00:00

I've had the good fortune of recently meeting today's guest, Anya lineen through LinkedIn. And she is a champion of something that is close to my heart. And I'm sure it'll be really interesting for our listeners today. And yeah has a passion for taking an holistic approach to health. She's a personal trainer, menopause champion and has lots of great information to share about taking control of the controllables in our lives, especially in relation to minimising the symptoms of menopause, and improving our overall mental, emotional and physical health. Anya, welcome, how are you?

00:42

Thank you so much, Catherine. I'm really well, and I'm delighted to be here. Hopefully, I can share some information that will help your listeners manage better or to feel better in themselves. And I

00:52

think just the Toppy, there'll be lots of our Listen, listeners. And yeah, that's why I was super excited when we connected because it is a topic that I think is still real, I'm really passionate about just overall mental, emotional, physical health as well and living our best lives, but also been in that demographic of navigating menopause. And I know a lot of my girlfriends have had different experiences. And I've got a daughter, I've got a lot of there's some other younger listeners as well. So I thought it would just be a really great topic to talk about, just to share information. But before we kind of dive into, you know, navigating the the experience of menopause. Tell us a little bit about you and your kind of philosophy of life. Yeah, I know. That's a very big question.

01:40

Yes. Well, as you said, I'm a personal trainer, I've been working in the fitness industry for over 16 years. And you know, it's one of those things when I kind of did my training, because I thought, I've talked about this for so long, I've actually got to put some action into this. But I was in my early 30s. And I thought you know what, I won't last in the industry too long, because it's a really young person's game. But I was so wrong. Because as we get older, you know, someone in their 50s doesn't want a 20 year old trainer who's got no idea about menopause and about having children, and just the demands on life. So yeah, that side of the business is still going great guns. And as I've got older, so a lot of my clients have as well. And that whole menopause thing started rearing its head. So a few years back, I went through menopause a bit younger, I'm 50. And I'm already through through that. But as I started realising that the heat that I was feeling wasn't coming from exercise, but was actually coming from hot flushes, which was a bit of a shock to the system, because it just wasn't something I thought about yet.

02:45

How old were you then when you was experienced? You're asking,

02:48

Well, I'm 50. Now I'm gonna say 47. Yeah, okay. You know, my mom passed many years ago. So I couldn't ask her. She was of a generation where I remember her having a chai tea, but it wasn't really talked about. Yeah, so yeah, I then started doing some research and discovered a dietary change, that made a huge impact to me, on me. So that sort of prompted me on that whole journey of discovery and learning, I've done some training, and all that kind of stuff on menopause, but specifically a natural approach to menopause, because of the exercise background that I have. And I just think, Well, I'm not a doctor, and I'm not about to go off and study to become a doctor, but I think there is, I know, there is so much that we can do to to affect our general health and well being. So that's kind of where I came at that. And I do like to I talk about controlling your controllables. And really, you know, Your choices matter, you know, whether you have a healthy lunch or you have an unhealthy low you miss lunch, or you have a takeaway, whatever it is, everything's a choice. Yes. So into an exercise class, not going to an exercise class, you know, everything we do is a choice. And it either takes us towards a goal or away from it if you want if you want to look on a bigger picture. So I like to be in control. So, you know, that's, that's kind of where I'm at with that is Be conscious of your choices. And you know, if you don't want to, we're not going to choose 100 100% Well, 100% of that.

04:17

Yeah, I'm very much in that same philosophy there. It's about living my best life. But that doesn't mean that I'm 100% 100% of the time. It does not that

04:31

glass of wine and I'll you know, eat sometimes foods as we like to call them. But when I do, I enjoy them. I do it consciously and I really enjoy it. And I'm not going to beat myself up over that and it's taken me a long time to get there.

04:43

I think that's a really important point. And I just unpack that a little bit about those conscious choices. Because everything is a choice. It is a choice. A lot of people say I had no choice in AI. That's sorry, that's bullshit. Because you didn't have a choice. You might not have felt it at the time but by not doing some thing is a choice as well, by not making a change is a choice, that you're choosing to stay where you are. And that's completely we're not here to say, you know, we're right, you're wrong, but it's about for me thinking about, if I choose to do something today, what are the implications of that tomorrow is how I kind of live and it is a little bit of that. It's balanced. For me, it's balance. It is. And

05:22

you know, what, unless you're particularly training for like a bodybuilding competition, they have those really strict regimens and strict diets and things like that. Most of us are just living life and want to have a good time, you know, see our friends be healthy. And it's about having that balance, as you say. And I do not often say I think we're almost a victim of the affluence that most of us live in these days, and that everything's available to us when I was growing up. You know, we didn't have the fancy cheeses and all those things all the time, there was special occasion foods, and they've slowly crept into a lot of people's every day. So to then go back and just eat a cleaner diet. It seems like such a big challenge, but it's actually it's the way a lot of us grew up.

