How do you turn the shit situation of vulvar cancer into a celebration of body awareness and reclamation?

You bring people together to talk, laugh, create, learn, raise awareness, raise money... and say the word vulva a whole lot more.

And you call it Viva La Vulva.

In this special episode of TURNED ON, I take you behind the scenes at the first Viva La Vulva event, created by Vulva Sisters Australia, held on Saturday 12 September during Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month and supporting Rare Cancers Australia.

This is my first foray into audio journalism. I roved and recorded the event as it unfolded, capturing the voices, conversations, performances, creativity, laughter and unexpected moments that made the day what it was.

And I wasn’t only there as your roving reporter. I was also one of the speakers.

So rather than tell you everything that happened, I’m inviting you into the room.

You’ll meet some of the people behind Viva La Vulva, hear from those who came along, experience part of a spoken-word performance from Fleassy Malay, and discover what happens when we get a whole lot more comfortable saying the word vulva.

Expect important conversations, unexpected revelations, feminist rage, vulva art, statement earrings, glitter, laughter and a whole lot of love.

The audio isn’t always polished. There were around 100 people talking, laughing, creating and moving around the room, and sometimes you’ll hear all of that happening around us.

Consider yourself in the room with me.

I’ve created a Viva La Vulva Podcast Gifts & Resources page where you can discover more about the resources mentioned in the episode and keep exploring your own body literacy.

I’ve also left two gifts waiting for you there:

Come home to your body with Homeland, my free seven-day self-guided mini experience.

And if you’re new to Wonder Women Club, come and experience the sisterhood for three months as my guest. Join our online community and gatherings, with opportunities to come together in person through extraordinary experiences in Melbourne and beyond.

This special Wonder Women Club invitation is available to new members until 31 October 2026.

Keep exploring + two gifts from me:

pennyvandenrsluys.com/vivalavulva-podcast

A huge thank you to Marlo Woods and Jane Hancox, co-founders of Vulva Sisters Australia, for inviting me to be part of Viva La Vulva, and to everyone who agreed to be recorded and share a little piece of their day with me, and now with you.

What if pelvic health is far more central to our overall wellbeing than we’ve ever been told? And why aren’t we being told that sex can be good for our pelvic health too?

Our pelvic bowl holds our birth stories, our sexual experiences, our emotions, and even the ways we’ve learnt to hold ourselves together. And if we haven’t been listening to our bodies or connecting with our pelvis, menopause and midlife have a way of getting our attention.

In this episode, I’m joined by pelvic and sexual health physiotherapist and educator Lisa Fitzpatrick, author of the upcoming book Sexy Menopause: The New Science and Soul of Midlife Desire, for a fascinating conversation about what our pelvic health can tell us in midlife, and why this might be the time to stop holding on and learn to let go.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why pelvic health is connected to our overall health, sexual health and wellbeing
• What happens to our pelvic tissues through perimenopause and menopause
• Why sex, pleasure and self-pleasure can play a role in supporting pelvic health
• Why strengthening your pelvic floor can be harmful
• What constantly sucking in your tummy can do to your breathing and pelvic floor
• Pelvic organ prolapse, changes in vaginal tissue and some of the signs our bodies may be asking us to pay attention to
• How our pelvis can hold our birth stories, sexual experiences, emotions and trauma
• Finding the right pelvic health professionals and why you don’t need to stay with a practitioner who isn’t listening to you
• How sex and pleasure can change throughout our lives
• Why midlife can invite us to let things go rather than continually adding more

Lisa has spent more than three decades working as a physiotherapist and brings together pelvic and sexual health, menopause, pleasure and the deeper emotional stories held within our bodies.

Her book, Sexy Menopause: The New Science and Soul of Midlife Desire, launches on 27 October 2026.

