Episodios

  • Food. Sex. Magic: Aphrodisiac Foods for a Healthy Sex Life
    Jun 23 2024
    In this episode, Naked Librarian host, Victoria Payne, interviews Amy Reiley, an aphrodisiac food expert, about the connection between food and sexual health. They discuss how certain foods can affect sex drive and performance, and provide tips for incorporating aphrodisiac foods into meals. Amy explains that foods like dark chocolate, chili peppers, coffee, and pineapple can have positive effects on sexual health. She also emphasizes the importance of hydration and a varied, colorful diet for overall sexual well-being. The conversation highlights the importance of individual preferences and finding foods that both partners enjoy. Amy cautions against consuming foods that are endangered or dangerous, as they have no proven aphrodisiac effects. Always seek professional advice for any sexual health concerns. *** Thank you to Amy Reiley at eatsomethingsexy.com. And thank you to ORKAS for the tunes...Hey You. You can find The Naked Librarian's Guide to Your First Colonoscopy here. Thank you to our sponsor Mission Flow — marketing and automation for businesses on a mission. To see the transcript of this episode, see below: Speaker 1: You can affect your sexual health and performance without prescription drugs or expensive supplements. When it comes to sex, food really is medicine. Speaker 1: So how's your sex life? Kind of an intimate question, I know, but did you know that 40% of women age 40 or older report a lowered sex drive and after 50, that drops to 34% and men aren't doing that much better? With 46% of men over 50 reporting some issue with erectile dysfunction. Now, don't get me wrong, I hope you have an amazing, fulfilling, tremendous sex life. I wish you many orgasms and wet and wild nights, but if you're like a lot of Americans over 40, your sex life may not be what it once was before kids and your twenties perimenopause, or the stress about paying for college or saving for retirement. In fact, there's a lot that goes into our sexual yearnings and enjoyment beyond aging and hormones. And perhaps no big surprise here, our mental health plays a big part. Now for the good news, you can affect your sexual health and performance without prescription drugs or expensive supplements when it comes to sex, food really is medicine. Speaker 1: And today I'm going to introduce you to an aphrodisiac food superhero goddess who is helping men and women have happy sex lives until their dying day, if of course, that is what they want and why not want that? Sex is fun. It relieves tension, provides pleasure, and builds intimacy with your partner. Hi, I'm Victoria Payne, your host and the creator of The Naked Librarian, where I uncover the truth about health and happiness for grown ass women. If you're new here, welcome. I'm so glad you're here. I'm a writer, storyteller and recovering English professor who uses her nerd power and love of good stories to bring you wellness news with some spice. Today you meet Amy Riley, a astronomical sex expert. Amy has an MA in astronomy from LA Cord Blue and is the author of five Aphrodisiac cookbooks, including Fork Me Spoon, me, and her latest project, the Better Sex Bundle for Men. Speaker 1: You can find amazing recipes and free resources over at her website, eat something sexy.com. In this episode, Amy's got your hot tips on foods to amp up your sex drive, what to order and what to avoid on a romantic night out. And for the nerd choir, like me, some science behind why certain foods come with sexual health benefits. And yes, sometimes it's the actual nutrients, but sometimes it's the experience, the sound dark chocolate makes when you snap off a bite. That's what we're talking about. So if you're at all curious about what to eat or even what to hand feed your partner, join me in this fun and inspired conversation with Amy. Oh, and bring your notepad. You're probably going to want to jot a few of these tips down, or if you're in your car, maybe make some mental notes because you are in for a treat. Speaker 2: So I'm so happy that you can join me today and people are going to listen to this at some point, but I think it's worth noting that we are just one day before we're like Valentine's Day Eve, and this is your time. This is when it sounds like you've had this amazing season of people wanting to talk to you about your specialty. And so I'm just curious, what have been some of the appearances that you've made, some of these special things that have happened because of your specialty in Aphrodisiac Foods? Speaker 3: Oh my goodness. Well, first of all, I love that Valentine's Day Eve. Yes, it's the most, I mean, today is the more wonderful day. It's like you can anticipate Valentine's Day. I always like that feeling. So wonderful things. So I just found out that some of my quotes are recipes are going to be featured on AARP's website for Valentine's Day. So yes, so what is it, 55, ...
