In this episode of ROCK BOTTOM, host Mayssa Chehata sits down with psychologist, bestselling author, international speaker, and “Midlife Muse” Dr. Amanda Hanson to talk about intuition, motherhood, women’s power, and the rock bottom that changed how she trusted herself forever.
Amanda shares how growing up as an intensely curious child through her parents’ difficult divorce taught her to suppress her emotions and take on responsibility early. Years later, becoming a mother and experiencing natural childbirth introduced her to a deeper relationship with her body, womanhood, and what she describes as feminine power.
Her rock bottom came while raising four children and caring for her nine-year-old son, who was living with severe, life-threatening food allergies. After seven ambulance rides and few answers, Amanda made a decision almost everyone around her questioned: she moved across the country with four children and four dogs to pursue an alternative treatment program.
The year that followed pushed her to physical and emotional exhaustion, but Amanda says it also transformed her son’s life and gave her an unwavering trust in her own intuition.
Amanda and Mayssa explore ancestral healing, motherhood, “building the matriarchy,” suppressed anger, Princess vs. Queen energy, nature as a spiritual practice, and why women are so often taught to look outside themselves for answers they already carry within.
If you’ve ever struggled to hear your own voice over everyone else’s opinions, this conversation is a reminder to trust what you know inside yourself.
Resources
This episode is sponsored by GEM — the real food daily bite delivering 20+ essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients in one delicious chew.
Use code ROCKBOTTOM or visit dailygem.com/ROCKBOTTOM for 15% off your order.
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Credits
ROCK BOTTOM was created by Mayssa Chehata.
Production support and audio engineering by Johnny Simon.
This episode was produced and recorded in New York City by Wondir Studios.
Chapters
00:00 “The maiden in me was dying” — Amanda on womanhood and intuition
02:10 Growing up curious and feeling like she was “too much”
03:25 Divorce, responsibility, and becoming a latchkey child
08:21 Ancestral healing and the women who came before her
09:52 Unexpected pregnancy and discovering a deeper relationship to womanhood
15:58 “I’m building the matriarchy”
18:40 Childhood illness, emotional suppression, and finding release through music
24:20 Amanda’s rock bottom: her son’s life-threatening food allergies
24:49 Seven ambulance rides by age nine
27:00 Moving across the country to pursue an alternative treatment
28:07 “It’s as if there’s a loaded gun in the room”
28:50 Her family questions her sanity
29:31 Her husband fears their marriage may not survive
30:32 The treatment outcome that changed her son’s life
31:15 Exhaustion, isolation, and reaching her breaking point
32:04 “I have never doubted my intuition again”
33:15 Building a business from intuition
37:13 Four kids, four dogs, homeschooling, and treatment
43:34 Nature as a lifeline and spiritual practice
47:00 Childbirth as a sacred rite of passage
50:47 Princess energy vs. Queen energy
51:30 The 1% rule for building self-belief
52:38 What rock bottom taught her about intuition
54:33 “I’m just going to follow the feelings”
56:59 Why anger can be powerful
59:08 Turning “fossil fuel into renewable energy”
59:59 Rapid fire: nature, American Idol, and everything you need being within you
1:02:17 Becoming the “divine mother” to your younger self
1:18:52 Amanda’s message to the next guest: don’t let the outside crowd override your truth