#womenswellbeing

Welcome to a profound new episode of "Wild + (Finally F**king) Free": Menopause as a Quest with Claudia Davidson. This is the first guest episode of 2024's season three, and it promises to be as transformative as menopause itself.

🤲 **A PhD in Menopause**: Discover Claudia's audacious journey into journey into “her early life dream” of academia and her mission at age 67 to reshape the narrative of menopause as a positive, life-altering experience.

📚 **Redefining The Narrative**: Claudia challenges the dominant, sombre stories of menopause with empowering alternatives, asserting the need to change societal attitudes and embrace menopause as a powerful life chapter.

🔥 **Sacred Rage and Wisdom**: Reflect on 'sacred rage'—the untapped anger arising from a lifetime of societal conditioning. Menopause is depicted as an invitation to reclaim autonomy and reshape one’s life.

🍂 **From Chaos to Quest**: The episode navigates through the 'chaos narrative' of facing menopause symptoms, moving towards the 'restorative narrative' of managing them, and finally embracing the 'quest narrative' of discovering profound life meanings during and post-menopause.

🌱 **Postmenopausal Zest**: Claudia speaks to the 'zest' that awaits on the other side of menopause—a season of life ripe with growth, creativity, and ample opportunity to fulfill longstanding dreams.

🧘‍♀️ **Mindful Menopause, Meaningful Midlife**: The conversation delves into the idea that menopause is less about 'pausing' and more an invitation to mindful recalibration and self-actualisation.

Dive into this heart-to-heart session where the past confluences with the present to unlock a future filled with possibilities. It's not only about enduring menopause but transforming it into a pivotal quest for wisdom, identity, and creative power.

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Welcome to the sizzling season premiere of "Wild + (Finally F**king) Free" – your beacon of inspiration in the mess and magic of midlife and beyond. Host Kylie Patchett is here, on her 49th birthday, to reignite your spirit and answer the Wild Woman's call.

🎂 **Celebrating Growth**: Kylie steps into another season with exciting changes to the podcast, revisiting its roots with the original name that embodies the essence of a free spirit.

📖 **The Journal Entry that Changed Everything**: Kylie opens up about a pivotal moment by the water in Sydney – a journal, a coffee, and an epiphany about feeling trapped, stressed, and the intense desire to be wild and unrestricted.

🔊 **Sharing Transformative Tales**: Hear about her passion for storytelling, sharing raw, authentic experiences of midlife metamorphosis and empowerment.

🔄 **Rebranding & Authenticity**: Learn why the podcast is shedding its 'menopause-centric' title to return to a name that truly captures the adventures and freedom of midlife and beyond.

👂 **Listening to Your Inner Voice**: Kylie reflects on the lessons learned from seeking expert advice without tuning into her own intuition.

✨ **Potent Midlife Lessons**: Unwrap the gifts of hardship as Kylie shares her journey of overcoming personal trauma, embracing neurodiversity, and shattering old patterns between her 48th birthday and her 49th (today!)

🎁 **Invitation to Self-Reflection**: Answering the wild woman’s call, and answering the big Qs questions about what you truly want in life and how to move towards reclaiming your power.

🗣️ **Up Next**: Our upcoming interview with a post-menopause PhD candidate breaking down the narrative of menopause and powerfully reframing it as a heroine's journey.

This is more than just a podcast; it's a clarion call to every woman marching through midlife. Let's embrace the invitation to be wild, be free, and, most importantly, be unapologetically yourself.

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Samantha Nolan-Smith believes we can reshape the world when more diverse voices and perspectives are shared and heard. She knows that as we break through the silencing influences that have been plaguing women for millennia (hello patriarchy), new ways of living, working, and relating to one another and to the planet, will become apparent. What she also knows is that we cannot do this individually. The the collective voices of women must be expressed. Social, economic and political change is needed to address the challenges of the 21st century. Women's voices are critical to ensuring those changes are equitable, innovative, and sustainable. It's time for us to speak up.

This podcast episode with Samantha, CEO of the School of Visibility was so thoughtful and thought-provoking, it will be reverberating through my mind and soul for years to come. Our rich conversation covers:

- Samantha’s shift from a 20 year old high functioning, type A young woman who battled on the inside with depression and anxiety, and did not feel safe in her body to the 50 year old thought leader full of quiet power and deep self trust, anchored in her own identity and intrinsic value.

