The Joy Movement | Science of Joyful Living and Modern Wellness

On the Mama Mudra podcast, our primary motivation is life led by joy. And in following this goal, we have found some fascinating people who prove that, often times, the answer to better health isn't found in adding more supplements, more technology, or more complicated routines, but in taking things away.

This week, Kate sits down with internationally recognised raw food advocate Axay Shah, whose wellness philosophy stands in stark contrast to the modern biohacking movement. After more than 16 years living primarily on a raw food diet, Axay believes that true vitality comes from simplifying our lives, reconnecting with nature, and allowing the body to function the way it was designed.

At 67 years old, he's completed multiple marathons, says he feels decades younger than his age, and has built his life's work around one simple question:

What if our bodies already know exactly how to heal themselves?

This isn't an episode about convincing you to become a raw foodist.

It's about exploring another perspective in the pursuit of health, happiness and longevity.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why modern wellness may be making health unnecessarily complicated

• The connection between food, energy and emotional wellbeing

• What 16 years of eating raw food has taught Axay about vitality

• Why he believes simplification is the greatest health intervention

• The difference between treating symptoms and supporting the body's natural intelligence

• Whether raw food is appropriate for everyone

• The mindset required to make sustainable lifestyle changes

• The hidden cost of processed foods

• Why consistency matters more than perfection

• How to begin making healthier choices without completely changing your life overnight

One of the things I enjoyed most about this conversation was that it challenged my own thinking. I'm someone who loves science, innovation and longevity technology, yet Axay reminded me that wellness doesn't always have to become more complex.

Sometimes the greatest shift comes from stripping everything back.

Whether or not you agree with every aspect of his philosophy, there's something incredibly valuable about questioning our assumptions and remembering that nature may still have more answers than we realise.

Find Axay Shah's book on living a raw food lifestyle here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GTC25W3Q?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback. It explores his raw food philosophy in greater depth.

If you enjoyed this episode please subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone curious about living with more energy, vitality and joy.

Because we're not chasing wellness anymore. We're redefining it through joy.

Most of us have been taught that burnout happens because we simply do too much. But what if that's only part of the story?

In this episode, Kate sits down with burnout specialist Alana Moyes to explore a far more nuanced understanding of burnout, one that shifts the conversation away from productivity and towards self-awareness.

Together, they unpack why some people can carry enormous workloads without burning out while others reach breaking point much sooner, and why the answer may lie less in what you're doing and more in how your nervous system is wired.

This is a conversation about understanding yourself, recognising your own patterns, and building a life that works with who you are rather than against it.

In this episode we discuss:

- Why burnout isn't simply the result of working too hard.

- The personality traits most commonly associated with burnout.

- How genetics, upbringing and life experiences influence our capacity for stress.

- Why nervous system sensitivity changes the way we experience work and life.

- Alana's own experience of severe burnout and what it taught her.

- The difference between pushing through and sustainably performing.

- Why self-awareness is one of the most important performance tools we have.

- The hidden cost of attaching our identity to achievement.

- Practical signs your body may be asking you to slow down before burnout takes hold.

- Why learning to accommodate yourself is far more powerful than trying to become someone else.

Takeaways:

- Burnout is rarely caused by workload alone. It often develops when the demands we place on ourselves are constantly misaligned with the way we naturally function.

- Your nervous system is not a weakness to overcome. It's information to work with.

- Success becomes far more sustainable when it is built around who you genuinely are rather than who you believe you should be.

- Feeling numb, constantly reactive, exhausted or permanently overwhelmed are signals worth paying attention to, not badges of honour.

- The goal isn't simply to recover from burnout. It's to understand yourself well enough that you don't continually recreate it.

Quote:

"The goal isn't to stop achieving. The goal is to understand yourself well enough to achieve in a way your body can actually sustain."

Follow Mama Mudra for weekly conversations exploring health, happiness and human performance.

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If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who might need to hear that burnout isn't a personal failure. Sometimes, it's simply an invitation to understand yourself better.

We've all met someone who seems to light up every room they walk into.

The person who is warm, optimistic, energetic and genuinely happy to be alive.

But are people like that simply born that way, or is joy actually something we can practice?

In this episode, I sit down with Jeannie D (Bekker, née de Gouveia), someone I've known for years and whose energy has always fascinated me. No matter where I've encountered her, she consistently shows up with warmth, enthusiasm and an incredible ability to make people feel seen. So I wanted to understand why.

