What happens to relationships as you move through your menopause years? For some women it is a time of new beginnings, for others it is a time of endings. In this week’s episode of the Menopause Conversations podcast I chat with Couples Counsellor Iman Iskander. Iman shares the different stages a relationship goes through and what happens if we happen to get stuck at a particular stage of relationship development. We also talk about women who “stay for the kids” and what happens once their kids ...
Jan 09, 2023•38 min•Season 3Ep. 128
In this week's episode of Menopause Conversations I am talking with Janet McGeever who is the Co-Author of Tantric Sex and Menopause (with Diana Richardson). This was a beautiful conversation with Janet gently sharing how it is possible to be intimate after menopause despite the changes that happening in our bodies. Janet's book and this conversation is about relearning what we think we know about intimate relationships. She shares the importance of understanding energy, receiving and giving, wh...
Jan 01, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 127
What do you do when you reach your mid-stage of life and you look in the mirror and don't really know who you are anymore. Anne McKeown is my guest on this week's episode of Menopause Conversations and she shares what happened when she went through this. Anne is now a Life Coach who helps other women to find themselves and create successful lives, in ways that are meaningful to them. We discuss discovering who you are beyond your label as a mother, wife, daughter etc. and the endless possibiliti...
Dec 25, 2022•30 min•Season 2Ep. 126
In this week’s Menopause Conversations Podcast with Lisa Fitzpatrick we go on a journey to find your inner wise woman. Lisa shares a time when she was looking for a wise woman to guide her through a troubling time in her life, but she couldn’t find anyone. This led her on a journey of discovery and now she works with women to help them to connect to their internal guidance system. In this conversation we discuss breaking the rules that we have been taught by the dominant patriarchal society that...
Dec 19, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 125
In this week’s episode of Menopause Conversations I am chatting with a dear friend Franziska Iseli about her new book The Courage Map. Franziska is an adventurer who wants to make a positive impact on the world. Franziska is always looking for great moments of humanity and she found many when she decided to take a motorbike ride across one of the most difficult and notorious highways in the world – the Silk Road. Whilst she was on her journey Franziska had many different adventurers and met so m...
Dec 11, 2022•52 min•Season 2Ep. 124
As we reach the end of 2022, I invite you to reflect on the past 12 months – the good, the bad and the ugly. In this episode I share with you an exercise that I do with the members of my embrace Inner Circle to reflect and celebrate your achievements for the year as well as let go of the experiences that have not been so great. Grab your journal and create a quiet space where you can spend some time simply reflecting on the year that was. You could make a ritual of this experience by lighting a ...
Dec 04, 2022•19 min•Season 2Ep. 123
More and more women are experiencing menopause after cancer, whether it is from the disease itself or from the treatment. I wanted to make sure that we covered this topic with the respect that it deserves so decided to ask a friend who has experienced a medically induced menopause at the age of 47. Sonya Lovell is a personal trainer and has always led a relatively healthy life until she received a cancer diagnosis almost 5 years ago. The diagnosis shocked Sonya but what was to come was chaos and...
Nov 27, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 122
In this week’s episode I am sharing an interview that I did with Yvonne Shepherd from Women’s Fitness Adventures (WFA) for her community. I share some of my challenges around osteoarthritis and weight gain and how I was able to recover from a full hip replacement and complete a 27km walk 6 weeks after finishing my rehab program. I don’t think of myself as inspiring when I share my story because I am simply doing what I need to if I want to be able to stay health and mobile as I age but I have be...
Nov 20, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 121
As we age and our hormones shift, many women start to notice that their skin changes. It isn’t as tight as it was in the past and often, they start to notice lines and wrinkles that weren’t there in the past. I get so many questions about the best skincare to use as you age that I decided to chat with Kim Morrison, the Founder and Creator of a fantastic natural skin care brand called Twenty8. Kim Morrison is a 5 times best-selling, award-winning author, founder of Twenty8 Essentials, an aromathe...
Nov 13, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 120
I often get asked about some of my favourite books, podcasts, communities etc when it comes to the topic of menopause. In this episode I share with you some of those resources and their links Books Queen Menopause by Alison Daddo Art of Self-Love by Kim Morrison The Upgrade by Dr Louanne Brizadene Goddesses Never Age by Dr Christiane Northrup The Wisdom of Menopause by Dr Christiane Northrup The Hormone Repair Manual by Lara Briden Magnificent Midlife by Rachel Lankester Podcasts The Self Love P...