Pelvic Health Resources

Lisa refers during our conversation to the anatomy of the pelvic bowl and the use of pessaries to support pelvic organ prolapse. If you'd like to see what we're talking about, these visual resources may help:

Female pelvic cavity anatomy
https://fity.club/lists/dp/pelvic-cavity-organs-female/

Types of pessaries – Mayo Clinic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urinary-incontinence/multimedia/pessary-use/img-20006056

What Are Vaginal Pessaries? – WebMD
https://www.webmd.com/urinary-incontinence-oab/what-are-vaginal-pessaries

Lisa has generously shared two free resources:

Is It an Oestrogen Issue? – A free hormone checklist

10 Truths Every Woman Needs to Know About Sex After 50

Find them here:
https://femininebodyspeaks.substack.com/

Pre-order Sexy Menopause
https://www.sexymenopause.com/

Lisa Fitzpatrick
https://www.lisafitzpatrick.com.au/

Instagram – Sexy Menopause
https://www.instagram.com/sexy.menopause/

Instagram – Lisa Fitzpatrick
https://www.instagram.com/thelisafitzpatrick/

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-fitzpatrick-writes/

Facebook – The New Feminine Leader
https://www.facebook.com/thenewfeminineleader/

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@thelisafitzpatrick

Substack – The Feminine Shift
https://femininebodyspeaks.substack.com/

TikTok
@sexy.menopause

I’d love to hear what this episode sparked for you. Come and continue the conversation with me on Instagram, or explore more of my work and ways to connect on my website.

Instagram: @pennyvandersluys
Website: pennyvandersluys.com

And if you know another woman who would benefit from this conversation, please share the episode with her. Leaving a rating, review or comment wherever you listen also helps more women discover the podcast and the wisdom my guests so generously share.

We all know about adolescence. And we’re finally talking more openly about menopause.

But there’s another enormous life transition many of us have lived through without even knowing it had a name.

Matrescence. The becoming of a mother.

In this episode, I’m joined by Australian indie folk artist, podcaster, filmmaker and matrescence activist Claire Tonti for a conversation about this life transition and the profound impact it can have on our bodies, brains and identities.

Claire shares her own experience of matrescence and how it led her to write an album called Matrescence, co-found the Matrescence Festival, and spend the past two years making the documentary Matrescence: The Hidden World of Motherhood.

In this episode, we explore:

• What matrescence actually is, and why so many of us have never heard the word
• What happens to our brains, bodies and identities when we become mothers
• Why we shouldn’t expect to simply “go back” to the woman we were before motherhood
• The grief that can accompany motherhood, even when we deeply love our children
• Birth trauma and the experiences women can carry silently for decades
• The intersection between matrescence, perimenopause and menopause
• Why rest, nourishment, connection and community matter so much
• Oxytocin, play and the importance of intergenerational spaces
• How we can create a village of care around mothers rather than expecting them to do it alone
• Creativity as a way to process our experiences and reconnect with ourselves
• Making space to listen to what feels good in our bodies and what sings to our soul

This conversation is for all women. We all need to understand more about this important life transition, how little we have been told about it, and the impact that has had on generations of women.

It’s also an invitation to take what we know now and offer something different to the women going through Matrescence.

Connect with Claire

Website: clairetonti.com
Documentary: matrescencefilm.com
Podcast: Tonts
Album: Matrescence

Connect with Me

Instagram: @pennyvandersluys
Website: pennyvandersluys.com

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another woman and keep the conversation going. You never know who might hear the word matrescence for the first time and finally have language for something she’s been carrying for years.

What if the hardest things you live through don't break you, but become gifts you could never have imagined?

We spend so much of our lives trying to avoid pain. We numb it. Push through it. Tell ourselves we'll start living once things get easier.

But what if the opposite is true?

In this heartfelt conversation, my oldest friend, Marlo Woods, shares how some of life's hardest moments became the catalyst for discovering joy, deeper purpose, and a profound appreciation for simply being alive.

