Erica Evans

11/27/2024

In our house, we go to great lengths to avoid screentime for our child. Aside from Facetimes with relatives, screens are pretty much off-limits. The TV lives in the basement and is rarely on. When parenting gets REALLY hard and we’re teetering on the edge of losing it, we sometimes ask, “How do other people do this?” Then we remember: a lot of families rely on TV for childcare breaks.

Sure, we might be making it harder on ourselves, but we are hopeful that carefully managing screentime now will pay off later.

That said, we made an exception last week. We decided to watch The Wizard of Oz as a family—it was the first movie I loved as a kid, and we figured one movie wouldn’t be the end of the world. (Spoiler: our toddler didn’t care much at all and played with blocks.)

Watching it again reminded me of a line that’s stuck with me since childhood: “You’ve had the power all along, my dear.”

For years, before I decided I wanted to have a child and get pregnant, I doubted whether I was “regulated” enough to raise a whole human. During my coach training, “self-regulation” ranked near the bottom of the VIA Character Strengths Assessment for me. My partner, on the other hand, seemed to have self-regulation down. When something distressing happened, he stayed grounded, whereas it would absolutely ROCK me. My emotions hit like a violent tornado—tears, hopelessness, and anxiety swirling in full force. Add being in my luteal phase with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder in for good measure and it was disastrous. I’ve always been a “leaky” person, crying easily no matter the emotion. My therapist calls it my superpower—a way my body speaks before my brain catches up. Still, my inability to “stay grounded” added stress to my relationship…

Click the following link to read the rest of this post and learn more about what this has to do with the parental brain! https://www.ericaevans.com/the-power-all-along/

Image description: a father holding his toddler with Glinda from The Wizard of Oz on the tv in the background. We can only see the back of the toddlers head and his dad is looking at the person taking the photo.

11/21/2024

My fertility awareness class series Body Literacy 101 is open for registration! For this one-time-only, it’s being offered on a pay-what-you-can basis. This is my way of giving back to the community, and I won’t be able to provide this class in this format again—so don’t miss out!

Body Literacy 101 is designed for anyone wanting to better understand their body and use fertility awareness for contraception, conception, or gaining deeper insight into their reproductive health and overall well-being. If you’re navigating challenges like premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), planning to get pregnant in 2025, coming off hormonal birth control and looking for a non-hormonal contraceptive option, or simply want to enhance your relationship with your cycle, this class is for you. It’s also perfect for those who feel unsatisfied with what they learned in high school s*x ed or wish they had more empowering tools to understand their body.

The class kicks off Monday, November 25th, from 7:00–8:15/8:30 PM (ET) and runs for 6 weeks. It’s live, online via Zoom, and includes 1 or 3 follow-up private sessions tailored to your fertility awareness goals. Typically valued at several hundred dollars, this special format makes it more accessible to everyone.

This is also the last fully live offering of Body Literacy 101 for the foreseeable future—future sessions will shift to a hybrid format starting February 2025.

You can learn more and register at ericaevans.com/bodylit101. Feel free to DM me with any questions—I’d love to hear from you!

04/12/2024

Excited for a journey into body literacy and fertility awareness? Join me for Body Literacy 101, an immersive 6-week online class series delving into the symptothermal fertility awareness method! Explore your body’s signals, master charting techniques, and embrace FAM’s empowering insights. Dive into 7.5 hours of interactive learning with personalized sessions and resources for an enriching adventure. To register: ericaevans.com/bodylit101

Enrollment closes next week!

05/02/2022

May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder Awareness Month!

As evidenced by the EDS Maternity Interview Study from hEDS Together, hypermobile EDS and hypermobility spectrum disorder were estimated for the first time to affect 6 million pregnancies around the world annually. This equals just under 1 in 20 pregnancies overall.

What does this mean? That cases of hEDS and HSD should no longer be considered rare in pregnancy! And yet so many healthcare providers still have little knowledge and are under-prepared to provide appropriate care for folks with these conditions.

A little over six months ago, Ziah McKinney and I, as EDSers and people in the reproductive health and birth world, felt curious and wanted to see how the EDS and hypermobility community would respond to some questions on our minds related to reproductive health/lifecycle, and in some instances how would those responses compare to the scientific research on these topics. So for EDS/HSD Awareness Month we wanted to share some of our community’s responses to these questions.

Please keep in mind this survey is not scientific research, rather a patient-led community survey and should not be taken as medical advice or scientific research. We will point out and share specific pieces of scientific research throughout the month. We’d also like to direct you to the work of Sally Pezaro, Gemma Pearce, and Emma Reinhold at hEDS Together who conduct invaluable scientific research on these topics.