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    44 m
  • WAWSOME: Why we need daily awe and wonder
    Jun 10 2024
    In this episode, Victoria discusses the concept of awe and its effects on our well-being with writer Rumi Tsuchihashi. Together, they explore the way awe provides an essential human experience of being in the presence of something vast that transcends our understanding of the world. Rumi shares a simple practice for cultivating awe, by noticing and photographing something awe-inspiring for seven days, as a way to cultivate awe in everyday life. She shares some of her writing, which emphasizes the importance of being open to new experiences and finding beauty in the small moments. Rumi also brings insights from the way her grandparents experienced daily awe and wonder, as well as the benefits of vocalizing and sharing these experiences with others. The two encourage listeners to seek out awe in their own lives and to embrace the beauty and wonder that surrounds them. Thank you to Rumi Tsuchihashi at rumitsuchihashi.com. Visit her website or find the beautiful writing you here in this episode on Amazon.com. And thank you to Aldar Kedem for the tunes...Ocean in Motion. You can find The Naked Librarian's Guide to Your First Colonoscopy here. Thank you to our sponsor Mission Flow — marketing and automation for businesses on a mission. Read the transcript below: Speaker 1 (00:00:00): Have you ever wondered why you feel compelled to say words like Wow or awesome? Turns out these everyday words help us describe big, emotional and sensory experiences known as wonder and awe. Now, science is just now starting to really understand the effects of awe on our wellbeing, and there's a lot to learn. If you want more peace and calm, even happiness in your life, this conversation is meant for you. (00:00:36): There's so many things you can do for your health and wellbeing, yoga, walking, meditation, stretching, running, gardening, strength training, buying organic, a beach vacation. But what if I told you there's a simple practice that helps you feel more present and alive, more connected to the world, and all living things decreases. Stress increases happiness and fills you with the kind of love that brings you to happy tears. And you can do it anytime and any place, whether you're alone or with someone else, it's 100% free. And maybe the very best part requires no conscious effort. In fact, all you have to do is show up. What is this amazing, miraculous, wonderful thing I'm talking about? Sometimes we call it awe, and sometimes we call it wonder. The two experiences seem to exist on a continuum and understanding awe and its effects on our wellbeing is something science is just now starting to understand. (00:01:32): In Brene Brown's fabulous Atlas of the Heart and encyclopedia of emotions and experiences she uses researchers, oic, Weiner, and Johannes Wagman's helpful explanation of the difference between awe and wonder. Wonder inspires the wish to understand and awe inspires the wish to let shine, to acknowledge, and to unite. Hi, I'm Victoria Payne, a health and happiness nerd, and the creator and your host of the Naked Librarian. If you're new here, welcome. I am so glad you're here. You've picked a fantastic episode for your first naked librarian experience. In this episode, I'm going to bring in another definition of awe according to Docker Kelner, a psychologist and awe researcher, you're going to hear it again later in the episode, and that's intentional. This is one of those definitions that's worth writing down. Kelner says, awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world. (00:02:31): And one of the coolest things about awe is according to keltner, awe can also come in the form of perceived vastness. Let that sink in. This is something we're going to be talking about and exploring in this episode. Now, here's some facts to know about awe. It calms your nervous system by activating your vagus nerve. It does to your brain something very similar to prayer, meditation, and pilgrimage. It deactivates, what's your default network, which is the place we do a lot of our overthinking, negative thoughts and old stories. It helps us understand our place and our connection to the world. Time in nature, movement, meditation even. And this is going to be a whole other episode, psychedelics in courage. Awe, some people are more wired to experience awe, which psychologists believe is a trait because they're more curious and comfortable with the unknown and with what language cannot describe. (00:03:28): But, and this is fabulous news, you can cultivate more on your life by being open to new experiences. And as you'll see in this episode, I believe that writing about our lives helps us experience more wonder and awe because we get to do a double take. We get to conjure up a forgotten moment and ask it to show us why we've remembered it after all these years. In other words, we get to look at our own lives with awe. That's why to better understand ...
