I help women step into their fullness. I speak truth to the hard stuff that stands in their way.
I’m Marilene and my work is women’s work: women’s health, women’s empowerment, women’s advocacy. I’m here to help you feel confident in your skin, elevate your health and radiate happiness from your soul.
My journey started over 10 years ago when I began working as a nurse in cancer care. In that work, I witnessed a great deal of suffering, both of the body and the spirit, and I learned so much about the human capacity for resilience. Having long been a passionate feminist and supporter of women’s only spaces, I shifted my career focus to working in women’s health and I currently work as a Nurse Practitioner (a nurse who can diagnose, order tests and prescribe medication) at a women’s clinic. Everyday I serve women for all their health needs: sexual health, mental health, aches and pains; whatever it is, I’ve got you.
I know that in order for women to maximize their health and prioritize their happiness, we have to talk about the hard stuff: the pain, the traumas, the troubled relationships and the systems of oppression that limit us as individuals and as a collective.
Here you will find a collection of my musings on all these facets of living a woman’s life: recipes that will fuel your health, affirmations that will nourish your mindset and reflections that foster discussion and debate.
Like you, I am a woman of many dimensions. I was born to Portuguese immigrants in a small Canadian city. I was born with such a strong spirit that I have been challenging my parents and testing their patience since my earliest days. I have never been one to shy away from asking questions or calling things how I see them.
I am a foodie. A mama. A feminist. A lover. A healer. A writer.
I honour that medicine is both science and art. I honour that humans are vast creatures with a complex history and as such we have many ways of knowing that exist outside the laboratory. Intuition, ancestral wisdom, modern psychological and medical knowledge is where I intersect.
I love chocolate (a lot). I eat greens almost as voraciously as I read books. I’m an introvert who will never turn down an invitation to dance all night long. I don’t drink flat water, or flat wine because life should be lived full out, bubbles and all. I nerd out on the gut microbiome, temperament research, pelvic floor dysfunction and Jungian psychology. I might get my medical terminology wrong, but I never forget a face or a name. I prescribe medication but I believe in the healing power of nature, crystals and sleep.
My experience of standing beside women as they work through their issues of emotional eating, obsession with weight and body image and mental health struggles has taught me a great deal about what works in terms of communication, coaching and guidance.
I’m also a self identified woman living in a woman’s body in this flawed and abundant world. From all of these truths, flows this blog as an attempt to summarize and compile what I know from all my ways of knowing: my education in nursing science and women’s studies, my practical experience in working with women struggling with mental health issues, my personal experience as a woman trying to live shamelessly and authentically, my professional experience and acquired knowledge on communication and relationships.
I hope you enjoy what I have to offer and that it resonates with you. If it does, please sign up your e-mail below for some weekly content from me.