The Barbara Thompson Podcast

Toni is the owner of LuxERI Tan Salon - The new private, automated 24/7 spray tanning booths, the very first in NSW located in the heart of Wollongong CBD.

A great episode to listen to Toni, as she opens up and shares her life story with us from her childhood to where she is today and how as a child it looked like she was living the 'perfect' life, but behind closed doors there was alot more going on.

**TW - Domestic Violence is mentioned early on in this episode**

This episode is all about perseverance, to keep fighting and how to keep going when things get tough. We chat about:

- how to work on accepting your story, accepting you as a person
- domestic violence
- know your worth
- how you stand up and move forward
- what were the drivers that helped her move forward in her life to build the life she wanted
- not feeling happy in her marriage and career and what she did about it 
- the feeling of wanting more in life
- tough days will pass

If you would like to contact Toni please reach out to her:

-Instagram: @luxeri_tan
- Website: https://www.luxeritan.com.au
- Email: [email protected]
- Address: Signature Building Retail 4, 10-18 Regent Street
Wollongong 2500

**If you need help please reach out to the following services**

1800RESPECT - 1800 737 732 (24 hours)
Lifeline 13 11 14 (24/7 support)

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In this episode I talk about men with Mike Campbell - A Man Coach.

What is it like to be a modern man and how we can help that someone special in our life if they are going through a difficult time.

I think it is important that we arm ourselves with the knowledge of what men are going through and how we can help them and understand them that little bit more so we can celebrate men, support men and appreciate them.

We talk about:

- What does it mean to be a man today

- What troubles do modern men face -feeling unwanted, not important, respected or in control

- What do men really want = respect & appreciation

- Toxic relationships

- Are men really intimidated by a strong woman 

- As we see roles changing  with many stay at home dads, how does this shift change for how men feel about themselves

- Men can say 'i'll be alright, i am ok.....but they can be deeply unhappy or depressed. How can we support the men in our life

- If he takes pride in his appearance, he's not always a dick right?

If you enjoyed this episode and would like to know more about Mike and what he does, head over to his website: https://mikecampbell.com.au

Mike has a podcast: Everyday Legends

Read his Book: Unleash your Alpha

You can reach out to Mike via:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @mikecampbellmc

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Today my guest is Dr Eleni Mahanidis B.ChiroSc,M.Chiro,DipNDChiroPaeds - 
the Principal Chiropractor/Director and the Owner of Mahanidis Chiropractic in Wollongong.

Mahanidis Chiropractic has been servicing the Illawarra for over 40 years. They are dedicated to helping you achieve your wellness objectives -- combining skill and expertise that spans the entire chiropractic wellness spectrum. Unlike conventional medicine, which focuses on attempting to treat disease once it occurs, Mahanidis Chiropractic emphasises improving your health in an effort to reduce the risk of pain and illness in the first place. As I am sure you have heard me mention this a number of times on my podcast and in my wellness studio Self Care Studio, I am all about treating the root cause just not the symptoms.

If you would like to reach out to Dr Eleni you can contact her:
Instagram: @mahanidischiro_wollongong
Phone: 02 42265632
Website www.mahanidischiro.com 

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Today my guest is Kasey. Kasey is the owner of Laser Cosmetica in Wollongong with 18 years experience as a facialist and laser therapist.

Kasey has been offering her clientele world-class laser treatments since the technology first came to Sydney’s luxury spas more than fifteen years ago. As a skin health expert  she has enjoyed an international career at renowned dermatology clinics and has worked alongside sought-after cosmetic surgeons, both in Australia and abroad.