06:12

Absolutely, absolutely. And, and I must say, I'm, I'm a bit older than you, I'm 56 and 57, in a couple of months. I do not name, age is really just a number for me. But it's also the same sort of thing that there's been a lot of society's changed. And what we're exposed to has changed as well. gonna step back a little bit, you said, you know, getting into the fitness industry, you thought it was a young person's game, but you found that a lot of your clients, as they aged in New Age, you kind of match them, I find that to with my coaching that, you know, certainly I have younger clients, but a lot of them are reflective of where I'm at in life as well. Going through changes. Yeah,

06:56

I think it comes down to that whole, you know, that's a you're a reflection of the five people closest to you. You know, that's gonna be a little bit broader for me. But I've honestly found over the years as I've kind of relaxed into that, the clients that seek me out, fit in, you know, the fit in with the group that we've already got going, we get on really well, every now and again, there's someone that maybe doesn't feel as comfortable in the group. And that's fine. That's going to happen. But yeah, definitely because we can relate to each other. We've, you know, we've got children at school, we've got ageing parents, we're going through menopause, we're trying to work, we're trying to keep a relationship going quite often. It seems like there's a lot going on and going on. A 20 year old trainer is not going to understand. Yes. Neither should they. That's not a criticism. It's just, you know, different.

07:45

Yeah, just different. Just thinking about, you know, who you're seeking help from as well. Tell me what symptoms you went through when you were experiencing menopause.

07:54

So the main one really was the hot flashes, and I got a really hot back. It was really hot back to sort of burning up. And I was like, what is that? It was really strange,

08:05

interesting. You know, I had, I'm having a little bit of hiatus from rowing at the moment, but when I went through menopause, again, the hot flushes, but I would get hot knees and ankles when I was rowing. And I would be rolling with my girlfriends, and they just go What the fuck? Like, really? What is that about, and it was just like, my knees and my ankles. So I had to think about the type of in winter, I would wear long socks that I could then push down because my ankles would get hot.

08:32

And, you know, this is the thing that we're all going to go through menopause high population, roughly half the population is going to go through menopause, whether it's a natural menopause, whether it's medically induced as a result of, you know, surgery or medical treatment, whatever it is, we're all going to experience it at some point. But we're all going to have our own journey. Yes. So unfortunately, I can't sit here and go, you know, do this, this and this, and you'll be fine. But generally, yeah, there's some broad guidelines. But yeah, we all we're all gonna go through our own experience.

09:05

And I think when we were having a chat prior to this, we were talking about that, that each person's journey is their individual journey. There. There will be some similarities with some people, but it's about what I love about the podcast is just hearing stories from women about how they do life and the pearls of wisdom just dropped for the people who need to hear them. So I think even just hearing some different experiences and just keeping an ear out for what, how others might be able to navigate will be really useful. Anyway. Let's explore some of the terminology. Menopause perimenopause. What are they? So menopause by

09:41

definition is just 12 consecutive months without a period. Yeah. perimenopause is the lead up to that time. So if you think about menopause is the flip side of puberty. Yes. So I've got some teenagers and might or might all go through puberty a bit later. So Uh, sort of hitting your 1011, when they're going through it with some of their friends went through, you know, they were getting kids getting periods in your 12, year six, you know when they're 12 years old and things like that. So again, they go through their own stages as we do on the other side with with perimenopause. So roughly around early 40s, things are going to start changing, you probably won't notice it immediately. It's one of those things, we often we look back and we go, ah, what was going on? It sounds a bit cranky. I'd like to say that. Yeah, maybe that was a few years of crankiness as well, that that was one of those symptoms, potentially, for me.

10:38

My mind is started very young. That's what I'm sure that's what my husband and kids might say, going, Oh, my gosh.

10:47

Well, that's the thing because there is so much going on in life when you're 14 1414. Yeah, it's like, you know, what is it what's actually going on? And it's only when was it's quite often when it's something that really hits you in the face and you go, Oh, okay, time to do something about this, that we kind of look back and go, Okay, so, yeah, the perimenopause is when our oestrogen levels are starting to drop. And the reason we get the symptoms is that fluctuation in hormones, so oestrogen drops, the progesterone, the testosterone or fluctuate and those waves, those changes, that's where we're going to get the symptoms. So by managing some of our lifestyle choices, we can minimise those waves. So rather than extremes height, extreme highs and lows, we're going to shorten those ups and downs, I'm not gonna say you're going to get rid of all your symptoms, I still have hot flashes, I still wake up at 2am. What is it about 2am?

