Today Jody welcomes author, acupuncturist and artist Ashley Abbs to the podcast to speak about the five different personality types in Chinese Medicine. Ashley describes in detail the occupation that each element is drawn to, the way they approach challenges or setbacks and what sends them out of balance.

We discuss how each element is impacted by perimenopause and Ashley gives some helpful tips that she uses with clients to help restore balance.

This is a fascinating episode for anyone who is interested in understanding more about themselves through the lens of Chinese medicine.

Book:

Five Element Alchemy

https://www.ashleyabbs.com/5elementalchemybook

Website:

https://www.ashleyabbs.com/acupuncture

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Connect:
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Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

In today's episode of Changing Seasons Jody welcomes Ayurvedic Practitioner, teacher and author Nidhi Pandya to speak about her new book 'Your Body Already Knows'.

Nidhi shares how growing up and sharing her home with her grandfather whose life was deeply informed by Ayurvedic wisdom informed how she views health and wellness. She believes that we have become so conditioned to asking others to prescribe what is right for us that we have lost touch with the inner wisdom of the body. 

In her book Nidhi shares the three principles that she advocates that can help us understand and realign with our bodies - circadian rhythms, inner climate (warm and moist) and understanding the three phases of life (building, transformation and decay). I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Book: Your Body Already Knows

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/my_ayurvedic_life/?hl=en

Website: https://www.nidhi.me/

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Connect:
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Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

Today Jody discusses how we can balance our doshas when they go out of balance. We look at what we can do with nature, sight, sound, mantra, exercise and emotionally to help settle us. Ayurveda uses the opposite quality to help treat an imbalance so if your body is dry you will need to use moisture internally and externally to remedy that, if  your body is cold eating warm cooked food will be beneficial.  

This is a great episode for anyone who is new to Ayurveda and looking to understand how to treat their body holistically to bring it back into balance.

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Connect:
Website • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/
Gather • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/gather
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Newsletter • https://jodyvassallo.substack.com/
Contact • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/contact

Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

Edwina sits down with Ayurvedic health coach and author Jody Vassallo for a candid, nourishing conversation on meeting perimenopause as a rite of passage - not a problem to “fix.” Through the lenses of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jody shares the practices, foods, and mindset shifts that cooled her hot flushes, eased anxiety, and helped her honour this season with grace. Expect practical guidance (hello, coriander–cumin–fennel tea), nervous-system care (yin yoga, Yoga Nidra, breath), and a powerful reminder to slow down, listen, and trust your body.

Key takeaways:

• Perimenopause is a passage, not a pathology. Treat symptoms as information—signals inviting change, not enemies to mute.
• Regulate first, then decide. Calm the nervous system (yin yoga, Yoga Nidra, Nadi Shodhana, 10 slow breaths) before changing food or training.
• “Medicine of subtraction.” Reduce what overheats or overstimulates (alcohol, excess caffeine/cacao, overwork, relentless intensity).
• Food as seasonal medicine. Use foods and spices to balance doshas: cool excess heat (pitta), oil and warm dryness/anxiety (vata), lighten heaviness (kapha).
• Rituals that repair. Daily abhyanga (self-oil massage), nasya (nasal oil), warm spiced milk at night, regular meals, and cooked, seasonal food.
• Weight gain can be protective. A temporary, intelligent “kapha cushion” can steady the body while you transition—trust the arc.
• Community matters. Seek women who’ve walked before you; shared stories reduce fear and normalize change.

Gentle guide: Doshas & simple supports:

• If you feel hot, irritable, intense (pitta):
  Choose cooling foods (fresh herbs, leafy greens, cucumber, barley), reduce chili/tomato/ferments/excess salt; schedule heavier meals 10am–2pm; favour calming practices.
• If you feel anxious, wired, dry (vata):
  Favour warm, cooked, moist meals (root veg, grains), healthy fats/ghee, soups/stews; avoid icy smoothies/sparkling water; embrace routine, yin yoga, Yoga Nidra, spiced milk before bed.
• If you feel sluggish, heavy, stuck (kapha):
  Lighten meals (bitter greens, legumes), add gentle heat/spices, move body—especially 6–10am; create novelty and accountability.

