Empowered Life Cycles

Empowered Life Cycles Chantal Traub is a seasoned New York City birth doula, childbirth educator, and wellness coach. Disclaimer

©2022 Chantal Traub CD(DONA), LCCCE, CCCE, NBC-HWC.

In recent years, Traub has expanded her training and practice to serve the health needs of women navigating Motherhood, (Peri-)Menopause and beyond. All rights reserved. This document is for educational and informational purposes only and solely as a self-help tool for your own use. I am not providing medical, psychological, or nutrition therapy advice. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting your own medical practitioner. Always seek the advice of your own medical practitioner and/or mental health provider about your specific health situation. For my full Disclaimer, please go to www.chantaltraub.com/disclaimer-policy

03/26/2026
03/23/2026

Did anyone teach you how to push? 🤔

For most women, the answer is no — and that's exactly why Pushing Power exists.

This workshop breaks down everything you need to know about the second stage of labor: how to push safely and effectively, how to protect your pelvic floor, and how to stay connected and confident when it matters most.

You'll leave with real tools — not just reassurance.
✔️ Pelvic floor protection strategies
✔️ Breath, core + position work
✔️ Understanding your baby's journey through the pelvis
✔️ Nervous system regulation for labor

Endorsed by midwives, physicians, and pelvic floor physical therapists.

🌀 Sunday, May 3rd | 3–5 PM
🌀 Brooklyn, NYC

Hosted by .brooklyn • With Chantal Traub — NYC Birth & Menopause doula, educator & creator of Pushing Power.

👇 Grab your spot — link in bio.

https://www.esquinabrooklyn.com/workshops-events/pushing-power-2kn9a

🌀DM me any questions

03/23/2026

Did anyone teach you how to push? 🤔

For most women, the answer is no — and that's exactly why Pushing Power exists.

This workshop breaks down everything you need to know about the second stage of labor: how to push safely and effectively, how to protect your pelvic floor, and how to stay connected and confident when it matters most.

You'll leave with real tools — not just reassurance.
✔️ Pelvic floor protection strategies
✔️ Breath, core + position work
✔️ Understanding your baby's journey through the pelvis
✔️ Nervous system regulation for labor

Endorsed by midwives, physicians, and pelvic floor physical therapists.

🌀 Sunday, May 3rd | 3–5 PM
🌀 Brooklyn, NYC

With Chantal Traub — NYC Birth & Menopause doula, educator & creator of Pushing Power.

👇 Grab your spot — link in bio.

https://www.esquinabrooklyn.com/workshops-events/pushing-power-2kn9a

🌀DM me any questions





03/22/2026

☀️Sunday Funday 🌀

Rolling around on the floor at .brooklyn
🌀playful, movement flow class with the amazing .motion
🌀Fun, challenging and deeply centering.


02/19/2026

☀️ This isn’t from now ☀️

Cumulative sun damage is real.
What was beneath this scar is decades old.
From a time when tanning was cool and sunscreen wasn’t the culture.

Midlife brings perspective.
Motherhood brings responsibility.

If you’re raising teens — prevention still works.

Sun care isn’t vanity.
It’s healthcare.
It’s protection.
It’s love.

02/17/2026

Solar Eclipse, Year of the Fire Horse and a New Moon in Aquarius.

A power portal is open, that brings a moment of reset, that offers an invitation to move through it with intention, to create an empowering change.

Today is a meeting of elements and energies.
A solar eclipse in Aquarius.
A new moon.
The Year of the Fire Horse.
And the wisdom of water.

This is not power that forces.
It’s power that flows.
Not becoming through striving —
but through opening.
Not transformation through pressure —
but through surrender.

Water teaches us rhythm.
Courage.
Expansiveness.
Authenticity.
Deep social bonds.
Life energy moving through us — not driven by us.

This is feminine power.
Like empowered birth.
Like midlife initiation.
Like the cycles that shape us, change us, renew us.

Not linear.
Not rigid.
Not harsh.
But cyclical.
Rhythmic.
Alive.

