hello there!

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast - thanks for joining the women's health conversation

In today’s podcast, I have the pleasure of chatting with Edel Flynn, a PhD candidate at TUS University. Edel is looking at different lifestyle approaches for menopausal health and wellbeing, with a primary focus on exercise and education about lifestyle choices, including nutrition, stress management and the topic of our conversation - sleep

In this conversation, Edel & I chat about:

• why women & men may have different relationships with sleep

• why sleep matters (spoiler: brain & heart & mental health, avoiding weight gain and chronic pain for starters)

• what good sleep looks like, in terms of quality and quantity

• successful sleep strategies for perimenopausal women

Edel is part of a great team of women’s health researchers at TUS University and I’ll be sharing some conversations I’ve had with them over the coming weeks to showcase what we’re learning about women’s health & how that’s changing the conversation

Are you a women’s health pro interested in menopausal health?Do you want to learn more about implementing successful sleep strategies for women at midlife? My online course, Female Hormonal Health Masterclass has a whole module on sleep - the evidence & how to apply it what to eat, how to exercise, restorative yoga by Laura Feeney - the link is in my bio or at my website, CelebrateMuliebrity.com

If you’re enjoying the podcast, I’d love it if you can subscribe, rate and review it!

Until next time, Onwards & Upwards! Mx

#celebratemuliebrity 💓

hello again!

I'm still a bit croaky but nevertheless, I persisted!

In this week's episode, I want to look at how we can best help women with dyspareunia (and maybe throw a bit of evidence based myth busting into the mix!)

In this episode I talk about the different types of sexual pain, the drivers and how we can best come up with clinically reasonable treatment planning, that includes pelvic rehab at the centre of a multi-modal approach.

The main focus is on finding the drivers - is it superficial or deep? Is it primary or secondary? Is there a specific diagnosis? Is there always a bio cause (are we including the psychosocial? the nociplastic?)

Are we comfortable having the discussions? I think yes, if we know what questions to ask AND what to do with the answers

I think the key to good outcomes is to believe the story, take a great history, create a safe space to discuss these issue and having a deep and wide biopsychosocial treatment toolbox

Let me know if you'd like a Part 2 on treatment strategies! Or in the meantime, if you'd like to learn more, my new course 'Female Sexual Health, Contraception & Fertility - considerations for pelvic rehab'. It's still on pre-sale pricing until the final module is released next weekend! You can find the details on my website or in the bio of my Instagram account @michellelyons_muliebrity

Until next time! Onwards & Upwards, Mx

All the course info can be found right here too! https://michelle-lyons-muliebrity-education.teachable.com/?preview=logged_in

Let me know if you have any questions!

We're back! Welcome to a new batch of episodes, where I'll be sharing conversations with colleagues as well as research roundups in solo episodes

I'm a bit stuffy in the first part of today's episode with menopause running coach Irene Clark (thanks lingering flu!) - but I wanted to include a little research roundup on working with female athletes, especially the challenges facing physical activity at menopause, so I discuss 2 papers that came out at the end of 2024 - I'll do screenshots of the full citations on my instagram - you can find me there as @michellelyons_muliebrity

Then we have the conversation with Irene Clark (you can find her on Instagram as @menopause_coach_irene) where we discuss practical strategies to keep menopausal runners happy & healthy - we explore musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause, pelvic health concerns, why fasted training is a bad idea, how strength training is non-negotiable and optimal recovery strategies

Want to learn more? My online course , Female Hormonal Health Masterclass, covers the needs of female athletes at every stage from menstrual to menopausal - it's a big course with a large exercise library so you'll get evergreen access when you enroll - check out all the courses here!

https://michelle-lyons-muliebrity-education.teachable.com/?preview=logged_in

Hope you enjoy the episode and see you next time! Mx #celebratemuliebrity

Hello and Welcome!

Thanks for being here - this episode is all about the multidisciplinary and multimodal approach to pelvic pain! I'm joined by my friend and colleague, psychotherapist Orlagh Reid.

We discussed:

You can find Orlagh on Instagram as @thewellbeingpsychotherapist - I'm there too as @michellelyons_muliebrity

If you'd like to learn more about Female Pelvic Pain (or Menopause or Oncology Rehab or Bowel Health...) the head over to my website and find out how you can gain evergreen access to a toolbox of skills to understand, treat and support women with persistent pelvic pain

Hello & Welcome to 2025!