Practises, recipes & tips mentioned:

• CCF digestive tea: 1 tsp each coriander seed, cumin seed, fennel seed in hot water; steep and sip ~20 min before meals.
• Nighttime spiced milk: Warm milk (dairy or alt) with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon + a little ghee to soothe vata and sleep.
• Breath & rest: Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing), Yoga Nidra, yin yoga.
• Body oiling: Abhyanga with sesame oil (blend with coconut if you ru

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Connect:
Website • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/
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Contact • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/contact

Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

In today's episode Jody welcomes Marissa Clohesy. Marissa gave birth to her first child at 49 years of age through egg donorship from a kind woman who worked at a clinic where she regularly had bloods done. Following the birth of her first child had three more viable embryos that she needed to use, she explains she looks at IVF through a very scientific lens - you need a womb, an egg and sperm. The next attempt saw Marissa miscarriage and she believes it was due to her doing too much, not resting and thinking she just needed to hurry up (because she was now pushing 50). Marissa successfully conceived her second child at 51.

We speak about Marissa's journey with her first child who has now been diagnosed with ADHD and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Largely unsupported in her motherly role Marissa talks about why she needs to stay active and healthy for her children and how she is determined to live to 100.

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Connect:
Website • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/
Gather • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/gather
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Newsletter • https://jodyvassallo.substack.com/
Contact • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/contact

Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

Today Jody ponders how the space element relates to loneliness. In Ayurveda the elements of air and space (ether) combine to create the vata dosha. Although we can clearly see and feel the elements of air, earth, water and fire, space is a little different.

Space or too much space between us and others equates to loneliness, fear of too much space leads to overshopping, overeating and clutter in our homes. We know space by feeling it. 

Jody touches on each of the doshas and how they may deal with feelings of loneliness and why those feelings may feel louder in menopause.

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Connect:
Website • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/
Gather • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/gather
Instagram • https://instagram.com/jodyvassallobeautifulfood
Newsletter • https://jodyvassallo.substack.com/
Contact • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/contact

Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

Today Jody welcomes Kimberly Ann Johnson to the Changing Seasons podcast. Kimberly is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Sexological Bodyworker, author and postpartum advocate. We discuss how Kimberly's own postpartum journey has informed her menopause story and why she has chosen to focus on the positive changes she has seen in her body and life in menopause. She tells how at one point during menopause she went to a naturopath thinking she may need some estrogen only to be given a raft of hormones that came with strict warnings about not coming in contact with small children and animals after applying the HRT.  

As a sexological bodyworker Kimberly wants women to understand that sex and our relationship to it will change as we approach menopause, the way our body responds to touch during this time alters and what we enjoy may also differ. Curiosity and communication are now more important than ever she says and the drop in estrogen can mean that women are now more equipped to advocate for what they want in the bedroom.

Kimberly has worked closely with Stephen Jenkinson for several years now and she speaks about how his and his wife's views on hormones, aging, dying and grieving have influenced her approach to aging and her transition to menopause. 

We speak about her daughter recently leaving their home and going to college and how the year leading up to this was full of grief and realisations about her relationship with her daughter.

Instagram:

@kimberley.ann.johnson

Web:

kimberlyannjohnson.com

Podcast:

Sex Birth Trauma with Kimberly Ann Johnson

Books:

The Fourth Trimester - Healing Your Body, Balancing your Emotions and Restoring your Vitality

Call of the Wild - How We Heal Trauma

Awaken Our Own Power

Erotic Seasons (November 2026)

Courses:

Vulvas and the Nervous System

Jaguar - The Sex Edition

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Connect:
Website • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/
Gather • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/gather
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Newsletter • https://jodyvassallo.substack.com/
Contact • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/contact

Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

Today Jody is joined by Sole Del Riccio-Smith and Dylan Smith to discuss their fertility and postpartum journey. 

