Ep.87 Original Recording
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Pip Lodge: [00:00:00] I just think women. Struggle in so many aspects and parts of their lives that we are not really told all the options or how to navigate or what. And that's why the work that you girls, are is so important because we need more of us that are out there actually telling these things.
it educates people and lets people know that there is ways of means of dealing with these things that outside the box. Yes. But they're worth trying because honestly, like I'm so grateful that I took the plunge and actually did this because I could have been a very, very different situation,
Welcome to the Wild and Well Collective Podcast where we believe empowered health is your superpower. We have combined our expertise in medicine and nutrition to bring you the latest research expert insights and success stories of people on a mission to live a big life. So buckle up and get ready to learn how to live wildly well.
Welcome back to an episode of the Wild and Wild Collective. Today we have [00:01:00] the beautiful pip lodge. Pip is a woman's health practitioner and founder of Bloom Massage Therapy in New Zealand, where she's been supporting women's hands on through fertility struggles, endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, pregnancy, postpartum recovery.
And menopause for over 10 years. Drawing from her own personal journey and years of clinical experience, PEP has developed a unique holistic approach to healing that focuses on therapeutic massage, lifestyle guidance, and natural tools that work with not against the body. Through her work, she's helped countless women feel heard, supported, and empowered to take control of their reproductive and hormone health.
On today's episode, she's here to share her insights. Stories and practical tips for anyone looking for a more aligned natural path to healing and balance to provide another option for those trying to treat the cause of these hormonal challenges so they can go on and lead an empowered life pain free.
Sheree Beaumont: We are so excited to have PIP here from Bloom Massage Therapy joining us. [00:02:00] I have personally had the pleasure of working with PIP myself and experienced the magic in her work, and I'm so excited that she's here today. So thank you, PIP, for being here.
Pip Lodge: Thank you. It's really, really a big privilege to join you girls. Like I've heard lots of your podcasts and I really. Relate to them, and I think women need to hear this stuff, so, it's
Sheree Beaumont: Good to have, of course. And especially the work that you do, which I'm excited for us to dive into and explore and educate people and what that is because, and I'd love for you to start off with your story a little bit more, like how your personal story really shaped.
Bloom fertility. What? Bloom massage is really all about. And how you support women today. How did that journey come about?
Pip Lodge: Well, basically it is from my journey with what I do. I started off in a completely different direction, but from the age of 12, I had horrendous period pain and really, really heavy.
10 day long, debilitating periods that took over my life [00:03:00] essentially. And, being a young girl, I was always, always like fit and healthy. I grew up on a farm and I rode horses and I did highland dancing and did lots of sports. And, like, most of the time it just got on the way. Like I would keel over when I was out running with cramps, like I would just be in the fetal position, like vomiting for hours or I would.
Fainted and wake up like I'd been punched in the gut. Literally like just battered and bruised on a monthly basis. And I even went to a girl's school to be honest, like, a girl's boarding school and you just didn't really get believed, like you tried to get outta swimming because you, that time of the month and you couldn't use tampons or anything 'cause it was just so painful.
And like they would just sort of like suck it up. But I kept, like you just. Had to get on with it, so it was, it was quite a psychological thing in the end too, because when you don't get believed by, by people that you hopefully know and trust, then it's like, it starts turning into a bit of a head game.[00:04:00]
But basically yeah, so I went through school pretty much going to the doctor probably two or three times a year. Most years, and by the time I was about 15, I was recommended the pill, like what lots of women are these days. And well, young girl should I say. And it's getting younger and younger, which is quite scary.
And yeah, so I, I went on this a pill back then because that was basically what was, told me by the doctor, and back then it was like the doctor says it goes. So, like we just, I just went with it. But a year later I was diagnosed with glandular fever, which knocked me for six. And I've since done quite a lot of research and it's been linked to the pill.
And often like depression is as well. And like. I was starting to go, the pill really wasn't serving me either. Like I always felt like I was retaining lots of fluid and I felt sick all the time and I was just not. I mean it was possibly keeping my periods a little bit more manageable, but it really wasn't the fix or like [00:05:00] anything that I was after.
So I was on and off that for a few years. And then I went down to Otago University and so basically I did science and commerce down there. I did a double major in physiology and microbiology and marketing management as well. And yeah, like I went to a lady doctor down there and she recommended me to a gynecologist.
And she was female as well, which was really nice at the time because I felt like females would understand a little bit more. About what we were going through. And I had my first surgery at 21, so that was like a nine year diagnosis, which is not unusual in this day and age with young girls, with this scenario going on.
