Learn more about natural hormone balance with Courtney’s “Hormones + The Nervous System” free workshop download here. 

Learn more about working with Courtney through her Radiant Living Coaching Group here. 

Learn more about Ayurveda, Somatic Experiencing, Courtney and her work here:

website: www.courtneylacava.com

Instagram: @courtneylacava_ayurveda

Tik Tok: @courtneylacava_ayurveda

In this episode, we dive into the world of Ayurveda and its profound impact on women's health during midlife, particularly in navigating the challenging phases of perimenopause and menopause. My guest, Courtney LaCava, is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, a Certified Health Coach and a dedicated mama to two.

Courtney's journey into Ayurveda began with her own health crisis with chronic fatigue, in 2005. Her healing experience led her to delve deeper into Ayurvedic principles, which allowed her to address the root causes of her health challenges and ultimately empowered her to lead a more vibrant and fulfilling life. As a practitioner of Ayurveda and Somatic Experiencing, Courtney specializes in guiding women to rediscover their innate connection to their bodies and nature. She helps them tap into the abundant vitality that is their birthright.

During this enlightening conversation, Courtney shares her insights into how Ayurveda can be a transformative tool for women in midlife. She discusses the importance of reconnecting with our bodies, understanding our unique constitution, and finding harmony with nature's rhythms, all of which are key components of Ayurvedic wisdom.

Key Takeaways:

Connect with Courtney:

You can also learn more about Courtney and her work on her website: www.courtneylacava.com and follow her on Instagram at @courtneylacava_ayurveda.

This week on "Dear Peri & Meno Pause," we're diving into Chapter 2 of "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. It's all about embracing your identity and making small changes that align with the person you want to be.

💡 Shift Your Focus, Transform Your Habits 💡

James Clear's wisdom teaches us that real change starts with aligning with the identity we aspire to. We'll discuss how this shift in perspective leads to lasting habits that stick.

🔑 Small Wins, Big Impact 🔑

Discover the power of those little victories and how they build the foundation for the transformation you seek.

🌱 Visualize Who You Want to Be 🌱

Imagine a confident, vibrant version of yourself. I'll explain how this mental image drives change, giving you an example of how I do it.

Tune in and let's explore Chapter 2 together! Don't miss this chance to dive into habits that align with your highest self!

If you'd like to work with me 1:1, I'm opening up some coaching sessions in September through until the end of the year. Book a 15-minute Discovery session with me and let's chat! I'd love to help you discover that inner sparkle that's dying to come out!

Introduction:

Hello and thanks for listening!

Today's episode is a solo chat about the mental health awareness challenge that I've been practicing for the month of May and what I've learnt along the way. I tribute a big part of my own healing journey to Mel Robbins. Her books, podcast and courses are AMAZING. What I love about Mel is that she's authentic. There's no BS with Mel. She'll tell you like it is, she'll tell you to stop with the excuses, but she'll also tell you how much she loves you.

I feel like I know Mel personally and that's a tribute to how she nutures and values her community.

Check out Mel's podcast, books and courses here: Mel Robbins

Also in this episode today, I share some information about my newfound love - TANGLING! It's SOOOO cool and I'm obsessed! You can check out Zentangle here and stay tuned to my stories in IG. I can say without a shadow of doubt that my early 'tangles' will look NOTHING like what you see on Zentangle, but I can also assure you that while I'm creating them I'll have a massive smile on my face and will be relaxed - and THAT is what it's all about!

After today, I'm taking a much-needed break for vacation. I'll be back with more episodes starting on June 19th. And get ready - I'm going to be launching my own MenoShine 90-day challenge and would LOVE some company along the way. It's GO-TIME once I'm back from vacation. Who's with me?! x

A brief minisode today as I have so much going on, but wanted to share how affirmations have really helped me move through some tough times in the past few months.

Whether you're in perimenopause or menopause, feeling slugglish or feeling blue, daily affirmations can be a great tool to help redirect your thoughts and raise your mood. My favorite is "every day, and in every way, I'm getting better and better."

My lovely friend Erin Ramsey (@youresuchacatch) posts daily affirmations on Instagram - check them out if you want to be inspired. Her 'go-to' is "everything always works out for me" which I have used recently to reframe my thoughts when I can feel doubt, worry and anxiety creeping in.

Do you use daily affirmations? What works for you?

This week on the podcast, perfectly timed for Mother's Day in the US, Jo has a conversation with the amazing Kate Kripke!

If you've recently been frustrated with feeling lost and low and not knowing what you really want to do in life, THIS is the episode for you. Whether you're a mom or not, this episode covers so much ground for women in midlife who are facing challenges like never before. On the fly, Kate comes up with a 3-step process to help you resolve the question of "What do I want to do with my life?!"