- How the patriarchy (which is first evidenced more than 4500 years ago in writings from the Sumerians which speak about a woman being hit in the mouth with a brick for speaking out) influences and shapes both our boys and girls and forms a system of oppression that most of us so familiar with, we cannot see the ocean of conditioning we are living in

- Samantha’s journey through chronic fatigue and how she was forced to feel the emotions from big T and little t traumas in earlier life, her gentle path forward and the way this has informed her quiet, safe, simple environments she has created for herself - including the way in which she does business.

- The important of not only healing our individual stories around not taking up too much space (being too loud, too enthusiastic, too big, too [fill in the blank here]) but also healing the collective stories we have been conditioned to believe - and our favourite starting point which would be blowing up the good girl BS on all levels - the good mum, the good wife/partner, the good worker, the good friend, the good daughter, the good caregiver, ect etc etc!

- My own personal chiropractic adjustment of the soul moment when Samantha says “It is a radical act to centre yourself in your life and then take up space from there”. I don’t know about you, but that will stay with me for a very very long time indeed.

You can find Samantha and the work she does in the world online here

Also mentioned: Carol Gilligan book “Why Does the Patriarchy Persist?”

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Ezzie Spencer’s vision is a world in coherence. She started as a human rights lawyer, and completed her Ph.D in therapeutic jurisprudence for women subjected to abuse. Over the past decade, she has created a body of work in the trilogy of Power, Love and Peace — with a touch of magic - and yes our chat is just as delicious as all of that sounds.

We speak about:

- A huge Universal curveball at the age of 22, and the recovery process which led Ezzie to study many different forms of alternative healing including Vipassana, meditation, cosmology and Kabbalah, and how Ezzie feels tremendously grateful for this first initiation point in her life which sent her on the path to the magical life she has created today

- Ezzie’s background in law, her PhD in Therapeutic Jurisprudence (FYI, that means using the law as a vehicle for healing for those of you who like me had no idea that word means!) and the golden threads which connect her early work with the work around power and love to the deep work she does with her clients now around self love and relationships

- Her early period of burnout during her law career, and the thirst for feminine wisdom and how this, together with an early connection to the lunar cycles, led to Ezzie writing her first book, which was a runaway success

- The second initiation point in Ezzie’s life when her business took off like a fast train, the confronting reality of wanting to be of service to the thousands of people who arrived in her orbit very quickly, and how this led Ezzie to go on a journey to unlock self forgiveness, and ultimately self love, and realise the power of being a true creatrix

- Ezzie’s next level work in the Unconscious Vows, and the emotions which can indicate blocks or unconscious barriers to self power (guilt and shame) and personal power (anger and frustration) and the process of resolving internal discord to come to a place of living from the Authentic Self

- Her delicious feeling of being in fulfilment and contentment, a deep knowing that she has done what she came her to do, and the grounded feeling of being able to both trust herself and trust life.

Oh my stars, this one will land in your hearts and ears and reverberate its wisdom for a very long time indeed.

Enjoy and go find Ezzie and all her magic online here.

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Janet McGeever is an educator and psychotherapist of 20-plus years, specialising in Sex, Love and Intimacy. She helps women and couples explore a deepened experience of intimacy through Retreats, One-on-one Private Mentoring, online courses and books. Janet just loves the creative space of intimate sharing, opening hearts, and vulnerability and believes strengthening our presence as women and men in both life and relationships unveils our truest hearts and selves.

I’ve known Janet for a long, long time, and it’s been a joy to witness her dive into her Life’s Calling in sex, love and intimacy after finding herself feeling broken in midlife. This is a deep, divine story of turning inwards and rediscovering her inner compass, her own direction, and bringing to life work in the world which is profoundly impactful for the couples and women who have the honour of working with her.

We dive into:

- Janet’s experience of the perimenopause symptoms of flagging libido, the growing anger and resentment towards her partner from “doing it anyway”, which left her feeling broken, bereft and deficient

- A deeply touching story of how nature and her cycles provided a turning point in Janet’s journey, the moment she realised she was killing her femininity and the changes she made as a result

- The perfection of coming across Diana Richardson’s book The Heart of Tantric Sex and how Janet experienced (with her then partner) Diana’s work in Switzerland, and how she came to be the only Australian facilitator of the Making Love Retreats as a result

- Joining with Diana - who she recognised as a sister from the very first time they met - to write their book Tantric Sex and Menopause. Practices for Spiritual and Sexual Renewal

- How women have been disempowered, the imbalance of power in our traditional concept of goal oriented, "thrust away to orgasm" sex, and the shift in power to be back inside of each partner through Diana’s work - and a riff on how the current “f the patriarchy” pendulum is not helping us to heal

- How the Making Love Retreats Diana holds are not naked swingers parties or performance appraisals (!!) and how the combination of education and experiential learning opens the way for softening and receptivity between couples

- Janet’s deep love of brining women in circle together and how her WomanKind retreats are a deeply healing experience for women in midlife.