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    1 h y 8 m
  • Route 50: What it Means to Mindfully Turn 50
    May 28 2024
    In this episode, Victoria Payne chats with her long-time friend Angie Parker Yoakum, a life coach and first-time author, who's hitting the big 5-0. They dive into how milestone birthdays are perfect times for a bit of self-reflection and personal growth. Angie opens up about her own journey of figuring herself out and how crucial it is to really know yourself to craft the life and relationships you're after. She gives us a sneak peek into her book, "Before You Say I Do: Questions Every Person Should Ask," which is all about asking the tough questions about past experiences, values, and future dreams, both for you and your partner. Angie's big on knowing your worth and not settling for less in relationships. She also opens up about how her family background shaped her views on love and relationships. All in all, it's a heart-to-heart on why knowing yourself inside out is key to a fulfilling and meaningful life. A big thanks to Angie Parker Yoakum! Look for her book : Before You Say I Do: Questions Every Person Should Ask...out soon on Amazon. And thank you to Seth Parson for his music. This episode features his track "The Sun is Out." Show transcript below: Speaker 1 (00:01): Big birthdays, we approach them with some trepidation, dread, maybe excitement. But what if you could use the runway to 50 or 60 or 70 or 40 as a way to know yourself better? Because we can't have the life or relationships we want if we haven't done the work to know ourselves and become the person of our dreams. Yep, I said it. You are who you've been waiting for. (00:36): We've all got them. People who change our lives, people we can grow with, and if we're lucky people we can grow old with. And speaking of getting old or what my 78-year-old father likes to call getting older, I am so glad you tuned into today's conversation because I'm going to introduce you to one of the wisest and most interesting women you are bound to meet. And she just so happens to be one of my oldest friends. And I promise you, if you ever find yourself in the same room with Angie Parker Yoakum, you're going to have a meaningful conversation. You'll leave their thinking about your answers and likely inspired to dig a little deeper. If you're new to the Naked Librarian, welcome. I'm Victoria Payne, a writer, storyteller, recovering English professor and total health nerd, and also your host. I created The Naked Librarian because I wanted more honest conversation about women's health and happiness. (01:34): It's my hope that the show gives you practical tips and food for thought because in my ever expanding Girlfriend Circle, I know one thing for sure. We are all in it together. So let me tell you more about Angie Parker Yoakum. She is a life coach, first time author, mom to a beautiful teenage daughter and an all-star human being that you're going to fall in love with. In this episode that I've entitled Route 50, we dive into the mindful journey of turning 50 in a modern age. Because let's face it, ladies, it's both a personal milestone and potentially a meltdown. Your body, brain, hormones, life, job, relationships, everything has aged. And it could be hard to take the good with the bad, but what if you could use your road to 50 or 60 or 70 or 40, maybe 30 as a way to know yourself better? (02:28): Because as do hear in our conversation, we can't have the life or relationships we want if we haven't done the work to know ourselves and become the person of our dreams. Yep, I said it. You are who you've been waiting for, and that's exactly what Angie and I talk about today. We dive into regret what we learned or didn't learn from our parents, parenting loss and what we would tell our 25-year-old self who has yet to embark on the journey and learn the wisdom that we now have for better or worse in our gosh dang back pocket. And we want to give it to you. Now, Angie's book is coming out soon, so this conversation is a bit of a preview and also listening in to two old friends talk about life and all they've learned along the way. And bonus, whenever you listen to this episode, I just want you to know that it airs on Angie's 50th birthday. How cool is that? So you are here celebrating it with us. So come with me and Angie as we put all this stuff together. We made this episode for you, Angie, do you remember how we met? Speaker 2 (03:39): So we were at UPS, we worked at UPS together, and Victoria was this young southern belle little tender. What were you like 19? Such a little peach. And we were really lucky in the whole hub of Swan Island, UPS to work in this little corner called the hazardous responder section, which they had one just on each, it was just two in the whole hub, if you know what I'm talking about. In UPS, just the warehouse. But there were two ends to where it was literally what, six of us and Victoria and I were two of the six. And we just bonded. We became friends and she learned about my little quirks of, what was it you made quiche? ...
