Advertise on podcast: The Menopause Mindset

Often times, clients will see me for an assessment, they'll read their treatment plan and then quietly disappear.  It's like their mind convinces them that this is going to open up a whole world of trouble. Of course your mind does that!  It's standard.  It's doing exactly what it’s designed to do.  Protect you.  It wants to keep things predictable and contained.  So when the invitation to go deeper starts to become a possibility, it makes sense that your mind wants to pull you back.  It believes "this inner work malarky might be too much"  And yet, there’s another part of you which is quieter and deeper but just as important.  It's the part of you that knows an intervention is needed because it wants to release something, it wants to come home to itself.   In this week’s episode, I gently demystify what “doing the inner work” actually looks like in reality and why it doesn’t have to be as intense or overwhelming as you might imagine Work with me 121:  www.sallygarozzo.com Join Becoming Waitlist:  www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming  Send me a direct message Support the show Send me a direct message Support the show

Most menopause conversations focus almost entirely on hormones. But what if that’s only part of the story? In this episode, Sally Garozzo explores emerging neuroscience on estradiol, fear circuitry, and trauma exposure, including a 2025 study suggesting that estrogen interacts differently with the brain’s threat regulation system depending on prior stress and trauma history. We unpack why HRT helps many women but isn’t always the whole answer, how the nervous system shapes our menopausal experience, and why understanding the intersection of menopause, trauma, and nervous system regulation can offer a more complete picture of midlife wellbeing. Research referenced in this episode Stevens JS et al. (2025). Estradiol modulation of threat circuitry and PTSD vulnerability.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12745815/ Sartin-Tarm A et al. (2020). Estradiol Modulates Neural and Behavioral Arousal in Women With PTSD.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7606348/ Glover EM et al. Estrogen and extinction of fear memories.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25796471/ Wegerer M et al. (2014). Low estradiol and fear extinction responses.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4256064/ Zeidan MA et al. (2011). Estradiol enhances fear extinction recall via vmPFC–amygdala interaction.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3197763/****************************************** Work with me 121:  www.sallygarozzo.com Join Becoming Waitlist:  www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming  Send me a direct message Support the show Send me a direct message Support the show

In this episode we explore what it's like when your 'felt sense' isn't believed especially in childhood and how this impacts our health and our menopause.  We look at how subtle, repeated invalidation shapes the quality of our attachments, why women often become the emotional regulators of their families, how functional freeze develops, and why menopause can feel like all of this unravels at once.  We also examine the difference between attunement and optimisation — and why healing begins with being met, not fixed. It's a good one for anyone who feels there's more to menopause than 'just' hormones.   *********************** Work with me 121:  www.sallygarozzo.com Join Becoming Waitlist:  www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming  Send me a direct message Support the show

I currently have six paint samples on my living room wall.  They are all technically blue. None of them are the same.  Which feels… symbolic.  In this episode, I’m thinking about menopause not as art and refinement. As the shift from fluorescent to tonal. From performance to composition.  There’s a turtle.  There’s London. There’s a river that looks like it’s meandering but absolutely knows where it’s going. And somewhere in the middle of all that: the quiet realisation that midlife might not be demolition, it might be editing. If you’ve ever stood in front of a wall thinking, “This one almost works… but not quite,” this conversation might feel familiar. Bring your undertones :) *************************** ✅T o put your name down on the waitlist for Becoming, here's the link:  www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming *************************** 📲 Connect with Sally: Email: [email protected]  [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygarozzo/ Send me a WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/FTARBMO7CRLEL1 Send me a direct message Support the show

The DUTCH test has become one of the most talked-about hormone assessments in the menopause space. Some women describe it as illuminating and empowering. Some medical professionals describe it as unnecessary, over-interpreted, or a waste of money. So why the disagreement? In this episode, I step back from the noise and explore what’s actually being argued. What assumptions sit underneath functional hormone testing? What assumptions sit underneath conventional medicine? And why does this debate feel so emotionally charged? Rather than taking sides, we look at the psychological and structural differences between these two paradigms — and what happens when menopausal women find themselves caught in the middle. If you’ve ever felt validated by testing… dismissed by medicine… or confused by the intensity of the conversation online, this episode is for you. Join the waitlist for BECOMING 🔗 Join the waitlist: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming ********************************************* 📲 Connect with Sally: Email: [email protected]  [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygarozzo/ Send me a WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/FTARBMO7CRLEL1 Send me a direct message Support the show

