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In this episode of the "I Come First" podcast, host Amie Barsky delves into the importance of self-care and breaking free from societal pressures with guest Kim Bilk, a women's hormone health expert. Kim shares her journey from a high-stress lifestyle that led to losing her period, to discovering holistic approaches for hormone healing and womb health. The conversation covers a range of topics including sexual reflexology, the significance of menstrual cycles, and the practice of yoni steaming. Kim also introduces the concept of cosmic breath and its benefits for connecting with one's feminine energy. This episode is packed with practical advice and empowering insights for women looking to prioritize their well-being.

What We Explored This Episode

00:00:32: Introduction and Welcome

00:03:09: Kim Bilk's Background and Journey

00:07:19: Understanding Womb and Yoni

00:10:26: Trauma and Its Impact on the Pelvic Area

00:19:35: Introduction to Sexual Reflexology

00:25:19: Yoni Steaming and Its Benefits

00:30:28: Importance of Sharing and Sisterhood

00:32:04: Daily Practices for Connection and Gratitude

00:37:45: Kim's Daily "I Come First" Practice

00:38:27: Closing Remarks and Gratitude

Memorable Quotes

"Our period actually is a symbol of our health. Some people will say it's our fifth vital sign. So I did compete again, and I didn't lose my period. The big thing was really just pulling back on stressors in my life."

“Yoni is the Sanskrit word for womb. Think of where we carry children, right? Just in our pelvic area, just below the belly button. Everything's not the vagina. The vagina is internal. The external is the vulva. We have a uterus, we have fallopian tubes. So the womb just encompasses that whole area."

"Cosmic breathing is a form of breath work. Place your hands on your womb, just below the belly button, and take an inhale, imagining the breath of air coming right from your clit. Breathe in, let it come up the front side of your body to the crown of your head. As you exhale, let it go down the backside of your head, down through the neck, spine, tailbone, looping around."

Episode Resources

Carbon38 - Mentioned as a fitness and wellness brand - https://www.carbon38.com

Connect with Kim

Kim’s Website - Use "WOMB15" for 15% off at https://www.sacredwombcycles.com

Kim’s Instagram - https://.instagram.com/kimbilyk_

Kim’s Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kim.bilyk

Connect With Amie

Download My Free Breathwork Practice

https://www.amiebarsky.com/free-breathwork

Website: https://amiebarsky.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amie-barsky/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amiebarskycoaching/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmieBarsky?sub_confirmation=1

🎙️

Podcast Production & Marketing by FullCast

Amie Barsky [0:32 - 3:08]: Hello, hello and welcome to the I come first podcast, where putting yourself first is not selfish, it's self care. And self care is essential. Yes, you heard me right. Here we are flipping the script and I'm going to show you how. I'm your host, Amy Barsky, and I'm so excited you're here. If you're tired of feeling overworked and underappreciated, this is a sanctuary where I'll share my entire journey as a guide to help you break through your patterns, limiting beliefs and societies pressures to be perfect. These juicy weekly conversations with myself and guest experts will be filled with practical tools, advice, inspiring stories, and unstoppable energy. So if you're ready, then buckle up. It's time to ignite your inner fire and make I come first your new daily mantra. Have you heard of sexual reflexology? I sure hadn't, until today. It's a fascinating topic that just might surprise you. Before we jump into that, I want to take a moment and celebrate you. I want to celebrate you for how far you've come in life, the obstacles and the challenges and all the things you've overcome to be here today. I hope you take a second and let me love on you. Maybe even place a hand on your heart and let it sink in. You are resilient, you are magnificent and you matter to me. And I am genuinely glad that you are here. You deserve to be celebrated. Thank you. Welcome back to another episode of I come first. I'm your host, Amy Barsky, and today we are joined by women's hormone health expert, Kim Bilk. Now, Kim is a coach, a womb healer, an author and founder of Sacred Womb Cycles, Kim is here to guide you through holistic approaches for hormone healing, releasing emotional blocks and tapping into your sexual energy for ultimate health. From tantric techniques to spice up your love life to understanding menstrual cycles and embracing menopause, Kim covers it all today. Plus she's got some delicious teas up her sleeve that can support your entire journey. So let's get started. And before we jump into today's episode, here is a quick and exciting announcement. Kim, welcome in. I'm so glad you're here. Let's just jump right into a little bit about yourself. Will you please give us a snap just about how you got into your own journey of hormones and wound healing and all of that.

Amie Barsky [4:42 - 4:42]: Oh, wow.

