In the information-overload era of AI and social media, "consciousness is our competitive advantage". 

This episode of the Living Hellth Podcast features Shona Beats, employee number two and ex-COO at Headspace, who helped move meditation from a niche practice to a global mainstream phenomenon.

Shona shares her powerful journey from a high-adrenaline career and total burnout at age 30 to becoming a neuroscience-backed coach for leaders and founders. 

Episode Highlights

• The Moment of "Freeze": Shona details the terrifying day her "autopilot" crashed during a high-stakes pitch, leading to a profound "rock bottom" moment that eventually became her life’s most glorious turning point.
• The Problem with "Cracking On": Discover the difference between burn out and resilience, why resilience isn't about "holding your ground", but instead about the process of being knocked down and learning how to get back up.
• Surviving the AI Era: Shona explores why AI can outsource knowledge but cannot access presence or wisdom. Learn why reclaiming our "human skin" and embodiment is the ultimate mindfulness and leadership strategy.
• The Toxicity of Social Media: Why social platforms are engineered like "Vegas slot machines" to keep you in a state of provocative mindlessness and how to break the addiction.
• Leadership Alchemy: A breakdown of Shona’s framework for founders and leaders: Awareness (seeing your code), Altitude (rising above it), and Alchemy (rewriting it).

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About Shona 

Shona Beats teaches CEOs and founders what meditation taught Silicon Valley: consciousness becomes competitive advantage in the AI era. Described as a voice of modern wisdom, she joined Headspace as Employee #2 and COO, building the product, business, and team from the ground up over six years - navigating hypergrowth, multiple funding rounds, and relocating the team to Silicon Beach. Headspace made meditation go mainstream, and has gone on to reach 100M+ users in over 190 countries.

All this - off the back of burnout. At age 30, Shona was signed off work with chronic anxiety. She found her own path through meditation, and within months had not only recovered but joined Headspace's co-founders to build one of the most defining mind health brands in the world.

Grounded in 5,000+ hours of consciousness training and nearly two decades studying elite performance and leadership, Shona developed The Human OS Upgrade - a neuroscience-backed framework for unlocking human potential in the AI era.  Today, she's a keynote speaker, executive coach, and board advisor working with CEOs, founders, and C-suite leaders on the internal upgrades that drive external results.

Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shonabeats/

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Going live next Tuesday 24th of Feb

It's the start of the year, and reevaluating ones health is always a common theme- but have you thought about your mental health when it comes to social media and AI?

Anxiety and burn out can affect us all. In this bonus episode for season 1, we chat with Shona Beats about how "consciousness is the ultimate competitive advantage in an AI world.”

In this profoundly candid episode, we sit down with Shona Beats, Executive Coach for Founders & Leaders, keynote speaker, and ex-COO at Headspace. 

Shona played a pivotal role in taking meditation mainstream with Headspace, just before she became a global leader in mental and mind health, she had experienced a life-changing chapter with anxiety and burn out. 

At age 30, Shona appeared to have it all—a glamorous career, amazing travel, impressive network and a new home. On the inside, she was running on a high-adrenaline "autopilot" that eventually led to a total physical and mental freeze. Shona shares her raw journey from that "rock bottom moment on the floor” to discovering the transformative power of meditation and neuroscience-backed frameworks.

Melissa Robertson shares her journey with peri-menopause (leading up to the menopause) that started to appear at the same time as she started her new role as CEO (at Dark Horses agency) around 5 years ago. This has a dual focus, on the personal but also professional impact (peri) menopause can have on her life and career.

Melissa is a portfolio NED and consultant with over 30 years of experience in the advertising and marketing industry.

She was a co-founder of the creative agency, Now; a Director of the women’s lifestyle platform, The Pool; and most recently CEO of Dark Horses, a creative agency focused on sport.

She is now Non-Executive Chair of Spike, the sports arm of W Communications, a Trustee of the Women’s Sport Trust, and a director of Menopause Mandate.

