Magnificent Midlife

Sam Walker started her Sam Walker's Desert Diaries podcast to document her move from Manchester, UK to Phoenix, Arizona. Sam is a master storyteller, an award-winning radio and TV broadcaster, a multiple podcast producer and presenter, a writer, and a woman who encountered coyotes, snakes and scorpions in the desert. This is such an inspirational gem of a podcast, I just had to re-release it!

We talk about:

- Why Sam decided to up sticks and move from Manchester to the desert

- How she pushed through the fear both before making the move and after, given all the issues she has faced

- Having support when making a big life change

- Trusting the universe when there are signs along the way

- The importance of trying to live our dreams no matter how big or small those might be

- The difficulties and highlights of her life in Arizona

- The many quirky things about adapting to US life

- Trying to function in the US without a credit history

- The delights of the US medical system

- The beauty and history of US landscapes

- Whatever brings you joy is what is right for you

- The importance of following your dreams whatever they are

- Getting rid of the word should

- How Sam stays upbeat despite the many setbacks she's encountered

- Coping with being away from sick loved ones

- Coming to terms with gun culture

- Realising her white privilege when things got really tough

- Being grateful for the basics

And lots more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #15 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

My guest, Professor Martha Hickey, is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University. She is in active clinical practice with a research expertise in menstrual disorders and menopause. This is such an important conversation about normalizing menopause. It may be difficult for some women but it is a completely natural transition in a woman's life. Martha is a leader in developing national guidelines for menopause management in Australia and New Zealand and also in developing a new model of care for managing menopausal symptoms after breast cancer. She was the lead author on an article about normalizing menopause in the British Medical Journal which ruffled a few feathers last summer.

We talk about:

- Why her BMJ article proved so contentious

- Misinformation about menopause that she'd like to correct

- The 'official' symptoms of menopause

- Martha's view on HRT and what it can be used for

- Narratives around menopause and HRT in the UK and elsewhere

- Working out what's fact in a sea of information

- HRT and breast cancer

- Martha's Flesh After Fifty exhibition

- How older women are viewed in society

- Older women in aboriginal art

- Martha's hopes for menopause and older women

And more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #15 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

Another gem from the podcast archives. Julie Owen Moylan is the author of That Green Eyed Girl and 73 Dove Street, and currently working on her third novel. But when we recorded this interview, she had yet to get her first book deal! Her interview is a master class in believing in yourself and staying the course in pursuit of your dream. It was a real joy interviewing Julie about life, writing, ageing, authenticity and lots more! We had such a giggle! Enjoy and be inspired.

We talk about:

- How Julie came to be writing her first novel at nearly 60

- Following her dream of becoming a writer

- Her midlife excavation process

- How she got started writing seriously

- Finding the motivation to keep going

- The excitement of being spotted by a literary agent

- Making the most of our precious heartbeats

- Becoming more creative as we age

- How Julie writes and developed the story for the book

- The magic on days when the story just flows

- Julie's belief that somewhere in the ether the book exists and her job is to transmit it

- The importance of just turning up to write and getting in the right mood

- Finding ways to take the pressure to perform off oneself

- Julie's huge Twitter following and how that came about

- How Julie deals with anyone nasty on Twitter

- Getting better at straight-talking as we age

- Channelling Julie's inner Nessa

- Flying the Twitter flag for older women and setting the record straight on ageing

- Unravelling negative age-related narratives that have taken up residence in your head

- How great life can be after 40 and how it can keep getting better

And lots more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #15 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

Clare Fuller talks about the importance of later life planning and what that can look like. Clare is a Registered Nurse with 30 years' experience in End-of-Life Care for which she is a Care Quality Commission Specialist Advisor. She campaigns for proactive Advance Care Planning and is the host of the Conversations about Advance Care Planning podcast. Most of us leave these tricky issues until it's too late, whereas actually it's never too early to start. None of us knows what tomorrow may bring. This is a powerful and inspiring podcast about the benefits of planning ahead.

We talk about:

- What inspired Clare to set up a new business at 50

- What a Lasting Power of Attorney is and why it matters

- What can happen if you don't have a Lasting Power of Attorney in place

- How to make a Lasting Power of Attorney

- The binary attitude of living versus dying

- What Advance Care Planning is and the triggers for it

- Advice on starting important conversations about later life planning

- The difference between a Lasting Power of Attorney and an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment (ADRT)

- What to do when people just don't want to have the conversation

- Advice for families where there is conflict

And more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #15 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

I interview Makeda Smith, celebrity publicist, pole and exotic dancer. She began her pole and aerial training at the age of 50 and created her own exotic dance brand called FlyingOver50. She's over 60 now and still pole-dancing!

We talk about: - How Makeda came to start pole dancing at age 50 - How pole dancing changed her life - Why sexy never gets old - The Everybody Visible movement on social media - How women in midlife and beyond can stay feeling sexy - How to get over the fear of injury when staying active as we age - Taking the fear out of the pole aspect of what Makeda does - Cultural differences in responses to older women being sexy - Balancing PR and pole dancing - Those very high shoes Makeda wears - Adapting to classes in a Covid world - Awakening the sleeping goddess in all of us

And more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #15 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

Dr Amanda Hanson is on a mission to revolutionize how women age and how society feels about older women. She believes midlife should be a time of power and joy, rather than crisis. She's a clinical psychologist and coach. She's the high profile Midlife Muse on social media.