We live in a culture that rewards certainty.  In this episode, I reflect on the energy surrounding recent public controversies and ask a different question: what if moral outrage is sometimes a nervous system strategy rather than moral clarity?  Drawing on anxiety physiology, childhood conditioning, and midlife change, I explore how certainty can feel like safety, and why building capacity for uncertainty might be the real work as we step into midlife.   Join the waitlist for BECOMING 🔗 Join the waitlist: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming ********************************************* 📲 Connect with Sally: Email: [email protected]  [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygarozzo/ Send me a WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/FTARBMO7CRLEL1 Send me a direct message Support the show

There’s a kind of care that looks loving on the surface,  yet somehow leaves both the receiver and giver more tense than before.   This episode delves into this often unexplored territory.  It’s called ‘the discipline of not intervening’.  Of course I'm not talking about neglectfulness, but I am talking about healthy restraint.  And what becomes possible when silence and space are allowed to make room for the natural order of things to emerge.  If you’ve ever noticed yourself holding everything together,  or sensed the quiet cost of always stepping in,  this episode may be for you.  ******************************************** Join the waitlist for BECOMING 🔗 Join the waitlist: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming ********************************************* 📲 Connect with Sally: Email: [email protected]  [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygarozzo/ Send me a WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/FTARBMO7CRLEL1 Send me a direct message Support the show

We talk a lot about slowing down and how it's really good for us, but we talk much less about what it means to stay.  Like really stay.... without doing it for productivity gains.   This episode explores holding space for yourself,  not as a technique, but as a way of inhabiting yourself, experiencing yourself without the need to learn from it yet (and why that's really good for your HPA axis!) Join me for this short but profound episode.  ****************** ‘Becoming’ is the new membership I’ve created for this phase Becoming is a space for women in this in-between phase where old identities no longer fit, and new ones haven’t fully arrived yet. The waitlist is now open. 🔗 Join the waitlist: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming ********************************************* 📲 Connect with Sally: Email: [email protected]  [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygarozzo/ Send me a WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/FTARBMO7CRLEL1 Send me a direct message Support the show

If you’re tired in a way rest doesn’t touch… If you’ve done the work but still feel slightly on edge… If being “strong” or “capable” no longer feels like something you want to keep doing… This episode is for you. This is a quiet, spacious fireside conversation about something that sits underneath anxiety, exhaustion, relationship strain, and the sense of feeling subtly disconnected from yourself, especially in midlife and menopause. This is about attunement and what happens in the body when it’s missing. If you want to feel: less braced against lifemore settled inside yourselfunderstood without having to explaincalmer without being told to “relax”a sense of warmth, steadiness, and inner permission…this episode is an invitation to listen. ****************** ‘Becoming’ is the new membership I’ve created for this phase Becoming is a space for women in this in-between phase where old identities no longer fit, and new ones haven’t fully arrived yet. The waitlist is now open. 🔗 Join the waitlist: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming ********************************************* 📲 Connect with Sally: Email: [email protected]  [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygarozzo/ Send me a WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/FTARBMO7CRLEL1 Send me a direct message Support the show

What if menopause isn’t a breakdown, but a house renovation you’re living inside? In this episode, I reframe menopause in a way I wish someone had offered me. Not as decline. Not as loss. Not as something to “push through.” But as a neurological remodel happening in real time, while I’m still expected to function, work, parent, decide what cheese to buy, and hold everything together. No wonder it feels chaotic. What I share in this episode: Why menopause is not just hormonal, but deeply neurologicalHow fluctuating estrogen affects mood, memory, focus, and emotional regulationWhy brain fog, emotional sensitivity, and slower thinking are not failures, but signs of reorganizationWhat’s really happening when my tolerance for noise, pressure, people-pleasing, and nonsense disappearsHow the amygdala shifts and threat sensitivity gradually dials downWhy decisions feel slower, more embodied, and less driven by urgencyHow identity itself begins to shift during menopause, not collapseThe grief, the disorientation, and the unexpected clarity that emerges on the other sideWhy post-menopause often brings deeper contentment, discernment, and grounded leadershipIf you’re like me and feeling: Less sharp but more sensitiveSlower but more discerningLess tolerant of bullshitLess available for emotional labourMore interested in depth than surface-level busynessNothing has gone wrong. Something is reorganizing with intent. Join me! ****************** ‘Becoming’ is the new membership I’ve created for this phase Becoming is a space for women in this in-between phase where old identities no longer fit, and new ones haven’t fully arrived yet. The waitlist is now open. 🔗 Join the waitlist: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming ********************************************* 📲 Connect with Sally: Email: [email protected]  [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygarozzo/ Send me a WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/FTARBMO7CRLEL1 Send me a direct message Support the show

