In this expansive conversation, Maya speaks with visionary artist, vocalist, birth worker, and elder, Maia about menstrual cycles, fertility awareness, pregnancy, home birth, menopause, intuition, creativity, aging, and reclaiming trust in the body.

Maia shares stories from her first menstrual cycle, her experiences with fertility awareness and childbirth education in the 1970s and 80s, her journey into home birth and birth activism, and reflections on menopause, and creativity.

This episode explores how cycles, pregnancy, birth, and menopause can become gateways into deeper embodiment, intuition, creativity, and self-trust.

Topics Mentioned

✨Menstrual cycles & fertility awareness ✨Cervical mucus tracking ✨Home birth & lay midwifery ✨Pregnancy intuition ✨Birth activism in the 1970s–80s ✨Postpartum healing ✨Perimenopause & menopause ✨Women’s embodied wisdom ✨Moon cycles & nature rhythms ✨Creativity & aging ✨Medical trauma & reproductive autonomy ✨Intergenerational healing ✨Spiritual embodiment ✨Music, improvisation & healing arts

Links & Resources

Maia on Bandcamp: maia8.bandcamp.com Maia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suitesweetz/ Maia on YouTuve: https://www.youtube.com/@MaiaLive

00:00 – Maia reflects on pregnancy as a spiritually expansive time and the power of women’s intuition 02:00 – Introduction to the Infinite Earth Body Podcast and guest bio for Maia 05:00 – Maia on aging, gratitude, dawn and dusk as places where light and darkness coexist 06:30 – Body check-in: rest, tennis, performance life, and listening to the body 08:15 – Maia’s first menstrual cycle story: excitement, embarrassment, sisterhood, and heavy bleeding 14:00 – Tracking cycles, irregular timing, clotting, fertility awareness, and body observation 17:00 – Pregnancy, childbirth, and how Maia’s cycles changed through motherhood 17:45 – Perimenopause experiences: feeling brittle, disconnected from the body, and redefining identity 19:00 – Maia’s last menstrual cycle at age 50 19:30 – Journaling cycles, moon tracking, pattern recognition, and heightened awareness 22:00 – Fertility awareness education, cervical mucus observations, and discovering her unique fertility patterns 27:00 – The importance of observing nature, body rhythms, and moon cycles 29:15 – Menopause, creativity, and freeing energy from interference 32:00 – Maia shares memories of her birth experience and early sensory impressions 35:30 – Becoming pregnant at 19 and traumatic experiences with the medical system 39:00 – Rh-negative pregnancy scare, resisting medical coercion, and discovering home birth 41:30 – Discovering Ina May Gaskin, spiritual midwifery, and birth activism 42:30 – Maia’s first home birth experience 44:00 – Postpartum psychosis, emotional support, and learning from elder women 46:00 – Becoming a birth worker and supporting other women’s births 47:00 – Reflections on medical racism, maternal mortality, and distrust of institutions 48:45 – Postpartum advice: slowing down, avoiding major decisions, and protecting the nervous system 51:30 – Pregnancy as a time of heightened intuition, sensitivity, and spiritual openness 53:00 – “Develop those extra senses”: trusting intuition and embodied knowing 55:00 – Advice for aspiring birth workers: anatomy, studying women’s traditions, and decolonizing birth 56:00 – Maia shares about the birth education collective “Mdewaukwantwans” 58:00 – The meaning of Spirit Lake and respecting the intelligence of nature 1:00:00 – Maia’s reflections on perimenopause, menopause, and redefining women’s aging outside patriarchal frameworks 1:02:00 – Emotional shifts in menopause, relationships, and giving women room to change 1:04:00 – Aging, wisdom, and the beauty of reaching 70 in good health 1:05:30 – Maia shares where listeners can find her music and work 1:10:00 – Reflections on possibly sharing more birth education publicly in the future 1:13:00 – Closing gratitude and blessing

In this Menstrual Magic Moon Day conversation, I interviewed my friend Cera — a clinical herbalist, medicine maker, abortion doula, and fertility awareness educator living on Ohlone land in the East Bay, California. Cera shares their path into herbalism, abortion support, and cycle tracking, weaving in stories of ancestral guidance, plant allies, self-love, connecting with the elements of nature, and community care.

