
Hosted by Sarah Utley · EN

In this episode we get to meet Jane Tarrant - a breathing re-trainer and awareness coach; founder of LiNK BREATHING.On average, a human being will take 670 million breaths in our lifetime. That’s roughly 25,000 inhales and exhales a day. Research shows that asthma, anxiety, ADHD and other modern maladies could be reduced or reversed by simply changing the way we inhale or exhale. We explore how our diet has played a major role in changing the shape of our faces and our breathing and why many of us have become a nation of mouth breathers and over-breathers. We explore why breathing has become a lost art, despite being an integral part of most major religions and practices including Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism but it is only recently that we have learnt how breathing can reduce blood pressure, boost performance and balance the nervous system. A researcher from Yale called Yandell Henderson said "carbon dioxide is the chief hormone of the entire body. It is more fundamental component of living matter than oxygen " - we talk about what is so important about carbon dioxide and the benefits in can bring. With hormones in mind we explore how breathing can help manage physical and psychological effects of perimenopause and Jane shares some tips for re-gaining control and confidence during a hot flash and tells us about the courses that she runs for perimenopause and anxiety.

This episode is all about menopause in the workplace and features Bev Thorogood, a specialist menopause trainer and advocate for inclusive conversations in the workplace.Bev shares her own lived experience of menopause in the workplace and journey into menopause training and what she hears women describe most about their own experiences of living alongside menopause in their working lives and careers.We talk about what often holds line managers back from having conversations about menopause and how that awkwardness can be overcome through being brave and curious and diving into the conversations. Bev shares the 4 C's to help managers through conversations. We also discuss what women need to do to overcome the shame of menopause in order to help others to help them. We have a chat about menopause champions and whether this is 'window dressing' and what impact champions can have on the menopause agenda, dialogue and company culture. Bev also shares the work she is doing in this space and training that is on offer for menopause champions through her company Floresco Training.

This episode features Clarissa Kristjansson who is a mindfulness and menopause expert, author of the ‘Mindful Menopause’, host of ‘Thriving through Menopause’ Podcast and international speaker on menopause.As a self-professed ‘anxiety sister’ Clarissa shares her insights into how the function of our brains change during perimenopause with the fluctuation of estrogen and progesterone which alters our stress response and how hormones alter parts of the brain that regulate emotion such as the hippocampus and amygdala.Anxiety manifests as a physical experience of hormone changes and Clarissa’s personal story relating to her own experience of anxiety and panic attacks was the catalyst for an interest, and later career, in mindfulness practice. We talk about cognitive load on women in midlife and how this contributes towards the experience of menopause. Clarissa shares with us her perspective on what mindful living is - about live in flow: cultivating awareness and attention, being fully present and knowing that ‘presence’ is ever changing and being accepting that it is what it is and who you are, can help shift perspective of your menopause experience. Finally, we take a look at what the science is saying about our brains post menopause and the recovery, creativity and focus that is unleashed and how we need to address the current narrative and language around menopause.

In this episode I speak with Sarah Clein, founder of Wildflower Fire Coaching. Sarah is a coach, counsellor and a writer, writing on topics related to shame, burnout and divorce, all of which is born out of her own life experience. We discuss these in relation to menopause, mid life choices and empowerment.

The first episode in a series of conversations with people about their lived experience of menopause. I chat here with Amantha King , strengths performance coach and a 'menopauser', about her journey through menopause, and in particular, the discovery that she is histamine intolerant. We learn about the role of histamine in menopause and estrogen dominance and the impact on physical and mental health. We also discuss how to encourage more male voices to be heard in conversations about menopause and hear about 'male privilege' and the different 'life course' of men and women and how this impacts understanding of menopause.