The New Year is here - and this is often when we see many runners back on the road again - with or without their pelvic rehab issues!

In this conversation we discuss all things running & women's health including:

Jessica brings so much expertise as a runner herself, as well as her vast clinical experience in sports medicine and pelvic health. You can find Jessica on Facebook and instagram as @Jessica.w.dorrington

Do you want to learn more about helping female athletes at every age and stage? ⁠My online Female Hormonal Health Masterclass covers athlete concerns during the menstrual, maternal and menopausal transitions, from REDs to Return to Running to the Masters Athlete - you can find out more here⁠

Until next time, Onwards & Upwards, and don't forget to ⁠Celebrate Muliebrity!⁠

Hello & Welcome to this conversation with my guest today, Dr Siobhain O'Mahony, who has not only a successful career as an academic and researcher in the field of the microbiome and women's health, from fertility to menopause; she also works in the Women's Health Research and Innovation space.

In this conversation, we discussed everything from fertility to endo to menopause, including :

• ​the Microbiome Gut-Brain Axis and how it influences so many facets of women's health, from infertility to endometriosis to pregnancy & postnatal health and into menopause and beyond
• ​how the gut and brain communicate - the Vagus nerve, the HPA axis and the immune system
• ​the role of the gut microbiota is different types of pain, particularly endometriosis
• ​research looking at how diet, microbiome and CBT for better outcomes with endometriosis
• ​how hormonal changes at perimenopause influence gut health; and why that's a bidirectional conversation
• ​what we can do to optimise gut health, hormonal health and stress resilience (spoiler alert: BROCCOLI!!!!)
• ​and much, much more!

You can find Dr O'Mahony on LinkedIn & x.com - and you can find me mostly on Instagram (@michellelyons_muliebrity)

This is the final episode of 2024 but I have some exciting conversations already lined up for 2025...in the meantime, if you'd like to continue your women's health education AND save €75, don't forget to use the code COCCYX24 at checkout! All the course info can be found hereAnd so...enjoy the festive season and I'll see you in January 2025! Onwards & Upwards, Mx #celebratemuliebrity

Hello & Welcome To This Week's Episode!

I'm really excited to share the conversation that I recently had with Dr Lori Brotto, and to take a dive into the research around mindfulness & pelvic health

If you're enrolled in my Female Pelvic Pain Rehab or my Female Sexual Dysfunction courses, you'll know that I love the research of Dr Lori Brotto; I think she makes the science around mindfulness & pelvic health clinically useful & accessible

Dr Brotto is a researcher and clinician who has authored over 150 papers on the benefits of mindfulness and she is also the author of one of my most recommended books, 'Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire'

She is a fan of multimodal biopsychosocial approaches to pelvic health, whether we are talking about GSM at menopause, vestibulodynia and sexual health concerns including lack of desire

In this conversation we discuss:

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did - I've been practicing and teaching mindfulness for years now but I definitely picked up some more pearls of wisdom here!

You can find Dr Brotto on Instagram as @drloribrotto and she also features on Masterclass (in the Menopause class) and The Principles of Pleasure on Netflix

If you'd like to learn more about multi-modal approaches to pelvic health AND ave some money, don't forget to use the code COCCYX24 at checkout on any of my online courses to save €75 - but only until the end of this month! All the course info can be found at CelebrateMuliebrity.com

Until next time! Onwards & Upwards, Mx

Hello & Welcome To The Latest Episode!

I'm so excited to share a recent conversation I had with exciting pelvic health physio and researcher, Dr Malgorzata Starzec-Proserpio

In 2024, Gosia released 2 papers that I think will have profound implications for the way we work with women who have pelvic pain and dyspareunia (and maybe challenge some biases along the way!)

