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
