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Dear Menopause
Jan. 5, 2023

Sonya Lovell: Changing the World for the Next Generation of Women

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Discover the power of female voices to create a better future for the next generation.

"I just took it on as my job, to go and do the research for them, connect them with the people that I knew, research who was a good person to talk to, who wasn't."

In this episode, I invite my friend Yvette Meyer to chat with me and to help share more about my experience with menopause and my mission to help other women navigate this time with more knowledge and support.

In this episode, you will learn:

1. How Sonya Lovell's personal experience with menopause led her to become an advocate for other women

2. The importance of using one's voice to raise awareness about menopause and its symptoms

3. The impact that the work of advocates can have on the next generation of women

Resources:
Je Suit Trop T-Shirts
Sonya's 2023 Events & Retreats
The Time of My Life by Myf Warhurst
Bang On podcast
Crime Junkie podcast
Dead To Me - Netflix
Harry & Meghan - Netflix

Yvette Mayer website
Human Design

Other episodes you'll enjoy:
Welcome to Dear Menopause
3 things to do when perimenopause is kicking your butt 

Where to find Sonya:
Instagram
Take the Midlife Quiz
Stellar Women Website

You're invited to join the We Are Stellar Women community on Facebook, a free supportive space for all women navigating the menopausal transition. Click here to join.

🤝 You can connect with Sonya here

💬 Send me a message here

❤️ Loved this episode? Share with a friend and don't forget to leave us a review and rating here 

 

Transcript

Sonya: My name is Sonya Lovell, and I am obsessed with helping women navigate the magical, messy, and, let's be honest, more hysterical moments of this thing called menopause. I'm a personal trainer and breast cancer survivor turned menopause coach. I help women understand what's going on, why, and what they can do to navigate the menopausal transition. Gloss over the real talk?

Sonya: No way.

Sonya: Exhaustion, brain fog, loss of libido, loss of confidence and anxiety are just some of the topics that we'll chat about. Consider this a juicy happy hour with your new bestie and her friends. Settle in and get ready to learn and laugh. This is the Dare Menopause podcast.

Sonya: Today I decided to change things up and I jumped onto the other side of the microphone. I invited my very good friend Yvette to interview me for this episode of Dear Menopause. I'm not going to lie, I am so out of my comfort zone with this. But I also thought that it was a really good opportunity for you to learn a little more about me than I usually share in these episodes. So I hope that you enjoy this episode. I'm going to hand you over to Yvette.

Yvette: Thank you so much for this opportunity, Sonya. It is such a privilege to support your audience in getting to know you better, because what you've achieved here on the podcast is truly phenomenal. And I know, knowing you personally, how much goes into it and the depth of your story, your experience there is just so magic, much magic, rather, to share. So thank you.

Sonya: Thank you.

Yvette: Thank you. Thank you. And let's start off with a little bit of a walk backwards in time to your experience of menopause. How do you feel about starting there?

Sonya: You know what? I kind of feel like that's something everybody has heard about to death. I talk so openly on my podcast, I feel sometimes I feel like I talk too much, but about my experience. But, yeah, absolutely. It's a great starting point. First of all, I'm a little nervous today. I'm not used to this table flipping business. But I think I'm really excited to share so much more of me with my beautiful, amazing ladies that listen and your gentleman. Thank you. So my experience of menopause is quite traumatic, to be completely honest, as anyone that's a regular listener will know. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 47. I, as a result, underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, all in a very short space of time. And at my very first appointment with my oncologist, he said to me, well, you know, the closer you are in age to menopause, which at the time I had no idea was 51, the more likely it is you'll go into medically induced menopause. So there'll be that. And in my naive and uneducated way, in my head, I kind of went, okay, cool, I can take that off my box. Sweet. And literally didn't ask any questions, had no understanding of what that actually meant. So I can remember having a period between my breast surgery and my chemo starting and that was it. I never had a period again. And then I never thought anything more of it. Obviously, I was going through all of the trauma of treatment, and then.

Yvette: When.

