Women Overcoming the Myths of Midlife after 40

The Power of the Mind over the Body – Part 4: Discipline…. Discipline can be thought of as punishment, strictness and restraint – all very unappealing concepts and quite depressing to be honest! But if you think along the lines of cultivation, practice, willpower and self-mastery it's a far more fun approach to take. So let's do that – forget the discipline and take on self-mastery! Once you have mastered the first 3 steps of the mind-body connection Recognition, Decision and Persistence it's time to maintain the momentum and the only way to do that is to have discipline – sorry – self-mastery! The persistence in your endeavour to be healthy is great but it's easy to fall back into an old comfort zone and forget about how much work and passion you've been putting into being healthy! Losing that weight becomes not so important, nor does easing your way out of an autoimmune disease when the thought of a 'quick fix' becomes so much easier. Maintaining your interest and passion, determination and basica

Be Persistent. Be stubborn, Be endlessly determined and Be unshakeable in your continuing journey to becoming the person you plan on becoming, living in the place you are planning on living and having the abundance of health you are planning on owning. I feel like that's all that needs to be said! Once you have Recognised what you need to change in your life, delved deep into the why's and how's, discovered never before seen secret pockets of amazingness, old habits, emotional upheavals and deep, deep loves the next step is to Decide to take the bull by the horns and charge that sucker to it's utmost ability. (terrible analogy…I know). It's all well and good to be all airy-fairy and cosmic about the ins and outs of how our mind, body and spirit are working together so smoothly – it's another thing entirely to Decide, to make a decision to change your direction. This takes guts and determination. ALL of these things – enjoyment, fun, learning new things, expanding your network of friends, taking (getting

This is Part 2 in the Power of the Mind over the Body Series. You will find the previous section here –  Part 1: How to Recognise the Triggers that Influence your Health. Once you have recognised how your mind and actions, thoughts and deeds are affecting your health, your life and your destiny it's time to take the next step and make the Decision to change, to gather your resolve and get your butt into gear. It's all well and good getting all deep and meaningful while you search out how and why you have what you have and feel what you feel and are where you are….but if you don't actively make the decision to change, to improve your health then….it's a no-brainer really. Nothing will happen unless you decide to make it happen. Make the choice between health and illness. If you make no choice you will receive…whatever happens. Focus on how you want to feel and not on the pain, angst and frustration you feel. Focusing on the pain will bring more pain, more illness and before you know it you

Recognising the power our mind has over our body's health is a huge first step for most people. I have memories of arguing that even having an accident can also be a result of what our thoughts are at the time. To be honest I wasn't sure if it was true – but then again I wasn't sure that it couldn't be possible either. The benefit of having an open mind is that there are some things that will become obvious with time. That is – it's easier to accept what may seem impossible or improbable to be an option if we aren't holding onto a belief thinking our life depends on it. It has become increasingly obvious that our thoughts, actions, stresses, overwhelm and niggling fears are just some of the ways we can affect our physical health. How often do we get the chance to simply be, uninterrupted, alone and able to think of nothing, be nobody and become unaware of time. It's a very rare occurrence. It's time to Recognise that maybe something has to change!

Varda Epstein: Award winning writer and regular contributor to the Washington Post and Babble – and mother of 12 grown children. Varda moved from her hometown of Pittsburgh to Israel in her 20's determined to follow her heart after being inspired by the book Exodus by Leon Uris. This determination has proven to be a common thread through out her life that has taken her to new heights in the writing world. Being dedicated to her Jewish faith Varda has produced 12 children who admire her achievements as a writer enormously. Writing has always been a pursuit she has enjoyed and in fact been quite good at – but Varda always wanted to run a cottage industry. Writing took over as a "means to and end" but her writing is now amazing and reaches into far flung areas of the internet.  One busy and truly inspirational woman. Listen in to find out Varda's views on: ageism – is it real how to make it happen raising a (very) large family and how to manage it her plans for the future a personal style of writing s

Stephanie Johnstone of She Made This has always had a passion and love of creativity - and being raised by a mother who ensured her daughter would always be self sufficient she studied business - majoring in Marketing. Thus began her journey through banking, design, marketing managing then onto Interior Design The Golden  Thread through Stephanie's life has been creativity and a love of "nurturing and inspiring people to be the best they can" This spirit - coupled with a husband who follows his passions - took them to Bangladesh where life presented her with an opportunity she couldn't refuse. A partnership offered in a Fair Trade company.. Incorporating the tagline of her business "Creating Change Through Conscious Choices" with her marketing background and love of travel and creativity She Made This has become a much better source of income for the women who make the products in Bangladesh and Nepal which are of better workmanship than those we usually find for sale. The company ensures