What if menopause isn’t something to manage… What if it’s something to participate in? In this deeply reflective solo episode, I return after time away with a radical reframe of what “mindset” actually means in menopause, and why the phrase has become so triggering, misunderstood, and frankly, unhelpful. Fresh from turning 50 and beginning my Clinical Hypnotherapy diploma, I share what it’s like to be in the middle of a personal and professional unlearning. Long-held beliefs are being questioned. Identities are softening. Certainty is giving way to curiosity. This isn’t a how-to episode. It’s a fireside conversation for women who feel something deeper is happening beneath the surface. In this episode, I explore: 🧠 Why “just change your mindset” can feel dismissive and where that conversation breaks down 🔍 What mindset actually means (and why it’s not positive thinking) 🫀 How perception, nervous system safety, and hormones are in constant dialogue 🌡️ Why you can’t think your way into more estrogen — but can influence how symptoms land in the body 🔥 The biology behind hot flushes, stress, adrenaline, and the feedback loops that intensify symptoms 🌀 What hypnotherapy really is (and no, it’s not stage hypnosis or mind control) 🪞 Why menopause is a transition of identity, not just hormones 🧳 How stress can exist even when life looks “fine” on paper 🧩 Why perfectionism is often a trauma response — and why menopause dismantles it 🌱 Menopause as compost: decay and renewal happening at the same time 🤝 Why this stage of life asks for collaboration, not control This episode is for you if: 😮‍💨 You’re tired of oversimplified menopause advice 😬 You bristle at mindset talk but still feel drawn to something deeper 🐢 You sense menopause is asking you to slow down, not push harder 🤍 You want compassion, nuance, and honesty — not fixes 🧬 You’re curious about the mind–body relationship without bypassing biology A quiet announcement I introduce Becoming, a new membership space I’m creating, not to fix or optimize women in menopause, but to offer somewhere to be while identity, nervous system, and meaning are reorganizing. This is not a course. This is not a program. It’s a space for women who feel the shift and don’t want to rush through it. The waitlist is now open. No urgency. No pressure. Just an invitation. 👉 Join the Becoming waitlist: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/becoming If this episode felt like relief rather than effort… if something in your body quietly said yes… trust that. Menopause isn’t a problem to solve. It’s a process you’re allowed to be in. You’re not broken. You’re becoming. ************************************************************************************* 📲 Connect with Sally: Email: [email protected]  [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: Send me a direct message Support the show