'From Fragmented to Whole: Multimodal Physiotherapy as a Multifaceted Approach to Pelvic Pain in Women - Clinical Commentary' Starzec-Proserpio et al 2024

'To contract or not to contract: should we use pelvic floor muscle exercises in the treatment of dyspareunia?' Solomon et al 2024

In this episode, we discuss:

• ​the clinical implications of these articles for us as clinicians, and also why literature reviews are essential and their role.
• ​Common hypotheses about pelvic floor muscle exercises in dyspareunia
• ​Can PFM exercises be harmful for women with dyspareunia? If so, when? What are the consequences?
• ​Evidence for the use of pelvic floor muscle exercises in the treatment of dyspareunia – effects and outcomes
• ​Our Conclusions: Nuances, nuances, and more nuances! Pelvic floor muscle exercises don’t necessarily mean doing 100 near-maximum Kegels a day! Blanket statements on social media may limit access to potentially beneficial interventions.

You can find Gosia's papers by clicking on the links above and also on Research Gate and you can follow her on Instagram as @ starzecproserpio_phd

You can find my continuing adventures in women's health there too - I'm @michellelyons_muliebrity

Want to learn more about female pelvic pain rehab? Or learn more about female sexual dysfunction, contraception & fertility? And save some money?

My December sale is ongoing - just use the discount code COCCYX24 at checkout and save €75 on all my courses including the Female Pelvic Pain Rehab course and the brand new Female Sexual Health, Contraception & Fertility (along with all my other online offerings, including the Female Hormonal Health Masterclass,, the Breast Cancer Rehab course, Bowel Health & Women's Health, Female Pelvic Oncology Rehab, Women & Back Pain and Hysterectomy: Prehab to Rehab - all the info is HERE - but don't forget to use the code COCCYX24 at checkout to avail of this December Discount!!

Hello & Welcome To This Week's Episode!

In this week's podcast I'm sharing the audio from a presentation I did recently for my new course 'Female Sexual Health, Contraception & Fertility'

If you're working with people with pelvic health issues, whether that's pelvic pain, sexual pain or dysfunction, a history of trauma or violence, or going through fertility difficulties...then we need to provide a trauma informed approach for everyone that we are encountering, one that's consistent and evidence based

I wanted to share this information outside of the course as I think this is an important conversation for everyone working in pelvic health to have.

The references for the studies & research that are mentioned are in the new course, Female Sexual Health, Contraception & Fertility, which is on pre-sale now (for the lowest price it will ever be!) It will go to full price on November 20th, when Module 1 on sexual health goes live; Module 2 goes live on November 27th, on Sexual Health in Pregnancy, Postpartum, Menopause, Hysterectomy & for Cancer Survivors, along with an overview of contraceptive methods, and Module 3 goes live Dec 5, and that will cover Menstrual Cycle tracking, Barriers to Fertility, including STI's, End, REDs, Fibroids & PCOS, Pelvic Rehab & Lifestyle Strategies for Fertility and a Resource Section that includes setting up BioPsychoSocial Sex Ed classes.

⁠You can find all the details and sign up at pre-sale special pricing HERE⁠

and don't forget...make sure you're following me for details of my Black Friday sale - I'll be doing things a little differently this year! Stay tuned for all the details on⁠ my Instagram @michellelyons_muliebrity⁠

Until next time, Onwards & Upwards, Mx #celebratemuliebrity

Research Nerd Alert!

This is an overview of our current understanding of what central sensitisation (aka nociplastic pain) is and how it impacts pelvic pain syndromes and of course...what we are goibg to do about it!

Some great research around this topic has emerged over the past couple of years, with a growing understanding of why just focusing on the issues in the tissues is not enough and how we can incorporate lifestyle strategies such as sleep, nutrition and physical activity into our anti-inflammatory treatment toolbox

So although this review is very evidence based for the first part, I do explore why this means when we are working with real life people - why and how to screen for CS and what steps we can take to get better outcomes - ultimately to help women with persistent pelvic pain live well!

If you are in my online course, Female Pelvic Pain Rehab, the video with all the references will be uploaded tomorrow; I will also be posting this as bonus content in my upcoming course Female Sexual Health, Fertility & Contraception, which goes live on November 25th - but its on pre-sale now!

All the details of all the online courses are HERE!

As always, thanks for listening & needing out with me - I'd love it if you could rate, review and subscribe so we can keep spreading the word about evidence based women's health!

See you next time - Onwards & Upwards! Mx #celebratemuliebrity