And I found out I had stage four endometriosis, which was pretty it spread quite a way at that point even because it hadn't really been, acknowledged or done anything about for all those years. So I had one surgery at 21, 1 at [00:06:00] 24, and one at 27. And so it kept getting, coming back twofold, faster and more spread to other organs.
And by the time I got to 27, 28, sorry, it was back again. And it was all over my bowel and bladder at this stage. And I was basically told at 28 that if I. I would need more surgery straight away, which was only a year and it'd taken me ages to recover from the third one because like I obviously had so much scar tissue and so much.
But, adhesions and everything everywhere. It was, I was pretty much riddled and my doctor said, basically said if you you might need to consider a hysterectomy within two years, and obviously you're on a time bomb with having children, which is something I always wanted. If I did have a hysterectomy and if I followed that path, which was terrifying at the time.
And it was just. Unbelievable at once At, at that point in my life, it was just like, I [00:07:00] think it was just quite a turning point in my life. Like everything went to, to, crap in one fell scope. Basically, I was newly single at this point, so I was going, okay, well I'm not even in a position to have children.
I really don't want a hysterectomy because I really wanted to keep them my, it's as long as possible, and I didn't really want more surgery. So I was actually fortunate enough I went to squash. I played a lot of squash in my twenties and I to squash that night, and one of the girls on my team said she knew someone that did massage.
That had a bit of success with Endo and I was like, oh, well I'll give it a shot. I had nothing to lose and I was pretty open to trying anything at that point in time. So I basically went along and had this massage. I basically got told, I had he, that he said to me he'd have me sorted in three massages, and I just about laughed in his face because, like.
From the chronic ness of what I was experiencing and the fact that, I guess it was a male doing this, I was just like, right, okay, we'll [00:08:00] see what happens. But I was quite skeptical and it, by that point, I'd been on the pill for four years solid and not had periods. So I was quite just, yeah, going in with an open mind, trying to and I literally went off the pill after that first massage because I wanted to see what it had.
Did you know, like what it had to say for itself? Because being on the pill and not having periods wasn't gonna tell me much. So, so yeah, so we came off the pill and I knew I was gonna be in for a treat. So I basically a few days later got quite a horrendous. Flush out period, probably TMI. But I think it was going to happen anyway, so I was expecting that.
And then I had two more massages in the following cycle, and the next period was pain free for the first time in 17 years. And it just blew my mind, like literally blew my mind at the time. I was like. Second guessing it going, huh? This is okay. But this is one period in like 17 years. Like, let's get [00:09:00] real here.
So I, I carried on going once a month for two years and like, it just kept the pain just before my period and it kept the pain at bay for that two years. In that time I met my husband a year down the track and I was like, I'm finally pain free. I'm not going back on any pill. I'm not doing anything to jeopardize like the work that I've done.
I just wanna keep everything good to go and natural and at least then I could tell what was going on with my body. So that was a big thing as well. So, yeah. So, I. And like literally a year later. So everything happened quite fast from there, I turned 30 and I was going, okay, well essentially doctors have told me my time's up in terms of having kids, so I probably need to look at freezing eggs, which was only a new thing.
Sort of back then. But I was willing to do that because I really wanted that chance. And so yeah, it was just a couple of months after I turned 30, I talked to my now husband about that, but we hadn't even got engaged at that point. And he was like, okay, yep, sweet. I'll support you through that.
And then a [00:10:00] month later we got engaged and literally two weeks later, which was just before New Year. I found out I was pregnant and so it was completely not expected, like we weren't trying at all, but a huge blessing in disguise. So I then obviously went on to have three boys naturally and all natural births and I've obviously that was a huge, huge thing for me in terms of being able to be a mom and change my life.
And so the massage was just what changed it, and then it's just. Changed my life on a new trajectory. Just from there on in and I just, I had this conversation with the guy I originally went to about wanting to help women with this because it had been so life changing for my pain. And I was just like, I just wanna help women that suffer in pain with Endo, because that's just how it's helped me unbelievably.
And I just wanna create a new normal for these women because. [00:11:00] It's horrible dealing, living in pain. It's just, you can't live your best life. So, I started out, so I had my three children and I studied as a massage therapist. After my first little guy he was about 10 months old and so it was just part-time, but I'd already done physiology and microbiology, so I knew quite a lot of basis stuff anyway, so yeah.
And then I did pregnancy massage for a year at a place called Bella Mama in Auckland, which is a pregnancy spa. And so that was really great, just getting experience there. And obviously I still didn't really know. How it was gonna pan out. I had three young children and I was just kind of like going just, just at the point where my youngest turned three, I was like, okay, I'm just gonna start this, see what happens.
