Messy Midlife

Send us Fan Mail Today we have Cindy back for yet another important episode all about sexual health.  We talk about: Hormone changes to tissue and structure of the genitals The importance of moisturizing our vagina (its as important as moisturizing our skin) The importance of early intervention to maintain flexibility of the vaginal canal/tissues and prevent atrophy The role of hormones in the hea...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we'll talk through all the "fun" changes that happen in our digestive function with hormone changes during perimenopause and menopause: The "normal" amount of bowel movements per day, and when to worry Factors influence bowel regularity Medications that can cause constipation Aging isn't just on the outside, we also experience aging in...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Jenn, Karen, and Aliza sit down with pelvic floor physical therapist Cindy Furey for the conversation we all wish we had decades ago. Cindy has a gift for making the complicated feel completely approachable, and yes, she will absolutely tell you to stop peeing in the shower and to quit going just in case! In this episode we cover: What the pelvic floor (bowl) actu...

Send us Fan Mail Karen shares an experience she had where she had to make a very hard choice to say no to her father's deathbed wish regarding her supporting another family member. Her process of moving from guilt to love in this situation helped her see that it has far reaching impacts in all of her life.  Some of the things we touch on:  The shift from obligatory to optional in how we evalu...

Send us Fan Mail We've talked together previously about blocks that stop us from doing what we know we need, in all areas of our lives. On this episode, we touch back on some of our struggles and Aliza shares some of the shifts she's experienced recently that have helped her move forward. We talk about: The fear that something we're counting on to help us won't really help How...

Send us Fan Mail The whole gang's back together again!  Jenn returns from her surgery recovery and shares her recent experience with endometriosis surgery, recovery, and all of the emotional and physical implications. She reflects on the importance of community support, self-care, and trusting our intuition in navigating complex health decisions. Today, we touch on: Jenn’s decision to proceed...

Send us Fan Mail Just Aliza and Karen today while Jenn is recovering from surgery. Today we needed to process setting boundaries that work for us.  We touch on:  People can't respect your boundaries if you don't set them for yourself The energetic impact of having clarity on your boundaries for yourself When we are clear on our boundaries, we no longer need to justify what we are asking...

Send us Fan Mail Jenn talks through her preparations for her upcoming hysterectomy and oopherectomy.  We talk about: Our expectations of ourselves while healing How we relate to our health conditions and treatments/surgeries The positives that have come from having endometriosis  Being OK with uncertainty going into surgery and coming out of it The surprising emotional impact of removing the uteru...

Send us Fan Mail We have had a lot of requests to talk about the sandwich generation - where we are raising kids and helping or caring for aging parents.  We talk about:  The guilt and shame that comes with trying to navigate multiple things that are essentially competing personal values Navigating things as a solo parent or only child The role in community and the ways relationships change over t...

Send us Fan Mail Do you ever struggle to do even the simplest things that you know are good for you? Even when you already did the hard part? Do you ever wonder how to have the hard conversations with people you love when you see them doing the same thing? Today we talk:  Stages of change and how being in messy midlife impacts our ability to move through them How we show up in relationships and ho...

Send us Fan Mail Karen shares an epiphany she had with a patient recently. Her patient was doing really well but then the things that had been working just stopped, seemingly out of nowhere. They had to work together to find the obstacles to healing so that she could start improving again.  This made use think about how often this is true in perimenopause, and the ways that we can even become our...

Send us Fan Mail Not everyone can use (or wants to use) hormone replacement therapy. Today we talk about some of the options to look at and considerations.  We talk about The Women's Health Initiative, research in general, and what it means for you and your health The importance of not just taking something off the shelf or that you learned about from social media influences in this precariou...

Send us Fan Mail Today we talk through some of the things you are likely considering to help you feel better.  None of this is medical advice - always consult with your healthcare provider before starting anything, even supplements that you can purchase without a prescription.  Things we cover:  The difference between standard hormone replacement therapy and bioidentical hormone replacement therap...

