Magnificent Midlife

Dr Sharon Blackie is an award winning writer, psychologist and mythologist. She's the author of the best selling, If Women Rose Rooted and more recently, Hagitude: Reimagining The Second Half Of Life. I love both books. They completely re-envision how women fit in the world. Hagitude is a wonderful analysis of how women used to be in later life, before the modern era, and the inspiration we can take from that. Sharon is focused on the development of the mythic imagination, and on the relevance of myth, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, cultural and environmental problems that we face today.  We talk about: - Why she wrote Hagitude - What is it about the hags and mythology that delights Sharon - Sharon’s favorite character, the Cailleach - What mythic imagination is - The things Sharon hates about how old women are currently presented  - How the second half of life is about turning inwards - The importance of listening to your body - How if you don't stop, you don't make space for a new story

Rebecca Wrigley is one of the founders of Rewilding Britain, and now its chief executive. She has worked in the voluntary and public sectors for 23 years, and is passionate about engaging local communities in decision-making about their land and resources. There is so much we can all contribute to protecting the environment, starting with rewilding, often on our doorstep. We talk about: - How Rewilding Britain got started - The unique contribution it makes - The highlights of Rewilding Britain since it started - How people can show support for the initiative and make a difference - Why rewilding is so important to the environment and climate change - Beavers as an example of an ecosystem engineer - How a peat bog can hold carbon - Understanding the keystone species  - Species Rebecca would like to see reintroduced to Britain - How we all benefit from prioritising nature  - Diversification of jobs and livelihoods - Frustrations about the work Rebecca does - Top lessons we can learn about rewilding  And more!  

Dr Kathryn Mannix has devoted her life to the palliative care of the dying. In this episode, she talked about death, the process of it and how we can all prepare better for it. She also wrote a remarkable book called With The End In Mind which everyone should read! It was such a pleasure to talk to her about death! This is a much longer interview than usual but I thought the topic deserved it. Kathryn came back on the podcast to talk about her second book, Listen and you can listen to that episode here. We talk about: - Why Kathryn was inspired to write her book, With The End In Mind - Opening up conversations about death - How our experience of death is much improved by honest communication - Denial is one way of coping which works for some people but isn’t ideal - Thinking about accommodating immobile older relatives - Sometimes being practical is better than sacrifice when it comes to caring - What normal dying actually looks and feels like – it is very gentle - Why it’s important for people to understand

Tania Elfersy is a transformative coach, speaker and award-winning author, specializing in midlife women’s health. She’s spent years researching what causes and what can relieve symptoms associated with perimenopause and menopause and became free of her own physical and emotional symptoms naturally and simply. Rachel quoted her extensively in her own book. Tania set up The Wiser Woman project in 2015 to help women transform their experience of midlife change. She’s the author of a brilliant new book, The Wiser Woman’s Guide To Perimenopause and Menopause. We talk about: - What lead Tania to the work she does - How the body doesn’t malfunction suddenly in midlife - The innate brilliance of the body and what that means for menopause symptoms - The difference between how we respond to issues in pregnancy and menopause - The importance of focusing on the emotional and spiritual side of the midlife journey - The insight that allowed Tania to free herself from her own menopause symptoms - The interplay between Mind

Rachel’s back with a solo update on what’s been happening in her world and the exciting launch of MenoClarity. She talks about: - An update on her mum post breaking her hip - Adapting to a new way of living - The fluctuation of mental capacity - Digital exclusion and Internet upgrade issues - Levels of customer service for older people and how those need to change - The wonders of the Amazon Alexa Show - Her trip to the Philippines - Working remotely and more wonders of technology - Setting up MenoClarity – who the team is and their aims - Creating unbiased balance when it comes to menopause - Stopping the climate of fear and creating better narratives for all women especially young ones - Questioning the over promotion of hormone therapy and especially as a preventative medicine - The original source of the menopause as a hormone deficiency narrative – the 1966 book Feminine Forever, financed by HRT manufacturers - How the women in the Blue Zones do not owe their long healthful lives to hormone therapy - Use

