Biohacking Women's Biorhythms for Performance & Peace with Kayla Osterhoff #415

My guest today is a renowned neuroscientist and women's health expert whose work has been featured on stages and in media around the world. Kayla Osterhoff studies the interaction between the brain, the mind, and physiology – how and why we work the way we do. 

She’s brilliant – flat out, and graciously leads my male point of view toward a new level of understanding of the opposite sex, bringing another expert perspective on women’s biohacking and hormone health, both much-requested topics by listeners of the show.

Specifically, she’s cracked the code on how women can leverage their 28-day menstrual cycle to accentuate what the body provides, and does not provide, during four distinct phases of the cycle. It’s all about being fully attuned with your body, listening to it, and following your intuition to wield proven feminine superpowers that you won’t find in any textbook.

Our deep dive certainly does not end there, as we also unpack the gender gap in health science research, evolutionary elements of fertility, and how women are, and always have been, natural stewards of their community.

 

04:34 — What’s the Difference Between the Mind & the Brain?

• Reality as bio-individual 
• Getting into women's neuro psychophysiology
• Suicide, addiction, and mental health in her family history 
• Committing to finding societal causes – and fixing them

 

09:02 — The Gender Gap in Health Science Research 

• Unpacking the resulting negative health outcomes 
• Why women are prone to tricky control data
• 1977, FDA banned women from clinical research (overturned in ‘93)

 

14:13 — The Different Cycles of Men & Women

• The 24-hour cycle of male physiology
• How and why we’re wired for predictability 
• Breaking down the 28-day cycle of women

 

16:13 — Understanding the 4 Different Phases

• The science behind a woman’s intuition (it is 100% real)
• The Red Tent: how ancient tribes synced menstrual cycles
• Modern applications of this heightened cognitive empathy 
• Phase two’s heightened emotional intelligence
• Enjoying the mood boosting neurochemicals in phase three
• How to operate in tune with your phases (journaling is key)
• Growing the brain in phase four
• Eating different to support shifting hormonal production
• Balancing the three pillars of feminine health: sugar, stress, and sex  

 

54:57 — 3 Important Teachers or Teachings 

• “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda
• Bruce Lipton’s work putting a scientific lens to the power of the mind
• Using psilocybin as a perspective shifter and mental health stabilizer 
• Mixing psychoactive substances with highly intellectual minds

 

More about this episode.

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