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What's the difference between a difficult marriage and a destructive one—and how do you know when it's time to speak up?   In this powerful conversation, Francie sits down with counselor and author Leslie Vernick to unpack destructive patterns in marriage, reclaiming your voice, and what it truly means to be a strong, biblical woman.   Together, they address harmful teachings around submission, the loss of a woman's voice, and how to discern between normal marital struggles and unhealthy or abusive dynamics.  This episode offers both clarity and practical wisdom for women who feel confused, shut down, or unsure of what is healthy in their marriage.   What You'll Learn The difference between a disappointing marriage and a destructive one Why "submission" has often been misunderstood and misapplied What it means to be an ezer—a strong, helping partner, not a silent one How to begin using your voice in a healthy, grounded way Signs of emotional, spiritual, or relational harm How to discern your next steps with wisdom and support   A healthy marriage allows for honesty, growth, and mutual care. If your voice is consistently dismissed, ignored, or punished, something deeper may be wrong.   About Leslie Vernick Leslie Vernick is a licensed counselor, author, and speaker dedicated to helping individuals and couples navigate difficult and destructive relationships. With over 40 years of counseling experience, she specializes in emotional abuse, relationship health, and biblical wisdom for real-life challenges. She is the author of The Emotionally Destructive Marriage and founder of Leslie Vernick Ministries, where she equips women to move from confusion and fear into clarity, strength, and truth.   Resources + Next Steps   Book: The Emotionally Destructive Marriage by Leslie Vernick Website: leslievernick.com (find the Free Quiz: Is your marriage difficult, disappointing, or destructive? And, Free Training: If He Doesn't Hit You, Is It Still Abuse?)   If you are in a situation that feels unsafe or confusing, seeking wise, informed support is an important next step.   Note from Francie This conversation may feel tender or activating if you've experienced harm in your marriage. You are not alone, and there is help available.   Connect with Francie 🎓 Back to the Garden: A Married Woman's Guide to Pleasure by Design — get a see a fresh vision of what a fully alive, God-honoring intimacy (and pleasure) could actually look like for your marriage. → here 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have conversations with likeminded women on a journey together towards more→ here 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com

How do you overcome body insecurity and actually feel at home in your body? In this episode, Francie addresses the shame, disconnection, and cultural lies that shape how women view their bodies—and invites you back to God's truth: your body is not a problem to fix, but a gift to receive. You'll learn how body image struggles are often rooted in disconnection, why separating from your body isn't spiritual, and how to begin rebuilding a relationship with your body through truth, gratitude, and awareness.  This is an invitation to move from criticism to compassion—and from insecurity to confidence in your God-given design. What You'll Learn: Why body insecurity runs deeper than appearance How shame and culture shape body image God's design for your body as good Why disconnection from your body leads to insecurity Simple ways to reconnect with your body and build confidence Your body is not your enemy. Confidence begins when you reconnect with your body through truth, not striving. Connect with Francie 🎓 Back to the Garden: A Married Woman's Guide to Pleasure by Design — get a see a fresh vision of what a fully alive, God-honoring intimacy (and pleasure) could actually look like for your marriage. → here 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have conversations with likeminded women on a journey together towards more→ here 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com  

It's one of those questions more women have than are willing to ask out loud. In this episode of Female by Design, Francie tackles the topic of pubic hair grooming — not from a medical or therapeutic chair, but from the spirit of let's just have the conversation. Because when we can talk about our bodies without shame, that's exactly where freedom grows. This is not a moral issue. There is no law, no biblical mandate, no "Christian way" to groom. Francie opens by inviting listeners to release the tension that so often surrounds conversations about our bodies and sexuality, and to approach this one with curiosity instead of shame. This one's practical, a little lighthearted, and totally judgment-free.    Resource Mentioned The Vagina Bible: The Vulva and the Vagina — Separating the Myth from the Medicine by Dr. Jen Gunter — a physician-written, research-based guide to women's health covering everything from anatomy to menopause to grooming. A great resource to have on your shelf (and to share with your daughters as they grow).   Connect with Francie 🎓 Pleasure & Orgasm Course — one of Francie's most popular offerings, going deep on female pleasure and anatomy → franciewinslow.com 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have these conversations together → franciewinslow.com 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com