We talked about: 💫 Early menstrual experiences, including first bleed stories and how cycle care has evolved over time 💫 Offering menstrual blood to the earth 💫 Cera’s fateful path into fertility awareness 💫 Hydration and movement supporting cervical fluid 💫 Removing an IUD after a long bleed - opening up a healing journey 💫 Becoming a clinical herbalist and studying with Atava Garcia Swiecicki 💫 Deep dive into yarrow: protective qualities, wound care, breaking fevers, and supporting cycles 💫 Foxglove lore, heart medicine, and the doctrine of signatures 💫 What herbalism, fertility awareness, and abortion support have taught Cera about bodies and embodiment 💫 Cera’s first abortion doula client and the ancestral dream that prepared them for the work 💫 Moving towards body love and acceptance in a culture that teaches body shame 💫 Cera’s decade-long moon ceremony practice and why moonlight is medicine 💫 Connection to the wind and the story behind the name “Wise Winds” 💫 Self-care rituals including castor oil packs, nail care, and the nourishment of food as medicine 💫 Privacy and security practices in abortion doula work and online communications 💫 How community networks strengthen reproductive autonomy and access to care

Resources & Links: • Cera’s website: https://wise-winds.com/ • Instagram: @cera.wisewinds • Bay Area Abortion Support • Holisticabortions.com • Digital Defense Fund

To learn more, take classes, and/or get 1-1 support, check out: www.infiniteearthbody.com

Follow to join us on this Infinite Earth Body Journey: https://www.facebook.com/InfiniteEarthBody/ https://www.instagram.com/infiniteearthbody/

Join our Inner Circle to continue the convo: https://www.patreon.com/InfiniteEarthBodyCollective

Intro/Outro Music - Feel the Earth by Maya Tokunaga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO7vTAbpbG4

Chapters: 00:01:00 Welcome & Grounding 00:02:00 Introducing Cera 00:03:00 How's Your Body Feeling Today? 00:04:00 First Period Story 00:06:00 How Menstrual Cycle Experience Has Evolved 00:07:00 Offering Menstrual Blood to the Earth 00:09:00 Cycle Day Check-In 00:10:00 Path Into Cycle Tracking & Fertility Awareness 00:14:00 Deciding to Remove IUD 00:17:00 Navigating Three-Month Bleed 00:18:00 Favorite Part of the Cycle 00:20:00 Path to Becoming a Fertility Awareness Educator 00:22:00 Becoming an Abortion Doula 00:25:00 Path to Becoming an Herbalist 00:27:00 Lifelong Learning with Plants 00:29:00 Yarrow Stories & Uses 00:32:00 Foxglove Dream & Plant Lore 00:35:00 Lessons About Bodies from Abortion, Herbalism & FAM 00:37:00 Personal Body Journey & Learning to Love the Body 00:40:00 Moon Connection & Ceremony 00:47:00 Relationship with the Wind & Wise Winds 00:50:00 Self-Care Practices: Castor Oil Packs 00:53:00 Technology, Privacy & Security 00:56:00 Security in Abortion Doula Work 00:58:00 Food as Medicine & Closing Reflections 00:59:00 Where to Find Cera

For this new episode of the Infinite Earth Body podcast - Menstrual Magic Moon Day, my dear friend Silvia interviewed me!

I was excited to share my stories about: 💫 how my period started as an embarrassing shameful experiences 💫 how I evolved into loving my cycle 💫 why I didn't want to stay on hormonal birth control 💫 my path into tracking my cycle with fertility awareness 💫 how I used to rant at everyone about cervical fluids 😂 💫 my journey into becoming a holistic sexual reproductive health and fertility awareness educator 💫 how I'm always going deeper in my experience of cycling and honoring the messages from my body

to learn more, take classes, and/or get 1-1 support, check out: www.infiniteearthbody.com

Follow to join us on this Infinite Earth Body Journey: http://www.instagram.com/infiniteearthbody http://www.facebook.com/infiniteearthbody/

Join our Inner Circle to continue the convo: https://www.patreon.com/InfiniteEarthBodyCollective

Intro/Outro Music - Feel the Earth by Maya Tokunaga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO7vTAbpbG4&feature=youtu.be

Chapters: 00:02:45 Maya’s First Period Story 00:04:30 Navigating Shame and Secrecy 00:06:00 Early Birth Control Experiences 00:07:15 Discovering Fertility Awareness 00:11:10 From Blood Flow to Full Cycle Embodiment 00:12:30 Cloth Pads, Menstrual Cups & Community 00:14:50 Becoming a Fertility Awareness Educator 00:17:45 From Shame to Celebration 00:18:20 Tracking with Confidence & Healing the Inner Child 00:19:15 Maya’s Favorite Cycle Phase 00:20:10 Cervix as Portal & Energetic Connection 00:21:00 Womb Awareness & Uterine Embodiment 00:22:30 Cycles as the 5th Vital Sign 00:23:30 Looking Ahead to Menopause as Rite of Passage