Happy Holidays to YOU & THANK YOU for an AMAZING year. I couldn’t do this important work without you & I can’t wait to share what’s coming up next in 2024!

What we discussed:

• The origin of Robin’s Chocolate Meditation
• Why this is such an important practice for the busy holiday season (or anytime!)
• Robin teaches her Chocolate Meditation
• I share what I experienced during the practice

Links from this week’s episode:

Check out Robin’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/soulgardenyoga

Robin’s Yoga Website with Online Classes Weekly: https://soulgardenyoga.ca

BIG thanks to the following for sharing my passion for women’s health:

VICHY

Ferapro Iron

Feel Amazing Vulva & Vaginal Moisturizer

Intimate Wellbeing

Oh Boy Productions

©Menopause Chicks

What we discussed:

• An endocrinologist’s explanation of both estrogen and progesterone
• Hormone health, mental health–and considerations for the role of stress in our overall health, but especially in perimenopause
• If you are going to track anything–track your menstrual cycle + both physical changes (such as breast tenderness, cramping, vasomotor symptoms) and emotional/mental health changes, such as mood. Dr. Prior explains the reasons why!
• How hormone therapy traditionally focused on estrogen without acknowledging the critical role of progesterone too
• Script tips for how to talk to your doctor about hormone replacement therapy!
• Dr. Prior’s extensive progesterone research and her life-long commitment (she celebrated her 80th birthday this year!) to her work, and her legacy related to progesterone research will continue.

Links from this week’s episode:

CEMCOR - https://www.cemcor.ubc.ca/

BIG thanks to the following for sharing my passion for women’s health:

VICHY

Ferapro Iron

Feel Amazing Vulva & Vaginal Moisturizer

Intimate Wellbeing

Oh Boy Productions

©Menopause Chicks

What we discussed:

• Sarah Kate’s mission and why she started her online publication, Some Good Clean Fun”
• Sarah’s transition from thinking she needed wine to cope with stress to enjoying the benefits of a “clearer head”
• Sarah shares her best shopping tips for non-alcoholic beverages online and at the store
• How to feel more confident (and less awkward) about ordering a non-alcoholic beverage when you’re out at a restaurant or bar with friends
• Notable differences about Gen-Z when it comes to alcohol consumption
• The latest guidelines from Health Canada and how they raising awareness for key health messages while also challenging social norms
• What you can expect when you visit Sarah’s website, Some Good Clean Fun

Links from this week’s episode:

Sarah Kate’s Website: https://www.somegoodcleanfun.com/

Some Good Clean Fun on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somegoodcleanfun/

Some Good Clean Fun Magazine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/somegoodcleanfun_dotcom/

BIG thanks to the following for sharing my passion for women’s health:

VICHY

Ferapro Iron

Feel Amazing Vulva & Vaginal Moisturizer

Intimate Wellbeing

Oh Boy Productions

What we discussed:

• Colleen’s change-making work in the area of volunteerism, the non-for-profit sector
• How we traditionally interpret words like “volunteer” and “menopause” and why that must change
• Choosing to compromise vs what we will never compromise on when it comes to our life’s work
• How important paradigm-shifting language is for rethinking how we see the world
• The power of language and the words we use
• Continuing to do our work even when we know we won’t necessarily live to see the impact
• Being forward-thinking enough to ensure there is a way for others to continue the work we’ve started
• We explore the language of being a changemaker and how it makes us feel to use words like paradigm shift, social construct, and rhetoric
• Why using phrases like “forest person” and “tree person” is a preferable way of describing big and small picture thinking
• How things may be difficult or hard, but they don’t have to be impossible.

BIG thanks to the following for sharing my passion for women’s health:

VICHY

Ferapro Iron

Feel Amazing Vulva & Vaginal Moisturizer

Intimate Wellbeing

Oh Boy Productions

©Menopause Chicks

What we discussed:

• The story behind Intimate Wellbeing & why Cass and Leah are so dedicated to changing the conversation about sexual pleasure for midlife women.
• How the Intimate Wellbeing brand has evolved from its initial concept of being an accessible online store to becoming a recognized sexual health education community
• What happened when Cass & Leah started talking more openly about sexuality with their friends and how important they feel it is for women to have places to talk openly!
• How Intimate Wellbeing is working with the Taboo Sex Show to create a space for midlife women to learn about sexual health without feeling overwhelmed or out of place at a sex show.
• How they’ve made shopping for sex toys easier and more comfortable by curating a collection of safe, high-quality toys from brands they trust.
• The origin of their brand of lubricant, Okanogan Joy, and how they’re changing the conversation about the benefits of using lubricant.
• Plus! I share my review about the Dame Pom vibrator with Cass & Leah