Sam Walker started her Sam Walker’s Desert Diaries podcast to document her move from Manchester, UK to Phoenix, Arizona. Sam is a master storyteller, an award-winning radio and TV broadcaster, a multiple podcast producer and presenter, a writer, and a woman who encountered coyotes, snakes and scorpions in the desert. This is such an inspirational gem of a podcast, I just had to re-release it! We talk about: - Why Sam decided to up sticks and move from Manchester to the desert - How she pushed through the fear both before making the move and after, given all the issues she has faced - Having support when making a big life change - Trusting the universe when there are signs along the way - The importance of trying to live our dreams no matter how big or small those might be - The difficulties and highlights of her life in Arizona - The many quirky things about adapting to US life - Trying to function in the US without a credit history - The delights of the US medical system - The beauty and history of US landsc

My guest, Professor Martha Hickey, is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University. She is in active clinical practice with a research expertise in menstrual disorders and menopause. This is such an important conversation about normalizing menopause. It may be difficult for some women but it is a completely natural transition in a woman’s life. Martha is a leader in developing national guidelines for menopause management in Australia and New Zealand and also in developing a new model of care for managing menopausal symptoms after breast cancer. She was the lead author on an article about normalizing menopause in the British Medical Journal which ruffled a few feathers last summer.  We talk about: - Why her BMJ article proved so contentious - Misinformation about menopause that she’d like to correct - The ‘official’ symptoms of menopause - Martha’s view on HRT and what it can be used for - Na

Another gem from the podcast archives. Julie Owen Moylan is the author of That Green Eyed Girl and 73 Dove Street, and currently working on her third novel. But when we recorded this interview, she had yet to get her first book deal! Her interview is a master class in believing in yourself and staying the course in pursuit of your dream. It was a real joy interviewing Julie about life, writing, ageing, authenticity and lots more! We had such a giggle! Enjoy and be inspired. We talk about: - How Julie came to be writing her first novel at nearly 60 - Following her dream of becoming a writer - Her midlife excavation process - How she got started writing seriously - Finding the motivation to keep going - The excitement of being spotted by a literary agent - Making the most of our precious heartbeats - Becoming more creative as we age - How Julie writes and developed the story for the book - The magic on days when the story just flows - Julie’s belief that somewhere in the ether the book exists and her job is to

Clare Fuller talks about the importance of later life planning and what that can look like. Clare is a Registered Nurse with 30 years’ experience in End-of-Life Care for which she is a Care Quality Commission Specialist Advisor. She campaigns for proactive Advance Care Planning and is the host of the Conversations about Advance Care Planning podcast. Most of us leave these tricky issues until it’s too late, whereas actually it’s never too early to start. None of us knows what tomorrow may bring. This is a powerful and inspiring podcast about the benefits of planning ahead. We talk about: - What inspired Clare to set up a new business at 50 - What a Lasting Power of Attorney is and why it matters - What can happen if you don’t have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place - How to make a Lasting Power of Attorney - The binary attitude of living versus dying - What Advance Care Planning is and the triggers for it - Advice on starting important conversations about later life planning - The difference between a Last

I interview Makeda Smith, celebrity publicist, pole and exotic dancer. She began her pole and aerial training at the age of 50 and created her own exotic dance brand called FlyingOver50. She’s over 60 now and still pole-dancing! We talk about: - How Makeda came to start pole dancing at age 50 - How pole dancing changed her life - Why sexy never gets old - The Everybody Visible movement on social media - How women in midlife and beyond can stay feeling sexy - How to get over the fear of injury when staying active as we age - Taking the fear out of the pole aspect of what Makeda does - Cultural differences in responses to older women being sexy - Balancing PR and pole dancing - Those very high shoes Makeda wears - Adapting to classes in a Covid world - Awakening the sleeping goddess in all of us And more!   If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you’re listening. Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel’s book, Magnifice