Together, we explore what it means to find the hidden gifts in hard times, and how even life's "shit bits" can become the experiences that shape us into the people we're becoming.

If you've ever wondered whether something beautiful can emerge from heartbreak, grief or struggle, this conversation is for you. 

** Content note

This episode includes conversations about mental illness, depression, suicide, addiction, stillbirth, grief and loss. Please listen with care, and if now isn't the right time, know it's okay to come back to this episode when you're ready.

In this episode, we explore:

✨ The hidden gifts that can emerge from life's hardest seasons.

✨ Why joy isn't something we find, but something we learn to notice.

✨ How our greatest challenges can shape who we're becoming

✨ What happens when we stop numbing ourselves and allow ourselves to feel.

✨ The courage to say yes to what lights us up, and no to what no longer serves us.

✨ Finding strength through friendship, community and meaningful connection.

✨ How service and advocacy can become part of our own healing.

✨ Challenging shame, stigma and the conversations we're afraid to have.

✨ Everyday practices that help us reconnect with ourselves.

✨ Why it's never too late to choose a life that feels deeply alive. 

Follow Marlo and Vulva Sisters Australia on Instagram @vulvasistersaustralia to learn more about their work raising awareness of Vulvar Cancer and the Viva La Vulva community fundraiser supporting Rare Cancers Australia. 

If this conversation brings up difficult feelings for you, please reach out to someone you trust or seek support from a qualified mental health professional.

If you're in Australia, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. If you're elsewhere in the world, please contact your local crisis or mental health support service.

I'd love to hear what touched you most from today's conversation.

Come and connect with me on Instagram @pennyvandersluys, where I share more about reimagining midlife, upcoming events, and conversations from the podcast.

You can also learn more about my work at pennyvandersluys.com.

Marlo's photo was taken by Wren Morrow @_wrenmorrow

What can we learn about intimacy from a man who's spent years listening to women?

I was curious to find out.

My guest for this episode is George Goulburn, a professional male companion whose work has given him a rare opportunity to hear women speak openly about intimacy, desire, relationships and the stories they carry about themselves.

He's only my second ever male guest on TURNED ON. Not because I was looking for a man's opinion on women, but because I was curious about the patterns he'd noticed, the conversations he'd had time and time again, and the perspectives he was willing to share that might help women see themselves - and their intimate experiences - a little differently.

In this conversation, we explore:

• what has surprised him most after years of listening to women
• Some of the stories women tell themselves about their bodies - and another, male, perspective to consider
• Why communication is one of the most important ingredients for intimacy
• The role safety, trust and slowing down can play in creating deeper connection
• Why uniqueness can be far more attractive than perfection
• What helps women feel more comfortable in their own skin
• The messages many women rarely hear - but perhaps need to
• The one thing he'd love more men in midlife to understand

Whether you're partnered, dating or happily single, I hope this conversation leaves you feeling a little more seen, a little more hopeful, and perhaps a little more curious.

During our conversation, George mentions the film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, starring Emma Thompson.

Connect with George

Website: https://www.georgegoulburn.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georgegoulburnofficial/

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love to stay connected.

✨ Visit www.pennyvandersluys.com to discover my coaching, online programs, offerings and the Wonder Women Club, or join my email community for inspiration and upcoming events.

📸 Come and say hello on Instagram: @pennyvandersluys

🎙️ If you're enjoying TURNED ON, please follow the podcast and leave a rating or review. As an independent creator who hosts, produces and edits every episode, your support genuinely helps more women discover these conversations.

What if the relationship that needs your attention most isn't the one with your partner, your children, your family or your friends but the one you have with yourself?

In this delightfully honest conversation, coach, speaker and podcast host Katelin Vincent joins me to explore why self-awareness, self-trust and self-expression are the foundation for deeper connection - not only with others, but with ourselves.

This episode is the second half of our conversation, but it also stands beautifully on its own.

(And yes... it also happens to be one of the shortest episodes in TURNED ON history!)

