Single Minded

During the pandemic, Elina Osborne set off on an adventure! She hiked the entire length of New Zealand solo - that's 3000km. She had already hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, the PCT, which is the trail featured in the book and movie Wild.

I have always wanted to do a long-distance hike but fear gets in the way. So I wanted to chat with Elina about how she overcomes her fears when heading off on a solo adventure.

We, of course, also chat about trail romances, and I learn some new dating terms like "Trail Goggles".

Elina's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elinasborne/
Elina's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/elinaosborne

I've got a big life decision to make this week so I recorded my thought process! The questions I pondered: 

• What are my values? 
• How do I define success?
• What's the worst that could happen if I don't say yes to this opportunity?
• What were my reasons for leaving the traditional 9-5 life? 

Linda also recorded her own little audio diary so listen to the very end!

Thanks to this week's sponsor Normal! Visit itsnormal.com and use promo code SINGLEMINDED20 at checkout for 20% off your entire order.

IT'S A LISTENER EPISODE! Thank you to our amazing listeners for contributing to this week's episode... We love you! Today we're discussing making friends in adulthood, especially when you're single and over 30 (but it's relevant to all life stages!) 

Some of the topics we'll cover are:

• How friendships change as we get older 
• Is it taboo for a woman to ask another woman out for a coffee?
• What happens when your life stage is not the same as your current friendship group?
• Tips on how to make friends in adulthood 

Sleep... It's so important to living a healthy life, yet we never question the relationship status quo of sleeping in the same bed. Well, we're here to try and normalise sleeping alone for those like me who like their own space at night. 

Dr Alix Mellor is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Sleep Program at Turner Institute for Brain & Mental Health at Monash University. In this episode, she answers the following questions:

• Let's start at the beginning: what makes a "good" night sleep? What are the necessary ingredients to achieving this?
• Can you tell me a bit about the sleep study you conducted where one person in the couple had insomnia?
• I personally don't sleep well with anyone else in the room (let alone the same bed) - is this common? 
• I think there's a misconception that sleeping in separate beds is "the beginning of the end" of a relationship - what are the reasons couples might choose to sleep apart? I can imagine this might be a good thing if they're bad sleepers / snorers/ insomniacs?
• How might someone broach the subject with a partner, whether it's long-term or casual? This really is a "it's not you, it's me" situation! 
• In an article I read in the Guardian, you said that we need to normalise sleeping in separate beds - why do you think it's important to normalise it? 

Guest: Dr Alix Mellor
Website: https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/alix-mellor

“HE HAS SUCH A NICE VOICE”.... This is a very common interaction between me and Alisha on Instagram, where we share our dating stories daily. So we thought we’d record one of our chats...

Alisha, a content creator from Sydney, joins me today to chat about our shared experiences on dating apps, and how voice memos have changed the way we screen for dates. 

The questions we answer on this episode: 

• Tell me a bit about your relationship history - you became single after a long relationship?  
• How have dating apps changed dating: the good, the bad and the ugly!
• Voice memos: why have these changed the dating game for you? 
• How do you stay resilient on dating apps?
• How do you find not drinking on dates?

Guest: Alisha Bhojwani
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lishyglows/
Website: https://linktr.ee/AlishaBhojwani 

We have a very special guest for the intro today: my mum’s bestie Tamara. We’re going to chat about solo travel over 50. 

On today’s episode, I interview Dr Guy Winch. I discovered Guy through a TED article he wrote on how rejection affects the brain. He also wrote a book 'How To Fix A Broken Heart', and talks a lot about healing from emotional pain. 

The questions we answer on this episode: 

• How has social media and dating apps changed the number of rejections we open ourselves up to? 
• The constant stream of mini rejections on dating apps can really affect my self esteem. Are there differences between big or small rejections? Do smaller micro-rejections hurt less?
• You’ve spoken before about the rejection experiment. How does the brain react to rejection? 
• What are the evolutionary reasons for how our brain reacts to rejection?
• Are there strategies for cushioning the blow of rejection? I think you call this “emotional first aid”.
• While I've got you, you have a TED talk called "How to fix a broken heart" with over 7.4m views! Firstly, could you help us understand why breakups hurt so much? 
• Could you share a few tips with us on how to recover from a break up?

Guest: Dr Guy Winch 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guywinch/
Podcast: https://www.guywinch.com/podcast/
Website: https://www.guywinch.com/

I'm doing it!!! I'm really excited to announce my partnership with Women's Health Melbourne, who are sponsoring my egg freezing journey. And as part of this collaboration, I get to share it with you guys!

On today's episode, I am interviewing Dr Raelia Lew, the fertility specialist who will be doing my egg freezing. It's really important in part 1 that I share the answers to all the questions I had prior to actually booking it in, straight from the expert's mouth. In part 2, I will be taking you through the actual egg freezing process. 

The questions we answer on this episode:

• How does our fertility change as we get older? 
• What age is ideal to do egg freezing? At what age do you not recommend it?
• Are there fertility options once it's "too late" for egg freezing? 
• Can you check your fertility before deciding to freeze your eggs? 
• What is the egg freezing process?
• How much does it cost? 
• Up until what age can I use my frozen eggs?
• Where would someone start if they're interested in egg freezing?

You can also follow my egg freezing journey on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahfurst/ 

Guest: Dr Raelia Lew
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drraelialew/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/knocked-up-the-podcast-about-fertility-and-womens-health/id1381363197
Website: https://www.womenshealthmelbourne.com.au/

LET'S START WITH SOME GOOD NEWS STORIES! Thank you everyone who has been sending these in. Keep 'em coming!

Big thanks to this week's sponsor NORMAL, the company reinventing the sex toy store. Get $20 off your NORMAL order using the code SINGLEMINDEDTWENTY. One per person. https://itsnormal.com/

On today's episode, sex coach Georgia Grace joins me to chat ALL THINGS SEX! 

The questions we answer on this episode:

• What were the findings of Normal's Big Australian Sex Survey?
• One of the findings from this survey was “Anxiety, body image & sexual skills are big concerns for young Australians”. How do these obstacles affect our sex lives? 
• What is the sexual fingerprint
• I’m actually reading Come As You Are at the moment - Normal has two quizzes about arousal style - can you explain SES and SIS to the listeners?
• Can you tell me a bit about the orgasm gap and what we can do to help close this? Can self-pleasure help women understand more about what will help them orgasm in the bedroom?

Guest: Georgia Grace
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gspot._
Website: https://www.georgiagraced.com/

How's your lockdown going, lovers? Linda has a little lockdown story to share with you all! 

This is Single Minded, the podcast flipping the script on being single. Because being single is awesome.

On today's episode, Allira Potter joins me to chat all things manifestation. 

The questions we answer on this episode:

• You do both energy healing & intuitive healing sessions with clients - what happens in these sessions? How did you find out you had these healing / intuitive powers?
• Why is spirituality so important to you? 
• What is 'manifestation' for the newbies? 
• How does someone manifest? 
• How do you manifest a partner into your life?

Guest: Allira Potter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allira.potter/

OUR LIVE SHOW AT MELBOURNE CENTRAL IS HERE! 

Linda considered calling in sick, but she made it in the end - and she did not look up at the crowd once. 

On today's episode we discuss: 

• What dating was like in Linda's day ie. pre-internet 
• Hannah's last seven days on dating apps 
• Why rejection hurts so much 
• How dating apps have changed dating 
• How we can make online dating a little more bearable 
• Why we need to normalise *actually*  showing up to dates