11:40

Actually, I remember one of my girlfriends, she had very specific times that she would wake up mine work. When I had the hot flashes, it would be you know, that whole wave of sort of starting from your feet, and it would creep up through your body. And then it was just like, oh my god, I'm about to self combust. And you know, the layout of the blankets, I'd have blankets on and off and on and off. And then but mine wasn't a specific time. I remember my girlfriend had a very specific time, she would wake up. Yes. Funny. Yeah. So the fluctuation of the hormones kind of doing that reads?

12:14

That's where we're getting getting the symptoms. Yeah.

12:18

Yeah. And it can happen, like he was sort of mentioning, you know, sort of early ish. 40s. But that's also, you know, there are people outside that as well, there are, you know, so So please, for those listening, don't take this. We're not medical doctors, we're just talking about, you know, some of the experiences and you may relate, you may not relate, but it's a good topic to to be talking about and kind of normalising because I'm not sure if it's yet. normalised. Certainly I do a lot of work with leadership coaching, and women in the workplace. Don't know if it's normalised in the workplace. Yeah,

12:52

that's, that's trying to get the message into the workplace. And I've spoken to some companies that have policies and they're starting to try and, you know, sort of really incorporate that and support those women. But yeah, it's it's a slow, slow burn, it's starting to happen. We've had some high profile, people write books and come out and really own on their menopause. You know, there's some people are saying that we're the ones that really fought for the maternity leave back when we were having kids. And now we're hitting menopause. You know, we're starting to talk about this, and really, really drivers. And it's happening around the world that the UK is really leading the way, the conversations happening a lot over there. I know in touch with people in New Zealand, they're really starting to get the conversation going. And you know what, the more we talk about it, the more normalised it becomes, and the better we're going to feel, and what you're going to realise that I Okay, I'm not the only one waking up at 2am or, you know, having hot ankles.

13:51

I think I am the only one that I've talked to. I'm sure. I'm sure there's textbooks about Yeah.

13:57

But yeah, the thing you know, it's and also, I've spoken to men and I can kind of see their eyes glaze over and one that she did say to me all but that's that's a woman's problem. I'm actually no, no, you need to live with us.

14:09

Exactly. as well. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You know, if

14:13

we can empower men to have some knowledge that they can just be supportive, and maybe, you know, offer a glass of cold water if it's needed or whatever it is, just again, it's normalise it. It's not it's a perfectly natural hormonal change. That's all it is. It's a hormonal change. We're all going to go through it. And yeah, so perimenopause is the lead up menopause is the 12 months, that moment in time, and then it's post menopause. And you might still have some of those symptoms as your your linger. Yes. Yep. So it can go on for 10 years for some women. And that's the thing you know, some will sail through it. And I think that's why a lot of women kind of go there, roll their eyes and go Oh, it's another thing we've got to put up with. Yes,

14:56

yeah. No, I get that and, and I think just food a commonality common, I don't know if that's a word, but we'll refer to it as menopause. But even technically, that's the 12. You know, having 12 months of no period,

15:08

fine. Everyone understands what we mean.

15:11

By it. Yeah. Maybe some of our listeners won't want to hear that 10 year old it can be I've heard women that have said, Oh, my God, I'm just still going through this. And some people experience really challenging symptoms, too. It's not just the hotflush. But have you experienced, you know, some of your clients or they had some really challenging experiences?

15:33

Yeah, some of them like migraines. Yes, they extreme brain fog as well. Anxiety is a really big one as well. That's somebody women who used to be really together and organised and on top of everything, just facing this crippling anxiety, to the point where a lot of them leave work. Because they you know, and, you know, from the work side of things, if you think about that, you've got this highly capable and knowledgeable experienced, yes, worker, who's dangerous leaving with all that wealth of knowledge. So if we can support women,

16:09

yeah. Do you know what I find? Because I do coach a lot of women in that senior leadership role. And some of them going through the perimenopause and experiencing that brain fog is the brain fog. And in meetings where they have that, you know, that hotflush happening. And now it's just kind of, and I've experienced that to for me that brain fog was tricky to navigate, because very, very capable. And then just it was just like she and I can't even remember, I just can't even remember. And a lot of my clients are saying similar things that in the workplace, they're the right they they're almost getting the self doubt creeping in. Because the shift from being very, very capable to not even remembering what they're, you know, midway through a sentence and also about how they are perceived. And if we can normalise that workplace that it's not, you know, it is a, you know, a symptom is not saying that that person is not capable. And I really loved how you said, just through our male friends, and also other women who are not experiencing the symptoms or not have, you know, just being aware and being mindful and kind to others that are. And that's not just in relation to menopause. That's just

17:30

Yeah, right. Yeah. And you know what, their symptoms go away again? Yes, brain fog goes away. I have found I've really reached that age of I don't care anymore. Yes. Sorry. My son said something to me. But being embarrassing the other day, I was like that. Okay. Yeah, I have reached that age where I just did what people think. And I also realised that all those years most people weren't even looking anyway.