Send us Fan Mail Today we answer the most common questions about hormone testing, and the questions you need to get answered but might not know to ask.  We talk about:  Where in your cycle testing will be most reliable, and what to do when you don't have a regular cycle.  Why there is value in getting tested before starting any hormone therapy, even when you don't have a period.  The imp...

Send us Fan Mail By listener request! Aliza takes us back to the basics with the role different hormones play in our health both before and during perimenopause. This chat is full of good foundations for conversations you are having with healthcare providers, and sets the stage for more details in upcoming episodes all about hormone replacement therapy and non-hormone support options.  Things to t...

Send us Fan Mail Embodiment! Realignment! Transformation!  Karen's favorite thing to talk about - ever. Perimenopause is our chance to reclaim ourselves, especially as an HSP.  Some key takeaways:  Intuition lives in our bodies. When we retreat into our minds and our cognitive world, we are disconnecting from our intuition. This is especially relevant in perimenopause for both HSPs and non-HS...

Send us Fan Mail Jenn & Karen are back again to dive even deeper into perimenopause and the highly sensitive person.  Some top takeaways:  The importance of magnesium and sodium in highly sensitive people, before and during perimenopause, especially when it comes to detoxification/removal of hormones, anxiety, sleep, and more.  The impact of medications on nutrient status in the body, and the...

Send us Fan Mail We dive into Karen's professional expertise and personal lived experience to talk about being a highly sensitive person in perimenopause.  In this episode we talk about what a highly sensitive person actually is, from a neurological and medical perspective. We also talk about the lived experience of being a highly sensitive person.  We get a bit geeky about the overlap of str...

Send us Fan Mail We revisit rage today, because our last episode had us feeling a lot of it. We talk about our understanding of what it actually is, how it serves us, and how we got here in the first place.  00:00 Exploring Sacred Rage 02:51 The Balance of Emotions 05:30 Rage as a Secondary Emotion 08:08 Generational Perspectives on Rage 10:54 The Role of Helplessness in Anger 13:33 Paving the Way...

Send us Fan Mail Jenn shares all about her surprise diagnosis of endometriosis as a platform for learning and also discussing the importance of self-advocacy for your health. We talk about medical gaslighting, how we gaslight ourselves so often when it comes to health, and the ways we are set up to do this to ourselves.  This episode is a jumpstart to some upcoming, highly requested, more medicall...

Send us Fan Mail We don't start with rage, but through a conversation about unexpected solitude and the clarity that can come from it, we get there. The stark contrast between our daily lives and our lives in ideal circumstances leads to misaligned expectations within ourselves and within our relationships. And when we reach midlife and perimenopause, the center can no longer hold.  We talk a...

Send us Fan Mail Aliza jumpstarts the conversation by sharing her experience at a women's retreat that she attends every year and the challenges of trying to incorporate the insights into regular life.  Regular listeners know that Aliza has been struggling with some aspects of parenting, and one of the biggest takeaways from the retreat had a massive impact on how she relates to parenting and...

Send us Fan Mail Just Karen and Jenn today! This is a not to miss episode if you are dealing with ADHD, people pleasing, perimenopause, overwhelm, or like Karen and I - the times when all of these things collide.  Today we unpack a real life experience of the overlap of ADHD, perimenopause, perfectionism, and just regular mom stuff. We start with Karen's relatable experience of paralysis in j...

Send us Fan Mail Just Karen and Aliza again! Today we picked up with a topic we had chatted about off mic - manifesting. We have been feeling some blocks and frustration with manifesting recently, so we explore a bit about that. As we chat we realize that manifesting has taken on a fully different dimension as parents and with perimenopause. We very quickly get real about what we are trying to man...

Send us Fan Mail Just Karen and Aliza today! Aliza starts with some frustration she is experiencing with parenting a teenager, and we work our way through to exploring some insights on the value of frustration in parenting and perimenopause.  00:00 Navigating the Messy Midlife 02:36 Balancing Parenting and Personal Challenges 04:56 Communication and Expectations with Children 07:31 Understanding F...