Sonya: I was going through radiotherapy, I started really struggling with hot flushes with cognitive changes. And I started talking to at that period, you're seeing nurses regularly, you're seeing specialists regularly. And I started asking some questions around that, and the answer was literally always just, oh, well, that's menopause. Move on. Next question. I was never offered any support around it. I was never offered any explanation. And so it wasn't until I was probably about twelve months post ending all of my active treatment that this was still going on. And it was really becoming quite troublesome that I went to a GP. I actually purposely seeked out a female women's health GP and explained particularly the cognitive stuff to her because I was losing words. I literally was struggling to hold more than two or three sentences without forgetting at least one word that I was going to say. And that for me was mortifying. And so I that was my conversation that I had with her. And her response was, that's something I'm going to have to keep an eye on. Which freaked me right out. Then I was like, oh ****, I've just survived cancer. Now I've got early onset to mention.

Yvette: That kind of conversation.

Sonya: Absolutely. And it was probably that that triggered me to start doing my own research and trying to understand what was actually going on.

Yvette: Because I know a lot of women go through a similar journey, not a lot of women make it their mission to support others. How did that come about?

Sonya: Oh, that's a big question. I guess it's something that's always been a part of my DNA. My very first kind of career change, if you like, or attempt at a career change, to transition into what really felt like was my heart's calling was when I was 29 and I decided to leave the corporate world to study naturopathy. I'd always been into health and fitness, like at school, in high school, my biggest goal was to become a PE teacher. Then I totally blew my end of year exams and basically disappointed my parents beyond belief and couldn't get into university. So I ended up working in a bank. Hello, small town, what do you do? You work in a bank. And so I kind of followed that admin cooperated kind of role for many, many years because it was easy, it paid well, and then yeah, so when I was 29, I went, you know what, no, actually I want to do something bigger with my life. So I completed my first year of my nephropathy certification, which included the first year of my very first degree that I attempted, the first of many. So that was a Bachelor of Arm Science that went hand in hand with doing naturopathy. And I fell pregnant with my eldest son halfway through. I actually found out I was pregnant with him in the May and he was born right at the very end of December. And so I was heavily pregnant with him when I did my end of year exams for my first year. And as a result, I never went back and finished that qualification. And that, I suppose, was probably when I first knew that I had this deep desire to help others. And that was my big calling. It took me a while to get to where I am today. So then I transitioned into personal training when I was I think I qualified to be a personal trainer when I was 39 and ten years between that, that's interesting. So it took me ten years to get to that, became a personal trainer. And being a personal trainer is all about helping others. It's all about in so many aspects of life. It's a very multi dimensional role and I loved that about it. So I studied nutrition and I worked with women in pre and post natal was an area that really interested me, but also in the very bit more kind of complicated strength and conditioning area of Peteing as well, because that was my personal love. And then I was doing that when I was diagnosed with cancer. So then three years out, pretty much of life to recover from all of that, decided to go back to being a PT. But it was really interesting having been through menopause being 50 at this point, I had such a clear idea of who I wanted to work with. Then it was like, I'm not going back into the big global and helping everybody from 16 year olds to 70 year olds, male or female, whoever crosses my path. I was really intentional and really specific about wanting to open a space that only worked with women, and specifically women 40 plus. At that point, that was kind of all I knew. And I ended up opening in my garage during COVID My husband, we'd set up our garage as a gym for our personal use during lockdowns. I'm in Sydney, so all our gyms and everything were locked down for quite a period of time. I have two adult children and boys, so the testosterone in our house needed somewhere to go. So hence we set up a fully kitted out gym in our garage. And my husband said to me one day, well, why don't you start training clients out of the garage? And I laughed, I literally laughed in his face and went, don't be ridiculous. Like, who is going to want to come and train in our dirty Grungy Street front garage? And he went, no, you might be surprised. So I sat on it for probably about 24 hours and then went, you know, you never know if you don't give it a go. So I popped a post up into our local Facebook community group. By the end of that first week, I had ten clients. Wow. It blew me away. And I still have pinch me moments about it where I think they're all just going to walk away at some point in time. But anyway, so as a result of that, I started running small classes. So rather than just doing one on one Pts, I was doing small classes. And I kept at four because that was the space that I had available and it worked really well. And what I realized over time was that I had accidentally created this incredibly safe and nurturing space for these women and they became friendly and we had oh my gosh, we had conversations where no topic was off the table. But what became evident to me through those conversations, through the concerns that the women were coming to me with, was that they were all perimenopausal, but they didn't know they were perimenopausal. They all didn't know where to get help. They had what appeared to be all of these random things going on with their bodies. And that really triggered me to start researching a lot more about perimenopause and menopause because it became evident that I thought that I was so uneducated and unsupported because of my experience being kind of traumatic. But what I realized was every woman, every woman that was coming through my gym and my friends that I was then starting to have conversations with were just as uneducated, just as unsupported, and didn't know where to go to get help. And so I just took it on as my job was to go and do the research for them, connect them with the people that I knew, research who was a good person to talk to, who wasn't. And that was really where it all evolved from.

