Sisters Cracking Up

It's time to talk about menopause, Sisters! And, yes, this means you. Whether you're 35 or 65, you're going to learn a lot about how to manage this inevitable life change with none other than the extraordinary Clarissa Kristjansson.

We found Clarissa through her amazing, top-rated podcast, Thriving Through Menopause, and we knew we'd learn a thing or two about menopause from her. She's devoted her career to helping menopausal women thrive through the changes that menopause brings.

Clarissa holds a doctorate in neuroscience and honors degrees in food and nutrition. She's a published mindfulness author, health and wellness coach, and experienced mindfulness and Qigong teacher. She practices an integrative approach to working with women to manage menopausal symptoms.

Abby and Julie open the episode with an in-depth discussion of the male equivalent of resting bitch face and why roasted marshmallows are indeed a delicacy.

Yes, Sisters. It's already THAT time of the year. For some, back-to-school simply means the kiddos are heading back to the classroom. But for others, it may mean that your kid (or kiddos) is launching. Where they're headed (college, job, military, gap year, or simply moving out of the family home), isn't as important as the fact that your kid-centric life is now coming to a seemingly abrupt end.

The empty nest can be an emotional time of reflection and significant change. We wonder if we can remain close to our kids as they start their new journeys. We may also have fears about our partnerships: Will they and can they survive without the children as the focal point of your lives?

Celia Dodd, author of The Empty Nest: How to Survive and Stay Close to Your Adult Child, can help. Borne of her own experience of the empty nest, she set out to provide parents with a guidebook for better understanding this phase of parenting, and ways to manage the roller coaster of emotions that can come with it.

If you're facing the empty nest in a couple of days, weeks, or years, you don't want to miss this episode. Hint: Successfully planning ahead for this change is possible!

Celia Dodd is a journalist and author who wrote regularly for The Times, the Independent and other national newspapers and magazines, focusing on relationships, family, life, health, and education. After 30 years as a journalist, she turned to writing books about parenting and major transitions in life, such as the empty nest and retirement.

Abby opens the episode by quizzing Julie on how well she knows the both of them as sisters. They also discuss what to do about gifts from your spouse you don't like.

Sisters, if we've lived long enough, we already know trauma (and healing from it) can be a stubborn beast. We also know that our body stores our trauma until we do the work to release it.

Enter Laura Khoudari, author of Lifting Heavy Things: Healing Trauma One Rep at a Time. She is a trauma practitioner, certified personal trainer, and corrective exercise specialist.

Khoudari found that strength training was a modality that worked in her own trauma healing journey and she generously shares her experience, insights, and wisdom for those looking to experience movement as a way back to health, healing, and self-care.

This interview is not about how to weight train. It is about using exercise and movement as a way to release ourselves from shame, negative self-talk, and self-doubt. It is about moving your body to heal -- and finding your way back to you.

Hey, Sisters. Got trauma? You, too? We've all had some. Question is, have you dealt with yours effectively? Or, have you tried different approaches and modalities to heal from trauma which either don't help or even make matters worse?

So many of us tell ourselves that our trauma doesn't "count" because there's always someone with a more tragic tale. This attitude does so much to increase our stress and impede our healing. It can prevent us from getting the help we need.

Dr. Elizabeth Stanley gets all of this and so much more. Her book, "Widen the Window: Training Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress and Recover from Trauma," was borne of attempting to heal from her own striking stress and trauma. She made it her professional mission to help others "widen the window" within which our thinking brain and survival brain work together cooperatively, enabling us to activate our resilience and best selves.

If you're interested in trauma, stress, and tips for recovery, you don't want to miss this episode.

Abby and Julie open the episode discussing Abby's unique tailoring idea for her new jumpsuit.

Elizabeth A. Stanley, Ph.D. is a professor of security studies with joint appointments in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of Government. Earlier in her career, she served as a U.S. Army intelligence officer in South Korea, Germany, and on peacekeeping deployments to the Balkans, leaving service as a captain. She is the creator of Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT), tested through four neuroscience research studies with the U.S. military.

Are you a people-pleaser? Are you your own worst critic? Do you sometimes feel like an imposter? Are you a perfectionist? You're not alone. So many women engage in these self-destructive (and unconscious) habits and Andrea Owen is on the show today to talk about how to kick them to the curb and live your happiest life.

As Andrea says, "The cycle never stops when you don't know any other way."

In this episode, we interview Andrea about her book, "How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t: 14 Habits That Are Holding You Back From Happiness," which has been translated into 19 languages.

Andrea Owen is an author, global keynote speaker, and professional certified life coach who helps high-achieving women maximize unshakeable confidence, and master resilience. She has taught hundreds of thousands of women tools and strategies to be able to empower themselves to live their most kick-ass lives through keynote speaking, her books, coaching, and her wildly popular podcast, Make Some Noise with Andrea Owen.

Abby and Julie open the show talking about Abby's plastic surgery consult.

We're all so much better-educated these days about narcissism and narcissists -- especially when we suspect we have partner who displays narcissistic tendencies and behaviors.

But what if your experience with narcissism began long before you can even remember? And what if the narcissist in your life was/is YOUR MOTHER?!