What if one of the most powerful tools for healing your nervous system isn't a supplement or a protocol — it's a hug? In this episode, Francie sits down with functional medicine nurse practitioner Carly Bayless to take a deep dive into oxytocin: what it actually is, why it matters far beyond labor and breastfeeding, and how finding "oxytocin opportunities" throughout your day could be the missing piece in your healing journey. Whether you're navigating chronic illness, new motherhood, a demanding season of life, or simply a cortisol-soaked Tuesday — this conversation will change the way you see connection. Key Takeaways Oxytocin is your body's primary buffer against chronic cortisol — it's not a nice-to-have, it's a need-to-have. You don't need a long list of oxytocin activities. Look for the one opportunity right in front of you and be fully present in it. Screens replace eye contact (and oxytocin) with cortisol. That trade is more costly than we realize. Vulnerability in community builds oxytocin. Reaching out when you most want to isolate is often exactly what your nervous system needs. God wired us for connection — with each other and with Him. The desire to feel safe, near, and known is not weakness. It's design.   Meet Carly Bayless Carly is a functional medicine family nurse practitioner, founder of Nurture Functional Medicine, and host of The Carly Bayless Podcast. Her path into functional medicine began at age 16 when she experienced a major crash of chronic fatigue and was eventually diagnosed with POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). After being told by conventional medicine that there was little to be done, she found real healing through a functional approach — and never looked back. Today she serves women across multiple states and is especially passionate about hormonal health, nervous system regulation, and helping women understand God's design for their bodies. She's also a relatively newlywed (married January 2024) and a new mom to 11-month-old twins — so she's living this content in real time. Connect with Carly Bayless Podcast: The Carly Bayless Podcast Instagram: @carlybaylesswellness | @nurturefunctionalmedicine   Resources Mentioned 📖 Anchored by Deb Dana — a therapist's accessible guide to polyvagal theory 🎙️ The Carly Bayless Podcast — follow up on all things functional medicine and nervous system health 📱 Instagram: @carlybaylesswellness | @nurturefunctionalmedicine 🏥 Nurture Functional Medicine — Carly's practice, serving women in multiple states   Connect with Francie 🎓 Pleasure & Orgasm Course — one of Francie's most popular offerings, going deep on female pleasure and anatomy → franciewinslow.com 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have these conversations together → franciewinslow.com 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com  

Francie tackles another listener question — one of the most personal and practical she receives: How can I help my husband better learn what brings me pleasure? What she loves about this question is the word the listener used: learn. Because that's exactly the right frame. Becoming a great lover isn't about natural talent or chemistry — it's about paying attention, practicing, and becoming a student of each other. And for most women, before they can teach their husband anything, there's a more foundational step: learning what brings them pleasure themselves. Francie gets honest about how many women — herself included — have been so trained to dissociate from their bodies and silence their desires that they've lost touch with what they actually want. The "duty wife" script, the shame around pleasure, the pressure to just meet his needs — all of it has quietly robbed women of the ability to even answer the question their husband is asking: What do you like? This episode is the answer. Francie walks through how to re-attune to sensation, how to start naming what feels good, how to wake up your five senses as a pathway to communicating desire — and she closes with a beautifully practical framework that every couple can use starting tonight: the 3 P's — Place, Pace, and Pressure. Warm, practical, and full of Francie's signature mix of honesty and joy. The 3 P Framework A simple, practical tool for teaching your husband what brings you pleasure: Place — Where on your body do you want to feel sensation? Name specific places and help him understand what type of touch feels good where. Pace — How long do you want him there? A brief kiss on the neck when he walks in the door is different from lingering during intimacy. When a wife is becoming aroused, staying with what's working rather than moving on too quickly makes all the difference. Pressure — Firm or feather-light? Intense or gentle? These descriptors help him understand exactly how you want to be touched, not just where.   Connect with Francie 🎓 Pleasure & Orgasm Course — one of Francie's most popular offerings, going deep on female pleasure and anatomy → [franciewinslow.com] 🌿 The Circle — group mentorship community where women have these conversations together → [franciewinslow.com] 📩 Submit your listener question → Instagram DMs or franciewinslow.com

Francie answers one of the most-requested questions she receives from women in her live events: How do you make talking about sex with your husband less awkward? This episode grew out of a recent in-person Q&A at a local moms group — where the questions came so fast and so honestly that Francie knew she had to bring the conversation to the podcast. She's doing something different this season: sprinkling real listener and event questions throughout upcoming episodes, and this one kicks off that series beautifully. But this episode goes deeper than tips. Before Francie gets practical, she does what she always does — she roots the conversation in something bigger. She reframes communication itself as communion, tracing the word back to its origin and back to the garden, where there was no shame and words came freely. She explores how shame — not awkwardness, not personality, not the wrong approach — is the true barrier to sexual communication for most women. And she offers a surprisingly tender place to start: Do you actually believe your body is good? Then she gets practical. Six honest, accessible, real-life tools for opening up the conversation — from books to date nights to secret code words to knowing your anatomy. Francie closes with a call for husbands to become true students of their wives and an invitation to keep growing together. This episode is for every couple who knows they should talk about it but has never quite known how. Resources & Books Mentioned Cliff & Joyce Penner — Christian sex therapists with decades of experience. Francie recommends any of their books, particularly: Enjoy — on sexual pleasure for women 52 Ways to Have Fun, Fantastic Sex — a guidebook for married couples Go Deeper in The Circle The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle   More Growth Resources Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter  

