Meet Sydney Zwicker | Women’s Health Mentor + Pelvic Care specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sydney Zwicker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sydney, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
This is a great question. Growing up in the Northeast, I definitely did not know work/life balance, it was all hustle. Moving to Colorado definitely changed that for me. There is a different rhythm here, if you go at 110% people feel you are trying too hard. My work-life balance has also changed due to my work. As a bodyworker, I have a limit to the number of clients I can see in a day or week. I make sure to have sustainable boundaries so that I can keep serving my community. Especially with Holistic Pelvic Care ™️, it takes a lot more energy to hold that trauma-informed container. I think one of the main downfalls to our healthcare system is that often appointments are rushed. Clients are in and out without the time for integration. By having this time set aside for clients at each appointment, it also allows me to slow down as well. In the wellness industry, we are always advocating for self-care. To stay in integrity, I try my best to practice what I preach. I set aside weekly time for my own self-care because finding this balance is integral to our health.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve been a part of the wellness world for a little under a decade. Like many, my first step into the holistic wellness world was for my own healing journey. As a survivor of sexual abuse, I tried all the things to find the wholeness so many of us are searching for. I spent the big $$$, I traveled the world and still felt like things were missing. I spent my late teens and 20’s, looking for that perfect modality, and what I came to realize was that healing is a never-ending process–a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and lots of curiosity. I did, however, get very lucky, I found a few teachers and mentors who started to empower me instead of telling me how I could be fixed. This mindset, away from the guru model, away from the shame and illness model is what changed everything. I think one of the most challenging things about the wellness world, especially in women’s health, is that we live in a culture that disempowers the importance of someone’s experience. Women are constantly being told we shouldn’t feel a certain way, or that our pain is ‘not real’. I think this is what separates my bodywork practice from others– the pillar of my work is to shed the stigma of the female lived experience. I come from a family of doctors and lawyers, and I love to know ‘how things work’. I love applying physiology and anatomy to this intuitive work. My approach to all things pelvic health has always stemmed from this idea that to really embrace the mystery of the woo-woo womb, we also have to ground this experience. I remember early on in my exploration I often felt turned off by the women’s wellness world. Often in women’s work, there is a notion that one has to start saying, ‘Oh my Goddess’ or buy a one-way ticket to Bali to start healing her relationship to the feminine. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but for many women, including myself, this seemed silly and inaccessible. What makes my practice unique is that I work with clients to bring together these two worlds. I believe we can find deep healing, not only by understanding the body but also by experiencing it. My deepest transformations came from exploring the power of my pelvic bowl. In reconnecting with the root tissue, I transformed my trauma and anxiety from my center. I sometimes say to client’s, to be a woman is to be traumatized. We are not always processing through big T traumas, but we do live in a sex-negative culture that does not support curiosity and education around our female anatomy. My desire is to help my clients to reclaim their essence and embody their truth. I believe that education is the key to empowerment and that chronic pain and fatigue often stems from not knowing things could feel different. If you can normalize someone’s experience, you can empower them to find the solution that is best for their body. What does this look like? Sometimes is it just a conversation, sometimes is it a referral to another practitioner. Often it is about listening. We listen to the body, and we notice. Being a bodyworker in the time of COVID is definitely a challenge, but it has also been inspiring. I started teaching Qoya movement classes online, I moved my Yoni Egg workshops to an in-depth online course that clients and students can do at their own pace, and launched a new mentorship program for women that has been incredible so far. If nothing else, I would like for all the young women, mothers, solopreneurs, badass females to know, you are not broken, nor alone on this journey.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely bring them the Nest at Nurture. Hikes in Golden and Evergreen. The Weathervane Cafe. If nothing else, COVID has taught me to really appreciate the pleasure of the outdoors and a good-to-go cappuccino.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am so grateful to the Nurture community. There are so many inspiring health advocates and practitioners and it is an honor to be a part of the collective.

Website: www.zwickerhealingarts.com

Instagram: @zwickerhealingarts

Facebook: www.facebook.com/zwickerhealingarts

Image Credits
Photos by Sara Kane Photography