Let us know how you enjoyed the episode and what was your biggest learning?

Kate Kripke a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Perinatal Mental Health Counselor (PMH-C) in the state of Colorado. For over 20 years, Kate has focused her work on supporting the mental health of mothers as a therapist, coach, consultant, author, and speaker.  She is the Founding Director of the Postpartum Wellness Center of Boulder, the author of the book Reinventing Supermom: Support Encouragement, and Strategies For New Moms Who Feel Lost, and a co-host on the podcast Motherhood Uncut. She is also the mom of two teenaged daughters. She offers group and individual mental health coaching to mothers everywhere.

You can find Kate at: www.katekripke.com

In this week's episode, Jo shares about the 31-day challenge she has set herself to honor the month of May which is mental health awareness month. Jo silently struggled with depression and anxiety for many years and is now passionate about helping other women learn about processes and resources to help build their own mental health toolkits.

Jo will be posting a poem every day in the month of May with a tool or resource that has helped her in some way over the past 3 years. This week, she shared about mindfulness and nature walks and yes, even hugging (well, touching at least!) trees! :)

For anyone struggling with mental health, within the US www.betterhelp.com is a great place to start. Outside of the US, we'd recommend talking with your doctor and asking for recommendations.

To anyone that struggles with mental health - you are not alone, you are loved. x

This brief minisode is packed with sweary poems - OK, two to be precise, but they're both really good! One is called Man-ogram (can you guess what Jo had done last week?!) and the other is "Bring on the Yes" which is a perfect segway into Jo's brand new course MenoShine, which is ready to go!

For this first iteration, Jo is offering this course FOR FREE! (This won't happen again, so grab your chance now!) Jo will be doing the challenge herself (a coach who truly walks the walk!) and is starting on May 1st.

You can download your copy of MenoShine here. If you have any questions, reach out to Jo at [email protected] . Also, if you think you need some extra help for the 30-day challenge, Jo is offering 1:1 brief, daily Voxer coaching for a very reasonable price. Jo is the perfect person to cheer you on with this journey and help you discover how to MenoShine. Who knows, she might even write you your very own sweary little poem! ;)

Dr. Mary Claire Haver is a wife, mom, physician, and entrepreneur who has devoted her adult life to women's health. As a Board Certified OBGYN near Houston, Dr. Haver delivered thousands of babies, completed thousands of well-woman exams, counseled patients, taught residents, and did everything an academic professor and OBGYN could do.

As her patient population aged, Dr. Haver was overwhelmed with the number of complaints and concerns her patients had with weight gain while going through menopause. For years, she told her patients to eat less and exercise more. It wasn't until she, too, experienced the changes of menopause and mid-life weight gain that she realized this advice didn't work and ultimately led to her creating and developing her online program, The Galveston Diet, which currently has over 100,000 students.

The Galveston Diet helps women reach their health and wellness goals through an anti-inflammatory approach to nutrition. Dr. Haver believes in the power of nutrition and anti-inflammatory foods to combat midlife inflammation and highly recommends the unique benefits of intermittent fasting.

As part of her ongoing research, she became certified in Culinary Medicine in 2019, specializing in medical nutrition. In 2021, Dr. Haver opened Mary Claire Wellness; the clinic was born out of repeated requests from the Galveston Diet students and Dr. Haver's social media followers for personal guidance and a potential patient relationship. Mary Claire Wellness is a unique practice that integrates a patient's medical history, symptomatology, the Galveston Diet nutrition program, exercise, supplements, and possibly hormone replacement therapy.

Dr. Haver is a leading voice on social media in the realm of menopause education. She has over 2 million followers on TikTok, and is very engaged on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Dr. Haver lives with her husband and two daughters in Galveston, Texas.

This episode is FULL of fantastic information and resources from Dr. Mary Claire - we'd love to hear your biggest takeaway! You can share it with us by leaving a review for this episode (take a screen shot and send to Jo - [email protected]) or share it on social media and tag Jo (@livinginjotopia) and Dr. Mary Claire Haver (@drmaryclaire). Jo will pull one lucky winner on Friday, April 21st and will send them a copy of The Galveston Diet!

In this week's solo-episode, Jo shares where she's at in her MenoShine journey with complete and utter honesty. It's not all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows, but it's about taking small steps every day to move in the right direction.

She also shares not one, but two, sweary little poems to bring a smile and announces the FREE ecards that are available on her website - check them out at www.MenoShine.com

Be a sunshine spreader - share a sweary little poem with your friends today!

If you want access to the MenoShine course that Jo's building, click here and you can get weeks 1-4. Week 5 will be released on April 16th.