In this conversation we cover their preconception preparation and how they did 30 days of Panchakarma at home during COVID under the guidance of their Ayurvedic doctor. They both highlight how important it was for them to surrender themselves totally to the process even up to the point of waiting for their Vaidya (Dr) to say the time was right for them to start trying to conceive. 

Sole shares how important it was for her to have a quiet safe space to not just birth but be with her baby after the birth. In Ayurveda it is customary for the mother, father and baby to spend 42 days close to home and we learn why this is so important for the mother and baby. Dylan discusses how food is important in preconception and postpartum but in pregnancy it is important for a woman to eat a sattvic diet that brings her peace and happiness.

Both Sole and Dylan highlight how essential it is to calm Vata throughout the entire preconception, fertility and postpartum journey and speak about how friends and family were an integral part of doing that by providing love and warmth to them through home-cooked meals and support.

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Connect:
Website • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/
Gather • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/gather
Instagram • https://instagram.com/jodyvassallobeautifulfood
Newsletter • https://jodyvassallo.substack.com/
Contact • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/contact

Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

Today Jody welcomes Kimberley Ashton from Qi Food Therapy to the Changing Seasons podcast. We discuss in detail why certain foods will soothe and nourish the digestive system and other foods will aggravate and inflame it. She highlights the role of the sweet and salty flavours in our body. Kimberly explains why we need to consume good quality sweet flavoured foods to help relax and satiate the body and high and that salt is needed to strengthen the body.

We have a diet culture and the reduction approach the western has around food and how we are not being satiated physically, emotionally and mentally. Our earth element which governs our digestive needs us to be eating enough food so we can feel nourished.
Kimberley has worked with Five Element Nutrition for decades now and her work is informed by Traditional Chinese Medicine. Kimberley speaks about the Five Element personalities and how we can discover what constitution we are.
This is a wonderful conversation for anyone learning more about food as medicine, Kimberley has a wealth of knowledge in this area.

Book about the Five Element Constitutions:
Five Element Alchemy by Ashley Abbs

Instagram: @qifoodtherapy

Website: qifoodtherapy.com

"Send us a message"

Connect:
Website • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/
Gather • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/gather
Instagram • https://instagram.com/jodyvassallobeautifulfood
Newsletter • https://jodyvassallo.substack.com/
Contact • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/contact

Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.

Today Jody welcomes Carly Merlo, owner of Bio Veda to the podcast to discuss the A-Z of Ayurvedic oils and how different medicated oils are prized for the healing process.

Ayurveda has been using oils on the body, hair and internally for thousands of years, black sesame oil or coconut oil are used as the carriers for the medicinal herbs which are warmed and then applied to the skin before bathing.

Bala oil is the oil of choice of Shirodhara, a therapeutic treatment that works to calm Vata in the Body.

Saffron oil is treasured by many as a transformative oil for the face, Neeli Bhringraj is a wonderful oil  we use for thinning or greying hair, Anu Thailum is used to clear sinus congestion and Gum and Mouth oil is used for oil pulling to nourish and strengthen the gums and mouth.

Carly speaks in detail about the many benefits of the large range of oils her company sells, she describes how to store and apply them and the oils that are best suited to the different constitutions. Dinacharya is a self care routine that Ayurveda encourages, Carly talks about tongue scraping, oil pulling, sun gazing, nasya and abyangha and how practising these routinely can benefit both our bodies and our minds.

Connect with Carly & Bio Veda

https://www.bioveda.com.au/?srsltid=AfmBOoo6eLoL4lbPby8hNZgiCEjChfCbRZX_eHElXTIYhzPo4rz2l2iI

Work with Jody

One on One Ayurvedic Consultations

https://www.jodyvassallo.com/ayurveda

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Connect:
Website • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/
Gather • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/gather
Instagram • https://instagram.com/jodyvassallobeautifulfood
Newsletter • https://jodyvassallo.substack.com/
Contact • https://www.jodyvassallo.com/contact

Support the Show:
Leave a review on Apple • https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/changing-seasons-podcast/id1757970211

Credits:
Host: Jody Vassallo
Production: Sovereign Creator • https://sovereigncreator.io

© Changing Seasons. All rights reserved.