Yvette: That sounds like the universe was guiding you in this direction because you didn't talk about this in the beginning, but it sounds to me that you were very drawn into health and wellbeing, always, but there was a strong women's empowerment flavor under there as well.

Sonya: And it's really interesting. Like, I know that I'm a feminist, I am a huge supporter of women and a champion for all women, young or old, to have a voice to step into their power. And I suppose I never realized how much of a really strong part of my DNA that was until my sons, who are now one turns 22, very soon one's 19, they started turning kind of 1617, I guess. And some of the conversations that I was overhearing them having, plus we were having around the table, was they also fears feminists. And I was like, wow. I know. And at first I was like, well, where did that come from? And then I was like, hang on a second. Actually, I know exactly where that came from. And even, like my my eldest son has said to me a couple of the times, usually when he's wine drunk, are you instilled so much feminism into me? And I am so grateful and so proud of you for doing that. And that just as a mother, is.

Yvette: Just like, wow, that's beautiful role model of a mother you are. It's beautiful.

Sonya: Yeah. It's nice to know that you've had those positive impacts. And it's not something I ever set out or intended to do. It's been a very organic part of them growing up with me as their mother.

Yvette: Yeah, I love that. And I also really appreciate, as we both shared an unfortunate breast cancer journey, what is really clear to me is that there are often gifts within the darkest moments of our life. And as much as you wouldn't wish a breast cancer diagnosis on anybody, the defining moments that come out of pain and struggle can be so profound. And for you, it really did awaken in you this desire to not just step more powerfully into women's health and wellbeing, but to be a voice for an area that it's just not good enough. The way that women are lacking support in this space.

Sonya: No, it's not. And one of the things that I've never been afraid to use is my voice. It got me into a lot of trouble at school. I was all of my school reports pretty much say sonya would be a grade A student if she didn't talk as much. I went through a Catholic primary school and I had a nun as a teacher at one point in time and she was hilarious. She'd come out from Ireland. I grew up I did my primary school in a very, very small town in New Zealand, and she was Irish, and she'd come from Ireland to our teeny tiny town. And I'll never forget her asking my father I think it was one of your parent child interviews if I had been inoculated with a grammaphone needle because I talked so much. So using my voice is something that it's taken me a long time to hone and really, also really appreciate that I do have the ability to use my voice. And yeah, at work in my career, when I was corporate, it always got me in trouble. I just have just ordered a T shirt, actually, that I'm hoping you'll arrive soon. That is from a movement that's been started by an amazing lady in New Zealand, actually. And in French it says, I am too much.

Yvette: I might get one of those as well.

Sonya: Absolutely. Kate Billings is the woman that has kind of founded this movement. And that is what I was always told at school and then in the corporate world, I was too much. I needed to be piped down. I needed to be put in my place. And once. Now that I'm in my fifty s and I literally don't give a ****, I am so lucky to be in this position where I have chosen my soapbox. I will die on my soapbox, but I will also raise my voice as loudly as I can whilst I'm on my soapbox.

Yvette: And it is so powerful and helping so many others along the way. And I think that that is actually important to share with your listeners what really drives you when you think about why this is so important, what comes up here.