And honestly it was just nuts at the time about within about six months, I'd had about 20 women. Some of them were like 44, 45. Like had tried IVF numerous times and like they [00:12:00] were, had low egg count, all these things and they fell pregnant and I was just like, sometimes it was after one or two massages and I was just like, whoa, what have I opened?
Like a can of worms. Like, it just, and it just blew from there. Like, so I've been doing this 11 years now and obviously originally attending on helping women with endo and I still. That is literally the basis of what I want, how I roll. Like, I just love helping women that have suffered with endo because it's just amazing seeing them, like walk in like literally gray with pain sometimes and just debilitated to leaving.
Like they like can move and they can like just, they can just feel so much lighter and freer and they're just, like new people. Like they come in and they just, like, you can see the spark come back on in their eyes and it's just. It's so cool to see, like it just, it really rocks my boat, and then obviously helping, I've had over 500 women fall pregnant now for over the last, [00:13:00] and that's ones I know about, but it helps. In tons of different ways. It's helping with regulating cycles. With PCOS, it helps with unblocking tubes. Sometimes I've had clients with irreversibly blocked tubes and it's helped in that scenario.
It gets everything working properly, the blood flow to the area. It just flushes and realigns everything so often helps with surrounding organs to get them back to a. A decent working state, sometimes that gets a little bit sluggish over time. So, yeah, like it's a good gut reset I think, and I think every woman on the planet would actually benefit from it in some way or form.
But it obviously has turned more endo fertility based over the last few years, so, yeah. Yeah.
Christa Elza: Well first off, I love that we're both boy moms. I have three boys as well. That's awesome. Oh, cool. Awesome. Busy. Yeah. I'm so fascinated by this. Where, can you describe a little bit about [00:14:00] what the massage entails?
Like is it an internal massage? Is it on the abdomen? Is it like, how does this massage happen? And then, with some of your science background and that what is scientifically happening there with this technique? Yeah.
Pip Lodge: Definitely with that science background, it took me a lot to get my head around 'cause I was questioning everything.
And there is an element of some unexplainable stuff I think that happens in this message. But like the way I explain it to my clients really is, I always incorporate into a nice relaxing message because I think, well, I do deep tissue, but I do believe that. The body needs to come down to a nice, relaxed place, especially on these journeys.
And women are pushing themselves so hard these days that, like that is a big part. So I think massage really compliments what I do because it's a whole body experience and I think everything is [00:15:00] connected. So, yeah. So, in the first instance, I just try to bring things down at Egal two, and I use a protocol of essential oils.
I use doTERRA essential oils, and I use a, a protocol called Symphony of the Cells, which is a hormone balance protocol that's covers a lot of hormonal bases. But I think it compliments what I do. So I put like three drops of each of them down my, down the of client's spine and, that just brings things down as well and helps with a ton of things.
Yeah. So then, yeah, I do the back and shoulder and then flush the backs of the legs. Then I turn the client over and warm up the front. So all of that is pretty self-explanatory when it comes to massage. I always do explain what I do because I like the client to feel comfortable and it is fairly unique.
But where I start is around the ankle area because all in there is, there are acupressure points and stuff directly related to the uterus. So yeah, so I [00:16:00] start my technique there and I go all the way up through the meridian up to your abdomen. So it is quite a clearing in that respect as well.
So, and I think it really definitely is a big part of what I do is clearing that, that meridian up to your reproductive system. In that technique it flushes the fallopian tubes and it ends at the uterus, so it brings a blood flow and it like puts a direct link to that area. So, that kickstarts a uterus into action.
So it's an involuntary muscle obviously, and it just sheds once a month and doesn't really do a lot else unless it. It's holding a baby. But yeah, so basically I bring the focus to that point, and I think this is why it's super good round fertility wise, is because you really need that blood flow there.
And you really need to kick the uterus really does need to be doing something to actually take on an embryo or a, take on a baby and then. So yeah, so that's the first part of what I do, and then it flushes and realigns everything back [00:17:00] to where it should be. So that's a really powerful technique in itself.
And basically that's all I got in the first instance. So like, I do take it a notch further as she real know. So yeah. So I think that's hugely powerful in its own right. The second part of what I do is we as women tend to store lots of emotion in this part of our body, and this is where. Science and medicine.
And I did 10 years in pharmaceuticals, so you know, like I do know how drugs work and how disease states and stuff, but you don't really talk about a lot of the emotions and stuff we store in this part of our body. So, I like to explain this as well, so guilt, fear and stress and a lot of the big stuff that we carry in life.
Women are super good at taking on life and being super busy and just being, like superpower, basically. I think they are anyway, but basically we take on all the big stuff and if we don't quite know how to process it, we store it down here for a [00:18:00] rainy day. And this area just gets so tight with life.