Find Janet including her Making Love and Womankind retreats here.

Janet and Diana’s Book Tantric Sex and Menopause. Practices for Spiritual and Sexual Renewal 

Diana’s Book The Heart of Tantric Sex: A Unique Guide to Love and Sexual Fulfillment 

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Kate is the author of Second Spring: the self-care guide to menopause. Published by Harper Collins, it’s the first book to give a psychological map for menopause, one of the top ten self-help books of 2022 according to The Independent. Kate mentors people in perimenopause and beyond, 1-2-1 online, runs groups, nature-based Yoga Nidra sessions, hosts Life - An Inside Job podcast, and creates multi-level art textile projects. When she’s not doing these things you’ll find her playing in her compost heaps.

I read Kate’s book over the Christmas holidays and it was a big part of me feeling a shift in my feelings towards perimenopause. Although I had done a lot of research, and interviewing and investigating in my head, if I am honest my heart still felt like it perimenopause was something to be endured, rather than something to be embraced.

I am so honoured to include Kate’s deep wisdom in the pod, it was such a fun, illuminating and deeply pleasurable experience! 

We chat about:

- The false concept we have of needing to be improved (Kate says we’re not fixer-uppers!) and how turning our attention inwards to get quiet enough to listen to our intuition and really hear what our bodies need opens a whole new level of understanding and self compassion.

- The seasonal approach to our cycles and how we move through very natural phases of Spring and Summer (and more outward focussed attention) to Autumn and Winter (more inwards focussed attention) and how this helps us to understand the unfolding of our journey through the Winter of Menopause and emergence into our Second Spring

- The psychological phases of menopause - Separation (Autumn), Surrender and Emergence (both Winter) and Second Spring - and gentle, practical (omg actually doable!) self care suggestions for our own care and support

- Kate’s shift from fashion in her 20s to holistic massage and how her work has evolved to include psychotherapy, pregnancy and abdominal massage, menstrual medicine, menopause doula support and yoga nidra

- How healing our old wounds is a natural part of the Separation Phase and how this can play out for people with significant big T trauma including PTSD and CPTSD

- An overall philosophy on how to soften into Menopause, summarised by Kate’s straight talking advice “Cut the Crap, Keep the Good Stuff, that goes for food, relationships, obligations, all of it”

Kate’s mission is to change the way we regard menopause and show us how we can relax into our own, inner authority through our cyclical nature and menopause process. 

I know the wisdom she shared in this episode will do exactly that. 

Find Kate on Instagram here and at her web home here 

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Emma Grey is a novelist, feature writer, photographer, professional speaker and accountability coach. She has been writing fiction since she first fell for Anne of Green Gables at fourteen and is the author of the YA novels Unrequited: Boy band meets girl, Tilly Maguire and the Royal Wedding Mess, the non-fiction title, I Don’t Have Time (co-authored with Audrey Thomas), and the parenting memoir Wits’ End Before Breakfast! Confessions of a Working Mum. Along with her schoolfriend, dual ARIA-winning composer, Sally Whitwell, Emma co-wrote two musicals, Deadpan Anti-Fan and Fairytale Derail, based on her teen novels.

She wrote her first adult novel, The Last Love Note (released 24th January -  order on presale here, in the wake of her husband’s death. It’s a fictional tribute to their love, an attempt to articulate the magnitude of her loss and a life-affirming commitment to hope.

Well this was always going to be a beautiful conversation with Emma, a woman I have been connected with via a mutual friend, and last saw in person just before the most unfathomable tragedy struck her life. Since then, I have been observing Emma and her courageous family step through grief, and continually chose, again and again to lean into joy, connection and meaning together.