Sonya: Yeah, it's funny that's shifted recently, actually. So in the beginning, like, you know, twelve months ago, if you'd asked me that question, I would have said that it was all about, you know, just making people women people. But I want men to be as ware as well, making people aware that perimenopause is a thing, that every woman should know what it is, regardless of whether she experiences mild or moderate perimenopausal symptoms. She should know how to support her friends, her sisters, her workmates, if they are in the 80% of women that do experience more severe symptoms. I wanted everyone to know that Harry monopolies is a thing, that there is help and support. You just need to know where to find it right now. That was really kind of it. It was just literally just trying to kind of shine a light on this thing. But recently, through as a result of some of the incredible conversations I've been so blessed to have with these people that are doing unbelievable work in the world, I've realized that actually my role and everybody else that has a role like me in this topic. What we're actually doing is changing the world for the generations of women that are going to come through behind us. So I look at my children's girlfriends, my boy's girlfriends, you know, they're as I said, they're pretty much both in their very, very early twenty s. It is the work that we are doing now that is going to mean that when they are in their forty s and their 50s they are going to be able to have a different experience at work. They're going to have a different experience within their relationships and they're going to know, they're going to be prepared and they're going to be supported. And that to me is my big drive right now.

Yvette: And what do you see as being the biggest barrier to that happening?

Sonya: Prepared me for these questions. What do I think is the biggest barrier to that happening? I think that it's still the stigma and the shame that still exists. A friend of mine shared an Instagram account with me this morning for an Australian based GP that she started following during COVID who shared something around weight loss. Actually the post was weight loss related and she said, oh, I'm not sure if you follow this GP. She's amazing and you should follow that. And I thought, okay, cool. So I went to her account and she has this GP, has an incredible amount of followers, she has an enviable audience on Instagram, obviously. And I scrolled through and through and through, and not once does she talk about perimenopause and not once does she talk about menopause. She's very evidently quite embedded in women's health. What I found that so disappointing and I still feel that there is still stigma, there is still shame. There's a massive hangover from the Women's Health Initiative, which, as a research paper, that had a profound impact on women's ability to access hormonal therapy. Back in the still feel that we've got to really break down this belief that I don't know, but this expectation that women just get through this, that it's not a thing we should be talking about. It's just the woman before us, they just got on with it. They suffered in silence. We didn't talk about it, we just got on with it. And I feel like we haven't moved beyond that yet. And that's taking a while to chip away at.

Yvette: Yeah, and there's so much risk in not addressing this. I mean, I've heard this from your podcast and thankfully becoming more and more aware that there are literally people that are going off the rails during their menopause perimenopause, not realizing why the implications.

Sonya: On mental health alone can be devastating. I heard a story, and unfortunately, it's not a story that I've been able to bring to the podcast yet. It is a story that will come out when the time is right, of a woman in New South Wales who took her own life and she tried to reach out for help and she was not taken seriously. And there was no connection made between the fact that she was perimenopausal and afterwards there was some conversation had that was like, well, actually, yes, she had what we call menopausal depression.

Yvette: My goodness.

Sonya: And it is devastating. It was that story that that pushed me to reach out to Professor Jashri Kulkarni, which is, I still believe, the most important podcast episode I've produced in 2022, maybe of all time, who knows? But yeah, that the mental health of our women in their forty s and their 50s is of great concern. And then there's to be a lot more work done to remove the stigma and remove the shame of going to ask for help or, you know, and not just the the medical professionals that are still trying to mask things with antidepressants. And there are people that do need antidepressants and they have a place, but they cannot be our go to whenever there's a problem that we can't find a solution to.

Yvette: Yeah, totally. So I would ask you this, with this incredible community here listening, and the big mission that you have, which is far bigger than an individual, that really requires a community to grow this message, what would you ask of your listeners to do to help in this space?

