Stay on this formulation of essences (Star of Bethlehem, Walnut, Chiron Essence) for 30-90 days, then reassess your emotional needs. If you want to continue, do so.
Daily Formula
Spring Water (in glass)
Start of Bethlehem Flower Essence (1-4 drops)
Walnut Flower Essence (1-4 drops)
Chiron Flower Essence (1-4 drops)
Dose
Each sip counts as a “dose”, savor throughout your day.
Give it a whirl and let me know which of the above is your unique Chiron essence!