What Every Woman Deserves to Know About Her Heath with Dr. Rishma Walji ND PhD
We deserve more information about our bodies - from other women.
Not filtered through a textbook…
Not watered down by shame…
Not written by men in lab coats who’ve never had a period…
This week on Unapologetically Yours, I sat down with someone I’ve admired since the moment we met - Dr. Rishma Walji. She’s a Naturopathic Doctor, PhD, TEDx speaker, host of the XO Conversations Podcast… and most importantly, she’s a woman. A mother. A deeply intuitive, wildly smart human who has spent over 20 years helping women understand their bodies and navigate life’s hardest decisions.
We talked about hormones, health, and healing - but not in the “5 tips to balance your cycle” kind of way. We talked about what it really means to live in a woman’s body. About what we’ve been taught (and not taught). About the ways we override our intuition because the world told us we couldn’t trust ourselves.
We talked about the deep, emotional side of women’s health:
The grief that comes even with the right decisions.
The ache of chosen loss.
The void that shows up when we let go of something that no longer fits—but still hurts to release.
The sleep deprivation, the shame, the invisible load of being everything to everyone and still feeling like we’re not enough.
This episode is about calling BS on all of that! And reclaiming our own truth that is softer, wiser, and more honest.
In this conversation, we explore:
✨ The massive gaps in women’s health education—and how they disconnect us from our own bodies
✨ How to tell the difference between what you want, what you think you want, and what you’ve been told you should want
✨ Why your period isn’t just a nuisance—it’s a powerful window into your energy, emotions, and identity
✨ The biology of wisdom—yes, women are designed to lead after menopause (elephants and killer whales do it too)
✨ How to start listening to your body when you’ve spent a lifetime ignoring it
✨ Why we need each other to get through all of this—because we were never meant to do it alone
“Traditionally, women were surrounded by other women through birth, parenting, menopause… now we’re isolated. And that’s not how it’s supposed to be.”
Some of my biggest takeaways from Dr. Rishma:
Women’s health is not one-size-fits-all. From fertility to perimenopause, the medical system still treats women like an afterthought. But our experiences are nuanced, emotional, and deeply individual. You’re not overreacting. You’re not imagining it. You just need a provider, and a system that sees the whole you.
We deserve to understand our own bodies. So many of us reach our 30s or 40s before anyone ever explains what the phases of our menstrual cycle actually mean. Ovulation, luteal shifts, energy dips, it all affects how we show up in the world. This isn’t just health info, it’s self-knowledge.
Grief can come from your own choices. Even when the decision was aligned, there’s often something you’re leaving behind. That’s chosen loss, and it’s a part of women’s health we rarely talk about. You’re allowed to grieve what you gave up, even if you’d do it all again.
The “void” is real—and it’s valid. When you choose something aligned, there’s still often something you’re letting go of. That gap between the old and the new can feel disorienting. Naming it as chosen loss gives us space to feel, process, and grow.
Your body has a language. Symptoms, fatigue, irritation, intuition—it’s all data. When you stop overriding, numbing, or pushing through, you’ll start to hear what your body’s been trying to tell you for years.
We weren’t meant to do this alone. From the moment our bodies start changing to long after they’ve birthed, bled, and transformed—we were meant to be surrounded by other women. Grandmothers. Sisters. Community. We need to bring that back.
We need to pressure-test our desires. Dr. Rishma shares a powerful practice called “decision boarding” to explore whether our goals come from true self-knowing—or from ego, societal pressure, or survival patterns. Not every desire is ours. But when it is, it’s powerful.
Knowing what you want isn’t selfish - it’s sacred. And the path to figuring it out often starts by unlearning everything you were taught about how a “good woman” should live, feel, and choose.
You can listen to the full episode here:
Resources mentioned in the episode:
If you’ve ever felt like no one explained what’s going on in your body…
If you’ve ever felt shame for wanting more, or guilt for letting go of something you chose…
If you’ve ever wanted to trust yourself more deeply…
This episode is for you.
We’re not broken. We’re not dramatic. We’re not too much.
We are WOMEN — living full, layered lives in ever-changing bodies.
And we deserve to understand those bodies on our own terms.
Unapologetically Yours,
xx Ashley
Connect with Dr. Rishma:
YouTube @livingxo
Instagram @livingxo
Connect with Ashley:
Instagram @ashleydlogan
Website https://ashleydlogan.com/
Have a topic or guest you’d love to see featured on the Unapologetically Yours podcast? Send us an email: podcast@unapologeticallyyours.com