Life happening. We can't stop life happening. We're always gonna be dealing with something. So most women that I massage are just so tight down in this lower abdomen part of their body that I just honestly don't know how they would probably get pregnant anyway. Especially, obviously we're having babies later in life and we just basically like charging on like in a sort of a male driven.
Energy world and trying to be little men basically, and not not listening to our bodies. We're like, we're working nine till five right through our cycles and, we, we are on 28 days as, not a 24 hours like guys are. So aren't really listening to our bodies. So the big stuff, and it can be like miscarriages, it can be like parents divorcing, it can be like.
Being put in awful positions that you shouldn't be like there. There could be tons of things going on in life that we dunno how to deal with and we're not taught to, and we're not really able [00:19:00] to often release that in any way. And so often with what I do, it does. Bring out a big emotional sort of release because it just gets everything moving.
And so some of my clients literally break down on the table and I gig. This is a part that's unexplainable. I had tears streaming down my face when I had this message, and I just thought it was sheer pain because it felt like razor blades, like literally from the ankles right up. I was just like, what was that?
But. Yeah, it's a huge relief and a lot of my clients, like when I, I get them to actually feel that part of their body after I've done the massage. And I do spend a good 20 minutes in this area, so I do go to town, but it feels so soft and the uterus feels so soft and relaxed. And I always say like, a baby feels a lot safer to be conceived in an environment like that, but also.
Has room to grow. And so it can often prevent miscarriages and things going forward, because a lot of my clients have [00:20:00] multiple miscarriages. I have hundreds of different clients and every single woman that walks through my door has a different journey going on. So I don't tend compare people.
So I've got a bit of a frog in my throat. So yeah, I don't tend to compare my clients at all because everyone's on a different journey, but. It's just so nice to be able to, change the frame of their future basically, and allow them to be in a position where they can try for a baby or have a pain, like deal with the pain relief because, both of them are life changing and in different ways.
Yeah.
Sheree Beaumont: So.
It's such a beautiful process too. Like I can speak to it from a firsthand experience and fortunately I'm someone that hasn't had endometriosis or, gone down that journey, but, and I'm obviously on the fertility journey as of yet. But it's, it is quite fascinating, like you say with the meridian points.
I've always looked into traditional Chinese medicine and seen how you do need to like, massage around the ankles and the fact that you move. You're really moving the [00:21:00] energy as well. And I love that you talked to the fact that yes, there's a lot of science, but there's also a lot that we can't explain.
There's a lot that goes on in terms of that stored trauma. And you even see this with women now coming home to themselves in whether they're moving their hips more or just freeing up that space, whether that's through dancing or just a little bit more expression, right? We're even, we are very masculine in our conditioning and in the society, which you mentioned.
And so giving our body that ability to have something that's. Also where we can receive, which is a huge part of our femininity. Jumping into that massage space and having someone give us what we need to realign to flush to refresh. And so you've mentioned that you've worked with people with endometriosis, with fertility challenges, with PCOS, with hormonal imbalances.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions you see in these kind of areas, and how does your, I guess you've talked to this a little bit already, but how it differs from that mainstream [00:22:00] solution? I know it goes a little bit deeper than the massage itself as well.
Pip Lodge: Yeah. I guess again, it goes back to my own experience because I guess back then you went to the doctor said.
You know this or didn't because I often felt like I was hitting my head a greenstone brick wall. But like a lot of what women see is they go to the doctor and, you get eventually a diagnosis or you get put on contraception for goodness knows how long. And there's obviously heaps of different versions of these things.
You've got the IUD marina, the injection. You've got all these things, but. It's not really addressing the cause, it's not actually just dealing with why it happened in the first place. And I think that's a big thing with what I do as well, is it really addresses that, that primary cause of what's actually going on, which as I said is the emotional release.
It's like going back to, we don't even know we're storing it half the time, but like, I think that is where it is very [00:23:00] different to mainstream medical. But I guess the thing is too is you know, when you're a 20, 28 or whatever age you are, and you're told that you can't have kids, that you need a hysterectomy, you just, you honestly feel like your whole life is just like, put in some category of like not being able to, too hard basket almost, and it's like I, and once you're told something like that, it's hard to get it out of your head, if so a lot of women just struggle with like, just find not knowing where to turn and not knowing that there are other options out there. And unless you're on a journey like this or prepared to do something out of the, I dunno, you wouldn't even know, like these things exist.