Dr Amanda Hanson is on a mission to revolutionize how women age and how society feels about older women. She believes midlife should be a time of power and joy, rather than crisis. She's a clinical psychologist and coach. She's the high profile Midlife Muse on social media. We talk about: - Recognizing and fighting the narratives about women and age - The role of misogyny - Breaking free of society's expectations for older women - Lessons from going grey as a woman - The work of Mama Gema - How we can be all the things as we age - we don't trade sensuality for wisdom, for example - Stepping out of fear when it comes to ageing - Going viral on TikTok - How perceptions shape our reality - Moving to a sense of abundance about ourselves - Choosing to age differently to what we see as the norm - A radical approach to changing the narrative about women's reproductive rights - Women taking care of their own sexual needs - Refusing to be a victim even though it's easy to do that - Taking radical re

Karen Newby is a nutritionist who’s been practicing nutritional therapy for over 10 years. Her area of specialism is women’s hormonal health, especially menopause. She's the author of The Natural Menopause Method, a nutritional guide to perimenopause and beyond. This woman knows so much about nutrition and women’s hormones. This is a brilliant and empowering conversation. We talk about: - How we can best prepare ourselves for perimenopause - The first signs of perimenopause that Karen sees and what can be done about those - Good and bad estrogens - What we can learn from other cultures in terms of food and hormones - The importance of phytoestrogens - Food as medicine - How to stop sugar cravings and why they happen - Why modern life can make menopause worse - Why women may get heavier periods as they move into perimenopause - The importance of maintaining blood sugar levels - The role of the adrenal glands - Why we need to get better at managing stress - Why there is no easy fix when it comes

Maryjane Fahey is a creative director, writer, storyteller, published author, and founder of Glorious Broads. Her mission is to inspire older women to live full authentic lives with no limitations. And younger women to live free of fear of getting older. This is a funny and inspiring conversation about how to be a glorious broad! We talk about: - Ageism and how it impacts healthcare - The insidious intersection of sexism and ageism - Giving women great examples of older women - Finding glorious broads around New York - Reducing the fear around ageing - Deciding to go grey - The power of acceptance - Reinventing ourselves multiple times - Doing the work to enable an authentic, limitless life - Enjoying great sex as we age - The other great things that come with age And more!   If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you’re listening. Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel’s book, Magnificent Midl

I’ve talked about death on the podcast but not yet grief, so I was delighted to welcome Silke Herwald to talk about this important topic. Silke is an experienced grief specialist and hypnotherapist, working especially with subconscious processes. She’s assisted hundreds of clients with grief and anxiety often drawing on her personal experience. Grief is often a big part of midlife. The more we love and the older we get, the more we will grieve. Knowing there are resourceful ways to grieve gives people relief and hope. This is a beautiful and empowering conversation about a difficult topic. We talk about: - Why we're so bad at dealing with grief - The things to not say when someone dies - How other cultures do grief and Rachel's experience of a Chinese funeral - How Silke helps people who are paralyzed by grief - The five stages of grief and why they’re not for everyone - How Silke helps a person who doesn’t want to stop grieving - How we can help a grieving person as a friend - How to deal with

A solo episode with Rachel, musing about midlife and what's been happening in her world. She talks about: - How difficult it can be when we have to pivot in how we interact with our older loved ones - The beginning of her journey into studying Gerontology - What successful aging really means/ looks like - Finding strategies to cope with loss as we age - The importance of thinking creatively about how people age - Enabling people to age as they want to age - Dodgy menopause data - Challenging narratives - Recent podcasts - Learning from adversity - How to create magnificence in midlife and beyond - What you can access at magnificentmidlife.com And more! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you’re listening. Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel’s book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book   The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other onli