Together, we unpack the idea that happiness isn't something that happens to us - it's something we actively create.

We explore resilience, positivity, energy management, difficult seasons, personal responsibility and why joy might be far more of a daily practice than most people realise.

This conversation is filled with simple but powerful reminders that happiness isn't found in perfect circumstances.

It's found in the choices we make every day.

If you've been feeling overwhelmed, exhausted or disconnected lately, this episode offers a refreshing reminder that joy doesn't have to be complicated.

Sometimes it's simply a choice to keep looking for the good.

What if the secret to consistency isn't discipline at all, but absolute passion?

In this episode, Kate Thompson-Duwe sits down with someone who has spent almost eight decades living the principles that the wellness industry is only now beginning to talk about: movement, purpose, longevity, mastery and consistency.

Chris Thompson has dedicated his life to karate. As a Shihan 9th Dan and World Joint Chief Instructor, he continues to travel internationally teaching and inspiring students around the world as he approaches his 80th birthday.

This conversation is about what happens when you find something you love so deeply that consistency no longer feels like hard work.

We explore the relationship between passion and discipline, why purpose creates longevity, the dangers of chasing shortcuts, and what it takes to remain physically, mentally and emotionally engaged with life for an entire lifetime.

If you've ever struggled to stay consistent with your health, your habits or your goals, this episode may completely change the way you think about motivation.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why passion is often more powerful than discipline

• The mindset that has kept Chris active and engaged for nearly 80 years

• The connection between purpose and longevity

• Why mastery is a lifelong pursuit

• How movement shapes both physical and mental well-being

• Lessons from decades of teaching and mentoring others

This episode is a reminder that the healthiest people aren't always the most disciplined. They're often the people who have found something they love enough to keep showing up for.

What if the way you're feeling right now isn't actually your best?

Many of us are walking around slightly tired, slightly anxious, not sleeping as well as we could, and simply accepting it as normal. But what if one of the most socially accepted parts of modern life is playing a bigger role than we realise?

Kate sits down with integrative medicine expert Dr Simone Silver to explore the often-overlooked impact of alcohol on our health, energy, mood, sleep, stress resilience and overall sense of wellbeing.

This is not an anti-alcohol conversation. Instead, it's an invitation to become curious about your own baseline of wellness and ask an important question:

"Am I feeling as good as I could be?"

Together, Kate and Dr Silver unpack how alcohol affects the body and brain, why even moderate drinking can influence sleep, anxiety and mood, and how many people don't realise how different they could feel until they take a break from drinking.

The conversation also explores one of the core beliefs behind Mama Mudra:

Wellness should create more joy in your life, not more rules.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why so many people are operating below their optimal level of health without realising it

• The subtle signs that your baseline wellness may be compromised

• How alcohol impacts sleep quality, recovery and energy

• The surprising connection between alcohol, anxiety and mood

• The role of self-awareness in creating lasting health changes

• How alcohol affects stress resilience and emotional regulation

• Why there may be no truly "safe" level of alcohol consumption

• The difference between lifespan and healthspan

The goal isn't perfection or restriction. It's awareness.

When we become curious about the things influencing our health, we gain the ability to make choices from a place of knowledge rather than habit. Sometimes the biggest shifts come not from adding another wellness practice, but from removing something long enough to discover how good we can actually feel.

Follow, subscribe and share the podcast with someone who might benefit from this conversation.

Wellness is something we experience every day. And in this community, joy is the new performance metric.

Red light therapy. Ice baths. Supplements. Peptides. Fasting. Wearables. Sleep trackers. Blood tests. At what point does trying to be healthy start becoming unhealthy?

Kate welcomes longevity expert Andrew Rothschild back to the Mama Mudra Podcast to tackle a question nobody seems to be asking: Has the pursuit of wellness become too much?

Together they cut through the noise of the modern longevity industry and explore what truly moves the needle when it comes to living longer, feeling better, and enjoying your life while doing it.

If your health routine is creating more stress than joy, something has gone wrong.

In this episode:

• Why the wellness industry is creating confusion

• The biggest mistakes people make with longevity

• What actually matters most for long-term health

• Why consistency beats optimisation

• How to avoid becoming obsessed with health

• Building a longevity strategy that fits real life

This episode is a much-needed reminder that longevity is about doing the right things consistently, not everything all at once.