Together we explore:

✨ Why the relationship you have with yourself shapes every other relationship in your life

✨ Communication, desire and expressing what you really need

✨ Boundaries, body confidence and embracing the changing seasons of womanhood

✨ Why play, joy and pleasure aren't indulgent - they're essential

✨ How reconnecting with yourself changes the way you experience intimacy and connection

This conversation is a beautiful reminder that no one has lived in your body longer than you have.

You don't need permission to know yourself.

You don't need permission to honour your needs.

And you certainly don't need permission to bring more joy, pleasure and aliveness into your life.

If you enjoy this conversation, I'd also recommend listening to Part One, The Cost of Shame & Silence, where Katelin and I explore why shame thrives in secrecy and what becomes possible when we begin to bring it into the light.

Connect with Katelin

Instagram: @yougogirlfriend_
Website: yougogirlfriend.com.au

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear from you.

Come and say hello over on Instagram @pennyvandersluys, or find out more about my work, coaching and Wonder Women Club at pennyvandersluys.com.

What is the cost of shame and silence?

In this episode, Katelin Vincent and I explore how shame can shape the way we see ourselves, the choices we make, and our willingness to speak up, be seen, and trust ourselves.

Together, we unpack the stories we've inherited, the expectations we place on ourselves, and what becomes possible when we stop looking outside ourselves for permission and start honouring our own voice, wisdom, and experience.

This is a conversation about self-expression, confidence, intuition, authenticity, and remembering that who you are is enough.

Tune in to hear about:

✨ The difference between guilt and shame

✨ Why shame thrives in secrecy, silence, and judgement

✨ The cost of staying silent

✨ Trusting your intuition and inner knowing

✨ Self-expression, authenticity, and finding your voice

✨ Permission, confidence, and taking up space

✨ Letting go of other people's expectations

✨ Reclaiming the parts of yourself you've lost touch with

✨ Why speaking up gives other women permission to do the same

And if you enjoy today's episode, you'll be pleased to know the conversation continues in my next episode as Katelin and I explore relationships, communication, desire, intimacy, and why The Relationship You Have With Yourself Changes Everything.

Connect with Katelin:

Connect with me:
Instagram: @pennyvandersluys
Website: pennyvandersluys.com

Wonder Women Club: pennyvandersluys.com/wonder

What happens when you follow a spark?

Less than five months ago, Wren Morrow and I met for the very first time on this podcast. Three weeks later, she boarded a plane from the United States to Australia for penFEST, the camping festival I created to celebrate turning 50 through community, creativity, adventure and connection.

What followed was a two-and-a-half-month adventure, a deepening soul-sister connection, and countless experiences that neither of us could have predicted.

When Wren called me recently and discovered I didn't have a podcast episode ready for this week, she suggested something simple:

"Why don't we record this conversation?"

So we did.

In this heartfelt and beautifully unscripted episode, we reflect on the sparks we've followed, the adventures they've led us on, and how saying yes to life can become its own kind of love letter.

We explore:

✨ Following the sparks that call to us

✨ The courage to say yes before we have all the answers

✨ penFEST, self-expression and taking up space

✨ Photography as a portal back to experience

✨ Why so many women hold themselves back from being fully seen

✨ Lingering longer when life is lighting us up

✨ Taking risks without guarantees

✨ Learning not to abandon ourselves when things don't go to plan

✨ The power of reflection, closure and honouring our experiences

✨ Writing as a way to process, heal and make meaning

✨ Wren's beautiful love letter to her time in Australia

This episode is a reminder that life isn't meant to be lived perfectly.

It's meant to be lived fully.

That following a spark is more than a fleeting moment of inspiration. It's a way of saying yes to what lights us up, what calls us forward, and what helps us feel more fully alive.