Carolyn Birrell is the author of Walking with Fay, a moving book about her mother’s uncharted path into dementia. Carolyn’s writing began as a way to help her make sense of what was happening and quickly turned into the book she herself had needed, to provide relatable caregiving help. It’s a beautiful, empowering book and I really loved it. We talk about: - What led Carolyn to write such a personal and difficult book - Why it took so long to realize how bad things had got with her mother - The process of learning her mother had dementia and the early signs - Working out what level of interference in her mother’s affairs was appropriate - Coming to terms with realizing more help with caregiving was required - The kind of support that was needed and how Carolyn found that both for her mother and herself - Coping with a lack of recognition from her mother - The impact of the global pandemic on her mother’s care - What readers can expect from the book - Carolyn’s advice for people who fear they are starting

Dawn-Maria France is an award-winning journalist and editor-in-chief of Yorkshire Women’s Life magazine. She’s a travel writer, children's author and broadcaster, and is passionate about women’s rights, equality and diversity. We talk about: - How Dawn-Maria came to be the editor of Yorkshire Women’s Life magazine - Why Dawn-Maria is so passionate about equality and diversity - Being genuine in photographs and fighting back against retouching - Issues around mental health especially in the black and brown community - The impact of racism on mental health - Healthcare and women of colour - Finding a voice distinct from her community - The challenge and delight of writing empowering stories for children - The challenges of writing a children’s book - Being childless by choice but still choosing to write for children - Dawn-Maria’s thoughts on the current UK economic difficulties - The power that comes to women in midlife And more!   If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5

Do you dream of finding your soul mate? Do you think it will be just too difficult in midlife? Listen in to Katie Philips to find out how to call in your person. Katie is the founder of The School of Self Love. She's a Women’s Empowerment Coach, Love & Dating Mentor and author of ‘The Self Love Affair - A Woman’s Guide To A Daring & Mighty Life’. Her passion and expertise is inspiring midlifers that they can create a life they love and call in the love of their life without burn-out or guilt! We talk about: - What inspired Katie to help women call in their soul mate - What life experience led Katie to what she does - Why self-love is important when it comes to dating - The secrets to calling in a soul mate - The blocks women put in front of themselves - How women can get better at finding their soul mate - The self-sabotaging beliefs women have - How to make a success of online dating - How to stay motivated when it comes to finding your soul mate And more!   If you enjoyed this episode, please

Laura Galloway is the author of Dalvi: Six Years in the Arctic Tundra. She’s a writer and communications strategist who began her career at the Los Angeles Times and holds a Master of Arts in Indigenous Journalism from the Sámi University in Kautokeino, Norway. I read about her in a magazine and just knew I had to invite her onto the podcast. Her book is gorgeous. We talk about: - The many and varied places Laura has lived and how different life is now - What the word DALVI means and why Laura wrote the book - The impetus for moving to the Arctic - The pain of Laura’s childhood - Why Laura stayed in the north after her relationship with the reindeer herder ended - How Laura assimilated into Arctic living - What Laura misses about the frozen north - What touched Laura so deeply about this part of the world - Living in endless day and endless night - How we can live more simply and why that matters - The deep friendships Laura made - Getting vulnerable about sharing one’s story and healing from that - How

Dr Liz O’Riordan is an international speaker, broadcaster and award-winning co-author of ‘The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer’. In 2015 (aged 40) she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer whilst working as a Consultant Breast Surgeon. Her life changed dramatically. She’s passionate about helping people and especially breast cancer patients. We talk about: - Why women often feel it’s their fault when they get a diagnosis of breast cancer - Liz’s concerns about HRT being positioned in the media as safe for women who’ve had breast cancer. - Why it’s important to stay curious about where information is coming from - Challenging existing narratives and what’s being said by whom - How Liz coped with having to give up her beloved career - What drove Liz to write her blog and why she stopped - Her new book and her podcast - The importance of exercise when it comes to breast cancer - Having fun with hedgehogs - The importance of crafting and sewing - Coping with her mum’s recent cancer diagnosis - What Liz mos