So I just, I like women to know that there are options out there worth trying. And you'll find what works for you. Like, like there's acupuncture, there's like, lots of other different modalities out there. But you know, it's just nice to know that women have [00:24:00] options, because that's the thing, like if you carry on down that mainstream, you might not ever have the chance to have kids.
And, that would've been devastating. That would've changed the whole. Way, our life is actually gone, and I just think women need options. We don't need to be like, just put in a basket at the side and just putting a plaster over it and just get on with life, if we don't address these things and like, I just, I'm going through the whole perimenopause situation at the moment, being in my forties, and like that's a whole nother navigation as well, and I just think women. Struggle in so many aspects and parts of their lives that we are not really told all the options or how to navigate or what. And that's why the work that you guys are doing as well, you girls, sorry, are is so important because we need the more of us that are out there actually telling these things.
It just, it educates people and lets people know that there is ways of means of dealing with these things that outside the box. Yes. But they're worth trying [00:25:00] because honestly, like I'm so grateful that I took the plunge and actually did this because I could have been a very, very different situation, so, yeah. But you mentioned,
Christa Elza: if I answer, you mentioned PCOS along with, you mentioned PCOS along with ino. Yes. So I have a question about that. Like, does, have you seen the, the massage and I guess some more of the questions that I have is, how often do women have to have the massage? Is it every month?
Is it a couple of times a month? And then, you mentioned yourself, you went on to have three kids. Do you have to do regular massage to stay on top of this? Yeah, what's the regimen and is this something like ongoing that women will need to maintain the results?
Pip Lodge: Yeah. So, going back to that Endo and PCO over the years, I've learned a lot and, originally I started out obviously only dealing with Endo because that was where I came from.
And obviously I can relate to all of those clients that come in with Endo. PCOS [00:26:00] is obviously a completely different beast. But also there is relational things with both of them. But I believe. A lot about Endo is the way we process emotional stuff, like, and where we store it. I think that has a big part to do with why Endo starts getting outta control from quite a young age.
Going back, like my parents divorced when I was nine and I'm the oldest in the only girl, and I'm hugely empathetic and sensitive and I took on a lot of stuff that I shouldn't have and it wasn't mine to take on. But obviously as a. You just don't know how to process that stuff, and it can lead onto a lifelong thing of, trying to, trying to deal, but you don't quite know where it comes from and it's, it shapes you, right.
But P-C-O-S-I often think can come from like a trauma and a lot of stuff where you've put in almost vulnerable situations where you just don't. Don't know how to process. And again, it's your body's [00:27:00] protection mechanism to try and protect you from having situations happen like that. It's, yeah, so your body produces more testosterone to masculinize to stop you being put in awful positions.
And it's not like, I'm not saying that's everyone's thing, but trauma from, especially from young age. Is really huge and we often don't even remember, or our minds can block things out, but our bodies remember and they try to protect us. So I think with a lot of what I do with that, it can help with regulating cycles.
PCOS and I often, because I do such a big abdominal flush, it can start getting other organs working better, like your digestive system and it clicks everything on a bit So. Often your bowels can flush, your bladder, can flush your digestive system starts working a little bit better.
But yeah, I have noticed that some women have lost a bit of weight after this. Like [00:28:00] they've just because they're carrying so much, they don't realize how much they're carrying. And on that sort of mental slash emotional load. So, yeah, so that's where it I feel like the link comes with PCOS.
Obviously there's a lot more to it as well with hormones and getting all that right. But I often recommend essential oils as well to help with like bringing blood sugars into balance and things like that. Because I do try to recommend natural supplements and things like that, berberine and things like that to help with that.
In terms of how much you need this massage, it's depends what people come for. Like, if women come for endo, then I recommend having three massages quite close together, like when I say that at least seven days apart. But I like to obviously help women really fast and it generally is sorted within three massages.
The odd person may need one or two more down the track if things start niggling again, because endo is [00:29:00] one of those things that makes its way back over time. And I always say to my clients, if they start getting that back at any stage, come back then rather than waiting till it goes full blown terrible again, but.
It generally does sort really fast. So I have a huge turnover of clients, which I don't know if sounds good in some respects, but I do try to help people as fast as I possibly can, and it's so amazing when you see that result so quickly as well, because people go on to just be like the best.
Selves, free of pain fertility wise it sometimes only takes between one and three massages as well. So sometimes only one, like blows my mind. But everything obviously aligns and that's great. But as I said, every single woman has a different fertility journey going on. Some women come at the start of their journey, which is great because they're like preparing and like hopefully haven't had years of heartbreak in that process.
And then other people are. A woman are just like [00:30:00] literally down the track like willing to try anything. And I completely understand when you want a baby like you, you will try everything. And I think it's so nice to be able to help in that process as well. Like it just always makes me do a happy dance when I receive an email saying, or a text or whatever saying that women are fallen pregnant from the massage, whether it be.