And to the Fire Horse women born in 1966 —
this is your second spring.
Your season of change.
Your visibility era.
Your time to be seen — not for what you produce,
but for who you are.

A fire that flows.
A power that opens.
A life force that moves through you — not from you.

✨🔥🌊🌑

02/14/2026

Still working on my 1-minute handstand, one breath at a time.
Small empowering shifts —spending time upside down.
🤸‍♀️✨

Handstand class with .brooklyn

Another wonderful Pushing Power workshop 👶🤰Thank you to all the mamas and papas in attendance learning how to push safel...
02/11/2026

Another wonderful Pushing Power workshop 👶

🤰Thank you to all the mamas and papas in attendance learning how to push safely and effectively and protect the pelvic floor muscles during birth.

🤰Want to attend our next PUSHING POWER class:

Upcoming dates:
Tuesday, April 21
Tuesday, June 9th :

💚 To learn more or to register: www.chantaltraub.com/events

01/24/2026

Working toward a 1-minute handstand, one breath at a time. Progress isn’t loud—but it’s empowering.
🤸‍♀️✨

Handstand class with .brooklyn




I often hear clinicians say that the vagus nerve goes down to the pelvic floor & in the birth world that the vagus nerve...
01/20/2026

I often hear clinicians say that the vagus nerve goes down to the pelvic floor & in the birth world that the vagus nerve goes to the cervix.

My understanding is that the vagus nerve doesn't get as far down as the pelvis.

“Does the vagus nerve actually go to the pelvic floor?”

From a strict neuroanatomical perspective, the vagus nerve does not descend into the pelvis and does not innervate the pelvic floor or cervix.

In humans, vagal efferent fibers innervate thoracic and upper abdominal organs and generally terminate around the level of the transverse colon.

Below that point, parasympathetic innervation arises from the sacral outflow (S2–S4) via the pelvic splanchnic nerves, which synapse through the inferior hypogastric plexus to innervate the distal bowel, bladder, and reproductive organs.

The same distinction applies to sensory pathways. Pelvic floor and pelvic visceral afferents are not vagal afferents and do not travel via the vagus nerve or enter the brainstem through the solitary tract, which is the primary afferent pathway for the vagus.

However—and this is the key point that helps reconcile anatomy with clinical observations—pelvic afferent signals do reach the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) via spinal pathways (e.g., spinoreticular / spinosolitary routes). The NTS is the brainstem’s primary hub for visceral sensory integration. It receives vagal afferent input and non-vagal visceral input, including information originating from the pelvis.

The answer is nuanced—and way more interesting than a yes/no.

This distinction doesn’t invalidate clinical experience.

It grounds it in accurate neurophysiology.

Clarity changes practice.
🧠🫀🫶

Precision matters.
Language matters.

And when we get clearer—practice gets better.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

01/20/2026

If you’re in midlife and tired all the time, it’s probably not a motivation problem — it’s a nervous system one.

So many midlife women think they’re low-energy because they’re doing something wrong.

You’re not broken —you’re overloaded.

The goal is supporting capacity, not fixing flaws.

When we shift from pushing —to supporting, our energy returns.

This is where real change begins 🌿

💫 If you want help finding your starting point, take my free BURNOUT Self-Assessment Worksheet.

www.chantaltraub.com/menopause

01/20/2026

If you’re in midlife and tired all the time, it’s probably not a motivation problem — it’s a nervous system one.

So many midlife women think they’re low-energy because they’re doing something wrong.

You’re not broken —you’re overloaded.

The goal is supporting capacity, not fixing flaws.

When we shift from pushing —to supporting, our energy returns.

This is where real change begins 🌿

💫 If you want help finding your starting point, take my free BURNOUT Self-Assessment Worksheet.

www.chantaltraub.com/menopause

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Protect the Perineum for Birth!

Prepare for Postpartum by Pushing safely & effectively!

Educational Webinar on Weds, February 26th.

(will be recorded for later viewing)

Time: 7-9pm (EST)