17:53

No, that's right. We weren't we weren't worried? Too much.

17:59

So it's actually quite freeing. And it's, it's really quite good. But you know, in the workplace, I know some women do have the confidence to sort of stand there and go, oh, sorry. Just having a menopause moment. Yes. Yeah, yeah, maybe we'll get to that stage one day where you can have, if that's, you know, your style that you can have a bit of a laugh about and go Sorry, just, you know, lost train of thought

18:21

this. Yeah. Yeah. And I guess, for me, it's about what feels right for people to how they, how they approach it themselves and what they're comfortable with. But it's about that normalising that it's okay to be able to talk about it or not talk about it, and just that it's not a big deal. That's something that we we do go through. I know you mentioned that it's kind of a Western phenomenon, that, you know, some of the symptoms may be more common. Tell me a little bit more about that.

18:55

Yeah. So they've actually discovered that women in cultures were getting older is revered, where the that older generation is looked up to for their experience and their knowledge and you know, all those things. Those women actually don't experience the same menopausal symptoms that we see in a western society is sort of that that's a general term. But, you know, that's probably because they're not afraid of getting older, it's actually a good thing. You're going to be one of the elders of the, of the clan of the society, they probably also have more of a societal construct, where we do live together as more of a society rather than the individual family silos. And those women fare a lot better than we do. And their hormones are changing the same as ours. Wow. That's, you know, because in our Western society, there's so much talk about it's going to be harder to find work in your 50s and, you know, you're just you're getting older and you're invisible and all these kinds of things that it makes it not so much fun turning getting old. that? Yes, yes. And if that's something that you're dreading, then any process that's involved with getting older is going to be something to dread. Yeah. But we can turn that around. And actually, you know, I'm owning the fact that I've got this newfound confidence and freedom. And I love that. And I think every boat that you have, it's something to be celebrated. Because it's another birthday you're celebrating, we've probably all got people in our lives who aren't celebrating birthdays anymore. So if we can change our thinking around that, I think that that's a big part of that whole menopausal experience. And, you know, I'll say to a lot of my clients is reflect back on what the conversation was when you were growing up? Yes. What did you know at that? First, there's so many things, you know, the whole dice culture, clients, you've got clients whose parents actually used to say to them, or you're a bit pudgy, or you need to lose some weight and all that, and they've carried that into their course. Yes. And it stays with him. And that same thing, if you've grown up with mum, aren't whoever in your life, having a really tough time with menopause and really struggling? Then you've probably taken on some of that, and you've got, you know, I like to think of it this way that if you kind of go okay, well, there's menopause, and I might get a hot flush. So if you're thinking, Oh, that's something to drink, then you feel the hot flush coming along, you go, Oh, my goodness, there we go. Of course, it was going to happen. And there it is, and it's horrible. Or if you flip it around, you go, well, I might have a hot flush. And then it comes along you oh my goodness, that's really hot, maybe get you know, strip off some clothes, grab a pen, and have a bit of a laugh about it and kind of go okay, that's part of the process. It's gonna, you're gonna handle things a lot better.

21:41

I think that just goes towards a general mindset. So I do a lot of mindset work with my clients. Yeah, I was just going to go down that path. It's like, if you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right. So if you think it's kind of, it's not, I mean, I don't want to minimise people's symptoms at all. But I think it's also about being intentional about it, like my mum passed away when I was young. So even before I had my period, so I needed to know it, you know, I navigated that as a young, you know, girl, woman, no idea how to navigate life. And a little bit was like, when I was going through menopause as well, like, I didn't have very severe symptoms, but it was kind of like, I had no history, the doctors will say, Well, what was your mom's experience? And I'm like, she was 36 when she passed away. So, you know, I've got no idea. And they're like, Ah, okay, so and I'm just kind of guy, you know, it, it'll be what it'll be. And in the scheme of things, it's been pretty mild. I remember, I hate the cold. And I would always say, Oh, I can't wait till I go through menopause. Because then I'll have these nice, warm hot flushes. And then when I had my first one, I was just like, holy shit. Like, that's not, I don't like that. I don't like that. But it was just quick. It was discomfort. And then it was just, and I did some dietary changes as well, I probably did that. consciously know, I really just did it that happened to coincide. I think, in retrospect, I've learned much more about it, as I've kind of navigated through going on maybe I could have even done a little bit better than it just was dietary and natural. Yeah, yeah, I think mindset plays a big part in it, not the only thing