In this episode, Emma shares:

- The unexpected death of husband and love her life Jeff when she was 42 and her daughters were in Year 10 and 12 (with all those final exams hurdles) and her son was just 5, and her Mum was progressing with advanced dementia

- The impact a comment from Emma’s friend Rebecca Sparrow who lost her stillborn daughter said about wanting her daughter’s death to turn the light up in her life, not down; and the choices she has been making since the day after Jeff’s funeral to make meaning, choose light and focus on joy in each grief-drowned moment

- The gift of a major creative endeavour co-writing and launching a High School Musical with school friend Sal and drama teacher Ness in the first year after Jeff’s died and how through the blessings of glitter cannons and disco balls, this provided the perfect distraction from to her overwhelming grief

- Emma’s decision to move out of the home where Jeff died and build a new home (starting with literally sitting in the dirt visioning her desires for a light-filled sanctuary) has been an essential step in the grieving process.

Order a copy of the Last Love Note right here.

And find Emma online here

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

A Serene, Spiritual Empowered Guide, Geraldine Crane helps women whose hearts have been hurt by their mothers, to find peace, regain their strength, and develop a loving relationship with themselves by reconnecting them with their inner divinity, their inner resilience, and the love of their spirit guides.

Geraldine was introduced to me via our mutual friend Cat Marshall who will be in your ears in another episode coming soon. We chatted for literally 2 + hours meaning Geraldine stayed up till way past midnight so we could connect and let's be honest: compare notes.

In this episode. we discuss:

- Her professional background as a probation officer, substance misuse officer and Domestic Abuse Recovery worker; and how it was during her time working with domestic violence victims, that she realised a lot of the abuses she was discussing with her clients was all too familiar

- How as a result 5 years ago, Geraldine finally cut contact with her mother after her therapist asked her "what would your life look like without your mother in it?" and she realised just how toxic and harmful the relationship had been for her

- How this led to a huge healing journey: Her reconnection with her spiritual side, meditating daily and channeling messages and how once Geraldine started reading spiritual texts and working with a 3 Principles coach, she started healing her mother wounds

- How the freedom from this relationship led to Geraldine embracing who she was and helping other women to do the same through Serene Spiritual Coaching and Hypnotherapy.

- challenging the myth of the "You Must Love Your Mother" and the damage this does when people overlook or are unable to recognise more subtle forms of abuse

Phew, if you have a weird, wonky or anything less than warm + wonderful relationship with your Mum, there'd be some GOLD in this one for you no doubt about it.

You can find Geraldine online here and her Facebook community here 

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Sherold is a certified master life + business coach + mindset mentor devoted to helping women become more confident, resilient and happy. Sherold and I last spoke for an interview on my old poddy in 2015!!  Two years later at age 65, she was in a near-fatal car wreck, needed 6 abdominal surgeries in 15 days and had to learn to walk again. For some, that would be a slippery slope into thoughts of “why me” or “I’ll never walk again” but Sherold had an experience that led her to clearly and consciously choose love and gratitude to heal.

We speak about:

• Sherold’s near-death experience where a voice asked her “You get to choose how you go through this experience, what will you choose?”
• The experience of being free from the mind and ego, and how this allowed Sherold to be an objective observer of her hospital stay
• How differently Sherold and her husband experienced her recovery, and our resulting deep dive into suffering
• What Sherold now knows to be true about money and all sorts of other illusions in our outer worlds
• How nature is Sherold’s cathedral and how she used visualisation to go from being unable to walk to hiking 7 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail just a few months later
• A moment of remembering how Sherold so loved her new post-accident scars, the truth about our bodies’ innocence and how it’s just our ego stories that create the suffering about our bodies.
• How Sherold found awakening to deep truths about life and death is not a static space, and how the voices of ego and fear re-emerged in time, but each time this happens her recovery and awareness takes less and less time to come back to her.
  
  

You can find the beautiful, wise and wonderful Sherold online here and keep your eyes peeled for the release of Sherold’s memoir in 2024.

And listen in to this ep and more at https://www.kpkreative.com.au/pod 

What a perfect way to wrap up Season 2 of the podcast, a deep warm and rich conversation about Life, the Universe and Everything. Thank you so much for listening in this season, and I look forward to being back in your ears and hearts in 2024.  

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Sheree Clark is a Midlife Courage Coach, television show host, inspiring speaker and accomplished author. Sheree has written and presented on topics ranging from finding your passion to overcoming career burnout. Her Fork in the Road coaching practice keeps her busy working with clients one-on-one and in groups on creating an authentically fulfilling life. In her personal time, Sheree and her cat Lotus work on their yoga poses. 