Instagram:
@_wrenmorrow

Substack:
https://wrenmorrow.substack.com/

Wren'sdays on [ RENATA ] wrenmorrow

Instagram:
@pennyvandersluys

Website:
pennyvandersluys.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a woman who needs a reminder to trust herself, follow the spark, and say yes to life.

What if talking about death could actually teach us how to live?

What if the thing we fear most… could become the doorway to more presence, pleasure, intimacy and freedom?

In this episode, I’m joined by the extraordinary Denise Love - birth and death doula, nurse, hypnotherapist, educator and elder - for a delightfully honest, liberating and life-affirming conversation about life and death

This episode isn’t heavy or depressing.

It’s uplifting, wise, frank and refreshingly honest.

This conversation will stay with you… and leave you reflecting on what you could be doing to truly live now.

In this episode we explore:

• What people most regret at the end of life
• Why women lose themselves trying to please everyone else
• How menopause can become a portal to truth and freedom
• The power of sensuality, touch and intimacy throughout life
• Why friendship, tribe and feeling seen matters so deeply
• Rituals around dying, grief and celebrating life
• How talking about death can actually help us live more consciously
• What it means to stop saving your life for “one day”

You can connect with Denise Love:
Facebook: facebook.com/Denise.Love.122719
Instagram: @deniselove330
Email Denise [email protected] to request her Advanced Directive / end-of-life planning document.

To connect with me:
Website: pennyvandersluys.com
Instagram @pennyvandersluys

If you’d like to explore my work around pleasure, embodiment, midlife awakening and feminine reclamation - or join the waitlist for the next Pleasure You’ve Been Missing Pilgrimage - head to my website or email me directly at [email protected]

And if this episode moved you, please subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who needs this conversation too.

What if some of the heaviness you carry isn’t entirely yours?

What if your ancestors could become a source of healing, wisdom and support in your life right now?

And what if reconnecting with ritual, nature, spirit and the sacred rhythms of life could actually turn you on - making you feel more alive, sensual, connected and present in your body?

In this conversation, I'm joined by Lyndal Walker, an Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner, Ritualist & Artist, to explore the wisdom, healing and support available through reconnecting with our ancestors, nature and ritual.

Lyndal shares how her own journey led her into the world of ancestral healing and ritual practice. She explains how connecting with our wise and loving ancestors can offer profound healing, guidance and support - while also bringing awareness to inherited wounds, cultural conditioning and intergenerational patterns.

Tune in to hear Lyndal share:
+ Why connecting with nature can feel deeply sensual and alive
+ The difference between wise/well ancestors and unwell ancestral patterns
+ Intergenerational trauma and ancestral healing
+ Rituals, rites of passage and what modern life is missing
+ The witch wound and cultural conditioning around older women
+ Midlife as a powerful transition into wisdom and leadership
+ Why our ancestors may care far more about connection, pleasure and meaning than perfection or productivity
+ The role of intuition, somatic knowing and spirit connection
+ How ritual can help us integrate change, celebrate transitions and reconnect with ourselves

We also discuss the ceremony created by Lyndal for my 50th Birthday Celebration - PenFEST - to honour the transition into a new chapter of leadership, visibility and freedom from shame.

Whether you’re spiritually curious, seeking deeper meaning, navigating midlife transitions, or simply longing to feel more connected and supported in your life, this episode offers a thought-provoking invitation into another way of relating to yourself, your lineage and the world around you.

Connect with Lyndal:

Website: www.conversationsintime.org

Instagram: @conversations_in_time

Connect with me

Website: ⁠pennyvandersluys.com⁠

Instagram: @pennyvandersluys

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

If you enjoy these topics and conversations, and long to feel more alive, connected, sensual and turned on in your own life, check out my experiences, challenges, circles, coaching and community spaces for women. I love to share potent and playful ways to reconnect with your body, pleasure and power in midlife.

If you loved this episode, please subscribe, share it with someone who’d enjoy it, and leave a review. Every share and review helps more women discover these conversations and supports this independently created podcast.