Our Human Condition

My longtime friend Nat is one of the kindest, bubbliest people I've had the pleasure of knowing. Her journey to motherhood is not your everyday tale so I really wanted to have her on the podcast, and she was kind enough to oblige.

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She joins us this week to talk about how she went from a PCOS diagnosis and being told she'd likely never have kids, to then falling pregnant, and then nearly losing her daughter's life within a week of bringing her home. This is a story of a loving family and why a mother's intuition is always right - even in a room full of doctors and nurses ...

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"It's not always easy to get in the modern world. We don't know our neighbours like we once did. We don't have family close by like we might have once had. And I think you have to find your way through that. You have to look for it. And take up opportunities. We've all had periods where you get invited to something and you think 'Oh I feel really awkward about going, I won't know anyone' ... but I think you just have to push through that. And then you meet a whole other group of people. Some you connect with, some you don't. But that's good too."

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THANK YOU for listening and supporting the podcast every week. We love reading your reviews - they keep us going!

"That was really the start of big changes in my life - big positive changes. And a lot of clearing away of everything that I'd carried with me up until that point. And now my life is really just flourishing ... there was just something talking to me - it was like I was talking to myself on some kind of higher level, like 'Just do this - you've gotta take this first step and the rest of the steps will appear."

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This week we sit down with the beautiful Woods family - Daniel and Steph (and their baby boy Maximus!) Daniel has been fighting Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for years now and as you'll hear, he's full of fighting spirit. We chat about everything they hold dear, and you'll see why Daniel actually sees MS as a blessing in his life.

"Don't stop trying to find the answer to why your body's not happy, because you will find it. You've just gotta keep going. Don't just settle for a doctor telling you 'Oh, you have IBS - you'll be fine', because that's not good for you emotionally, physically ... Listen to your mind and get help if you need it. If you feel too overwhelmed or you're in a really bad place, talk to someone. Because there's gonna be someone out there who can help you, and it might be in a place you never would have even imagined or knew existed."

“When you get told something like that, the first question that pops into your head is ‘Am I going to die?’ It’s just a natural first question. And the doctor’s response was ‘We have to have more tests yet’.”

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Until a year ago, Rosemary’s (Roe) life could have been that of almost any other suburban mother. A loving wife, busy mum, and avid Netball player with the Miranda Magpies Netball Club - all was normal until a fateful Christmas barbecue where she noticed severe pain while eating.

Within a week, Roe had been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, a rare cancer of the oesophagus.

Enjoy this bonus guided meditation that I recorded for you. Learn how to become aware of your breath, and how this awareness can change your reaction to any given situation.

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Every Friday, we send out an exclusive email with the coolest things we've found (or explored) that week. It could include guided meditations, books, gadgets, albums, articles, new hacks/tricks, and — of course — all sorts of weird stuff we dig up around the web. These emails are only available if you subscribe to the e-mail newsletter. Subscribe at https://ourhuco.com

"I see a range of kids, but the ones I've gravitated towards are those in mainstream schools. They don't have an intellectual disability, they just have these behaviours. So they definitely have the awareness that they're not doing things like the other kids ... a lot of the other kids are scared of them. They've seen them throw a chair through a window, they've seen them come at the teacher with scissors. They're told so many times that they're the naughty kid, they believe it. They start owning that. They're like, okay I must be naughty."

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Nick is one of my oldest friends (Luke), and an amazing Occupational Therapist specialising in children with behavioural issues. Primarily he deals with children with conditions such as Autism, ADD/ADHD, and other defiant behaviours. As you'll hear, his passion is about educating the "mainstream" parents and children about how they should be more accepting of these amazing kids. His message is one of acceptance - something we could all learn a little more of.

“I get quite stressed and I didn’t really know how to deal with that … when I turned 30, I was like ‘I need to change the way I’m doing my life … I need to give myself something back’.”

 

With the passing of her 30th birthday, Helen knew she needed a change in her life, and drastically so. She constantly felt overwhelmed by the modern lifestyle.

  

A busy job in marketing coupled with commuting over 3 hours daily were compounding the problem further. 

 

Helen had noticed negative changes in her demeanour over time, which she put down to being run down and overworked. Even the relatively mundane act of cooking dinner - something almost everyone must do daily - was leaving her feeling stressed out.

 

“I could see myself and the way I was acting - I was like ‘that’s not really any way to act’. So I guess I did come to realise that yeah, I’m stressing out and I need to do something about it.”

 

Helen says part of her anxious thoughts have been to do with her place as a woman in modern society, and the pressures she feels from that. The pressure “to do and have it all”.

 

Helen joins us on the podcast this week to discuss all this and more! Please enjoy.

Today we delve into my history as a yoga teacher. This is the how and why I came to the mat, after a long history of childhood illness (Crohn's Disease) and anxiety. Luke also speaks about how and why he was inspired to start the podcast with me.

We recorded this episode live in front of some of our recent podcast guests, whose incredible stories will be released over the coming weeks.

Rebecca is a beautiful wife to husband Glenn, and mother to her son Louis. Her fertility journey was fraught with innumerable challenges, followed by a major health scare - being diagnosed with breast cancer. All this before her 35th birthday. This is the 2nd half of her powerful story of love and resilience in the face of great hardship.