This episode with Sheree Clark is such a gold mine of wisdom, including:

• Sheree's journey from a 25-year stellar run in the world of advertising and triple martini lunches to her deeply satisfying career as a Midlife courage coach
• How different careers fit us in different life stages and how Sheree’s reflection on what her now 67-year-old self would say to her 53-year-old self who was contemplating putting a pin in her successful advertising agency
• Sunk opportunity cost and how investing a lot of time and energy into a career or a marriage can make creating change or contemplating leaving feel too hard or too heavy
• The concept of self-identity and how we can unconsciously reinforce something we are ready to let go of or evolve through
• A simple exercise from Sheree to check in with messages in your environment and spot anything out of alignment
• The two types of courage:  reactive courage when you're responding to something that's happened versus proactive courage where the impetus for change and self-trust must be  powered from within
• And the perfection of Sheree’s concept of not living a flatline life, and we can avoid settling rather than mining for joy or deep satisfaction

You can find Sheree online at Fork in the Road here

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Laura Feeney is a yoga teacher and movement educator who is passionate about helping pre-to postmenopausal women navigate life with ease. Through yoga and mindful movement, she supports women to build strength, maintain and improve mobility, sleep better, and manage stress through her classes, workshops and retreats helping women connect to their bodies with positivity and love.

Laura is originally from the US and I’m also a mom of four grown kids, a business owner, a bookworm, and a jewellery maker. She’s been teaching yoga and movement in rural Ireland since 2004 and opened a movement studio in 2007. But mostly Laura describes herself as a student - of the body, of movement, the brain, the nervous system, the ageing process - you name it, she’s a nerd about it!  

One of Laura’s movement shares on socials caught my eye a few months back, and since then she has been a regular contributor to my Instagram “body love” save folder. I love the way she breaks down simple self-care into doable practices for all of us peri people!

We speak about:

• Laura’s revelations about never feeling “finished” or “done” in life, and how this constant reinvention and evolution excites her
• Our internal belief systems are how they can be a force for good (or not so good) and colour our experience of ageing
• How her own journey through perimenopause invited some changes to her own movement practice and the way she teaches other women in peri and post-menopausal years. 
• Laura’s peri cognitive challenges, a dementia diagnosis close to home and how this has made Laura double down on her study and  focus to neuroprotective factors as she ages and
• the totally unsexy, totally not magic-pill-quick-fix solution truth about self-care in midlife and beyond and just how important being or becoming truly connected to our own needs and desires is as we cross the threshold into our post-menopausal years.

Find Laura online at www.laurafeeney.com or 

Grab access to a free 10-minute class to help clear away the Midlife Brain Fog at https://laurafeeney.ck.page/clarity ! 

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Aline McCarthy is a leading expert in Cellular to Holistic Health guiding midlife women to thrive. As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, Cellular Health and Nutrition Coach she guides women in midlife in transforming their health from the inside out so they can finally feel back in control, comfortable and confident in everyday life.

Aline overcame her own chronic back pain, gut health, anxiety and inflammation issues by addressing the underlying causes and making appropriate lifestyle changes. When the mainstream medical system did not provide any satisfactory answers for her, Aline decided to learn from the best and radically change the way she was doing things, and now she helps other women do the same.

Aline and I chat about:

• her own journey through chronic pain after the birth of her second child and the decision to find a different way after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and offered multiple pain medications
• how Aline believes her pregnancy was just the tipping point, and her gut and other health imbalances had been accumulating since her 20s
• our gut as our second brain, how the brain and “second brain” are connected, and how important it is to make space for the rest and digest system to switch on when we eat
• “metabolic chaos”, and her pebbles rippling in a pond analogy for the collision point of the multiple factors (environmental, toxic, insufficient nutrition, chronic stress, frequent antibiotics, painkillers, dehydration and poor sleep to name a few) which can be underlying this chaos
• How midlife can be a window of opportunity to ramp up the foundational self-care practises we all know about it, but may fail to prioritise, and how important this time of life is for creating optimal health into the menopausal third of our lives

Find Aline online at www.thewellnesswitches.com.au
Join Aline’s free Facebook group Battle the Bloat here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wellnesswitchesbeatthebloat

 Download her special perimenopause and menopause guide here https://www.subscribepage.com/perimenopauseandmenopause 

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Sandy Davies is the Queensland-based formulator and founder of HappyPause™ Balm. She’s a bit of a rebel who struggles taking ‘No’ for an answer, which is how she came to turn the lack of a simple, preservative-free natural solution for intimate dryness into her mission. The creation of HappyPause™ is Sandy’s ‘Yes.’ Don’t suffer in silence. A tiny pearl of HappyPause™ and you’ll have a spring back in your step.
Dryness caused by perimenopause, chemotherapy, endometriosis, Type 1 Diabetes, harsh working conditions, endurance training, postmenopause or other issues should never be a death knell to doing the active things we love, which is why Sandy can’t wait to share the joy of creating HappyPause™ with you.