Kasey embraces a holistic approach to skin therapies. The strong link between gut health and a glowing complexion, as well as the vital role the lymphatic system plays in the skin’s overall wellbeing, are key aspects of her signature treatments. So, in order to achieve optimal, long lasting outcomes, Kasey works closely with leading professionals in naturopathy to ensure that her bespoke skincare solutions are powerfully supported from within.I have invited the beautiful Kasey onto my podcast today as we chat about skin health. There is so much out there, it can be overwhelming, expensive, so much misinformation and alot of people can over promise and underdeliver and I know many ladies who have been let down or who have had unpleasant experiences. I love Kaseys approach and the fact she is always on the lookout for new treatments and has incredible before and afters and is all about self care and making sure you feel comfortable, seen and heard in her clinic. Kasey has also featured in Who Magazine and Aesthetic Medical Practitioner Magazine.

We talk about:

- Where her love of skin care comes from
- How Kasey got to where she is today - following her gut with what she wanted to do through hard work, grit and determination
- Thoughts on Dermaplaning
- Realistic skin goals
- Results driven treatments
- A whole picture to obtain incredible skin results
- Perfection 
- Social Media Trends
- Hair removal + medical grade laser hair removal
- During lockdown what many of us may have purchased
- Pigmentation
- Acne
- SPF
- Lumecca
- Morpheus8

Check out her clinics before and after photos on Instagram @lasercosmetica

If you would like to contact Kasey you can contact her @lasercosmetica or email her at [email protected]

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In this episode I chat with Lana about Spiritual Self Care. Lana is a psychic medium, spiritual mentor and she also works with astrology, numerology, purpose, past lives and soulmates. She can also help with channeled art and intention items. Lana is available for workshops and Mentorships.

We chat about:

Spiritual Self Care 

• What is spiritual self care and how does it differ from physical/mental/emotional self care
• Why it is important
• Signs you might need to engage in spiritual self care
• When might we need to up our spiritual self care game
• Ideas for spiritual self care

Energetic Self Care 

• What is energetic self care and why is it important
• What might it involve
• What drains our energy
• What restores energy
• What cleanses energy
• Some energetic self care practices

To connect  with Lana you can reach out to her on:
Instagram: @lanadevjak_psychicmedium + @mindfulhealthandwellnessau
Facebook: Mindful Health and Wellness
Website: www.mindfulhealthandwellness.com.au
Email: [email protected]

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**In this episode we talk about binge eating, body image, anxiety, alcohol and depression**

In this episode I continue my chat  with Annabel Orr from Episode 31. We talk about:

- binge eating and the cycle of this and feeling stuck
- relationship with food
- how food makes you feel
- children + body image
- feelings about our body and how we look
- Anxiety & Depression
- coping mechanisms
- grief
- asking for help
- listen to your girlfriends and change the language you use towards each other
 
You have to be ok with yourself before you 'do the work'

To connect with Annabel on Instagram :
@_annabel.orr

If this Podcast has raised any concerns for you, or you would like to reach out for help please check out these beautiful organisations below:

- Self Care Studio
My inbox is always open. Please feel free to send me an email: [email protected] or DM me on Instagram @self_care_studio

- If you live in Australia:
The Butterfly Foundation
https://butterfly.org.au
Call them on 1300 33 4673

- If you live in New Zealand:
EDANZ
https://www.ed.org.nz
Call them on 0800 2 EDANZ

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This episode was so much fun, full of so much laughter, real questions were asked and honest answers came from  Annabel Orr. This episode  is split into 2 episodes:

Part 1:Episode 31
I have a raw, honest chat with beautiful Annabel who was vulnerable enough to share with us her diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2018 when she was 20yo.

She gives us a real look into her life and shares with us the emotions of living with a chronic illness. Annabel takes us on the journey with exactly what happened when she was diagnosed with MS, how she felt dealing with all of this and then falling pregnant the following month after the diagnosis with her daughter Heidi.  5 months postpartum  she relapsed the worst to date. Her whole body at one point was numb including her eyeball and tongue, then she lost the heat and cold sensation on her left torso.

We talk about her worries for her future when she was diagnosed and could she even get pregnant again (and yes she got pregnant again with a beautiful baby boy, Miles) .
 We also talk about her relapses, her medications and how life feels and looks like living a life as a wife and a mother of two beautiful children.  Also dealing with being admitted to hospital in the middle of the pandemic and she could not even go to the toilet. 