Our calendars are full, demands are never-ending, and overwhelm is knocking with every new notification. In this final part of the "Unlocking the Female Heart, Mind, and Body" series, Francie leans into the impact of our busy lives on our bodies. This episode unpacks how the nervous system—designed by God—is central to our ability to feel safe, be present, and receive pleasure. It's not just about emotions or mindset. It's about how your body was wired by God to experience intimacy, connection, and peace. When safety is absent, disconnection becomes the norm. But there is another way: a way of awareness, rest, and gentle re-inhabiting of the good body God gave you. "You were never meant to be disembodied. God gave you a body to dwell in—where His Spirit meets you, where connection becomes possible." – Francie Winslow In This Episode: How chronic stress, performance culture, and disconnection impact female sexuality What your nervous system is doing all day long—and why it matters for intimacy Why safety is foundational for feminine arousal, connection, and presence How to notice what your body is saying (and how to respond with care) The invitation to trade numbness and overthinking for embodiment and pleasure Go Deeper in The Circle The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle   More Growth Resources Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter  

Overwhelm. Pressure. Tension in your body and to-do lists in your head. Not the recipe for receptivity, mutual pleasure, and oneness. So many women are living in a constant state of doing—managing families, navigating stress, and holding everything together. But when there's no space for play, our nervous systems stay locked in survival mode. And when our bodies are braced and burdened, intimacy feels more like a demand than a delight. In this episode, Francie explores the surprising power of play as a key to unlocking feminine integration. Playfulness is one way to reclaim our God-given design for creativity, movement, laughter, and lightness. You'll hear how play resets the nervous system, reawakens your sensuality, and gently loosens the grip of stress, making space for joy, beauty, and deeper connection. "We weren't made to be efficient machines. We were made to dance, to laugh, to move with grace—and that freedom is part of God's design for intimacy." – Francie Winslow In This Episode: Why play isn't frivolous—it's foundational for emotional and sexual connection How stress and shutdown impact your body's capacity for arousal and openness Scientific studies on how dance increases female desire, satisfaction, and confidence—even post-menopause Practical ways Francie and Wyatt build play into their connection as husband and wife Gentle, creative ways to reawaken your feminine body and spirit through nonlinear movement Go Deeper in The Circle The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle   More Growth Resources Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter

It's too common that women feel disconnected from their bodies, unsure how to enjoy pleasure and physical intimacy without shame, anxiety, or confusion.  This episode is an honest invitation to begin healing that disconnection. Francie shares the first of three powerful keys to unlocking the female heart, mind, and body—wisdom formed through years of mentoring women inside her Circle community. These insights are about stepping into wholeness as a woman created for joy, connection, and delight in God's design. "Your body isn't the obstacle. It's the place where God's presence wants to dwell and delight." – Francie Winslow In This Episode: Why so many women feel "shut down" and how trauma, theology, and nervous system patterns contribute The subtle ways shame shows up in the bedroom—even after years of marriage Daily practices Francie uses to move out of her head and into her body with peace A vision for sensuality that is holy, safe, and spiritually grounded An invitation to rediscover your body as a place of worship and wonder   Go Deeper in The Circle The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle   More Growth Resources Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter

Whether we realize it or not, every one of us has a "sex view," a lens through which we understand and experience our sexuality. It's shaped by what we were told (or not told), by pain, silence, shame, weariness, and the culture around us. But what if that view isn't the full story? What if God has something better? In Part 2 of this series, Francie gently but powerfully unpacks five common sex views that shape our beliefs and behaviors, and how to trade them in for a vision rooted in truth, beauty, and God's original design. You'll hear: The 5 most common lenses women carry into marriage How wounds, weariness, and whispers from the past still affect your present What it means to see your body and sexuality through the works of God Why knowing your design is part of your healing A fresh invitation to live integrated, connected, and whole This episode is for every woman who has ever felt confused, shut down, or disqualified when it comes to sex, and longs to see with new eyes.   Go Deeper in The Circle The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle   More Growth Resources Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter  