If you haven’t read the “EDS Maternity Interview Study” or “A clinical update on hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome during pregnancy, birth and beyond” yet, we highly recommend them! They can be found at the hEDS Together website. Please note: these research papers use the terms men and women to describe people assigned male and female at birth. https://hedstogether.com/projects/eds-maternity-interview-study/ and https://www.britishjournalofmidwifery.com/content/clinical-practice/a-clinical-update-on-hypermobile-ehlers-danlos-syndrome-during-pregnancy-birth-and-beyond

11/24/2021

A doula and childbirth educator who also has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and I have partnered together to create an anonymous survey to gather information about what folks like us with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, hypermobility, or connective tissue disorders experience related to reproductive health, fertility, pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.

We are planning to use the information gathered in this survey to create an educational resource for birth workers, health teams, fertility awareness educators, and others in the EDS community.

If you have EDS, HSD, hypermobility, or another connective tissue disorder, please consider filling this out—even if you’ve never been pregnant or given birth, as it is also about reproductive health and menstrual cycles. Depending on your answers you will be branched to appropriate sections of the survey.

Link to the survey: https://forms.gle/QPvPRTsZuzcDtVsj7

[Image Description: Light terra cotta color background with the words EDS Hypermobility Reproductive Health, Fertility, Pregnancy, and Birth Survey at the top in black. Below that an illustration of a larger than life smartphone screen with two people on either side of it, one seated with long hair looking at their phone and one standing with short hair pointing. The smartphone screen has stars, and thumbs-up on it. It appears the people are giving feedback. At the bottom in each corner are teal colored plants. is in the middle in black.]

03/09/2021

Reposted from : There are at least 44 anti-trans bills in the US right now, propelled by ignorance and hatred. Swipe to learn some informed responses to common transphobic arguments. Follow ACLU attorney for more updates.

I’ll be putting up a post specifically about trans athletes (yes, focusing on trans women) in sports later this week. Check out pinkmantaray.com/transathlete if you’re eager.

Pinkmantaray.com/transbills for more.
Sweater by 💗 🏳️‍⚧️

03/03/2021

Yesterday pitched our HERO Group Health Coaching program in the and Well City Challenge Pitch Competition. While we didn’t win the Judge’s Choice Award, there’s still a chance for us to win the $7,500 People’s Choice Award!
➡️ YOU can vote for our pitch until 6:30pm Eastern time today‼️ Click the link in my bio to cast your vote for the HERO Group Health Coaching program.

03/01/2021

’ HERO Group Health Coaching Program has been chosen as a finalist in the Well City Challenge Pitch Competition!! 🎉

The Well City Challenge is a social impact challenge addressing Philadelphia’s millennial health and mental health challenges. We are 1 of the 15 finalists chosen to pitch our concept in this “Shark Tank”-like virtual competition!
Pitches for the 15 finalists will take place March 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Our team will be pitching the HERO Group Health Coaching Program tomorrow, Tuesday, March 2nd at 5:15 pm Eastern Time!

Each day, the panel of judges will select a winner to be awarded $10,000 and the audience (that's YOU‼️) will vote for their favorite concept to win $7,500.

➡️I invite you to virtually join us as we pitch our idea tomorrow, Tuesday March 2nd and for the additional Well City Challenge Pitch Competitions on March 2nd, 3rd, and 4th presented by the . Register to join the competitions and come out to vote for the HERO Group Health Coaching Program TOMORROW, Tuesday, March 2nd at 5:15 pm Eastern Time by visiting the link in my bio.

[ID: Blue banner at top that says The Well City Challenge Pitch Competition March 2nd. An orange banner underneath it says Community and Social Connection. Below that is a white background with headshot photos of three white women with curly brown hair. To the right of the photos it says in orange the word Finalist. Under that in blue text it says the names of the three women: Erica Evans, Dana Flatow, Elise Knox. Under their names it states the name of their project idea they entered into the Well City Challenge, the Hero Group Heath Coaching Program. The bottom right of the image has the orange and blue Well City Challenge logo.]

02/24/2021

💧 Little by little with each tiny, watery drip icicles form, sometimes longer than your window! Building new habits is sometimes like icicles. We do these tiny little steps that sometimes in the moment can feel so simple or insignificant. Can we possibly even be making progress with such a small step? Then before we know it we're in the groove and have been doing the thing for some time! 

Simple steps in the direction of your goal will get you there. It doesn't have to be complicated or even a huge leap—in fact, research shows it's better when it's not! Keeping your next step doable with just a little bit of stretch is more likely to get you where you want to go. It might not be overnight, but before you know it you'll be a four and a half foot long icicle too! 😉 🥶

02/17/2021

FAM-curious? I want to give you FREE access to the video from the first module of my class series! In it you will learn terms and definitions, history and current practices, an overview of a cycle and a sample chart, the various uses of cycle tracking practices, myths and facts, and more.

Go the link below and enter your email to be added to my list and receive this 45 minute introductory class! Transcripts in PDF and Microsoft Word format will be sent too.

https://www.ericaevans.com/intro-to-cycle-tracking-practices-and-body-literate-living/

12/26/2019

12/26/2019