If you've ever felt like you're drowning in wellness information, this episode will help you separate what matters from what doesn't.

Listen now and discover why joy, simplicity, and sustainability might be the most powerful longevity tools of all.

Kate sits down with somatic trauma release practitioner Siobhan Clarke to explore one of the most overlooked topics in wellness today: stored trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and the hidden ways our bodies hold onto the experiences we've never fully processed.

Have you ever wondered why you know exactly what you should be doing for your health, relationships, business, or happiness... but somehow you still can't do it consistently?

What if the problem is that your nervous system is carrying far more than you realise?

Siobhan unpacks why so many high-achieving, self-aware people continue to feel stuck, overwhelmed, anxious, exhausted, or disconnected despite doing "all the right things."

This episode may completely change the way you think about healing.

In this episode:

• How trauma gets stored in the body

• The difference between talking about trauma and releasing it

• Why so many people feel permanently "on edge"

• The signs of nervous system dysregulation you might be missing

• How stored stress impacts your relationships, health and happiness

• What somatic trauma release actually is

• Why feeling safe is the foundation of true wellness

• How healing creates more capacity for joy

If you've ever felt exhausted despite doing everything "right," this episode will help you understand why.

Listen now and discover why healing may be less about fixing yourself and more about finally feeling safe enough to be yourself.

This one is different (and kinda scary!). Because for once, I’m not the one asking the questions.

Suraya steps in - as my friend, not just a host - and pulls me into a conversation I probably wouldn’t have had on my own.

And if I'm honest - some of these questions caught me off guard.

We talk about things I don’t usually say out loud:

- The “healthy habits” I actually think are overrated.

- The pressure of being seen as “the healthy one”.

- Moments where I’ve felt like I’m failing at everything.

- What I’ve had to unlearn about wellness, fitness and my body.

- And what this whole Mama Mudra journey really looks like behind the scenes.

This episode is less polished, less curated, and a lot more real.

Because if I’m asking you to rethink wellness… I have to be willing to do the same, publicly.

This episode also provides context for everything else I’m building.

If this episode made you feel something - message me. I read every single one, and I would love the feedback.

And if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, unsure about following or subscribing - I hope that this is your sign. Come a bit closer. This is what we’re building.

We spend so much time focusing inward. On our routines, our habits, our discipline, our structure... But what if that’s only half the equation?

In this episode, we explore something I don’t think gets nearly enough attention in wellness: Expansion.

* That feeling you get when you try something new.

* Go somewhere different.

* Meet someone unexpected.

* Step slightly outside of who you’ve been.

That’s not just “nice to have”. It’s essential.

Zahirah brings a completely different lens to this conversation - one that moves beyond routine and into experience.

We talk about:

- Why doing the same things over and over can actually limit your growth

- The role of novelty in happiness and brain function.

- Travel, creativity and curiosity as tools for wellbeing.

- How to expand your life without blowing it up completely.

- And why joy often lives just outside your comfort zone.

This episode will challenge the idea that more discipline is always the answer. Sometimes, the answer is… more life.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, flat, or uninspired - don’t skip this one.

And when you’re done, send it to someone you want to experience more life with.

Subscribe, follow, and stay connected - because this conversation is only getting bigger.

We all know someone like this. No matter what’s going on… No matter the pressure, the chaos, the workload… They just hold themselves differently.

They show up well, stay grounded. And, most of all, they choose joy - consistently.

Vincent Manzini is one of those people.

So, in this episode with this legend that I love and respect so much, I wanted to understand something deeper: Is that natural… or is it something that he actively works on? What came out of this conversation is a perspective shift I didn’t expect.

Because joy, it turns out, isn’t passive. It’s not something you wait for.

It’s something you actively practice.

In this episode, Vincent and I get into:

- What it actually takes to stay consistent in your mindset.

- Why discipline and happiness are not opposites. (they’re partners)

- How environment, people and energy shape your baseline state.

- The power of presence in a world that constantly pulls you out of it.

- And why the simplest habits are often the ones that change everything.

This is one of those episodes that makes you reflect on how you’re choosing to show up every day.

Because that’s what it is. A choice.

If you know someone who always seems to “have it together,” send them this and ask them if this resonates, and if you’re trying to build more consistency in your own life, start here.

Follow, subscribe, and stay close to this conversation - because this is the work.