We chat about…

• Her erratic periods and wild dreams 
• What life is life in perimenopause, waiting for The menopause 
• The symptoms that hit like a train 
• How they are selling menopause on Amazon - and raising awareness 
• How businesses can support menopause 
• How menopause showed up in her worklife
• How menopause has impacted her career 
• How she was supported, and how partners can show up for those going through menopause 

You review your menopause on Amazon here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/SellingMenopause/page/242CA1A9-DE7A-4685-BA6A-0D70AA9047C8 

You can reach out to Melissa here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissarobertson29/ 

Lauren Chiren from Women of a Certain Stage the global authority on menopause certification, training, and enterprise workplace strategy.

She has educated over 350,000 people through free workshops, trained and certified 1,470+ professionals to become Menopause Coaches and Champions in over 36 countries, and advised 400+ of the world’s top employers.

Her clients include Amazon, Mercedes F1, HSBC, Blackstone, Nike, and other global brands that don’t just want awareness - they want execution, enterprise integration, and measurable results.

Lauren is a trusted voice in international policy, Menopause Action Plans, providing evidence to the UK Parliament, contributing to US DE&I initiatives, and serving on the award-winning BSI committee behind the world’s first Standard for menstruation and menopause at work.

We talk about…

• How she turned her crisis turned into purpose that has helped countless women
• Menopause isn’t ‘over the hill’ - Menopause is a second power
• Why menopause policies and strategies are so important - it’s not just the women who are experiencing perimenopause, it’s also the people around them who socialise, work and live with them!
• How partners can actually help
• Her success stories with top female executives she’s worked with
• The next generation of women won’t tolerate this lack of support and info
• Menopause sufferers - you are not alone and there is hope and help for you!

Wizz Selvey shares a really honest recount of how she discovered her early perimenopause, her symptoms, feeling overwhelmed and gaslit, then onto her road to properly understanding and managing her symptoms. 

We talk about: 

• What sleep is like, now and during perimenopause
• Puberty and early adulthood: the signs and the symptoms
• Ignoring her cycle and realisation to embrace it, work with it
• The real cost of questioning herself 
• The very early signs of perimenopause that "hit hard" 
• Thinking it was long covid, discovering it was perimenopause
•  Perimenopause is a massive opportunity to reassess your life
• How she managed her symptoms naturally, thinking about HRT

More about Wizz 

Wizz Selvey the Co-founder of Valerie. The company tackling one of the biggest health challenges of our time: the 1 billion women navigating peri/menopause. Their mission is bold - to revolutionise midlife healthcare and empower women to live fully and freely at every age.

Valerie is more than a product; we’re a movement. We’re here to help women reclaim their health, take back control, and turn midlife into maxlife. 

Valerie have developed Daily Essential, a pioneering liposomal technology supplement with 12 nutrients and 90 health benefits. 

Email her for partnerships and ambassador roles [email protected]

Dr Claire Phipps is a highly dedicated GP turned menopause specialist based in London. 

She works particularly close women and people with complex health histories or multiple medical conditions, and her approach combines evidence-based hormonal and non-hormonal therapies, as well as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). 

Claire is also deeply committed to advancing access to evidence-based menopause care for underserved and underrepresented populations. She holds the British Menopause Society Advanced Menopause Certificate, is a member of the International Menopause Society, and European Andropause and Menopause society.

In this episode, we chat through: 

• The menopause basics
• How we should be thinking about menopause in our 20s, 30s and 40s 
• Her trauma-aware approach and how oestrogen boxes up how we feel
• Unrecognised symptoms and how you should prepare for consultation with your doctor
• HRT basics - Not ready for HRT? There are alternatives
• The good news - menopause doesn’t have to be scary!

More on Dr Phipps 

Dr Claire Phipps is a highly dedicated and compassionate GP with many years experience in providing comprehensive healthcare to all ages. 

Claire also specialises in supporting women through menopause, particularly those with complex health histories or multiple medical conditions. Her approach combines evidence-based hormonal and non-hormonal therapies with a deep understanding of how existing health issues can influence menopausal symptoms and treatment choices. She focuses on personalised care, aiming to restore balance, improve quality of life, and empower women to navigate this transition with confidence and clarity. 

Dr. Phipps holds the British Menopause Society Advanced Menopause Certificate, is a member of the International Menopause Society, and European Andropause and Menopause society. She a certified menopause and GP trainer providing education to healthcare professionals. She is also CBT trained and sits on the British Menopause Society medical advisory council. Claire believes that the perimenopause and menopause are opportunities to take back control of our health. 

Claire is deeply committed to advancing access to evidence-based menopause care for underserved and underrepresented populations. She sits on the board of different community charities. Her areas of special interest include providing education around genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) treatment and within this supporting survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM). 

You can find out more and get in touch with Dr Phipps via her website: https://themenopausegp.com/ or instagram @themenopausegp

In this episode, I interview a leading Endocrinologist based in London, Dr Mark Vanderpump, on autoimmune diseases, with a special focus on thyroid conditions. 

In this episode, I ask him: 

• Why are women more imapcted by autoimmune diseases than men?
• What are autoimmune diseases and why do they occur? 
• What are the autoimmune diseases triggers and treatment 
• Conflicting researching surrounding increases and decreases in rates of autoimmune disease 
• His view on lifestyle medicine and how gut health might impact 
• Why is there a delay for so many women when it comes to diagnosis 

About Dr Vanderpump

Dr Mark Vanderpump is a consultant physician and endocrinologist OneWelbeck in London, specialising in thyroid disease.

Dr Vanderpump is a highly experienced endocrinologist. He was a Consultant Physician and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust for 17 years, until he moved to full-time private practice, in 2016, after more than 30 years working in the NHS.

He is the past President of the British Thyroid Association (2014-2017), and a 2017 and 2022 Top Doctors award winner. He is the former Chair of the London Consultants’ Association.

He is a published author with a book and chapters on thyroid disease, and he regularly contributes to medical publications and teaches and lectures nationally and internationally.

After a decade long fight for answers to her symptoms, Rocsi was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s - where the body’s own immune system attacks the thyroid. It didn’t end there, as she still had to learn why she had such painful and heavy periods.

She discovered why, but it then meant she had to undergo a c-section surgery to remove a 16cm cyst. She fought hard to recover and continue to support her thyroid through properly nutrition and anti-inflammatory practices. Today she manages her primary dysmenorrhea (painful periods without a cause) and her autoimmune flare ups with a focus on nutrition and gut health, which has significantly improved her quality of life.

In this episode:

• Rocsi’s upbringing and her first few extremely painful cycles
• Her experience with the birth control pill
• What led her to discover her autoimmune thyroid disease
• Pushing her body to the extreme with diets and exercise, losing her period
• Post surgery recovery and adjusting her lifestyle and nutrition to support her body
• Returning to a normal cycle and managing autoimmune disease

A snippet from our full conversation with Rocsi, who shares her very long and very frustrating journey to get the answers to her debilitating symptoms. But it didn't end there - she then had to push for answers to her painful periods, which in the end, required c-section surgery and a long road to recovery. Rocsi's story is heart-breaking, inspiring and she's come out the other side armed with research and knowledge, determined to help any other women facing the same diagnosis or living with painful periods affecting their quality of life. 

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Queen Mary University London. Her research investigates the developmental course of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the life span. 

In this episode we discuss what the research states when it comes to ADHD and hormonal transitions and fluctuations, including: 

• Puberty and menstruation
• PMDD
• Hormonal contraception
• Pregnancy
• Sleep
• Perimenopause and menopause 

We also cover the basics:

• What is ADHD? 
• How is it diagnosed? 
• How does it affect women and girls differently? 
• Why is there such a delay in diagnosis for girls and women?
• Medication in the menstrual cycle and pregancy 

Dr Agnew-Blais current study focuses on ADHD among girls and women, and the role of times of hormonal change, including puberty, the menstrual cycle and the menopausal transition, in functioning among women with ADHD.. 

The books Dr Jessica Agnew referenced in this episode include:

• Lotta Skoglund's books and resources (via her website) 
• https://www.borgskoglund.se/en/ 
•  https://www.borgskoglund.se/en/literature/adhd-girls-to-women/ 
•  Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais also recommends “Understand ADHD in Girls and Women” edited by Joanne Steer.

 Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais works with www.adhdlifelab.com and people can find out about getting involved with research here: https://www.adhdlifelab.com/get-involved-1

Follow Dr Agnew-Blais, her work and affiliated organisations:

@adhdlifecourselab @bluesky @adhdlifecourselab.bsky.social 

Linkedin: ADHD Lifecourse Lab