I reached out to Sandy after using HappyPause when I joined the ranks of perimenopausal women suffering from vaginal and vulval dryness. Here I was thinking I had blessedly escaped this peri symptom and BANG one heavy period and hey presto! dry vagina! My doctor initially prescribed a pessary of vaginal estrogen but I didn't get much relief and I already knew that Sandy created an all-natural product that works so well after hearing her interview on another pod. 

We chat about:

• Sandy's perimenopause experience and how her doctor brushed it off as "just perimenopause" (two words that you and I both know should never be used together in a sentence!)
• How women are still hiding away menopause, and the behaviour Sandy just observed when going to see Menopause the Musical
• Perimenopause itchiness and irritation of all types, and the huge impact a little self-nurturing can have on our tolerance levels
• Vuvla and vaginal dryness, the stigma still attached and how these symptoms impact EVERY area of a woman's life, not just the bedroom
• Sandy's personal philosophy around just LEAP, and a beautiful example of how important it is to take life by the horns and just do it
• Menopausal meltdown and the gift Sandy's husband gave her in a shopping centre car park. 

Sandy will be back on the show in Season 3 - because we didn't get to chat about her celebrating 50 with 50 bottles of champagne or her great naked coffee challenge in this ep!

Go find Sandy and her radiant positivity and HappyPause at www.happypause.com.au and please if intimate dryness is an issue for you, give HappyPause a go - it is a simple, natural solution that has worked wonders for me.

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Revealing the Richness of the Rose with Dee Light

Dee Light has the gifted knack of seeing the biggest picture, and distilling it into sizable, easy-to-digest steps. Her capacity to take a dilemma and uncover the way out, is an everyday challenge she sees as part of her role in these dynamic times. For Dee, there is always a solution. A path forward. Dee has studied and applied many modalities over the last forty years and has distilled them down to the basic steps that get results. So, you can respond to life, not react; engage with life and not shrink back.

An author, a speaker, a spouse, a CEO, a mother, an insightful listener; everything she says, she uncovers, comes from deeply lived experience. She’s the living, breathing example of walking your talk. She walks with you, not to ‘fix’ you, but to help you find and open your own door, to your new life.

Connected via a mutual friend and podcast guest, this chat is as ripe and rich as Dee herself. We cover so much in this fireside ep, including:

 - Life transitions of feeling like you are being threaded through the eye of a needle, in an invitation to let go of all that is not authentic

- the powerful purging, cleansing, clearing that Dee went through as a result of tapping into her unfelt anger and the alchemy this provided and

- defragmenting lower energies so we are free to come into the resonance of the very heart of us

Dee's car rally analogy for the adventure of life and using your "cat's whiskers" aka felt sense to guide you

- how as we go through our own journey, we do not heal ourselves, we reveal our true Self

- how Kylie does not have a reference point of a well-resourced woman and how Dee is an expander for the younger women coming through

Find Dee and her work in the world at www.lightandco.earth and manifestooflight.earth

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Relational Rupture and Repair with Thea Baker

Thea is a counsellor and body-based (somatic) psychotherapist with special interests in all aspects women’s health, trauma (PTSD, C-PTSD) and couples/relationship therapy. She works collaboratively with her clients to find a place of healing and recovery.; and she's in it for the long-haul and doesn’t give up easily. Thea is not the kind of therapist that is ok with “feeling better” if better is still a long way off being truly well.

Wellbeing is about much more than the absence of disease or illness. It’s a multidimensional mix of getting your physical, mental, emotional and social health in balance. Thea is a noisy advocate about mental health being a part of whole-person health – she believes that we have somehow got into a place where we see physical health in terms of strength and fitness whilst mental health is viewed through a lens of stigma, dysfunction and illness.

Thea and I chat about so many aspects of women's health and the transition points of a woman's life, including:

- the compounding effect of what we bring to motherhood, including the way we were attached as children and the relational trauma we have experienced

- how motherhood and the experience of trying to provide something we did not receive can trigger the wounded parts of us

- Internal Family Systems, the functions of our manager and firefighter parts and how it feels to live from our Authentic Self

- how attachment will always trump authenticity, and a tiny snapshot of how understanding this unravelled some deep anger towards self for Kylie

- the concept from Gabor Mates' body of work "not why the addiction, but why the pain"

- creating safe relational spaces, which include both the inevitable rupture and repair of relationships

- the function of oestrogen in caretaking and how and why we shed female friendships in midlife.