23:26

it does. And it's also going to influence the choices that you make, with with the food, like, alcohol is one of the big things that you sort of, you know, if you are really intense, it can be a big trigger. Yeah. Now, you know, so there may be choose to have a few alcohol free nights a week. And then when you do have a drink, really sit and enjoy it consciously, you know, make the decision, I'm going to have a glass of wine, a gin and tonic, whatever it is that you really enjoy that actually sit and enjoy it. But I think a lot of women, when they're going through this really busy time in their lives, they're getting to the end of the day, and they're going, Oh, I just really need a glass of wine. And if you're not in the best headspace, it's really, really hard to then say no to that glass of wine.

24:12

Yeah, yeah. So I find that with food, I find that just generally with food if I'm, I've been tracking patterns, and if I'm tired, then it's almost like I don't have the strength to make the choices. But like you said, I don't. I do it for a bit. But then I'm back on that, you know, mindfulness. So what are some things that we can do? We've talked about some of the symptoms we've talked about, you know, some of the things we can do in the workplace to help others out. What are some things we've talked a little bit about diet, as well? What are some other ways that we can help sort of navigate that journey of the hormonal?

24:52

Look, I think working on your mindset and what your expectations are of your life now and having a really clear picture of what you want your life post menopause. has to look like and having a really positive thing to look forward to, I think that really does help. And it might come across as a bit weird, but I think most of us are now getting around that mindset is a powerful, powerful tool, or having something really positive to look forward to. Because I always say the choices you make today, and the things we do now will impact your life in the next 510 20 years. So if you've got that really clear, beautiful vision of a future, it'll make it easier today to you know, choose to eat better, or exercise or whatever. So I think that that's a really powerful thing to have that goal to look forward to and, and have that as your drivers to, you know, I'm going to choose to step towards or away from that goal. I've got to say exercise. Yeah, you know, with my background, but it is proven, it's proven, proven, it makes you feel better. So it's got that the mental health side of things that makes you feel better, it's we also lose bone density and muscle mass from our 30s, I think we've reached peak bone density sort of in our 20s, even and then the muscle starts to go as well. So that strength work is really, really important to work on the muscle mass to work on the bone density, because again, we don't want to be falling and breaking a hip when we're older.

26:15

Or we want that a lot, don't you you hear that a lot. I was talking with the girlfriend just this week about bone density tests, do you do that? Because I haven't been I, it has been recommended that I do. So that's on my to do

26:30

to do around the age of 50. And I recently changed GPS and she was going through everything we did all the blood tests, it should all with your job, you'll be fine. You know, we, we won't do the bone density tests. And I felt I was like, Oh, I'd quite like to have a benchmark of where I'm at. I think that's because my grandmother had osteoporosis. And I am built I'm very like her. Yeah, so I'm actually very consciously doing more strength work. And you don't have to be lifting loads of weights every single day, you know, if you can do it a couple of times a week, 20 minutes, half an hour, if you're new to it, get some supervision, you know, make sure you're doing the right thing. Don't hurt yourself. But it is so so important.

27:07

So it's a strength work. But it's also that mobility as well. And flexibility. diff, I just find that health for me is one of my top values in life, because it doesn't matter how much money or how good my life is, if I don't have my health, there's not going to be much chop, being in a nursing home not being able to do anything. So

27:28

I'm exactly the same. And I always said, you know, if you've got your health, and you lose all your money, then you can go out and work. You can do something. If you're healthy, you can you can go and do something. But if you're unhealthy, and you lose all your money, and let's face it, we all need some money. Of course, yeah. But if you're unhealthy, that's really going to limit your options. Yeah, earning that money back again. So your health, in my mind, it is the number one thing that that commodity that we've got. I think it's it's really it's a privilege to have. But it's also a responsibility to look after, I think

28:03

I agree. And I think even that analogy of if we were given a car when we were born, and we had to maintain that car for our whole lives. And we knew that that was the only car we were going to have we would have in service, we would, you know, we would shine it up, we would look after we would take care of it. But our bodies were given this body when we you know come into this life. This is our vessel, so the life and it's about looking after that. So it can actually carry us through life. So for me health is you know, up behind priority and sometimes, you know, I'm not saying that I'm got I'm far from perfect around that stuff, but it's about also my mom passed away when she was 36. So heart health is really important for me. Mental health is really important. My dad lost mobility later in his life. And so it's kind of like, I don't want to be like that.