This conversation is not about ‘surviving’ menopause. It’s about claiming power, pleasure, and potency on the other side of it. Sally sits down with Carla Wainwright, holistic wellness coach, sexual awakening facilitator, and self-described midlife alchemist, for a deeply grounding, myth-shattering conversation about what really happens when women cross the threshold of midlife. With a background in biology, homeopathy, and over 30 years of embodiment work, Carla bridges science and the sacred in a way that feels both practical and deeply liberating. This isn’t woo for the sake of woo, and it’s not cold science either. It’s the place where metabolism, trauma, hormones, pleasure, and power actually meet. In this episode, we talk about why menopause is not a decline but a rite of passage. Why so many women feel unprepared for it, and why the years after perimenopause can become the most creative, sexually alive, and authentic chapter of a woman’s life…if she’s supported properly. Carla shares how her own journey — from wildlife biologist working with endangered species to guiding women through sexual healing and midlife transformation — came full circle when she entered perimenopause herself. What emerged was a model she calls sacred metabolism: tending not just to blood sugar and hormones, but to the nervous system, the inner child, and the feminine life force itself. We explore why unstable blood sugar can keep women stuck in fight-or-flight, amplify trauma, worsen menopausal symptoms, and quietly erode desire. Why pleasure isn’t indulgent. And why many women lose touch with intimacy, not because something is wrong with them, but because no one ever taught them how to stay connected to their bodies as they change. This episode also dives into sex in midlife — honestly, tenderly, and without shame. We talk about why desire changes, why stress is the ultimate libido killer, and why reconnection always starts with the relationship you have with yourself. No pressure to perform. No swinging from chandeliers. Just curiosity, safety, and choice. You’ll also hear: Why menopause can make women less people-pleasing and more clear about what they wantHow sexual energy shifts when menstruation ends — and why some traditions call this phase “the second spring.”The link between trauma resurfacing and perimenopauseWhy women initiate most divorces between 45–55How sacred feminine practices reconnect women to intuition, creativity, and embodied wisdomThe myths about menopause that quietly serve patriarchySimple daily practices that build momentum when you feel stuck in survival modeThis is a conversation about remembering who you are — in your body, in your desire, and in your power — at a stage of life that has been deeply misunderstood 📲 Connect with Carla: Website: https://www.carlawainwright.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlawainwright/ Free Gift: https://www.carlawainwright.com/vibrancyguide Sally's Links: Email: [email protected]  [Free Guide] Healing The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtraumatheguide [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma [On-Demand Workshop] Redefine Your Values at Menopause and Live Life in Alignment With Them [£27]: Send me a direct message Support the show

Your Cycle Isn’t the Problem — The Way We’ve Been Taught to Live Is What if the days you feel flat, emotional, tired, or “off” aren’t something to fix…  but something to listen to? In this episode, Sally is joined by Claire Baker — menstrual cycle educator, author, and founder of Cycle Coach School — for a grounded, honest conversation about menstrual cycle awareness, agency, and the long-term impact of ignoring the body’s rhythms. We’re not asking you to ‘love your period’, we’re just saying it might be nice to stop fighting with your body. 🔥 WHAT WE TALK ABOUT 🩸 Claire’s journey off hormonal birth control — and what it was like to experience a natural cycle after 10 years on the pill  🌙 The four phases of the menstrual cycle, explained with nuance (not rigid rules or social-media trends)  📉 Why cycle tracking is about curiosity, self-trust, and noticing patterns — not biohacking or optimisation  🧠 “Cycle amnesia” and why writing things down helps us understand ourselves over time  💔 The shame, silence, and secrecy many of us grew up with around periods — and why inner-teenager repair matters  🔄 How cycle awareness remains deeply relevant in perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause  🌱 One small, practical way to begin building a kinder relationship with your body today “Everything is cyclical — our energy, creativity, relationships, and lives.” 🧭 ABOUT CLAIRE BAKER Claire Baker has spent over a decade teaching women how to work with their menstrual cycle rather than against it. She is the author of 50 Things You Need to Know About Periods, creator of Adore Your Cycle, and founder of Cycle Coach School. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan and Women’s Health.   🎧 Listen if you’re tired of powering through — and ready to meet your body with more curiosity, compassion, and trust.   📲 Connect with Claire: Website: www.clairebaker.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/_clairebaker_ Sally's Links: Email: [email protected]  [Free Guide] Healing The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtraumatheguide [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma [On-Demand Workshop] Redefine Your Values at Menopause and Live Life in Alignment With Them [£27]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/redefine  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallygarozzomindmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallygarozzo/ Send me a WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/FTARBMO7CRLEL1 Send me a direct message Support the show