You can find Thea and her Thea Baker Wellbeing practise here.

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

After recording episode 1 of this season of the podcast about my Mental Health challenges, I thought it was high time and came and gave you an update after almost 6 months. 

In this chat I speak about:
- the decision to use medication to help with mood and mental health challenges back in April, and how this has opened up space in my life for true honest introspection
- being in the Separation psychological phase of Perimenopause and the pruning of relationships, habits and patterns that have happened in this autumnal phase
- chronic pain and the mismatch between my expectation of ageing with vitality and energy, versus the reality I have been living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
- what's next for me and the decision to redefine health and the shift from getting healthy meaning manipulating my body to be a smaller size to making with my highest values of freedom, vitality and making memories with my family as my filtres

I hope sharing these honest truths will help to open up the field of possibilities for perimenopause being a powerful portal for taking stock and redefining the way we treat ourselves and our health and precious resources moving forward. 

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

E2S22 The Medicine of Me with Kerri Hummingbird

Kerri Hummingbird, Medicine Woman, Mother and Mentor, is the Founder of Inner Medicine Training, a Mystery School that shares potent ancient traditions from the Andes and Himalayas for owning your wisdom and living your purpose.  She is the #1 international best-selling author of "Inner Medicine: Becoming One with Mother Earth for the Survival of Humanity" (int'l bestseller for 23 weeks), "The Second Wave: Transcending the Human Drama" (int'l bestseller over 217 weeks), and "Love Is Fierce: Healing the Mother Wound" which describes the most direct path to self-realization. As the host of Soul Nectar Show, Ms Hummingbird inspires people to lead their lives wide awake with an authenticity, passion and purpose that positively impacts others. As a healer and mentor, she catalyzes mind-shifts that transform life challenges into gifts of wisdom. 

Kerri and I were introduced by another guest and I knew I would enjoy connecting with her from the very first vibe on Zoom. This woman carries so much wisdom and a wealth of life experience through healing her mother wound, repatterning her family agreements, burning down her life and rebuilding, stepping out of an ill-fitting first marriage and doing the damn work to step into her life's role as Medicine Woman. 

We chat about:
- how women are the centre and "sensor" of our families and communities and the difference between empowered women at the centre, and disempowered women running old patterns of passive-aggression, pedestal-dwelling or dumbing themselves down to fit into society or familial expectations
- the grandmother web and how once lost women's wisdom is currently reknitting an energetic web around the world and how this is coming back to a place of unity between the me-my-mind and the heart's knowing
- how all of us have our own medicine and you can't save anyone from their life' curriculum
- Kerri's journey from a mental health diagnosis and deep post-natal depression led her to the dark night of the soul, and the powerful decision she made to "die to herself" and shed the skins of the life she had created and burn down both her life and identity
- how Kerri found shamanism and came to study under and work in partnership with a Peruvian family, and her Inner Medicine training program to help people reconnect to their Truth and rewire their foundation for life

You can find Kerri and her work in the world at https://kerrihummingbird.com/ 
Find all of Kerri's books mentioned in this podcast at https://kerrihummingbird.com/portfolio/  
and download her Free Gift Inner Medicine Meditation Pack at htttp://www.kerrihummingbird.com/innermedicine 

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

S12E20 Metabolism, Sleep & Energy: The Midlife Trifecta with Lisa Walker

Lisa is Eir’s co-founder and resident left-brain thinker/big-picture planner. She crossed paths with Eir co-founder Kate working in marketing, and water-cooler chat became a friendship, glued together by their ability to find hilarity in (almost) every situation that comes with feeling constantly foggy/fatigued/frazzled and managing the mental load. The idea for Eir simmered in the background, but eventually the two decided to create a solution for the issues they—and all their friends—were silently battling with.

The knowledge she’s creating something transformative for women is what’s propelled Lisa through about 105875 false starts/mistakes/steep learning curves. Her passion lies in helping women feel normal again (because it’s possible!), and to add a feeling of lightness into every life stage (peri-menopause and menopause included).