29:00

No, no, yeah. And the heart health that you say that's a really key one because menopause or women that up until menopause, our risk of heart disease is way down on men. Once we hit menopause, it skyrockets. We go there, we get up there with with the male risk levels. And the thing is, all those heart attack symptoms that they talk about in men that don't happen to us. No. But they call them general heart attack symptoms, you know, the ache in the arm and the chest and all that. For women. It's a lot more subtle. Wow. So that is one of the things as well that they recommend that you get, like calcium goes down and your heart and just be there again, the exercise is a big part of of your heart health and your brain health. Yes, yes, I met this fabulous woman the other day who has a similar approach to me in terms of a natural approach to to health, but she specialises in brain health and in particular in dementia. Yeah, She says same thing, there are so many things that we can do to maximise our brain health.

30:05

That's cool. That's cool. And so we're sort of talking about menopause being a, you know, a point in our, you know, women's lives, and the symptoms that go with that and how we navigate it. But what a lot of what we're talking about is really just about how we navigate life. Really, you know,

30:24

I think it's really exciting that we, that we can make changes, yes, we have that choice to eat better, move more, focus on your stress management, you know, try and maximise your sleep, the sleep quality as well as the quantity. You know, a lot of what I teach is actually free to implement. Yes, we just, you know, once we know those things, and we can, you know, that saying of when you know better you can do better, I think it's great to say, you know, yes, you're gonna go through menopause, but you don't have to suffer that much. Yes, some people will have a different experience and some more extreme than others. But we actually have it within our power within our grass to make things better. And I think that's really, that's really empowering. It's really exciting.

31:09

And did I just popped into my mind, Ben, when you were saying that? Yes, there are women that will have, you know, not great experiences with menopause, like there are in other things, but that's also not diminishing. What I don't want women to do is feel guilty because they didn't. It's almost like, oh, I can't talk about my experience, because it wasn't bad. And I don't want to upset somebody. I think that's about it's your experience, and share your experience, because that's also about normalising it as well. It's a normalising the extremes, but not making your experience less than because you didn't have all the shittiness that others had, I think, do you find some women do that? I think, but it's almost like, oh, shit, I don't want to say anything, because mine wasn't actually that bad. When you know, Mary down the road was really suffering. I find that in life too, that some women don't celebrate what's going on for them. It's almost like they dulling their sparkle. They want to make someone else feel bad. They want to make somebody else feel bad. It's about owning for me, it's about owning it, and sharing it and, you know, helping and supporting others, but also not not making excuses for the experience that I've been through, either. That's very true. Yeah, I sort of experience find that in other areas of life as well. Tell me tell me, there's a number of our listeners that will be thinking that menopause is like 100 years away. And it's not even something that they need to think about. Hopefully, we've shared some that might help them. But is there anything for our younger listeners, that might be a juicy pearl of wisdom for them?

32:51

I look, the sooner you can put your healthy practices in place, the better off you'll be. And it's it's one of those situations where you're not going to be able to turn back the clock and go right if I do things differently, let's see what happens that way. You kind of just got to have that faith that, you know, implementing regular exercise really focusing on yourself as well. Your mental health, your stress management, your sleep and your diet. The better off the sooner you do those things, the better off you'll be in life in general in general. Yes. So yeah, that to me would be just be kind to yourself, choose well for yourself, what you know, the things that matter to you. And when you do have those celebrations, and you have the cake, or the wine or the cheese or whatever it is that that floats your boat, that's your real, you know, your soul food, shall we say? Yeah, enjoy them. Don't Don't spend your life, you know, life's too short to feel

33:47

way too short.