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    52 m
  • Guided Meditation from Kai Siedenberg: Nature Connection
    May 1 2024

    Bonus episode that goes with "I'll Meet You There."

    Thank you to Kai Siedenburg who shares her wisdom and teaching in this short and calming meditation. Learn more about Kai at her website.

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    6 m
  • I'll Meet You There: Why Developing an Intimate Relationship with Nature Means You're Never Alone
    May 1 2024
    If you're looking for more connection, calm, energy, and sense of well-being — this episode is for you. Thank you to our podcast guest, Kai Siedenberg, a nature connection guide and ecotherapist about exploring a deeper relationship with the natural world. Learn more Kai, order her books and read her work over on her website. Thank you to Louis Island for the "My Home" tracks featured in the podcast. They provide a beautiful sense of peace and possibility. And a big thanks to Mission Flow, a marketing and automation platform for purpose-driven businesses and organizations, for sponsoring this episode. Kai has also generously provided a guided meditation to help you get out and explore a deeper connection to nature, starting right where you are. You can find it here. ***** Below is the transcript from the show: Speaker 1: That thing you've been looking for. Love, connection, companionship, calm, energy, purpose. There's a good chance it's outside. Speaker 1: Did you play outside as a child? What was your favorite thing to do? When I was young, I loved making mud pie and playing free tag. As I got older, I played spotlight a game like hide and seek, but at night with a flashlight. Just after the lightning bugs settled down, we'd be outside searching for each other beneath the glow of summer stars. Growing up in Georgia also meant that I swam nine months out of the year and we visited the ocean regularly. I performed underwater mermaid flips in the salty Atlantic and searched for sand dollars in the early morning hours. Springtime meant my birthday, and by April, the tulips bloomed and the bumblebees buzzed. I even came to associate my birthday with a fragrance of flowers, warm sunshine and Easter egg hunts in the backyard. My mom did not believe in board children, and upon the very first complaint, we were sent outside to make our fun spending hours riding the rope swing up over the treetops and picking wild honeysuckle as snacks. Speaker 1: When I close my eyes today, I can still smell the autumn leaves we raked and dove into. I can feel the lift as I got airborne on my bike ramp and the memory of hanging and space and time for a moment, feeling like I belonged there in the air. Hi, I'm Victoria Payne. I'm a writer, storyteller, health nerd, and also your host of The Naked Librarian. If you're new, welcome. I am so glad you're here in today's episode called I'll Meet You There. Why? Developing a relationship with nature means you're never alone. You're going to meet a remarkably wise woman who's going to help us rekindle our long lost or perhaps new relationship with the natural world because have you noticed that the smarter and older we get, the more we want to go back and relearn things, maybe even the things we're already doing, but we want to do them with more intention. Speaker 1: I started the Nico Librarian because I'm passionate about helping what I call grown ass women, navigate life with more self-compassion, energy, happiness, and wonder. And here's a little spoiler for you what you've been looking for. Love, connection, companionship, calm, energy, purpose. There's a good chance it's outside. Now, I love talking to wellness experts about what they do and why they do it, and I know you're going to love today's guest, but first, let me tell you a story about why I think this topic is so important. Many years ago I was teaching research writing at the University of Portland, and no one gets excited about a research paper, so I like to surprise the students by allowing them to choose their own topic. I put a few boundaries around it, mostly because I had already seen what did and didn't work, but other than that, it was wide open. Speaker 1: One year I had a student from Hawaii who will call Tommy. Tommy proposed to research seasonal affective disorder, which the Mayo Clinic calls a type of depression related to the seasons because he noticed how little time he was spinning outside. And as the winter months in Oregon droned on, he was feeling less optimistic, less motivated, and more homesick. Tommy began to reflect on some of the differences in his habits at home and in Portland and ran some numbers at home. He spent upwards of 10 hours a day outdoors, walking, playing, swimming, surfing, sitting, eating, just simply being. When he arrived in Portland in the fall, the weather was still nice the time of year when students play Frisbee on the quad, and so he got about two hours a day outdoors Beyond the time he walked to and from classes in the dorms, Tommy figured maybe he was getting about three hours a day outside. Speaker 1: Sure, it was a big change, but not everywhere can be Hawaii. He thought Tommy smiled a lot and had a great attitude, something everybody loved about him, including me. But as the weather turned, he discovered that he really had to push himself to be outside. It got cold,...