Links from this week’s episode:

Intimate Wellbeing Website: https://intimatewellbeing.com

Shirley’s Picks: https://intimatewellbeing.com/pages/menopause-chicks

Intimate Wellbeing on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intimate.wellbeing/

BIG thanks to the following for sharing my passion for women’s health:

VICHY

Ferapro Iron

Feel Amazing Vulva & Vaginal Moisturizer

Intimate Wellbeing

Oh Boy Productions

©Menopause Chicks

What we discussed

• The biggest questions Dr. Klein gets asked at her clinic like, “Am I normal?”
• The questions women have about wanting to be sexual with their partner and also being a professional woman
• The pleasure gap, the masturbation gap, faking orgasms, shame, stigma & more!
• Why there’s a overfocus on intercourse in heterosexual couples
• The importance of educating women at a young age about their anatomy before they begin exploring it with a partner
• The physical and mental health benefits of masturbation and how women can talk about it more with their friend groups
• Online DISinformation about sexual health and how to find trusted, reputable experts
• Dr. Klein shares her red flags to look out for when consuming sexual content online
• What well-meaning parents should know about the research in favour of educating children about their anatomy early and how it benefits all of us

Links from this week’s episode:

Follow Dr. Klein on Instagram

Learn more about the West Coast Centre for Sex Therapy here

Books Dr. Klein recommends:

• Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski - Find it on Amazon.ca or Indigo.ca or Amazon.com
• Better Sex Through Mindfulness by Dr. Lori Brotto - Find it on Amazon.ca or Indigo.ca or Amazon.com
• Becoming Cliterate by Dr. Laurie Mintz - Find it on Amazon.ca or Indigo.ca or Amazon.com

BIG thanks to the following for sharing my passion for women’s health:

VICHY

Ferapro Iron

Feel Amazing Vulva & Vaginal Moisturizer

Intimate Wellbeing

Oh Boy Productions

©Menopause Chicks

What we discussed:

• How Dr. Pawa’s car accident was a catalyst in shifting her career focus to women’s health and hormones
• Why the Canadian healthcare model is lacking when it comes to holistic, integrative, and preventative health and how led to a system where doctors are reimbursed for treating a symptom, rather than looking at the whole person
• The ongoing struggle medical doctors face because time and resources are limited
• Dr. Pawa shares her latest project: Creating a new preceptorship program for practitioners focused on women’s health with a subset for menopause specialists where the information is credible, consistent, standardized, and evidence-based
• Why heart disease symptoms in women often go ignored, even though women’s risk for heart attacks are actually higher than men
• How hot flashes, which are vascular events, should be viewed as a “check engine light” and an invitation to get to your doctor so you have the opportunity to be preventative around your heart health
• The importance of treating (and not enduring) hot flashes
• Dr. Pawa shares why the biggest question she gets asked is about hormone therapy and she explains both the short-term and long-term benefits of finding out if hormone therapy is right for you

Links from this week’s episode:

Dr. Pawa’s website

Follow Dr. Pawa on Facebook

Find more information about Dr. Pawa’s clinic here

BIG thanks to the following for sharing my passion for women’s health:

VICHY

Ferapro Iron

Feel Amazing Vulva & Vaginal Moisturizer

Intimate Wellbeing

Oh Boy Productions

©Menopause Chicks

What we discussed:

• Dr. Pawa dissects stress and explains what the allostatic burden load is and how it impacts the ovaries
• How you can use Dr. Pawa’s “BMW Method” to engage the vagus nerve in order to reduce stress
• Why Dr. Pawa wants all of us to create a “to be” list instead of a “to-do” list
• Dr. Pawa shares how she incorporates mindfulness and stress reduction practices in her own life
• How stress and hormones affect sleep
• How sleep helps to boost our immune systems
• How our relationship with stress impacts sexual desire (you will love Dr. Pawa’s airplane cockpit analogy!)

Links from this week’s episode:

Dr. Pawa’s website

Follow Dr. Pawa on Facebook

Watch Dr. Pawa’s TEDx Talk here

Find Dr. Pawa’s book on Amazon.ca or Indigo.ca or Amazon.com

https://www.sexandu.ca/

Find more information about Dr. Pawa’s clinic here

BIG thanks to the following for sharing my passion for women’s health:

VICHY

Ferapro Iron

Feel Amazing Vulva & Vaginal Moisturizer

Intimate Wellbeing

Oh Boy Productions

©Menopause Chicks