In conjunction with treatment or by itself, it's just like, yay, we've got this. Yeah. So, with fertility, I always say to come in the first half of the month after your period before ovulation usually around the ovulation window is perfect 'cause it just gets the blood flow and everything cranking.
So you've got a window to try and hopefully things happen in that time. Obviously that's the big guessing game, but the other thing with PCO going back to PCOS is it can help bring ovulation back, which often a lot of women aren't ovulating, and I've had that happen. Some women have not been ovulating in years and it's brought it back.
So that's another really cool, especially when you're trying for a baby, you [00:31:00] obviously need ovulation and having a regular cycle is really important as well. So, yes. I'm just trying to think what the other questions were you, so, yeah, so generally I do try to help women as fast as I possibly can and yeah, it is generally between one and three massages.
I feel like I went once a month for two years, basically psychologically, because my, like, it took me quite a while to get my head around the pain relief, if like, because I'd had 17 years of chronic pain. I was just like, I just wanna keep this at bay. So. That was my thing, just to do it just before my period every time.
So it just kept everything flowing nicely and I think with me, like after multiple surgeries as well, I had so much scar tissue and so much going on that having that once a month. Broke down a lot of that scar tissue and it actually, like freed up a lot of my organs because scar tissue is like Velcro that sticks things together as well.
So, not only have you got adhesions that [00:32:00] are causing havoc and cutting off major organs, you've got like scar tissue that smacks everything together. So, I just like Velcro sticks, everything. Yeah. So it's nice to get women back into a sort of free and easy movable state where, you can move.
But I think we're always work in progresses, so we can't always ignore what's going on and even going through perimenopause like I am at the moment, I think it's important to address all the time if you can, keep on top of it. Yeah. But my periods now, like, and this has been for the last.
20 years now. They used to be 10 days long, really heavy, really painful, and I do believe it takes about five years for a young girl to get a normal cycle going on. So there is a lot going on in that period and often we are cutting it off by going on the pill because of some of the extreme circumstances we're dealing with.
But like it may have evened out a little bit more over my latter teens or whatever if I hadn't gone on the pill, but. Now it's three days [00:33:00] long and not heavy and not painful. So that is the game changer. That was, because it doesn't take over my life anymore, and I have very, very little pain.
I don't have to take pain relief, which I used to take codeine and all the stuff, and it didn't even hit the sides. Like just wasn't anything. So, yeah, so it's definitely been awesome. So yeah, I'm quite happy that I've still got my girl bits, when I'm in my later forties and I know what's going on.
And I just think it makes you so much more in tune with your body when you're not on anything like the pill or anything. You can pick up on stuff so much easier as well. And know what, when your body is changing and what is going on because. Like we can't mask it and know what's happening.
We just literally can't, and I know there's a place for a lot of these drugs and stuff, like some of them are used to manage situations and like I come from the pharmaceutical industry, so I'm not sitting here saying you don't need them. There are times and places that you do need some of [00:34:00] these things, but I just would rather try and sort things naturally so you know what's going on with your body before you go down that route.
If you can.
Sheree Beaumont: Yeah.
Pip Lodge: So
Sheree Beaumont: yeah, I love this and I love this conversation because I think even like you've mentioned as you transition into perimenopause or menopause, it starts so much younger and that's what we are really starting to see come through. And the work that Kristen and I do with our clients is.
Taking care of yourself now, like at my age, at 30 or even younger. In fact, the beautiful conversations that I'm having are with girls in their twenties and even in their teens that have refused to go on the pill because they're so much more educated now. Like, it's a conversation I don't wish I had, have had when I was that age because.
I don't think I'd be where I am now, helping the women the way that I do, but I'm so grateful that there is so much more education in this space so that we can start putting practices in place to change the way that we do things moving forward as females. And the [00:35:00] fact that we are not living for so much longer, it's looking at what post menopause actually looks like and how we can really optimize that.
So it's a beautiful thing that you've mentioned and the fact that if women are coming to you now and having the support now. They are potentially preventing having to have a hysterectomy. I can't tell you how many clients have come to me who have either had a hysterectomy or we've been fortunate enough to work together before that's been the case, and then they haven't had to go and do that.
It really does change, like you say, the trajectory of someone's life. So I'm really curious when it comes to this massage, I know you see it so much deeper than just the physical therapy. What role do you play? In terms of the energetic healing or the spiritual healing or even emotional healing when it comes to your clients.