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    48 m
  • Body Wisdom: Why You'd Rather Be Strong than Skinny
    Apr 24 2024
    Thank you to Kim Rahir for the fantastic interview! Learn more about here here. And a big thanks to Far West and their track 'Thunder' for the music in today's podcast. You can also visit our sponsor, Mission Flow, here. And order the Naked Librarian's Guide to Your First Colonoscopy here. See Transcript below: Speaker 1 (00:00): So a changing body, a lot of it is just how it is. If we are lucky, we will get old before we die. But some of these changes, especially when it comes to muscle loss and the consequences associated with it can be thwarted and there's good reason to launch your own fort down. Speaker 1 (00:30): How are you feeling these days about your body? If you're like me, you might be wondering why your butt cleavage looks a little tired or noticing a little more give in the skin around your armpits are feeling like, why are my jeans squeezing me in new places? And that's just my list. If you're like a lot of women, you've probably got your own. And look, I am a huge fan of body positivity. The last thing we need is women to feel more guilt and shame about our appearance. But I don't think it does us any favors if we're like, you're not allowed to have negative feelings about your body. I think we're much better off learning to notice them so we can be in conversation with them. The truth is aging can really call attention to the reality of time passing and an inevitable changing body. Speaker 1 (01:18): Am I the only one who wants to go back and splash my 16-year-old self with a cold glass of water and say snap out of it? You look amazing, Lord, we really can't spend a lifetime beating ourselves up. But one of the cool things about getting older fucking wisdom, and that means we can break that cycle and change our focus from the vanity of our appearance to the health and wellness benefits associated with movement, vitality and the focus of today's episode strength. So a changing body, a lot of it is just how it is. If we are lucky, we will get old before we die. But some of these changes, especially when it comes to muscle loss and the consequences associated with it can be thwarted and there's good reason to launch your own thwart down. Did you know that muscle mass peaks in our thirties and then it begins to decline? Speaker 1 (02:10): Muscle loss known as sarcopenia affects 45% of older Americans and is especially prevalent in women. So beyond our mixed feelings about our beautiful aging bodies, there are real consequences to letting gravity have its way with us. You're more prone to injury not just from falling, but from enjoying the things you love, like running, skiing, dancing, gardening, or playing with your now or future grandkids. The good news is there is something you can do about this and the benefits go beyond more muscle tone. Building muscle through strength training or resistance training has vast benefits, including some of the top complaints for women as they age, like the need to decrease stress, boost your body image, increase your confidence, fit into your favorite clothes and more. Hi, if you're new here. Welcome. I'm Victoria Payne, the creator and the host of the Naked Librarian. I'm a writer, storyteller, and wellness nerd who wants to help grown ass women live healthier and happier lives to experience more peace, joy, wonder and yes, strength. Speaker 1 (03:10): Today you're going to meet a truly remarkable woman. Kim Ray here is a health and wellness coach who helps women in midlife deal with a host of health symptoms by building strength and muscle. She is one of the most surprising European masters weightlifting champions you'll ever meet. Winning her first competition at age 60. She also has a personal story that will inspire your socks off. When Kim was 45 and raising three children and working as an international journalist, she received a life-changing diagnosis. Inside this episode, Kim will share her own health journey and how she came to accept her Ms diagnosis, but not what she calls living her life as a sick person. Her strength training regimen did more than help Kim manage her symptoms. In her story, she'll share how it helped her recover and even shock her doctors with her results. If you've already heard about resistance training and have been wanting to add it to your life, this episode is for you. If building muscle after your thirties is something you've never thought about, this episode is for you. And if you're like, where would I even start? Or I don't want to look like a bodybuilder Victoria girl, I've got you covered. Come with me in this inspiring conversation with Kim. She's got awesome insights and some great tools to help you get started no matter where you're at today. Speaker 2 (04:49): Kim, I am so glad you could take time to talk with me today. And I've been so excited all week to have this conversation with you after we met the first time I started following you on social media and just really enjoyed getting to see how ...