  Pam Shaw is truly a Kiwi with true spirit and grit. A determined and feisty woman who was a Registered Nurse and had a high-stress career in Intensive Care. Determined to be near the snow she now lives 30mins away from a ski resort and is happy as a Kiwi in Snow. Pam's feistiness is shown perfectly by booking flights to the USA to "live the dream" and still hadn't even received her visa the day before she was leaving. She rocked up to the Embassy and informed them that she wasn't leaving without it! And got it!! I'm in awe. Pam overcame the stereotype she was raised to be and has discovered that 'following the dream' is totally possible. Pam's passion is getting Americans – and the rest of the world – fit and healthy through diet and exercise and "get their act together" in midlife Her passion is inspiring. Things you'll learn in this Podcast with Pam Shaw are: Pams alternate views on why we have retirement Why we should embrace midlife as merely the "middle of your life" Why she travelled so much a

Here is the podcast with the beautiful and vivacious Irene DeBoer who is originally from the Netherlands.But after studying Rural Development in her 20's - decided it wasn't for her so travelled to Granada in Spain to study Spanish and fell in love with it (Granada that is). Irene then decided to follow her heart and inspiration and moved from the Netherlands to Granada arriving with 2 suitcases and a laptop, swapping the 'work to live' lifestyle in the Netherlands for Spains 'live to work' The 2 lifestyles sound worlds apart.She became inspired to 'take the chance' and just move to the land of coffee, drinks, tapas (Irene's specialty) and what seems like a lot of time in between where not much happens! Sounds amazing!  Irene's advice is simple and effective: - Be open to new experiences - Take the 'leap of faith' - To do what you want as opposed to what is 'normal' or expected.  Find out her her biggest challenge of starting again in a new country What did she have to give up to follow her dreams..

Nadine Nelen was living in Belgium and working in the Maritime Industry when her life and her heath began to fall apart. There were several things going wrong namely relationship breakdown and dissatisfaction with her job when in midlife Nadine came upon Yasmin Boland - New Moon Wishes and her life took off in a totally new direction.   Nadine went from a very masculine based Maritime Industry to become a Healer, Reiki Master, Life Coach and Author. During this interview she reveals her manifestation technique that got her from Belgium to Australia where her loves of the Beach, warm weather and reading books were presented to her. She even discovered love. If you'd like to discover her secrets and learn about the "power of your WHY" AND......during this interview Nadine has a very generous giveaway so listen in!   

Here is proof that it only takes acting on a gut decision and 2 weeks to change your life direction. Avani, aged 40, started to question her life purpose. Feeling emptily and devoid of happiness Avani packed her bag and flew to Africa, having no idea what to expect, but following her inspiration, not her intuition - which she explains in this podcast. While in Africa, Avani found meaning and excitement in her life and discovered that we have more than the 5 senses we have been told we have.  This awakening has led her to run retreats (not safaris) in the true sense of the word, retreating from life and the world as we know it and embracing the rawness and beauty of Africa. Avani now runs these Retreats to different area of Africa regularly. Here we have another gutsy woman in midlife who is living life on her terms and enjoying the change it brings her.  A beautiful story of strength and courage.

Kathy made a major life decision in 2011 - deciding to move herself and her husband from the USA to Australia following a harrowing situation that was particularly traumatic. Kathy's situation could be classified as a midlife crisis caused by a situation that just seemed to stop life from flowing smoothly - if at all. She has gone from a family life, raising kids and running a business - sleeping 2-3hrs a night to having time to breathe, to see the beauty in the world again and eventually feeling strong enough to re-establish her counselling business again - but this time on different terms...her own.

Sharon Whittle is a woman who took her life in her own hands and decided to change it with amazing results. Sharon has lived in several countries, but had settled in Sydney....and being an artist found it string and not feeding her creative soul. She decided something had to change - so simply did it. With such rewarding results it's truly inspiring. From her home, her surroundings, friends and her profession Sharon has come out on top. Just another success story in the life of a midlife woman deciding to take that step into midlife and do it her way. I hope you enjoy.

On this first episode Karen Ross tells all - how she took the leap of faith after the age of 40 overcoming the obstacles in her way and found her perfect home (and getaway) in the country - the tree-change overlooking the water - a sea/tree change.  How did this change her life and her business. Women over the age of 40 changing their lives to do what they really want to find their freedom.   I hope you enjoy this podcast