Nov 06, 2022•26 min•Season 2Ep. 119
It was an honour to have Maryon Stewart as a guest on the Menopause Conversations Podcast. Maryon is the author of Manage Your Menopause Naturally and 27 other books. She is considered a pioneer of the Natural Menopause Movement. She has helped tens of thousands of women around the world overcome PMS and menopause symptoms without using drugs or hormones. She has had her own TV and radio shows as well as contributing to many other shows and series. In 2018 she was awarded the British Empire Meda...
Oct 30, 2022•38 min•Season 2Ep. 118
Headlines like “Menopause is Costing Women $17bill in lost income a Year” or “Nearly 1mill women leave the workforce due to Menopause” are quite scary and give women the idea that menopause will cause them to lose their jobs. While it is possible that some women make decisions to leave their job while they are in their menopause transition the issue is not as big a problem as the headline makes out. In this episode of the Menopause Conversations podcast I have a look at some of these headlining ...
Oct 21, 2022•31 min•Season 2Ep. 117
Don’t we all sometimes wish that our face looked a little tighter or that we could hide some of the wrinkles that seem to be appearing? In this episode of the Menopause Conversations podcast Vanamala Mayr-Reisch shares some of her tips to naturally lift and tighten your face using face yoga. Vanamala’s mission is to empower women to build their confidence and feel proud of who they are. She is a certified face yoga teacher, physiotherapist, eye fitness trainer and the founder of Face Yoga Austra...
Oct 16, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 116
When I heard that the largest demographic of homeless people in Australia were women over the age of 50, I was completely shocked. These women are often hidden from society and lose their homes after marriage breakdowns. This statistic is one that my guest on the podcast this week also wants to change. Some people would say that Bernadette Jansen from The School of Renovating is simply a renovator. She is so much more than this. Bernadette shows women how it is possible to make money through ren...
Oct 09, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 115
It was recently reported that Drs in the UK are prescribing walking to maintain great health rather than medications, this was music to the ears of our guest on the Menopause Conversations podcast this week. Yvonne Shepherd is the owner of Women’s Fitness Adventures a company whose mission is to encourage women to become stronger for life through fitness, adventure and social connection. Yvonne has seen the impact that getting out and moving in nature has had on the health and lives of women in ...
Oct 02, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 114
If you have ever felt that you have missed out on precious summer memories because of how you feel in a swimsuit, then this episode is for you. Anita McLachlan from Sequins and Sand and Summer Confidence Society chats to me about the very real issue that many women experience in summertime. Having owned an online swimsuit retail store for many years Anita soon realised that she wasn’t really in the business of selling swimsuits, she was actually in the business of giving women back their confide...
Sep 25, 2022•40 min•Season 2Ep. 113
Today’s guest on the Menopause Conversations Podcast is Dr Alyssa Dweck. Dr. Alyssa Dweck is a practicing gynaecologist and the Chief Medical Officer of Bonafide. She has been an Ob/Gyn for over 25 years with a special interest in menopausal health and training in female sexual health. Dr. Dweck is the co-author of three books and has appeared on The Today Show and Good Day LA. She contributes regularly to multiple in print and online media outlets. She has been voted “Top Doctor” in New York Ma...
Sep 18, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 112
Every single day you receive messages from your body, some messages are louder than others. Have you ever heard them? The only way in which your body can communicate with you is through symptoms, these are the messages from your body. The human body spends its entire life trying to stay in balance, this is what we call homeostasis. When your body is out of balance you will experience symptoms while the body tries to re-balance itself again. If you don’t listen to the messages and the situation d...
Sep 11, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 111
Everyone has tried diets that didn’t work or have found out that what used to work doesn’t work now. Every woman’s experience of menopause is different some have hot flashes and night sweats and others don’t some put on weight and others lose it some have excruciating joint pain and others don’t there are so many different symptoms associated with menopause and no 2 women have the same experience Your experience of menopause is unique to you, this is why what works for others might not work for ...
Sep 04, 2022•28 min•Season 2Ep. 110
Statistics show that women over the age of 45 are the largest consumers of alcohol in Australia and I would assume that these stats are similar in other western countries. We live in a culture that tells us that alcohol is required to be social, to relax, to have fun, to be part of the group. But there is another side to alcohol consumption, particularly when it comes to women as they are moving through their menopause transition. The changes in women’s bodies and their hormones means that there...