Annabel has learnt so much about herself during this and is now proud to say she is not a people pleaser and allows herself to do one thing at a time.

Part 2: Episode 32
In this episode we chat about body Image, body acceptance and  how through self reflection how Annabel today loves her body. She also shares with us her experience with anxiety and depression.

I would LOVE to thank Annabel for being vulnerable and for sharing her story with us. It is such a privilege and a honour you chose me to help you share your story with the world.
Your are such a beautiful, gorgeous human inside and out.
Much Love,
Barb x

To connect with Annabel you can contact her on Instagram: 
@masteringmultiplesclerosis
@_annabel.orr 

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Join me in this episode as I talk about toxic relationships. What do they look like and how do you know if you are in one. I want to give you the tools to help you make better choices and good choices to surround yourself with the right people. Toxic relationships can come in many forms not just your family or partner.  Part of self care is building healthy connections and relationships with people.

When you start questioning things, find yourself playing detective,  start saying things to yourself like 'am I going crazy', or 'am I being silly', you feel unhappy, lonely and isolated.
Do you use your voice and your opinion or do you go with the flow to make the other person happy. Do you ignore the butterflies in your tummy?

I believe this episode is one YOU NEED to listen to.

I want to help you to trust your intuition. This is your biggest super power when dealing with toxic people. Join me as I dig deeper into this in my Toxic Relationships Masterclass that will be coming soon. To find out more please head over to my Instagram page @self_care_studio.

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In this episode I chat  about the basics of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) commonly known as Tapping with Toni Mills -  a Clinical EFT Practitioner. This is a universal healing tool for stress management, anxiety relief & personal transformation.   A great modality to use  and add to your self care tool kit.

EFT is a ground breaking technique combining psychotherapy and acupressure, bringing together elements of exposure, cognitive therapy and somatic stimulation.  EFT’s developers see it as being similar to acupuncture but without the needles, and it has been referred to as ‘psychological acupuncture’. As with acupuncture, EFT stimulates various pressure points on the face and body to relieve stress, which then alleviates many psychological based concerns.

EFT is a powerful self-applied, stress reduction method based on extensive research that shows emotional distress contributes greatly to illness. EFT can address a range of issues by simply focusing on the issue you would like to address with an acceptance statement, along with a simple two finger tapping technique.

We also talk about:
- Calming your nervous system
- Everything you have is at your finger tips
- Epigenetic's
- Toni shares her experience how tapping helped her when she got a tattoo
- Surrogate Tapping

EFT also seems to have the same calming effect on cortisol – the stress hormone. High cortisol levels can be caused by a variety of things, including biological stressors, and mood disorders such as depression and anxiety and psychological stress.

Scientific research  https://eftuniverse.com/research-studies/

If you would like to contact Toni:
Website   https://emotionalfreedomcollective.com.au
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/eft.emotionalfreedomcollective
Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/eft.emotionalfreedomcollective/
Tik Tok: tapyourride

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I chat with Holly Sara the Agency Director for NZ's first curve agency - Belle Models. 
Models on her books in her agency range from size 6 to size 26.

Belle Models started in 2017. A new generation of modelling, New Zealand's first curve agency. Belle Models represents body confidence, strong size models and influencers.

Belle Models pride themselves on being authentic, diverse  and real. Thank you Holly for all you do for women. For women of ALL ages. The work you do is so important. I believe it is crucial especially with social media the way it is today. 

We talk about:

- What does life look like as an agency director in a curve modelling agency
- Plus size and curve models
- Industry standards
- What does body confidence mean 
- What jobs are being booked right now
- Self love & body positivity
- I LOVE the fact Holly has such a supportive agency - It is super important so we can see different body types, especially when we are growing up. 

Holly Sara can be contacted via her website https://www.bellemodels.co.nz and on Instagram bellemodels_nz.

A special mention to Darcy the pug!

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