33:48

Yeah. You know, I like to say to my kids, you know, if you can, if a situation is bothering you, if there's something happening, you don't like, Can you do something about it? If yes, then do it. If you can't do something, because there will be situations you can't change, you know, we're gonna go through menopause, it is what it is. But then learn to live with it. Learn to live with it, because just sitting back and feeling sorry for yourself, you can do that for a little bit. But then, you know, sort of give yourself a bit of a kick in the pants and right, I'm either going to, you know, change what I can change, make choices, learn to live with, with what I need to live with, and surround yourself with people who will support you. Yes. You know, I think that's a huge thing. Because sometimes we do have those people around you. You know, I think we've probably all experienced that. You'd say, right, you know, come on, and then go to the gym. I'm going to do this exercise and we'll do this and you'll always have those people who go Oh, yeah, you know, that'll last a week and then I'll see you back here again, you know, or you'll say you want to go to the gym and they'll go Oh, no, come on. Come hang out with us. We're going to the pub and you know those detractors identify those people in your life. And just be aware when you are interacting with them. I'm not saying ditch them. Just be a Where when you're interacting with him, that they're not really going to support you find those supporters who will get up early with you or who will, you know, have a soda water with you rather than the glass of wine or whatever it is. And you know, because it's interesting creatures we need, we need that support.

35:17

Yeah, absolutely. And I'm grinning. I've written a masterclass for my membership community, that happiness lounge. Today, I recorded that was about attracting the right kind of people into your life. And I was talking about that you are the average of the five people that you spend most time with. So who are those five people in your life? And are they supporting you on your journey? Or are they actually holding you back? And it's very much what you've just said there to that. It's, you know, it might not be about ditching them, or it might be, but it might be about spending more time with people who are going to inspire and uplift you.

35:55

So you those conscious choices, again, conscious choices, it's

35:58

absolutely conscious, yeah. Sometimes if you if

36:01

you just sit down and think about different people in your life, and what that brings up in you, yes, you know, like, I'm gonna go and see, you know, Joe down the road, I'm really excited about that, or it's gonna be a bit of a shame, because your body doesn't lie. You know, when you talk about that gut that gut feels. If you can't override that, you can override what's going on in your head, but listen to your gut. And if something doesn't feel quite right, or the you know, learn to live with it somehow change it if you can,

36:32

don't I think they're too on your it's about, listen to your car, like really listen to it, because I reckon most people do get some sort of a signal, but then they just leave it they ignore it and kind of go, what is that telling me? What is that? What what do I need to know about that feeling? Is that something that I just need to? Is it a little bit of a red flag? Or is it me being judgmental about somebody who really I not giving the benefit of the doubt to like, really, what is that telling you? And because I find a lot of people just go I don't know, it's like, well, have you really sat and listened and inquired, and some people don't know how to do that. And for me, it's just about going, Ah, what's that? What's that about? What do I need to know about that little niggly feeling that I've got? Yes, so I think trusting,

37:25

I mean, they're learning more and more about the gut brain axis. And that comes back to you know, sort of the way you feed yourself as well, the kinds of foods you decided you to eat, are going to have a big impact on what's going on in your gut. And it really does influence so much so far.

37:42

So Oh, my gosh, I love all of that. And that's that holistic approach to to health as well. Now, there are things where people, women are experiencing, you know, very severe symptoms, and there are certainly hormone replacement therapy that they can, you know, explore. I mean, I would suggest talk to your health professional about that and do what's right for you don't do what's right for your girlfriend, don't do what's right for the chick that sits next to you in the leadership meeting. Do what's right for you, like take ownership, I went, you know, a couple of years. So this just popped into my mind. It's probably maybe three years ago when I was experiencing some fairly severe symptoms. And I went to see my GP but she wasn't available. So I went and saw her replacement GP who was a woman who was an absolute cow of a doctor, who and she's going Why do you want all these tests? Why do you want to know stuff? Like, what's this about? Well, blah, blah, blah, and like really quizzing me, and I felt very disempowered. I guess I felt very, she made me feel bad, or I felt bad from what she was saying. And then I said to her at the end of that appointment, I'm actually taking control of my health and I'm wanting to do some checks, just in relation to and to me, I think they were just fairly standard blood tests and stuff. And I just and I had to go to the doctor the other day, I don't normally go to mainstream doctors as my first point of call, but I did go and her name was on the like, do I want to book in I'm just going No way. Like she made me feel really or I felt really not great about myself and choices and I felt sorry, fuck you. And it was about really taking back my power and control over my own health. So even sometimes our health practitioners aren't great. Sorry, that was a bit of a rant because that just made me it just reminded me how angry I was about

39:38

true. And the thing was when I go through this in my in my programme as well when I'm working with clients, the things to ask your doctor. So find a doctor who specialises in women's health because this blows my mind but 50% of the population is female. Doctors do not learn about menopause. Oh, my God, they don't, they might touch