I loved this chat with Lisa, such a beautiful conversation about life, grief, growth, values and good-ole-fashioned living your life purpose!  We chatted about:

- the unexpected 2022 loss of Lisa's husband, and how Lisa made significant life changes as a result (despite the external "this is how you SHOULD grieve" messages she received)

- How the idea of Eir Women, a supplement brand Lisa co-founded with friend and ex-colleague Kate, evolved over time through COVID lockdown and how this has been the most brilliant thread for Lisa to anchor to while going through one of life's greatest challenges

- The journey from idea to research to market research to formulation which led Eir to be anchored by pillars of metabolism, energy and sleep, rather than the menopausal most-wanted list of hot flushes and night sweats usually bandied about as the most trying pain points of menopause

- Plans for the future including women's sexual health support, and how the breaking down of sexual health taboos has opened the door to real conversations about midlife sexual function

- Why Lisa and Kate have decided to allow Eir time to unfold and grow organically and just how important it is to them that women have a positive frame of this midlife transition, rather than be smacked in the face by fear-mongering menopause marketing

A gorgeous, heart-felt exchange, and what an honour to be able to share Lisa's story.

 You can find Lisa and Eir Women online at www.eirwomen.com.au

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

What if the signs of perimenopause were staring you right in the face and you didn't even know it?

Get ready to unpack the unfamiliar terrain of perimenopause with our guest, Maria Doyle, as she shares her journey of awakening to her own symptoms, the challenges she faced due to the global pandemic, and the positive changes she made in her life. Maria's story is not just an enlightening look at perimenopause but also a testament to resilience, authenticity and self-care.

Maria's life, split between the sun-soaked beaches of Perth and the snowy landscapes of Norway, took an unexpected turn when the pandemic hit. The stressful experience of moving between countries, handling bureaucracy from afar, and the emotional strain of family separation added layers of complexity to her life. Alongside these challenges, she began to experience the overlap what she now knows was perimenopause.

In the latter part of our conversation, Maria opens up about her journey towards embracing authenticity, liberation and balance in her work life. We delve into her decision to take a sabbatical, challenging the status quo, and redefining the role of a middle-aged woman. 

Get ready to be inspired by a story that is a powerful reminder of the importance of self-care and resilience in the face of adversity.

You can find Maria online here https://mariadoyle.com/
And the book we mention - The Upgrade: How the Female Brain Gets Stronger and Better in Midlife and Beyond Paperback here https://amzn.to/3XI4sWC

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au

Nikki Parkinson, 56, is a former journalist-turned blogger, author and now fashion designer. At the core of all that she does is her love of helping and supporting women to find greater confidence through their everyday style and the life they lead.

 In 2019, Nikki launched her own fashion label, Styling You TheLabel, offering Australian-made, non-boring wardrobe basics that take the stress out of the what-to-wear question. She has long advocated for a disruption in the way that fashion is marketed to women. Styling You The Label is the first label globally to invest in showcasing its designs on every size that it sells–size6-20. Not only does that increase customer confidence but it flips the idea that fashion should only be seen on one size, height, age, colour, belief or ability.

 
In this enlightening episode, we explore the intricate relationship between perimenopause and mental health. Nikki opens up about her tumultuous journey through perimenopause, likening it to the intense transition period of childbirth. She emphasises the importance of education and research in helping women understand these changes and ask the right questions, and shares her experiences with hormone treatments and the significant role they play in managing perimenopause symptoms.

We further venture into the significance of advocating for women's health and the future. As women, we often sideline our own needs, which can be detrimental to our health and well-being. We discuss the importance of breaking this cycle, for our own benefit and that of future generations. Nikki shares her thoughts on how we can approach the topic of menopause with our daughters and help normalise these conversations.

The conversation then shifts to Nikki's experiences running a business and the challenges she faced, particularly with the changing economic landscape. She offers valuable insights into maintaining mental health while adapting to these changes. Nikki also shares her unique perspective on the relationship between women's bodies and fashion, and her commitment to inclusivity through her fashion label.

Wrapping up the discussion, we talk about the power of sharing experiences and the importance of having a support network, especially during challenging times such as menopause. Listen in as we explore these issues and more.

You can find Nikki and Styling You online at www.stylingyou.com.au

And read one of Nikki's many vulnerable and so helpful posts here here: https://www.stylingyou.com.au/2021/03/soberish

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Come connect with Kylie on Insta @kyliepatchett or Facebook @kyliepatchettonline
and online for all your menoPAUSE and Brand, Content and Copy Storytelling needs at Kylie's brand new web home www.kpkreative.com.au