Category: Health & Healing

Making Sense of Menopause

Susan Willson, CNM, is a Yale-educated certified nurse midwife and certified clinical thermographer with more than 40 years of experience in the women’s health field. She has taught at Omega Institute and is a frequent lecturer for the American College of Nurse-Midwives, where she lectures on women’s health and the emotional work of menopause. With Sounds True, she has authored the book, Making Sense of Menopause: Harnessing the Power and Potency of Your Wisdom Years

In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Susan Willson about her new book and her efforts to bring menopause out of the shadows and into the light, so we can learn how to embrace this passage to reclaiming our power and creativity as wise women and truth tellers. Susan and Tami also discuss: how our birth traditions reveal the heart of our culture, Susan’s journey as a cross-cultural midwife, normalizing the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, overcoming the shame associated with menopause, why we need to tell our stories in order to heal, the hormone estriol and its connection to the brain’s creative centers, finding support for challenging symptoms so you can return to balance, key lifestyle changes to restore energy, reestablishing healthy sleep, good stress versus bad stress, how women and men’s sex drive changes as we age, the croning ritual and other ways to mark our passages in life, the qualities and characteristics of a wise woman, and more

Radically Reframing Aging

Maria Shriver is a mother of four, an Emmy® and Peabody award-winning journalist, a seven-time New York Times bestselling author, an NBC News special anchor, and founder of the nonprofit Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement. She is also the founder of the media enterprise Shriver Media, which produces award-winning documentaries and films, bestselling books, a popular podcast, and a popular weekly email newsletter called “The Sunday Paper.” Her latest book, I’ve Been Thinking…, and its companion, I’ve Been Thinking…The Journal, were written to offer wisdom, guidance, and inspiration to those seeking to create a meaningful life.

In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Maria Shriver about her new project, Radically Reframing Aging: Today’s Groundbreakers on Age, Health, Purpose, and Joy, an online summit exploring how we can all live our healthiest, most joyful lives as we grow older. Maria and Tami also discuss reclaiming the many gifts of aging; shifting your inner narrative to keep your dreams alive; implementing habits that help us age well; reframing mental health and therapy; a new understanding of challenges like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or dementia; reframing menopause; the practice of writing out our fears, redirecting our thoughts, and other tools for managing anxiety about aging; the mindset of “super-agers”—purpose, independence, creativity, and more; reframing retirement; and the importance of “having the conversation” and sharing our personal experiences with others.

The Awesome Human Project

Nataly Kogan is an entrepreneur, speaker, and author on a mission to help people cultivate their “Awesome Human” skills by making simple, scientifically backed practices part of their daily lives. The author of the books Happier Now and The Awesome Human Project, she has appeared in hundreds of media outlets, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, TEDxBoston, SXSW, and the Harvard Women’s Leadership Conference. In this podcast, Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with Nataly about how we can live in a way that enables us to thrive while we give all of our gifts. They also discuss developing the five skills of emotional fitness; the practice of “struggle awareness” when faced with a challenge; overcoming the brain’s negativity bias, and the art of “courageously talking back to our brains” with kindness and compassion; the five traits of the Awesome Human; a leader as someone who positively impacts another person’s ability to flourish; sharing your emotional “whiteboard” to support the best possible interactions with others; the concept of “surface acting” at work and how it contributes to burnout; investing in a daily check-in with yourself; the power of self-compassion and self-acceptance; self-care as the skill of fueling your emotional, mental, and physical energy; and connecting to your “bigger why.”

A Soberful Life

Veronica Valli is a former psychotherapist who now works as a sobriety coach. With almost 20 years of experience, she has helped thousands of people live happy, healthy lives and reach their full potential by being alcohol free. She’s been the keynote speaker at annual conferences such as Women for Sobriety and Soberistas, and she is the cohost of the popular Soberful podcast.

In “A Soberful Life,” Sounds True founder, Tami Simon, speaks with Veronica about her new book, Soberful: Uncover a Sustainable, Fulfilling Life Free of Alcohol. Tami and Veronica also discuss: making a cost-benefit analysis of your own relationship with alcohol; alcohol-free living as a new norm for our society; finding a community of sober people, and other lifestyle changes; the myth of willpower; honoring an inner call to growth; why we need skills and support (not strength) to quit drinking for good; the five pillars of sustainable sobriety; the importance of boundaries; human connection and the power of vulnerability; the art of finding balance in ever-changing circumstances; understanding how our past shows up in our present; a trauma-informed approach to recovery; two primary childhood needs: attachment and authenticity; how “doing the right next thing” gets us where we need to go; and more.

Not Being a Prisoner to Your Nervous System

Jeffrey Rutstein, PsyD, is a clinical psychotherapist, trauma expert, and a longtime student and teacher of meditation. In collaboration with Sounds True, Dr. Rutstein is hosting the upcoming Healing Trauma Program: A Nine-Month Training to Regulate Your Nervous System, Embody Safety, and Become a Healing Presence. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Rutstein about the physical aspects of trauma and how to understand their influences on daily life. He explains his model of “the owner’s manual of your nervous system” and how actively reading your body state is the first step to unraveling traumatic aftereffects. Tami and Dr. Rutstein also discuss self-regulation during stressful situations, practices for anchoring in the body, and how our understanding of trauma has evolved over time. Finally, they talk about consciously interrupting trauma-born behaviors, as well as the ongoing work of teaching emotional literacy and resilience.

Radical Self-Care Changes Everything

Anne Lamott is the celebrated author of many books of fiction, essays, and memoirs. Her works include Bird by Bird, Hallelujah Anyway, and Crooked Little Heart. In this special edition of Insights at the Edge originally recorded for The Self-Acceptance Summit, Tami Simon speaks with Anne about acts of “radical self-care” and how they are essential for anyone’s well-being. Anne talks about self-acceptance as an innately feminist concept, especially around issues of body image and self-esteem. Finally, Anne and Tami discuss how it is necessary to fully accept oneself before being able to show up for others, and why modern society often argues the opposite.

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