Dr. Stephanie Kriesberg joins Sisters Cracking Up in this episode to discuss her book, Adult Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers: Quiet the Critical Voice in Your Head, Heal Self-Doubt, and Live the Life You Deserve.

Was/Is everything always about your mom no matter what? If your mom was/is a narcissist, you may have grown up feeling controlled or manipulated by her. She may also have made you feel damaged, rejected, and ashamed, leaving you with lasting anxieties and insecurities. If this sounds at all familiar, you do not want to miss this episode.

Dr. Stephanie Kriesberg is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Concord, MA. She helps adult children of narcissistic parents lead healthier, happier lives.

Abby and Julie kickoff the episode discussing comedian Matt Rife's Boston concert. They also pose another fascinating dinner party conversation starter, courtesy of TikTok's @alliegoneaway.

It's happened to the best of us, Sisters -- and certainly by midlife. Both of us have experienced this unceremonious and cruel "dumping" by people we thought were close, dear friends.

If you have experienced this, you know how confusing and painful it can be. Many women describe the experience as being as painful and heartbreaking as a romantic breakup -- and sometimes worse!

Luckily, we have Liz Pryor on the show to talk about why this happens and what you can do about it when it does. She wrote the amazing book, "What Did I Do Wrong? What to Do When You Don't Know Why the Friendship is Over" -- and we felt so much better after hearing her take. She's talked with thousands of women about this phenomenon -- and, given how common it is, we should all be talking about it more.

Author, speaker, relationship and life advice expert, Liz Pryor, tells inspiring life stories on and off the page. Her first book of advice about female friendship, What Did I Do Wrong? (Simon&Schuster), was a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award.

Pryor was among 15,000 applicants vying for a position as life advice expert on ABC's Good Morning America. After a six-month search, on-air competition and public voting process, Pryor was chosen. She spent the next two years on air dispensing advice on all aspects of every day living.

Pryor later released her provocative, moving memoir, "Look at You Now" (Random House), which promptly became a Chicago Tribune bestseller. The paperback version released in the US and the UK. Look at You Now was most recently optioned for a television series by SONY Television.

Abby and Julie open the episode discussing Abby's big birthday and her newly-embraced theory that sometimes our decisions can only be understood backwards.

Hey, Sisters. Yes, you already know and love New York Times bestselling author, Laurie Notaro. She's the funny, irreverent, modern-day Erma Bombeck. And she's on Sisters Cracking Up with more hilarity than ever.

Notaro's book, Excuse Me While I Disappear: Tales of Midlife Mayhem, is loaded with important food for thought like, "Why is my ass where my belly used to be?" and "What's the deal with my eyebrows?"

She also dives into her decision to "go gray" and advises us all to proudly follow suit.

Laurie Notaro is the New York Times best-selling author of the humor memoirs, The Idiot Girls Action Adventure Club, Autobiography of a Fat Bride, I Love Everybody, and Housebroken, along with numerous others; two humor novels; and Crossing the Horizon, a novel of historical fiction that tells the true story of once famous and now forgotten aviatrices prior to Amelia Earhart. She resides in Eugene, Oregon, has a cute dog, a nice husband and misses Mexican food like it was her youth.

Abby and Julie kick off the episode with musings about their own "gray" journeys and also reflect on an interesting dinner party question.

Hey, Sisters. Interested in a new way to think yourself to a more peaceful and joyful life? We were, too. So, when Julie found the book, Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking is the Beginning and End of Suffering, we knew we had to get Joseph Nguyen on the pod.

Joseph Nguyen's groundbreaking book outlines a radical way to approach the countless thoughts we have every day. We can't control our thoughts, but we CAN change the way we think about them. Why would you want to do that? According to Nguyen, it's because your "thinking" is the root cause of all your emotional suffering.

Joseph Nguyen is the author of the #1 international bestselling book, Don't Believe Everything You Think, which has been translated into 17+ languages.

He is a writer who helps others realize who they truly are beyond their own thinking and conditioning to live an abundant life free from psychological and emotional suffering.

When he's not busy petting his 3 cats that he's allergic to, he spends the rest of his time writing, teaching, speaking, and sharing timeless wisdom to help people discover their own divinity from within and how they are the answer they've been looking for their entire lives.

You may visit his website at www.josephnguyen.org for more books, resources, and videos to help you on your journey.

Abby and Julie open the pod by laughing the hardest ever. And that says a lot.

Whether we judge ourselves for their choices -- or we fear being judged by others -- we often remain selective about what we share when our grown kids make choices we don't like.

And why do we do this? According to Dr. Jane Adams, author of, When Our Grown Kids Disappoint Us: Letting Go of Their Problems, Loving Them Anyway, and Getting on with Our Lives, the reason is GUILT. Plain and simple. We blame ourselves.

But, according to Dr. Jane Adams, we need to learn to let go of the guilt and get back to loving our kids for who they are -- no matter if we agree with their life choices or not. Her book -- and this episode -- is a must if you're struggling with your kids' choices and blaming yourself.

Abby and Julie kick off the episode discussing Julie's belief that podcast guests prefer Abby -- which Abby strongly disputes.