As we know, menopause is not a downfall, it’s a metamorphosis, and Petra Coveney—former BBC journalist, founder of Menopause Yoga, bestselling author, and unapologetic menopause rebel—joined Sally to tear down every stale narrative about “the change.” And trust us… this conversation goes there. Petra went through perimenopause early, alone, confused, and dismissed by doctors who had nothing to offer her except a pat on the head and a “good luck.” The frustration, shame and rage… she tapped into all of it.  And what came out of that fire? Menopause Yoga—the world’s first specialist yoga program built to support the physical, emotional, and psychological rollercoaster of perimenopause through second spring. In this episode, Petra breaks down: 🔥 Why rage is a superpower (and what it’s trying to wake up in you) 🔥 The moment she realized NO ONE was helping menopausal women—and why she decided she would 🔥 The resistance she got from BOTH yoga studios and doctors (spoiler: everyone thought she was “too much”) 🔥 Why community circles are non-negotiable for healing 🔥 How yoga, breathwork, and evidence-based education can literally rewire your menopausal brain 🔥 The truth about “brain fog” and why it might actually be your brain upgrading itself 🔥 Why we need to stop whispering the word menopause and say it out loud—with pride Petra’s mission is bold: Break the taboo. Reclaim the narrative. Connect women back to their power. Menopause isn't an ending. It’s the doorway to your second spring—a phase of clarity, leadership, and fierce selfhood. If you’re in the weeds of perimenopause, waking up drenched, snapping at your loved ones, losing words in the middle of a meeting, or wondering “Is it just me?”—this episode will feel like a giant exhale. And if you’ve ever felt ashamed of these changes? Petra is here to hand you permission to drop that shame today. ORDER PETRA’S BOOK WITH AN EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT Get Menopause Yoga and Wellbeing: A Daily Practice Guide Use the discount code: %PETRA25 Only valid on the Singing Dragon shop. If you loved this episode… Share it with someone who needs to hear: “You are not losing yourself — you are becoming someone new.” 📲 Connect with Petra: Website: www.menopause-yoga.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/menopause_yoga Facebook: Menopause Yoga Sally's Links: Email: [email protected]  [Free Guide] Healing The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtraumatheguide [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma [On-Demand Workshop] Redefine Your Values at Menopause and Live Life in Alignment With Them [£27]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/redefine  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: Send me a direct message Support the show

In this episode, Sally sits down with Dr. Lara Briden, naturopathic doctor and bestselling author of Period Repair Manual, Hormone Repair Manual, and Metabolism Repair for Women. She’s been called the period revolutionary—and after this conversation, you’ll understand exactly why. We talk about the massive paradox in women’s health: Society suddenly worships estrogen and progesterone when women hit their mid-40s… …yet spent the last 60 years casually switching those same hormones off in teenage girls. Yep. We’re going there. What We Get Into Why regular ovulation is not just “nice to have” — it’s literally how young women make hormonesHow we got stuck in a 60-year loop of shutting down women’s ovarian function (hint: the pill’s “regulate your period” pitch started as a cover story)The weird disconnect between medical guidelines that say periods are a vital sign… and the normalization of medicating them awayWhat a healthy period actually looks like (spoiler: it shouldn’t hurt and it shouldn’t require you to white-knuckle your way through PMS)Why so many modern symptoms aren’t “women being women”—they’re the result of environment, lifestyle, and a system that never prioritized female physiologyAnd the big one: Did menopause evolve? Or is it some biological glitch because women are living longer?The Mic-Drop Moments Lara breaks down why menopause absolutely evolved on purpose—and why humans are more like killer whales than we thinkThe “grandmother effect” and why older women have always been essential for the survival of the tribeThe wild fact that among the Hadza, and other traditional-living communities, menopause brings zero symptomsThe reality that our cycles are meant to be signals, not punishmentsIf You’ve Ever Thought… “I guess this is just how my period is.” “This is normal for my age.” “Maybe my hormones just hate me.” …this episode might flip your worldview upside down (in a good way). About Dr. Lara Briden Lara practices in Christchurch, New Zealand, helping women navigate PCOS, PMS, endometriosis, perimenopause, and other hormone-health challenges. Her work bridges biology, history, anthropology, and real-world clinical wisdom. 📲 Connect with Lara:   Website: https://www.larabriden.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/larabriden/ Sally's Links: Email: [email protected]  [Free Guide] Healing The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtraumatheguide [On-Demand Masterclass] How To Heal The Trauma Underlying Your Menopause Symptom Severity [£17]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/healingtrauma [On-Demand Workshop] Redefine Your Values at Menopause and Live Life in Alignment With Them [£27]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/redefine  [Online Practitioners Diploma - Self Paced] Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£127]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/meno [One to One] Bespoke Transformational Hypnotherapy & Coaching: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rapid-transformational-therapist  Instagram: https://www.in Send me a direct message Support the show