We talk about:

- Recognizing and fighting the narratives about women and age

- The role of misogyny

- Breaking free of society's expectations for older women

- Lessons from going grey as a woman

- The work of Mama Gema

- How we can be all the things as we age - we don't trade sensuality for wisdom, for example

- Stepping out of fear when it comes to ageing

- Going viral on TikTok

- How perceptions shape our reality

- Moving to a sense of abundance about ourselves

- Choosing to age differently to what we see as the norm

- A radical approach to changing the narrative about women's reproductive rights

- Women taking care of their own sexual needs

- Refusing to be a victim even though it's easy to do that

- Taking radical responsibility

- Building a plan for the menopause transition

- Staying curious and proactive about menopause

- The power of the feminine

- Finding your tribe of women and opening up conversations

And more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #12 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

Karen Newby is a nutritionist who's been practicing nutritional therapy for over 10 years. Her area of specialism is women's hormonal health, especially menopause. She's the author of The Natural Menopause Method, a nutritional guide to perimenopause and beyond. This woman knows so much about nutrition and women's hormones. This is a brilliant and empowering conversation.

We talk about:

- How we can best prepare ourselves for perimenopause

- The first signs of perimenopause that Karen sees and what can be done about those

- Good and bad estrogens

- What we can learn from other cultures in terms of food and hormones

- The importance of phytoestrogens

- Food as medicine

- How to stop sugar cravings and why they happen

- Why modern life can make menopause worse

- Why women may get heavier periods as they move into perimenopause

- The importance of maintaining blood sugar levels

- The role of the adrenal glands

- Why we need to get better at managing stress

- Why there is no easy fix when it comes to menopause

- The six easy shifts to make to support us in perimenopause

- Why we need to start putting ourselves first

And more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #12 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

Maryjane Fahey is a creative director, writer, storyteller, published author, and founder of Glorious Broads. Her mission is to inspire older women to live full authentic lives with no limitations. And younger women to live free of fear of getting older. This is a funny and inspiring conversation about how to be a glorious broad!

We talk about:

- Ageism and how it impacts healthcare

- The insidious intersection of sexism and ageism

- Giving women great examples of older women

- Finding glorious broads around New York

- Reducing the fear around ageing

- Deciding to go grey

- The power of acceptance

- Reinventing ourselves multiple times

- Doing the work to enable an authentic, limitless life

- Enjoying great sex as we age

- The other great things that come with age

And more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #12 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

I've talked about death on the podcast but not yet grief, so I was delighted to welcome Silke Herwald to talk about this important topic. Silke is an experienced grief specialist and hypnotherapist, working especially with subconscious processes. She's assisted hundreds of clients with grief and anxiety often drawing on her personal experience. Grief is often a big part of midlife. The more we love and the older we get, the more we will grieve. Knowing there are resourceful ways to grieve gives people relief and hope.

This is a beautiful and empowering conversation about a difficult topic.

We talk about:

- Why we're so bad at dealing with grief

- The things to not say when someone dies

- How other cultures do grief and Rachel's experience of a Chinese funeral

- How Silke helps people who are paralyzed by grief

- The five stages of grief and why they're not for everyone

- How Silke helps a person who doesn't want to stop grieving

- How we can help a grieving person as a friend

- How to deal with the loss of a loved one

- Rituals that can help

- Differences in the response to grief in Australia and Germany

- Going through grief as the only way to 'do' grief

And more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #12 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife

A solo episode with Rachel, musing about midlife and what's been happening in her world.

She talks about:

- How difficult it can be when we have to pivot in how we interact with our older loved ones

- The beginning of her journey into studying Gerontology

- What successful aging really means/ looks like

- Finding strategies to cope with loss as we age

- The importance of thinking creatively about how people age

- Enabling people to age as they want to age

- Dodgy menopause data

- Challenging narratives

- Recent podcasts

- Learning from adversity

- How to create magnificence in midlife and beyond

- What you can access at magnificentmidlife.com

And more!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it and leave us a 5* review on iTunes or wherever you're listening.

Order the ebook or audiobook (narrated by Rachel) versions of Rachel's book, Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause And Beyond at magnificentmidlife.com/book

The paperback can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

US & Canada: https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Magnificent-Midlife-Transform-Middle-Menopause/dp/173981150X/

You can listen to all the other episodes and get the show notes at magnificentmidlife.com/podcast.

Recommended by the Sunday Times.

Feedspot #3 in best midlife podcasts and #12 in best women over 50 podcasts worldwide.

You'll find lots of strategies, support, and resources to help make your midlife magnificent at magnificentmidlife.com.

Check out Rachel's online Revitalize Experience, a 6-week intensive small group mentoring experience or 1-1 Midlife Mentoring.

Follow Rachel on:

Facebook: facebook.com/magnificentmidlife

Instagram: instagram.com/magnificentmidlife

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rachellankester

Twitter: twitter.com/MagnifMidlife

Pinterest: pinterest.co.uk/MagnificentMidlife1

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCEteu6Z2mW1z1wnHiVB08uw

Tiktok: tiktok.com/@magnificent_midlife