Most of us never had a sex talk that honored our design, reflected God's heart, or made space for our questions. In this powerful first episode of a mini-series, Francie begins to unpack three foundational truths every woman needs to know, but likely never heard. This is not a conversation about shame, fear, or performance. It's about reclaiming God's original dream for our bodies, our pleasure, and our wholeness as women made in His image. In Part 1, Francie walks us through: Why knowing your body is a spiritual practice How shame blocks our ability to understand and enjoy our design What the Bible reveals about God's intention for sex (and why it's so good) How women's bodies were made for pleasure, not just reproduction or duty The radical truth that sex is for you, too Whether you're married or single, just beginning your journey or decades in, this episode will help you take one step closer to wholeness… body, mind, and spirit. Go Deeper in The Circle The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle   More Growth Resources Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter

What if it's not too late for your marriage to experience joy, pleasure, and renewed connection? In this powerful testimony, Francie sits down with Denise, a Circle member who vulnerably shares how God met her in the middle of decades of disconnection. After 38 years of marriage and a lifetime of silence, shame, and pain surrounding sex, Denise encountered a fresh vision of God's design, and everything began to change. From the lies she believed as a young wife, to the pain and despair that came with menopause, to the slow and holy rediscovery of pleasure and playfulness with her husband, this is a story of healing that will encourage every woman who longs for more. Together, Francie and Denise talk about: The damaging cultural and religious messages that distort sex How menopause brought everything to the surface The power of God's truth to renew both body and heart Practical tools that helped rebuild intimacy, one step at a time Why it's never too late to experience sexual wholeness in marriage Tune in to this powerful message today and be encouraged wherever you are in your journey.   Go Deeper in The Circle If Denise's story stirred something in you, The Circle is a place to keep growing in freedom, understanding, and embodied joy. The Circle is Francie's group mentorship community where women gather monthly for live teaching, honest conversation, and support as they learn God's good design for intimacy, desire, and pleasure… not as performance, but as part of faithful discipleship. Inside the Circle you'll find safe connection with other women, access to Francie through discussion and messaging, and a gentle space to rethink what you've been taught about sex, your body, and your feminine design. Join The Circle Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter  

What do you do when your body starts to feel unfamiliar…when your energy dips, your stress rises, your curves change, and hormones seem to take over? In this heartfelt conversation, Francie sits down with longtime friend and mentor Alisa Keeton, founder of Revelation Wellness, to talk about what it means to be a woman walking through midlife, perimenopause, and the hormonal shifts that come with this sacred season. They talk candidly about the pressures of motherhood and ministry, the physical and emotional changes of midlife, and how to respond with grace rather than shame. Together, they invite you into a vision of embodied faith; where your body is not a burden, but a place of meeting with God. You'll hear reflections on: Navigating hormonal changes with spiritual and physical wisdom Rhythms of wellness that are both sustainable and sacred Listening to your body instead of overriding it Walking in your feminine design with hope and honor This is a tender, truth-filled episode for every woman in transition, and a reminder that God meets us in the middle of our changing seasons. About Alisa Keeton: Alisa is the founder of Revelation Wellness, a nonprofit ministry dedicated to helping people love God, get healthy, be whole, and love others. She's a speaker, podcast host, and author whose work sits at the intersection of faith, fitness, and holistic healing. With over a decade of leadership in the wellness space, Alisa has trained thousands of fitness professionals to bring the love of God into every part of their work. Check out Revelation Wellness here.   – Francie's latest masterclass: Confidence with Sexual Communication  – Mentorship: Join The Circle Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter  

What if Christmas wasn't just about a baby in a manger, but about your body too? In this replay episode, Francie explores the beauty of the incarnation: that Jesus came in a body to restore our experience of being embodied. From the garden to the cross to today, God's story has always been about intimacy, redemption, and connection…in real bodies. You'll hear about: Why your body matters to God The 42nd generation in Matthew 1 (and why it points to you) Jesus as the second Adam, and what He birthed from His wounded side How your body can be a place of healing, worship, and encounter This is a powerful, worshipful meditation on Emmanuel, God with us in the flesh, redeeming even the most human parts of our lives. Listen in and let your heart (and body) remember: you are not separate from His story. You are part of it. – Merry Marriage Gift Guide: Download Now – Francie's latest masterclass: Confidence with Sexual Communication  – Mentorship: Join The Circle Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter  

Your husband is strong, yet has a very tender side that only you get the gift of seeing. But, how can you help his heart come alive? What is your man longing to hear? Your words have incredible power to build your husband in a way that no one else can. It's true! This episode might surprise you, but it's insight on how to speak right into the masculine strength of your husband. Let's get specific and learn to honor the ways God created you both, male and female. Enjoy this replay from a previous Christmas episode that is still so tender and true! – Merry Marriage Gift Guide: Download Now – Francie's latest masterclass: Confidence with Sexual Communication  – Mentorship: Join The Circle Connect with Francie: Receive Francie's weekly newsletter