Pip Lodge: So obviously I provide a safe space for women to be able to talk about their journeys. Like from the moment they enter the into the room, like I just try to make them feel as safe and as comfortable as possible. And that's why I like to explain [00:36:00] everything about what I do, but also like. Their journeys.
Give me an idea of what they're dealing with. But, fertility especially well, and endo, because especially if you're not being believed, just stop talking about it generally. But women haven't talked about this stuff sometimes with anyone. Like, it's such a private, like, lonely journey for so many women that it's just quite devastating really.
So. I just like to provide a space that they can talk if they want to. Some, some women don't, some women just want to just, enjoy the process. But I think. Things happen anyway because I am, in touch with the client and I literally, do the whole body and I always end with it a neck and head massage because I think after doing all the abdominal stuff, they probably think, oh my gosh, because I lead them into this nice relaxing space.
And then this stuff with the abdomen is really deep and it can leave you quite sore for a few days, but it does do a lot of change in quite a [00:37:00] small amount of time. So. I have to explain a lot of that as well. But you know, the change is good, and I can generally feel for adhesions and scar tissue and stuff like that as well.
So, I definitely have, it's, it is quite insur. It does become quite intuitive when you do know what to feel for over time. And, the more I've seen clients, the more I've learned, so I've learned a lot along the way, but it's definitely been. It's such a journey, like, I obviously have my science background.
I'm always trying to like, I'm always researching and always trying to figure out ways and means of helping my clients and I always suggest supplements and things like that. That can help as well. Depending on what situation they're going through because there's so many different scenarios out there.
But there's a few things that come into like the fertility space and stuff that can help. So, yeah, I just liked, I like to try and help however I can, so, and I just, yeah, it's nice. A lot of my clients like to hug me. [00:38:00] They leave because they're just like, oh, it's just been such a, a good experience on the most part, but yeah, it's definitely just one of those really nice things to be able to provide a space for women, to feel safe and to be able to talk about stuff. Yeah, because yeah, I said like, yeah, it can be lonely and just you just don't know until you're going through these things. I think even having a baby, like I didn't even know what to do when I fell pregnant the first time.
You go onto this whole, especially when it was unexpected. But, like I just, I just remember going. Like it's supposed to be the most normal thing in the world, and yet, like, there's not really too much advice out there. Like people just go, oh, go to your doctor. Or, you just mm-hmm.
And it's just so normal. So the more we talk about these things, the more we make it open. I think women feel more comfortable and being able to actually release, and, it's form of release as well talking about it, but obviously it's that mind body connection too that that I'm working [00:39:00] with.
So.
Christa Elza: Yeah, I think it's great that you bring up things that women may not even know is connected to the physical disease process in their body. And, a lot of people have a hard time even acknowledging that, that some of that might be, on that spiritual level, how we hold energy in our cells.
I've found that too, though with my patients, that many women that I've had with endo actually experienced some kind of sexual trauma. When they were younger which kind of developed into shame, guilt around absolutely. Sexuality. And so they're holding that. So I've, I have seen this as well. Yeah. So I think it's really interesting that you incorporate that with it because I think a lot of people just aren't aware of Absolutely.
How trauma, whether it's big trauma or little trauma, it really does affect our body and comes out in a disease form. Yeah. I wonder too though, are there things that you have your clients do after they've met with you? So you mentioned, around the ankle and the meridian. Are there any [00:40:00] like self massage like that you have them do to stimulate that themselves?
Do you have them do any kind of breath work? Like what sort of the maintenance for women to not revert back or maybe have a little bit more autonomy in this? And that's piggybacked on the question of do you work with people virtually? I know you're. You're not in the US and so do you have any sort of techniques or anything like that women can do without being able to be in the same room with you?
Pip Lodge: Yeah, true. The technique and work that I do is super deep, so I don't think women would be able to do that on themselves very easily, to be honest. Sure. You can agree with it. So yeah, but I do always recommend yoga poses. I. Basically very basic downward dog up into Cobra, like backwards and forwards into those two motions because those two, like, it keeps this area nice and free and fluid after the massage, but also it's really good for hormone balance, those two moves.
So that's something I always suggest, and [00:41:00] especially if you're sitting for long periods of time or, like doing lots of exercise or whatever. It's just quite freeing, if we are doing a lot of core work and things like that, because obviously I'm trying to free the core up and sometimes a lot of these workouts are quite core focused or like, you just gotta make sure you counteract that by keeping it nice, especially if you're trying for a baby because, wanna keep that the uterus all nice and relaxed and.
And free. I do sometimes say like just gentle massage upwards, round, round your lower abdomen and stuff will help just with blood flow and things like that. There is the main technique and things like that. It's, I think it's a Hawaiian technique that is quite gentle and you can do that yourself.