40:03

on it, it might touch on a bit, not really

40:05

specialising learn about nutrition. Again, they might touch on it. And it frustrates me knowing that, you know, they'll give you medicine to put into your body. Yes, but there has an effect on your body. But don't consider the fact that the food you put into your body has an effect on your bodies. It blows my mind. So yes, finally, an alternative doctor who look at the holistic is, is fabulous, but also finding a doctor who has then gone off and specialise more in women's health. Yes, because the options for HRT these days are vast. Yeah, they're really it's come such a long way. It's really safe. And because there are so many options, it is really worth having a chat with your GP, if you're if you've got that surgery, like you're just overwhelmed by the symptoms, don't sit and suffer through them. No, don't

40:56

do that. No,

40:58

get some HRT, the stuff that I talk about will help minimise some of your symptoms, it'll help you live a healthy vital life post menopause, we all want to be active, most of us anyway, after, after menopause. But if you're really suffering, going get help. We have that help available, we have that knowledge, we have the medications. And hopefully if you're doing all the other things, then you won't need to be on the HRT for that long. But there are creams and gels and patches and pills. And you know, there are so many different options that you find the right doctor, they can really help hone in on whatever your symptom is, it might be itchy skin, it might be migraines, it might be vaginal dryness, it so many different things that, you know, and I read the other day, there's something about 34 or 35, common symptoms, okay, you know, you might have a combination of those, you might have more cocktail symptoms, you know, if you find the right doctor who will talk to you and listen to you. And, you know, I think that's so important. But yeah, blood tests are one of the key things as well. And one of those things, I think I highly recommend getting done regularly so that you have that benchmark, because sometimes sometimes that certain that you're failing can actually be a mineral or vitamin deficiency. It might be something else going on in the body. Yes.

42:17

Yeah. I think that's, I think that's a really good point is just menopause is a point in time, or a period in time, but it's about our holistic approach to our health and well being. And having those regular checkups is important with your health practitioners around that. So taking control. Oh my gosh, time just goes and goes and goes. Tell us where people can find you. And yeah, I was going to chatting with you. I can detect a little bit of an accent there. Where are you with that?

42:47

Grew up in South Africa? Yeah. But my family is German. Oh, interesting. Yeah. And then as soon as Irish because the husband's Irish, so

42:58

you've got a melting pot. And where are you located? Where are you located? In Sydney? Yep, Sydney.

43:05

So I've got a website, the wellbeing toolkit. Yes. And I'll work one on one with clients. But I also have a programme called unposed, the natural menopause programme, which is an eight module programme that you can work through in your own time, it's a series of short little videos with worksheets to download. And it goes through all the key elements of you know what to talk to your doctor about what's going on in your body, your exercise, your your stress management, all those kinds of things. The idea being that you build up your toolkit of things that work for you love

43:39

it. And so can people get that from your website, like that approach? So they can be anywhere in the world,

43:44

anywhere in the world. It's an online programme. Yep. Yeah. Perfect.

43:47

So that's the wellbeing toolkit. The details will be in the show notes. If you want to reach out to Anya and find out more information and personal training. Is that in person or online as well,

44:00

the personal training I do more in person? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So I'm on the North Shore, do Pilates classes, bar classes, outdoor fitness, and then some one on one sessions as

44:11

well. Perfect. So I know, I know, some of the happiness five listeners are in your neighbourhood. So for those listeners, you could reach out to ano but for the other programmes information that I knew Scott is online programmes and her contact details

44:27

are in the show notes blog there that you can have a read often. Yeah,

44:31

yeah. And just I guess our parting words, what would your parting kind of tip Be for I think you've shared so many.

44:39

Yeah. Being aware of the choices that you make choosing consciously and aim for aid and for being good in inverted commas. 80% of the time. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and when you choose to have those celebrations, and whatever it is that you you're indulging in, enjoy it, do it consciously don't waste your time on guilt if you can avoid it there. You know, just be kind to yourself. Being kind to yourself might involve, you know, make yourself get up a little bit earlier so that you can do a little bit of exercise in the morning where you can do that meditation. If you're finding that that's what's helping you sleep better, then, you know, that's part of what be kind to yourself is.

45:17

Yeah, my grandma used to say my grandmother used to say everything in moderation. It's like, you know, have the chocolate cake, you know, in moderation. Don't let anything be too consuming. So I think that conscious choices and my parting tip would be just you do you, like do life your way for all of our listeners, you know, there are some things that we've shared, but at the end of the day, you need to do what is right for you. And so you do you both

45:45

confidence in yourself to know what's right for you, like you're saying, with going to that doctor? This is what I need to do for me and even if you're going to try and put me down that's, that's what I'm gonna do. So yeah.

45:57

Yeah. Beautiful. Well, thank you very much for that big hugs and happiness. And I really appreciate your time. Thanks.

46:05

Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks.