Living Inspired - A Functional Approach to Women’s Health, Energy, and Resilience

Many women enter their 40s and 50s feeling like something in their body has shifted. Mood swings, anxiety, sleep changes, and low energy start showing up, yet many are told their labs are normal or that this is simply part of aging.

In this episode, I sit down with Dana Culp, a nurse practitioner and menopause expert who has spent more than 25 years working with women in midlife. Dana also shares her own experience navigating perimenopause and the challenges she faced getting the support she needed.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why so many women struggle to get help during perimenopause
• What hormone therapy actually is (and what it isn’t)
• The difference between bioidentical and synthetic hormones
• Why menopause education is still lacking in medicine
• How to advocate for yourself in doctor’s appointments

If you’ve been trying to understand what’s happening in your body lately, this conversation will help bring clarity.

Links & Resources

Mood Shift Method Live Workshop
Connect with Rachel:

Website: RachelCartaRN.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaceinperimenopause/

Website: https://www.thrivemidlifemed.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivemidlifemed/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivemidlifemed
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thrive-midlife-medicine/

Free consultation and free class: 

https://thrivemidlifemedicine.cal.com/thrivemidlifemedicine

https://www.thrivemidlifemed.com/event

Have you ever been told your labs are “normal,” but you still feel exhausted, foggy, bloated, anxious, or just not like yourself?

In this episode, Rachel explains why normal lab work does not always mean your body is functioning optimally and why labs should never be interpreted without the full story of your health.

Through a functional nutrition lens, labs are not the final answer. They are clues. Rachel shares how she looks at patterns, symptoms, lifestyle, digestion, stress, and health history alongside lab work to better understand what may be contributing to fatigue, mood changes, and other chronic symptoms.

If you’ve ever felt confused by lab results that say everything is fine while your body tells you otherwise, this conversation will bring clarity.

• Why “normal” lab results do not always mean optimal health

• The difference between functional and pathological lab ranges

• Why labs are a snapshot in time, not the full story

• The problem with a lab-first, supplement-first approach

• The three principles Rachel uses when looking at labs

• Common patterns Rachel sees in women’s lab work

• Why thyroid testing often needs a broader lens than TSH alone

• How improving the body’s “terrain” can help symptoms begin to shift

  
  

Mood Shift Method Live

A live workshop where Rachel walks you through the deeper root causes behind mood swings, anxiety, fatigue, and feeling unlike yourself in midlife.

Learn more and register here:https://rachelcartarn.com/moodshift

Website:https://rachelcartarn.com

Have you ever reacted to something and thought, Where did that come from?

If you’ve been feeling more irritable, more anxious, more overwhelmed, or just not quite like yourself lately, this episode is for you.

In this conversation, I’m walking you through something I see in so many women navigating midlife: emotional shifts that feel confusing, intense, and sometimes even alarming.

Midlife is not just a hormonal transition. It’s also a nervous system shift, a metabolic shift, and a resilience shift. When estrogen and progesterone begin fluctuating, your internal buffering system changes. The same life you were managing before can suddenly feel like too much.

In this episode, I talk about:

• Why your “window of tolerance” may feel smaller than it used to

• The stress bucket analogy and why everything feels heavier

• How blood sugar instability impacts irritability and anxiety

• Why nervous system load matters more than you think

• The overlooked role of margin and space in emotional regulation

• How to begin seeing mood swings as information, not failure

If you’ve ever wondered why small things feel bigger lately…If you’ve questioned whether you’re “losing it”…If you’ve felt dismissed or confused about what’s happening in your body…

This episode will help you connect the dots in a way that feels grounding instead of overwhelming.

Ready to Go Deeper?

If this resonated with you, I’d love to invite you to my Mood Shift Method Live Workshop.

This is where we take everything we discussed and apply it directly to your own patterns, rhythms, and stress load so you can understand what your body has actually been trying to say.

You can learn more and reserve your spot here:rachelcartarn.com/moodshift

You deserve to feel calm, confident, and like yourself again. And it starts with understanding.

If this episode helped you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. And as always, thank you for being here.

Have you ever tried to relax, only to notice your mind speeding up or your body staying tense? In this episode, Rachel shares what these experiences may actually mean and why they often point to your nervous system rather than a personal shortcoming.

Through a powerful client story and practical insights, she explains how mood, digestion, energy, and stress responses are deeply connected, and why real healing often begins with helping your body feel safe instead of pushing harder or adding more protocols. You’ll also learn gentle signs your system may be stuck in survival mode and one simple practice you can use to begin shifting toward calm.

In This Episode:

• why your body may feel restless even when life looks calm

• how nervous system state affects mood, digestion, and energy

• signs your system may still be in stress mode

• why foundations matter more than quick fixes

• a simple way to signal safety to your body
  

If this episode speaks to you and you want deeper support, Rachel’s live Mood Shift Method workshop will walk you through how to understand your body and create lasting change.

Join here: RachelCartaRN.com/moodshift

In this episode, I’m joined by Sheila Wenger, founder of Shift Hypnosis and certified hypnotherapist, for a powerful conversation about subconscious patterns, emotional healing, and why change can feel hard even when you truly want it.

We talk about how the subconscious mind works, why certain fears and reactions stay with us for years, and how many of the patterns women struggle with are actually protective responses that once served a purpose. Sheila explains how root beliefs form, how they influence behavior and relationships, and why real healing often begins when truth is acknowledged.

If you’ve ever wondered why you keep repeating certain cycles, feel stuck despite doing all the “right” things, or want to better understand your emotional patterns, this conversation will give you a new lens to look through.

Connect With Sheila

Website: https://www.shifthypnosis.org

Podcast: Shift Is Happening

Email: [email protected]

Connect With Rachel

Website + resources: https://www.rachelcartarn.com

Free Guide - The Real Reason You Still Feel Off: https://rachelcartarn.com/lastinghealth

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaceinperimenopause

What if healing isn’t about fixing what feels wrong, but learning how to feel what’s been held for too long?

In this episode of Living Inspired, I’m joined by somatic and transformational coach Soulla Demetriou for a grounded conversation about grief, self-compassion, and the nervous system, and why these are often the missing pieces in healing.

We explore how grief shows up not only after loss, but in quieter, less visible ways when life doesn’t unfold as we hoped. We talk about how avoiding grief can keep the nervous system stuck in survival mode, and how this can ripple into fatigue, digestive issues, sleep struggles, and emotional overwhelm.

This episode is especially for women who feel unsettled in their bodies despite “doing all the right things.” We discuss how self-compassion creates safety in the nervous system, and how healing often happens in small, steady moments rather than big overhauls.

• Why grief is not something to fix, but something to allow

• How unprocessed grief can show up as physical and emotional symptoms

• The role of nervous system safety in healing

• Why self-compassion is foundational, not optional

• Simple ways to help the body exhale and soften

  
  

Find Rachel here:

RachelCartaRN.com

Free Guide: The Reason You Still Feel Off

Free Mood Swings Audio

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaceinperimenopause

Find Soulla Here:

Website: https://www.withsoulla.com
Book: https://www.withsoulla.com/always-enough
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/withsoulla
Free Self-Compassion Course: https://www.withsoulla.com/courses/7-steps-course-sign-up

In this episode, I’m sharing a live talk I gave for the Brigham Education Institute, part of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. It’s the fourth time I’ve been invited to speak for their program, and this conversation felt too important not to share more widely.

So many women reach midlife and feel blindsided by what’s happening in their bodies. Sounds feel louder. Emotions feel closer to the surface. Digestion changes. Sleep becomes elusive. And often, everything looks “normal” on paper, even though you know something feels off.

In this episode, we take a step back and look at symptoms differently. Not as random or inevitable, but as meaningful signals from the body.

You’ll hear about:

• Why midlife can suddenly feel harder, even if nothing dramatic has changed

• A simple bucket analogy that explains capacity, stress, and symptom spillover

• The four core systems that often drive mood changes, digestive issues, and overwhelm in midlife

• How hormonal shifts impact the nervous system, blood sugar, digestion, and recovery

• Why moving from fixing to listening creates real and lasting change

This is not about another protocol or checklist. It’s about understanding what your body has been responding to, and how small, steady shifts can help you feel calmer, more confident, and more at home in yourself again.

If you’ve been feeling off, overwhelmed, or confused by your symptoms, this episode is for you.

Free Guide: The Real Reason You Still Feel Off

And if you’d like deeper, personalized support, you can book a Clarity and Relief Session.

Strength training is often framed around appearance or fitness goals. But its real impact goes far deeper than that.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Wayne Westcott, a leading researcher in strength training and exercise science, to talk about why building and maintaining muscle matters so much in midlife and beyond. Wayne has spent decades studying how resistance training affects the body across the lifespan, including adults in their 90s, and his research offers a hopeful, practical perspective on aging.

We talk about how muscle loss affects metabolism, bone density, mood, and independence, what strength training actually looks like in real life, and how little time it can take to see meaningful benefits. Wayne also shares powerful insights from nursing home studies that challenge the idea that it’s ever too late to get stronger.

This is a grounded, encouraging conversation for anyone who feels overwhelmed by fitness advice, unsure where to begin, or curious about how to support their body in a way that feels realistic and sustainable.

• Why muscle matters for healthy aging and daily function

• How strength training supports metabolism, bones, and mood

• What research shows about building strength later in life

• What strength training really means (and what it doesn’t)

• How to get results without spending hours in the gym

Dr. Wayne Westcott is a retired professor of exercise science and one of the most respected researchers in strength training. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed studies, written 30 books, and taught at institutions including Harvard and Yale.

Get: Strength Training Past 50

Contact Rachel: [email protected]

RachelCartaRN.com

Free eBook: The Real Reason You Still Feel Off

In this episode, I share a powerful shift in perspective that changed how I move through life, especially during hard seasons.

Through stories from my time as a nurse and hospice nurse, I talk about what happens when we stop waiting for life to get easier and instead build ourselves strong enough to meet it.

We explore the idea:
What if your life is happening for you, not to you?

Not as a positivity slogan, but as a way to relate to challenges without staying stuck in them.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• A moment from nursing school that forever changed how I view hardship

• Why hard and beautiful things often exist at the same time

• A sacred hospice experience that reshaped my understanding of presence and meaning

• What courage really looks like when life feels overwhelming

• A simple journaling invitation to reflect on your own challenges with honesty and compassion

This episode is for anyone who feels like they’ve been waiting for life to get easier, or who knows there must be another way to move forward, even when things feel heavy.

There's a meditation to practice at the 11 minute mark.

You are here for a reason. And you are more capable than you realize.

Connect with Rachel:

[email protected]

Get the Mood Swings SOS (when your mood feels overwhelming).

Learn More: RachelCartaRN.com

You are not imagining it. Midlife health has turned into one long to-do list.

From supplements and biohacks to hormone protocols and trackers, it can feel like everyone has an opinion about what you “should” be doing to feel better. If you are in perimenopause or navigating chronic symptoms, that constant noise can be exhausting.

In this episode, I am sharing what I am actually focusing on this year as a midlife woman with a full plate, and just as importantly, what I am intentionally letting go of.

We talk about how to shift from chasing every new thing to being “boringly consistent” with the habits that truly move the needle for your energy, mood, and peace.

You will hear:

• Why the endless list of midlife “must dos” feels so overwhelming

• How my chronic migraines and a moment with my son became a turning point

• What I am focusing on in 2026

• How to rethink your resilience in midlife and honor your real capacity

• The power of seeing your symptoms as signals instead of enemies

• A beautiful client story about moving from hopeless and burned out to hopeful and resourced

• What I am releasing this year, including productivity as proof of worth

This episode is an invitation to step away from the pressure, listen to your body, and choose a simpler, more peaceful way forward in midlife.

How to connect with Rachel + Free Resources:

• Book a Clarity and Relief Session and learn more about working together: RachelCartaRN.com

• Follow me on Instagram: @peaceinperimenopause

• Free resources to help you feel more clear and calm in your body:

  • Mood Swings SOS

  • The Real Reason You Still Feel Off

  • Partner Communication Guide for Perimenopause