Sonya: Wow. I think the very first step is to speak openly about perimenopause and menopause. And if talk to your friends, talk to your sisters, talk to your colleagues, talk to your gym mates, talk to whoever is around you that is of this same age, if somebody expresses that they're struggling with something, perhaps say, hey, me too. I've experienced that. But what I discovered was this one thing I want to be always want to be really clear about is that we do have to be very, very careful that we don't use this broad brush of perimenopause to account for everything that a woman might be experiencing in her 40s. There are some very significant diseases and conditions that can show up with similar symptoms to perimenopause. So we do have to be very careful that we don't just go, oh, you're in your forties, you're a woman perimenopause. Don't worry about it. You'll be right, it out, sort of thing. Any change to somebody's health that is extreme or ongoing must be checked out by a GP or a primary health carer just to make sure that we always rule out anything more sinister. And I always want to make sure that that message is made loud and clear as well. It's a catch 22 at the moment where, yes, we're talking more about perimenopause and we're talking about menopause, but I see two things that are happening as a result of that that concern me. One of them is that just brushing off everything as being perimenopausal driven. The other thing is the monetization of perimenopause and menopause and does not sit well with me at all. And I get really icky when another celebrity jumps on the bandwagon shares their perimenopausal and menopausal steer story under the guise of, I'm just like you. I am a woman of that age. I hate that saying, but they continue to say it, and I get really excited in one breath because they're raising the conversation. Yes. But then months later, when they come out with their skin care range or their range of supplements, I get so disappointed because they're just monetizing this. Yes.

Yvette: It's a strategy, not a passion.

Sonya: It is. And unfortunately, it's not always evident, you know, and there are some people with higher profiles out there doing some amazing work. And, you know, I don't want to kind of be dissing everybody, but there are also people that are jumping on the bandwagon, and that is always disappointing.

Yvette: Absolutely. So to circle back, I would suggest to the listeners that you absolutely make this a conversation with your friends, your sisters, your family, your brothers, like your brotherinlaw, absolutely. Your children, even if they resist this. Like, I will say, I talked to my sister and she's like, I don't think I'm experiencing anything. But I think in those cases, it's so important to have the conversation anyway because in her friendship circle. There is going to be more awareness within her now to be that support system. So I think that's a big part of this. And also you wouldn't have said this, but I'm going to say it, sharing this podcast is an absolutely fantastic way to support women and make sure that they are educated and empowered in this area.

Sonya: Yeah, absolutely. And look, I'm not afraid to say that I would have got there eventually. I have a beautiful friend who is very special to me and quite often she'll be saying to me, I was talking to this because she sees women as clients. I had this client in and she was talking about this and what do you think? And I was like, well, first of all, tell her to listen to my podcast. And then she said to me one day she goes feeling bad because I don't listen to your podcast. I was like, Honey, that's okay, I don't mind. But what I would like you to do is tell other people to listen to my podcast because you put so.

Yvette: Much into this and the caliber of the women and the experts that you have spoken to. What episode are you up to now?

Sonya: No. So this is going to be episode number 39. I'm pretty sure this is 39, this episode we're recording now. And I have in my bank up until episode 41. So that's at this point, this is going out on the 1 January or the first week of January the so up until pretty much the end of January, I have all my my episode scheduled. So, yeah, we started in May on my birthday. The 6 May 2022 was when the first two or three episodes were launched. Yeah, so well into the 40s now, which is very exciting.

Yvette: And what I love about this for you is the tremendous impact that this podcast is already creating. It has grown so quickly the opportunities that you are giving other women to share their voice on this topic, because behind the scenes there are a lot of women advocating in this space that aren't being heard. And so you're giving that opportunity to them. But also you come to this with so much lived the experience, with so much research, so much passion, but with every conversation, your leadership is growing. And yeah, I know you're like, well, but it's true, right? You're like 42 hours, pretty much of deep listening, active listening and speaking to this topic with the leaders in the field.

Sonya: Yeah, I know. And I get quite like I said, I have those pinchmery moments where I'm just like, wow, this is what I've created, this is what I am bringing out into the world. And this is kind of pretty amazing. But I also do work really hard to secure the amazing guests that I've had on. And that includes the experts, but as well as the women that are open to sharing their stories. Yes, it's 42 hours of episodes that have gone to air, but there is a lot of work that goes on in the background for those. I am single handedly producing every episode. I'm a one woman team right now, but that means that I'm actually spending a lot more time than just that embedded in these stories and this research with these experts. And one of the things that I love is every expert that I have reached out to has given me a hell. Yes, I have not had a no. And what that makes me so excited because they are just looking for platforms to share their stories on. They are like, oh, my goodness. I've had Professor Joshua Kulkarni, who is a global leader in her field, and I've had the board members of the Australasian Menopausal Society and they all say the same thing, thank you so much for doing this. You are giving us a platform that we wouldn't normally have, and that makes me really proud.