Kim Bilyk [4:42 - 4:55]: And I didn't want to go. Yeah, that was the only thing. And I didn't want to go on it. And she did an ultrasound, too, and my vaginal lining was as thin as a menopausal woman. And I was 31 at the time.

Amie Barsky [4:55 - 4:55]: Wow.

Kim Bilyk [4:55 - 4:59]: So it was pretty bad, but my estrogen levels were that low.

Amie Barsky [4:59 - 4:59]: Yeah.

Kim Bilyk [5:00 - 5:38]: And so, yeah, I ended up healing myself and I wanted to compete again, but I knew I didn't want to go down that road. It's not a good thing for our bodies. I know some women are like, I hate my period. I don't want it. But our period actually is a symbol of our health. Some people will say it's our fifth vital sign. So I did compete again, and I didn't lose my period. And the big thing was really just pulling back on stressors in my life. I didn't teach yoga, was prepping for my show. But while I was going through my healing journey, I was an ambassador with carbon 38. I don't know if you've heard of them, Amy.

Amie Barsky [5:38 - 5:40]: They are closing LA.

Kim Bilyk [5:40 - 6:20]: Yeah, yeah. And they're based in LA. So I was around plenty of fitness and wellness women, like monthly, and I kept hearing the same thing. I go to the doctor, I don't feel heard. They told me, just go on the pill. Oh, it's nothing. Your cramps are nothing. And I was like, no, I want to be a change for this. That's when I really started my journey into women's health. So already having this western medical background, medicine background, then I went into my, I did my just regular health coaching. Then I dove deeper into specific women's health coaching, from functional nutrition to optimal fertility. I actually just finished my perimenopause menopause certification.

Amie Barsky [6:20 - 6:20]: Wow.

Kim Bilyk [6:20 - 7:19]: And then I know you're probably thinking, well, where does the womb healing come in? Right? And this could be a whole other conversation, but during this time that's around, I start healing and all this stuff and my sexual trauma came and bit me in the ass. Basically this happened when I was eight. And now at 33 years old, I'm like, I'm scared to be in a relationship like I really am. I'm not opening my heart up because the eight year old girl is scared. So I started doing my own healing. And with that, I met Dom, one of our friends and another dear coach in our community. And I did Tantra with her. I did the tantra training. And so it just started to snowball and I was like, I want to learn more. And then I got introduced to this, my now mentor, Sabrina, and I started learning about dao and tantric practices. So, like, the yoni steaming. And so I just went deeper into my own healing journey and just continue learning as I go through all this.

Amie Barsky [7:19 - 8:38]: I love it. I love it. So we are going to use words like womb and yoni. And these words were very foreign for me most of my life. I'd say in the past five years, they've come into my field of awareness of, oh, my sensuality, my sexuality, my feminine side, my feminine energy and all of this. So if you're listening and you're like, I'm not sure what the heck they're talking about, just stay. Stay with us because this is going to be some juicy stuff specifically around the expression of our feminine energy and how our womb and our Yoni and our. All of that is intertwined. And it plays a game in life, very heavily in how we call in relationships, how we create, cultivate relationships, how we succeed in business. Maybe you're a CEO, maybe you're starting out a business and you're wondering why I can't get past fill in the blank of what you're struggling with. Maybe it has something to do with the stress levels that Kim's speaking into right now, because stress is the number one thing that drives us all into a space in place of mental, emotional and physical disease. So, Kim, for those who are unfamiliar or even, like, sometimes the word yoni, I'm like, that feel. It just feels funny in my body.

Kim Bilyk [8:39 - 8:41]: I could see just by your expression.

Amie Barsky [8:42 - 8:45]: So tell us a little bit more about that language.

Kim Bilyk [8:46 - 9:23]: So this is kind of how I look at it. Yoni is the sanskrit word, basically for womb. And I know some of you are going, well, what's our womb space? Right. Think of where we carry children, right. Just in our pelvic area, just below the belly button. Everything's not the vagina. The vagina is internal. The external is the vulva. We have a uterus, we have fallopian tubes. So the wound kind of just encompasses that whole area, right? And then we go into the tantra world, or even the yogi world, and that's where yoni comes in.

Amie Barsky [9:23 - 9:56]: So I really want to. Let's back up just a bee's whisker into the encompassing of the womb, because I've had clients have birthing traumas, right. When they had their first or second child, and it was very traumatic, and they would go in and work around that area because there was work to do there. Energetic stuff was stuck and feeling disconnected from their newborns and maybe even going through postpartum depression and just all of that. So can we dive down that avenue just a tiny bit?