There's probably YouTube videos and things like that you can do. But yeah, no, I generally, and I think. I think when I say one to three massages, like one does a lot and that's probably the one that most people find the most full on because it is a bit of a shock to the system and it is really deep.
So [00:42:00] that's why I like to prepare my clients. But I think two or three is really good for just resetting the body for the longer term. Like you're gonna get a lot more out of having three because it can leave pain. At bay up to a year or longer having three massages in that sort of couple of month period or six weeks or whatever.
So yeah, so, yeah, I just, yeah, I very much do believe that having more than one massage is more beneficial, but it's just yeah, when people can come. And I obviously have clients coming from everywhere, like sometimes internationally, sometimes around New Zealand. So I do try to obviously do as much as I can.
In one visit and they can't usually stay for like a week. Sometimes it's not always the case. So, I do try and I do give these people these women advice about how you can prolong things like that. But yeah, the more you can, like, I guess the more when it comes to that three you have the better.
Yeah. [00:43:00]
Sheree Beaumont: Oh, it's been such a blessing to have you here, pep. Like I love the knowledge that you've shared and one of the things I've loved about this conversation, and I hope that our listeners take away is there's a hope, and I think it's really shifting the narrative around this. I speak to so many women, and I know Chris is the same, that and obviously yourself, where they quite often end up in our offices or end up in our studios or wherever they decide to work with us in.
A real estate of defeat. And so this is really talking to the woman and, and giving her the knowledge that there are other methodologies. There are the modalities out there, like you mentioned. There's things like acupuncture. It's looking at different meridian points and just the success rate that you've had with your clients is just phenomenal.
Not just from a, a fertility journey or a Pecos journey. Endometrial like you, you're treating women at all across the board. And I even know from my personal experience, like the. Just the difference in the likeness that I felt afterwards, ev, even though I don't struggle with those pain points particularly, it still felt amazing to have that done.
And it was still, [00:44:00] like you say, a very deep massage. And there were areas that were getting flushed out. I'm very sure. So I thank you so much for the work that you do in this world and for giving up your time today to be here with us. It's. It's so awesome and I really do hope that people reach out and connect with you.
What is the best way for women to do that if they're sitting here listening, going, oh my gosh, I need pip in my life.
Pip Lodge: I'm on socials and stuff like Inster, it's Bloom fertility massage and Bloom endo massage. And on Facebook it's Bloom message. PIP Lodge, I think. Exactly. And then I've got a website which has got a lot of my success stories and stuff on as well which is Blue massage.co nz.
But I always encourage women if they want to give me a call, I'm more than happy to chat through what they're dealing with and give them a little bit of coaching around that too, because like I can send them off in different areas knowing what my clients are going through and what they're trying.
Like there are [00:45:00] lots of different options you can try and even being in. Other places I would love to once my boys, well my boys are teenagers now, but I would love to get out a bit more. I go down to Hamilton, which is about an hour and a half south, and once a month and I see a great couple of days of clients down there once a month and that's really cool too.
So, and I am helping a lot of women in the perimenopause space as well. So, yeah, but no, I like to help people wherever I am. So if people are reach out and they say I'm in such and such, I'm like, I try to contact them if I'm in the area or whatever as well. So, yeah. So definitely happy to chat.
Awesome. We'll put that in the show notes.
Christa Elza: Cool. And I love your heart. I love that you're just all about it. All about kinda spreading. The love and the help, and surely with three kids, it's not not without some sacrifice. So, I also applaud you for what you're doing in this world and huge blessing.
And I hope people listening today have at least [00:46:00] a glimmer of hope and know that something like this exists, even if we're not in New Zealand and we can't necessarily get there, that we know now that there is a resource and you can at least point them in the right direction and that there's some other alternatives because I think that's really important to know.
All that there is. So thanks again for being here, PIP.
Pip Lodge: No, that's all good. I just love to provide hope, like you're saying like hope is, is my, I think should be my middle name. But yeah, no, I just I just love it and I love what I do and I've been very fortunate that I can work around my family as well.
Like I work from home. In New Zealand. So the boys have had me pretty much now their whole lives, being able to work around them. But I have worked hard, but it's been great 'cause it gives me a good balance with like working with all females and having a house full of males. So Yeah. I understand. Thank you for having me.
Thank you for having me. It's been really, really a pleasure.
If you love this episode, be sure to leave us a review, [00:47:00] download, and subscribe. If you know someone that could also benefit from this conversation, please share. That's how we Spread Empowered Health. We'll see you again for another episode of the Wild and Wild Collective.