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    55 m
  • Breaking Up with Anxiety: Why It's Not All In Your Head (It's in Your Body Too):
    Apr 9 2024
    Thank you to Modern Aquatic for the music. Track "Laurel Leaves." And to our guest Starlyn Haneman at wholesomerebelwellness. Speaker 1 (00:00): If you're looking for options beyond stuffing, your feelings, blowing up, acting fine, sucking it up or giving more than you get, come with me on this journey. I've got some good stuff for you. Speaker 2 (00:17): Okay, good Speaker 1 (00:18): News. According to the Mayo Clinic, it's completely normal to occasionally experience anxiety, and this makes sense, right? You're only human, so of course you're going to sometimes worry, have feelings of fear about the future or even nervousness about something fun or exciting, like getting up on a stage in front of 300 people and telling a story about your life. Okay, maybe that last one's just for me. Maybe yours is more like butterflies before a first date or nerves about pitching a project to your boss. And all of this stuff is just part of the human experience, and it doesn't have to be an awful out of control, anxiety attack. It can just come and then the feelings can go. We can even train our minds to notice these thought patterns so we can move through them with greater awareness and self-compassion. But what happens when your anxiety becomes chronic intense, or your default? (01:09): What happens when your anxiety starts to affect your sleep, relationships, confidence, and your health? Hi, I'm Victoria, a recovering anxious person. There's a lot of reasons for this and I'll share a little more in this episode in my conversation with anxiety coach Starlyn Haneman. But I'll give you one big spoiler alert before I knew what to call it. My main way of moving through the world looked like a case of serious hypervigilance. What does that mean exactly? For me, it meant almost always trying to do my best, even when the definition was constantly changing, which would later become a real problem because I didn't understand why I was doing it or where the motivation to be an award-winning human and a non contest with no awards was coming from when I was in school. It meant being the best student I can be. When I became a mom, it was how can I be a great mom when I started teaching in college, same when I got divorced, I wanted to be the best divorced parent possible for my kids, but that's not all. (02:10): My hypervigilance also meant being careful and watching out for mistakes that would mess me up later in life. And then when I would inevitably make mistakes, it would be like, oh shit, and let's write it down. Let's rehearse it. Let's memorize this experience so it can never happen again. Then it meant keeping lookouts. So the same mistake couldn't sneak up on me, and sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't. But you know what it always was? Even when I had little awareness about what I was doing fucking work, my favorite therapist, Dr. B once told me that it was like I was moving through life on stilts while other people were out there with their feet touching the ground. The worst part was I somehow made stilt walking look like a stroll in the park. Even when it was stormy, I was a master at looking fine, even great, never knowing what I was doing was way more work than the normals. (03:03): So yeah, I was a ball of anxiety and eventually it wrecked my nervous system and I had to handle it, and it took years to see real progress, but eventually I did see progress, and I use these same tools today. I am hopeful that in this way you are not like me. I would not wish chronic anxiety on anyone, but it's possible you got a smidge of what I'm talking about going on, and here's why. There's a lot that happens in our developmental years that makes how we handle life later easier or harder. And turns out how you learn to experience your emotions is a big one. So if you had parents or mentors who taught you that it's okay to disappoint, to make mistakes, to try and fail, to love and lose, to feel sad, to get mad, that you will hurt others and you'll feel bad, but then you'll make it right. (03:53): If you had wise people who taught you to feel you're doing much better than the rest of us. But if you didn't or if your lessons were somehow interrupted or were incomplete, then now is an excellent time in your life to work on this. And the cool thing is it will benefit you immensely, but if you love other people and want to do right by them, it's going to help them too. And you know what else? When you learn to notice your feelings and work with them, your emotional suffering, which is a lot of what anxiety is going to decrease, if you're new to the Naked Librarian, I am so glad you're here. It's true. I am Victoria, the recovering, anxious, perfectionist, people pleaser, and I'm also your host and the creator of the Naked Librarian. I'm a writer, storyteller, and health nerd who is passionate about helping grown ass women navigate life with more self-compassion, energy, happiness, and wonder. (04:44): In today's episode, ...