Yvette: And so you should be. You have done such phenomenal work and I know you're just warming up and there are so many other opportunities to expand your presence and impact coming. Pretty excited to hear about some of your events and other share.

Sonya: This is probably a good time because I haven't talked about these on any of the podcasts at all. But in 2023. So this year, for everyone that's listening, I will be holding the first three Dare Menopause live events. So I have an event scheduled in Sydney, one in Melbourne and one in Brisbane. And these will be an opportunity to get women into the room to sit and enjoy time together, connect with other women, you know, listen to me chat with guests, new guests, old guests in a bit of an oprah on the couch kind of way. It won't be recorded for the podcast. It will only be a live experience. And I'm really excited to bring these events into the world. I think they're going to be fun, and that's what I want them to be more than anything, fun and educational.

Yvette: Love that. So you're not going to record the podcast, but you are going to have leaders on the guest?

Sonya: Yes. There will be two to three guests at each of the life's. Very different guests at each one. I have some already lined up, but I'm not going to spill the beans just yet. But they're going to be a combination of women that you've perhaps not heard of before, but are definitely worthy of, you learning about, and women that we're a lot more familiar with, that are, you know, leaders in their field and but also really, you know, have great stories to share as well as expertise.

Yvette: Love it. Love it.

Sonya: Yeah.

Yvette: Anything else coming up next year that is new?

Sonya: Oh, lots of them. So they so I've got two retreats scheduled, one in New South Wales. And one in Queensland. They'll be collaborating with yoga instructors for menopause, specific yoga instructors on both of those. So that will be fun. That's like a three day event. And then I'll be rounding the year out with very exciting, what we're calling active retreat. And that is going to be a ten day trip to Morocco. So I will be taking a very small group of and it won't just be women. Actually, I want to be clear with this one. It will be people because some women like to travel with their partners. And I think that it's nice to have that blend of men and women on a travel group. I've done a lot of travel myself and I always love being in blended groups. So, yeah, so I teamed up with an incredible travel agent. She's actually based in Canada. And I'm hosting a small group of at least eight other people to travel through Morocco for ten days. We've got an amazing itinerary that we've put together. It'll include glamping in the Sahara Desert and camel rides and visiting amazing women's rug collectives or co Ops, a beautiful jewelry maker. Oh my gosh, there's so much planned cooking classes. It's going to be incredible. And if anybody wants any of those details, they can head to my website to find out more about that.

Yvette: That all sounds amazing, but I have to say, Morocco, I know how epic.

Sonya: Yeah, it is literally going to be epic and it is going to be the first of many. And I'll also mention, because you don't even know this yet, I've also been approached to host a retreat in Palm Springs in California in 2024. So that's how far out I am planning right now with stellar women and deer menopause.

Yvette: The global impact of deer menopause is astounding and escalating.

Sonya: It is. But you know what, I'm really grateful, so grateful to those for you that is listening in, because it's because of you that this is happening. Like, I couldn't make this podcast, nobody listened to it, none of this would be happening. So it really is a result of you, the listener, sharing this with everyone else, being a loyal listener supporting me as much as the cause. And I'm so incredibly grateful to all of my listeners and that's why the Dean Minneapolis live events will be a way of me giving back as well.

Yvette: That is so beautiful. And as your temporary host of the podcast, I'd love to encourage you all to get on now and get your name on the list for those live events to show your support for this cause. And also for Sonya, even though she says it's a gift from her. I know that community is such a big part of Sonya and her mission and I think, you know, I want us all to be a part of that growing community and rewarding her for all of the effort that she's putting in for this not just this cause, but also for all of you.

Sonya: Yeah, thank you. I'm dashing back here.

Yvette: Well, that's a great way for us to wrap up. Is there anything else on your heart that you'd love to share while you are sitting in the interview e seat?

