More Than Wellness Podcast

You may or may not have heard of Kieser. Kieser are specialist physiotherapy clinics which are equipped with highly specialised equipment that are designed to aid recovery and rehabilitation from illness and injury and the restoration of optimum wellness.

A Kieser gym is very different to any other kind of gym. There's no thumping music and you're unlikely to see anyone posing in the mirror. The gym/clinic is staffed by physiotherapists, exercise physiologists and exercise scientists. In fact, pretty much every employee in kieser gym is at least degree certified. 

Angela, our guest in this podcast is a kieser physio with a passion for strength training and emphasises it's increasing importance as we age. Angela is based at Kieser in Essendon and there are Kieser gym's throughout Melbourne, Sydney and around the world

https://www.kieser.com.au/

Dr John McDonald is one of the great elder statesmen of acupuncture in Australia, and indeed worldwide, and has been practicing acupuncture and Chinese Medicine since 1971. He has been a Dean, Department Head, Senior Lecturer and course co-ordinator for a number of universities in Australia. He has worked with the WHO, has authored and co-authored numerous scientific articles, peer reviewed journal papers and recently co-authored a comparative literature review, The Acupuncture Evidence Project, sponsored and published by the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association of Australia Ltd (AACMA) with Stephen Jantz.

He has also completed a research PHD on research into the immunological mechanisms underpinning the effects of acupuncture in allergic rhinitis.

John is at the forefront of the movement to understand the science of acupuncture and its relevance in modern medicine.

https://southportacupuncture.com.au/about/

https://www.acunow.org/john-mcdonald.html

https://www.healthyseminars.com/bio/john-mcdonald

Dr Olivia Ong's story is inspiring. A brilliant doctor, facing burnout, Olivia had to overcome her own health crisis when she suffered a severe spinal cord injury in 2008.

Dr Olivia worked hard for 2 years to recover from her spinal cord injury and threw herself back into work again, however, this time she suffered burnout and thought there must be another way. Which is when she established her coaching practice as "The Heart Centred Doctor".

Dr Olivia coaches other GP's and doctors in how to care for themselves while caring for others and avoid burnout drawing on her own experience. 

Dr Olivia is available for coaching and speaking engagements and can be found at:

https://drolivialeeong.com/

Gaby Villa is a nutritionist and triathlete based in Perth, Western Australia but hailing from Mexico. As you'd expect of someone from Mexico, food is a passion of Gaby's and it's obvious through the interview that while Gaby discusses the value of a health balanced diet, she's all about the importance of enjoying the food we eat and gaining pleasure from our meals.

Gaby is an accomplished triathlete in her own right and knows the optimum nutrition requirements for, not just athletes, but everyday people like you and me. Although based in WA, Gaby is also available for online consults and can be reached via

Facebook

and her website

intenseeatfit

Lana is a Psychologist based in Brisbane who has recently written a book called the Slow Life Project based on the most effective strategies from her psychology practice. The Slow Life Project is about finding your authentic self, your highest values and living according to them. 

Lana's book is available from Amazon, Booktopia and all good online retailers and can also be purchased via her website:

The Slow Life Project

The Slow life project is also available as a program and course via the website

Welcome back to Rose Migliorisi who has been a guest on the show before discussing Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology. Rose is the Vice President of the Australian Chapter of the International Feng Shui Association and has great knowledge and passion for both Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology. Rose shares her insights into both and Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology and dispels some of the myths we may have around them.

Rose can be contacted via her website

Feng Shui Living Now and her Facebook Page

Deirdre Brandner is a wonderful psychologist based in Melbourne. Deirdre has a special interest in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and many of her clients are children and teens on the spectrum. In this episode Deirdre gives practical and insightful advice, based on her extensive experience and training, for parents with an emphasis on parenting kids with ASD during the unique challenges presented by the Covid pandemic. Deirdre's advice is valuable, however, for all parents and not just those of kids on the spectrum. 

Deirdre's practice is essentially closed to new clients but she is available as a guest speaker in both hospital and education settings and she has made numerous appearances on ABC News Breakfast.

She can be contacted at deirdrebrandner.com.au

In my constant quest for more information I felt a gap in my understanding of the science of mindfulness, what does it really do and how does it effect the brain. Searching online I found this awesome book called the neuroscience of mindfulness. Bingo! This was it, exactly what I was looking for.

It turns out that the author, Dr Stan Rodski, is a fellow Melburnian. After buying the audio and hard copy versions i decided to get in touch with Dr Rodski to see if he would be willing to be a guest on the podcast and I was delighted that he agreed.

Dr Rodski is a cognitive neuroscientist and in addition to writing the neuroscience of mindfulness he only invented mindful colouring books (Colourtation) and more recently Soundscience plus. 

Both Colourtation colouring books and soundscience can be found on the website colourtation.com and Dr Rodski recommends combining both for an amazinginly immersive creative meditative experience.