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    49 m
  • Worst Kept Secret: A Painless & Effective Treatment for Hemorrhoids
    Jan 12 2024
    Victoria: So I heard recently that the average person has roughly 13 secrets, and this came from a researcher who studies secrecy and the effects of keeping secrets. So it's got some science behind it, but still I thought that can't be true. I mean, not of me. I'm an honest person, I'm an open book. I even write and talk about topics that scare other people, but the whole idea really got under my skin. I thought maybe I do have secrets. Maybe I'm just so good at keeping them, I have kept them from myself. So I did what I always do when I get a little hung up. I consulted the dictionary. And here's how Webster defines the word secret: information you're keeping from people close to you. And that's when I remembered the secret I had recently revealed to my husband. The truth was, for the entire time I was dating my husband and into the first year of our marriage, I had been seeing another man that Kyle knew nothing about.     I might say I had a doctor's appointment or that I needed to run an errand, but what I never said is that I am going to see Dr. Gardner. I kept Dr. G a secret from Kyle, but my girlfriends knew all about him. That's because Dr. G had a very specific set of skills, and he brought a lot of comfort and meaning to my life. Dr. Gardner is a fabulous proctologist who started the Oregon Hemorrhoid Clinic, where he continues to practice with three other doctors. And Dr. G had come into my life after I had long ignored that I was very uncomfortable, well, back there. Victoria: Hi friends. If you're new to the Naked Librarian, welcome. I'm Victoria Payne, and I created The Naked Librarian because I wanted a place to share health and happiness news with grown-ass women. In today's episode called “Worst Kept Secret: A Painless and Effective Treatment for Hemorrhoids, we're talking about that pain in your ass. It's a very informative and practical show, and it's also the final episode in our first season. So if you're not caught up on all the Naked News, please have a ball binging on episodes about emotional first aid, women and self-sacrifice, how to stop hating your clothes, and more—not to mention the precursor to today's episode called Poop Hacks. Alright, now back to Secrets and Health and why we can be so weird about it all. So I honestly never planned to tell Kyle about Dr. G. The problem was Kyle had been producing my podcast and I didn't want him to hear about Dr.G for the first time while he was editing. And so on a Sunday morning, I handed him his coffee and brought up, as you do, that I wanted to do an episode on non-surgical hemorrhoid treatments because it is honestly one of the very few medical procedures that I have had done that has totally changed my life. And that's how my husband learned of my long health secret. And it's funny how I feel better having told him, but I'm pretty sure Kyle's feels worse. Kyle was raised by Midwestern parents who mostly communicate through code language. So this conversation really felt like daring him to love me. And as fate would have it, after I told him the truth about the other man, I also decided to start producing the podcast myself. So in the end, I gave up a secret I could have kept forever, but what's a little personal growth without a few awkward displays of courage? Victoria: Butt health—it seems almost too personal to talk about. But let me ask you this. How is it that nature dictates that women must bleed in order to be fertile, engage in sexual intercourse, to make babies, then push humans out of our vagina? And yet all of these topics are considered impolite conversation. And those babies, well, they change our bodies and stuff can get a little inside outwards, if you know what I mean. But because it's private, a lot of women, and I was one of them, literally grin and bear it for years. And here's another confession for you. I may have created the entire Naked Librarian platform just so I could tell you about Dr. Gardner and the amazing work he does because where else can I get a megaphone and tell the world about how much better your life can be when you get your hemorrhoids handled? And that unbeknownst to a lot of people, there's a treatment method for both women and men that is practically painless and the recovery is fast. Seriously, like after this episode drops, I could just peace out knowing I had made the world a better place. Victoria: So let me introduce you to the experts on the show today. I invited Dr. Steven Gardner and his colleague Dr. Maria Siri to talk about hemorrhoids and hemorrhoid treatment. Now, one of their most popular treatments is called the Kei Technique, and there's a good chance you have never heard of it. The Keesey technique is a type of electrotherapy treatment for internal hemorrhoids using a negative galvanic electrical current that's sent to the hemorrhoidal tissue of the rectum and causes your body to heal from the inside out. And I'm here to testify that it not is only practically ...
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    31 m