Aug 28, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 109
Our special guest on this week’s episode of Menopause Conversations Podcast is Fiona Keary from Style Liberation. I have shared Fiona’s work before on an earlier episode any I thought it was time to have Fiona on to have a deeper conversation around how the clothes that we wear tell a story about ourselves. To be honest this was also an opportunity for me to get a personal styling session as Fiona answers some of my questions about how you can determine the best style of clothes to wear and how ...
Aug 21, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 108
The menopause is a time of change. One of the biggest changes that many women experience is weight gain. You might have gained weight despite your best efforts to exercise regularly and pay attention to your nutrition, especially in the hard to lose Meno-Belly region. But the issue is the former weight loss strategies that used to work for you typically cease working once you enter menopause. Women's hormone levels begin to fluctuate in their early 40s. Along with other variables, these hormonal...
Aug 14, 2022•32 min•Season 2Ep. 107
One of the symptoms associated with menopause that is least discussed is joint and body pain. I had continual pain for approximately 2 years when I was in peri-menopause. Although I don't often use painkillers, there have been a few times when I needed to take Panadeine just to fall asleep. Since this generation of women leads more active lives than our mothers and grandmothers did, joint and body pain have not historically been a common symptom associated with Menopause. But there are several f...
Aug 08, 2022•34 min•Season 2Ep. 106
At the age of 47 Tania Dalton started to wonder what would happen if she lived a short life like her Dad, what would she miss out on? Tania decided that she was going to train to run a marathon even though she says she didn’t consider herself an athlete, didn’t like running and she wasn’t fast. Peri-menopause hit Tania quite hard with lots of symptoms such as hot flushes, weight gain and debilitating joint pain. But she didn’t give up. Tania completed the marathon in a faster time than she thoug...
Jul 31, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 105
This week is the final episode in the Understanding Hormones series and in the episode, I am talking about the hormone Insulin and specifically something that is known as Insulin Resistance. Insulin Resistance is one of the key factors when it comes to weight gain in peri-menopause and beyond. In this episode you will discover: - What the role of insulin is in the body - What insulin resistance is - How the shift in your reproductive hormones can trigger insulin resistance - The other factors th...
Jul 24, 2022•22 min•Season 2Ep. 104
In this week’s episode of Menopause Conversations, I have Clarissa Kristjansson as my guest. Clarissa is a Mindful and Menopause Expert, Author of the bestseller The Mindful Menopause and the host of Thriving Thru Menopause Podcast. Clarissa believes that life transitions give women the opportunity to explore life differently. In this episode we discuss the important topic of menopause in the workplace and how you can not only keep your job but thrive. Some of the topics that we cover in this ep...
Jul 17, 2022•51 min•Season 2Ep. 103
It is time to get a better understanding of the role that the thyroid plays in some of t he symptoms that are often associated with menopause, particularly weight gain. In this episode of Menopause Conversations, you will discover: The role your thyroid plays in keeping you healthy The specific nutrients you require for a healthy thyroid Why the liver plays such an important role in keeping your thyroid functioning well How you can support your liver through food and nutrition Weight gain is one...
Jul 11, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 102
Sandy Davies is the creator of the menopause balm called Happy Pause and is affectionately known as the Vag Queen. Sandy is on a mission to open the conversation around vaginal health as women age. Sandy is also full of life and vitality; this conversation was so much fun to have. Join us as Sandy shares her story around menopause, what her beliefs were and how much they have changed now that she has moved through her own menopause transition. This menopause conversation goes in many different d...
Jul 03, 2022•42 min•Season 2Ep. 101
This is the next episode in the Understanding Menopause series and today I am chatting about the role that your liver plays in keeping your hormones balanced and you looking and feeling great. Most women don’t realise the importance of optimal liver function when it comes to balancing their hormones. This is something that most doctors don’t talk about probably because they don’t fully understand the link between your liver and your hormones, or they simply don’t think that it is important enoug...
Jun 26, 2022•12 min•Season 2Ep. 100
From the very first moment of this podcast Rachel Lankester and I are talking about a controversial topic – the conversation around menopause that is currently taking place in the UK. With the push to get more and more women in the UK taking HRT and which has resulted in a shortage of HRT that has left many women feeling abandoned. Rachel jumps on her ‘soapbox’ to share her view on what is happening and her sadness that the dominant conversation around menopause is one of struggle and horror. Ra...
Jun 19, 2022•53 min•Season 2Ep. 99