Sonya: No, I think we've covered way more than I expected. And yeah, I think it's a good time to wrap up and I would also love to invite you back to take over the reins again for a moment. I've really enjoyed this chat. And as much as there is only so much of my story that everybody will get sick of hearing about me, but I think there's an opportunity for perhaps me to bring some episodes into dear menopause that are a little bit different to our normal format and for me to be a bigger part in those as well. So that could be something fun we can explore as well.

Yvette: I certainly enjoyed this. I would also love to ask you a very important question. What are you listening to, reading or watching that is bringing you joy right now?

Sonya: I love that I get to ask people this question and nobody ever asks me, so thank you for asking. Okay. Right now I'm reading Myth warhurst's most. Well, her biography, autobiography that she's just released, or she calls it a memoir, I think, which is called Time of My Life. I have had a girl crush on Myth for many, many years, and it's actually the podcast that she does with Zan Rowe, which is called Bang On. For anybody that's listening. I am an original Bang fan member and I've listened to every episode of that podcast since it was launched, which is about, I think it's about seven years ago now. And I still continue to listen to every weekly episode that gets released on a Thursday. So MIF is I'm a huge fan of and so I'm reading that and enjoying it greatly. What am I listening to? Other than bang on? I am a huge true crime fan. I love myself some true crime. So there is a podcast out of America called Crime Junkies and yeah, love that. And I am watching. I'm actually really enjoying the third season. I think it is of dead to me on Netflix with Christina Applegate. She's a phenomenal woman, and the portrayal of the female friendship in that show is just amazing. And it's funny, but it's also really serious and it's just beautifully acted and written and I really love it. And knowing that she's going through some of her own health issues right now, she's already been through a breast cancer experience and now she's dealing with Ms as well. And to know that she was actually really struggling with that whilst she was filming this season just, I guess, makes it all a little bit more special. So Terry's talking about that. Yeah. So Dead to Me is what I'm enjoying at the moment. Love it. All right. No, I'm going to flip the tables on you now. I'm going to finish off the way I always finish my episodes event. Tell us, what are you reading, listening or watching that is bringing you joy right now?

Yvette: Okay, so, confession, I have become very obsessed with the human design world, which I know I have infected Sonya with as well. What I am reading, there's a hell of a lot of things about human design and the gene keys. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, google it, get stuck in.

Sonya: I'll pop a couple of links to the Show Notes too. Yes.

Yvette: What I'm watching or what I have been watching and I was very sad when the first few episodes ran out. I didn't realize it was a limited season, but there will be more is the story of Meghan, Markle and Harry. And I wasn't all that interested in watching it. It was kind of like I'll just put it on and oh, my goodness, their love story is just so beautiful. And I agree, if you haven't watched it, it is so genuine.

Sonya: I was really pleased I started watching it, too. I wasn't going to I was hearing the hate that exists for her in the world and, you know, it was really like, do I want to be a part of that conversation? But like you, one night I was home by myself and you know what? I'm going to put it on. And I loved. Loved? I've only watched the first episode so far, but their love story oh, beautiful.

Yvette: It's beautiful.

Sonya: Yeah, I do too.

Yvette: Yeah.

Sonya: Listening to this podcast, good answer.

Yvette: Well, I'm going to hand it over to you, Sonya, now to close out, but this has been an absolute privilege and thank you.

Sonya: Thanks, yvette. Oh, my gosh, that was so much fun. And if you're still listening thank you. Okay, so that was an amazing episode. I will link everything through in the Show Notes a little bit about Yvette as well. So if you're interested in learning more about her and human design, I highly recommend that you do your own research into that. And, yeah, thanks, guys, for listening and I will see you all next week.

Sonya: Thank you for listening today. I am so grateful to have these conversations with incredible women and experts and I'm grateful that you chose to hit play on this episode of Dear Menopause. If you have a minute of time today, please leave a rating or a review. I would love to hear from you because you are my biggest driver for doing this work. If this chat went way too fast for you and you want more, head over to Stellarwomen.com Au podcast for the Show Notes. And while you're there, take my Midlife quiz to see why it feels like Midlife is messing with your head.