Hotflash inc: Doing the research you don’t have time for… and reminding you this is going somewhere good! If you are new here, this is the free weekend newsletter.
The Workout Witch 30-day Hip Release: I really feel like I’m done with traditional talk therapy. I’ve probably spent six years, off and on, and fired one therapist. And by fired I made up some excuse and didn’t tell her the real reason. (Very much me, circa 2016. But I will, right before I write about it in my book.) The thing is though, I’m still having anxiety bubbling up, my brain is still scanning the horizon for danger, the way she learned to when I was a little girl, and more and more I am reading that this is about the trauma (forgive the tired buzzword) that still remains stored in my body. Enter somatic exercises, which I had already put on my list of things to find out about. Then a gorgeous and helpful friend sent me a Reel by The Workout Witch, aka Liz Tenuto, and now I’m on Day 8 of her Free Your Hips in 30 Days. These are not workouts! These are “gentle, therapeutic movements that connect your physical body to your emotional body”. The experience so far could best be described as a mild rocking of body parts – and not only is it is incredibly relaxing, from the first day I could feel things shift. I also had crazy dreams last night, tiredness, some low mood and aches and pains – all part of the release, she says. Crazy things are supposed to happen around week 3: I’ll keep you posted.
Watching Hijack on Apple TV: I would never have watched this on my own. First off, it’s the number 1 series on Apple and even though Idris Elba is hot-as-hell, I don’t love following the crowd and who needs more anxiety? Not me (see above). But, I am going to be interviewing Mohammed Mostafa, the multi-passionate (former professional footballer, CEO, director of investing for a private equity firm, poet and yoga teacher!) who plays a concerned-when-no-one-else-is air traffic controller. Mohammed is the first Emirati to score an international role like this and the show starts out in Dubai, which were both reasons enough for me – and so I dove in. And it is just great. So different from the indy-angsty stuff I often watch. I now have a full list of things I won’t do during a hijacking: complain, act up, try to get things out of the overhead compartment, ring-lead passenger insurrections at the wrong time and be a big obvious dummy, for starters. It’s totally gripping-in-a-good-way and even better, without spoiling anything, I just encountered an awesome midlife twist you are going to love!
Matthew Tweedie’s Bruxism Be Gone Hypnotherapy: Is there anything more annoying that trying to stop a bad habit? What about a bad habit you have absolutely no control over? I’ve already cracked a crown, bucked out one of my front teeth and worn my molars down to a smooth, irreversible finish. Then there are the headaches and the neck pain. And, sure, a mouth guard is fine. But the pressure is still there, right? The grinding goes on. This week I saw a cleaning device on Instagram advertised that said if not cleaned properly, mouth guards literally eat our enamel. (I’ve been too scared to check this out, literally, whether via Google or at my dentist) Anyway, I’m done pretending this isn’t wreaking havoc on my life. I’ve devoted two nights so far this week to this particular session, which I bought months and months ago from the Australian hypnotherapist, who puts it in a way I cannot argue with: “Grinding one's teeth is directly related to the stress a person is not dealing with during the day.” The first time I fell asleep halfway through. In the second, when he got to the point where he asked my subconscious to remember when I started this ghastly habit, I found myself bursting into maniacal sobs for about a minute – with absolutely no idea why. Freaky. I’m going to keep at it.
Science stuff
• People with major risk factors for dementia, like diabetes and hypertension, slowed their cognitive decline by up to 48 percent over three years by wearing a hearing aid. The findings were presented at the recent Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2023 and published in The Lancet.
• Don’t sleep on it if you think you have sleep apnea: the loud snoring and obstructed breathing it causes increase the risk of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and general cognitive decline. That’s just the start of the bad (but also good, because you can do something about it?) news in this mouthful of an article – Association of Polysomnographic Sleep Parameters With Neuroimaging Biomarkers of Cerebrovascular Disease in Older Adults With Sleep Apnea – published in Neurology.
• Dr Jen Gunter, feisty ob-gyn, lifetime Goop antagonist, supplement critic, and author of The Menopause Manifesto, has come up with her own rating system to try and tackle HRT Hype and Estrogen Maximalism and help women weigh the risks amid the insane claims being made on social media (yes! there are risks! you might not know that from the Doctor Menopause Guru you follow!): Yellow Light Indications for Hormone Therapy (paid, but there is a lengthy preview) The Vagenda
HOTFLASH INC PODCAST NEWS
• This week friend-of-Hotflash inc and podcast guest Jennifer Harrington informed me that Hotflash inc was #1 on Goodpods’ Top 10 Women’s Health Podcasts list. I keep checking this social media site for podcasts I hadn’t really considered before, and there it is.
I have no idea how this came to be, what the criteria are or how long it is going to last. But after 85 episodes (and about a dozen more in the can) I’ll take it.
Then, when I didn’t think there could be any more good news, another friend-of-Hotflash inc and podcast guest Elisa Kurlyowicz messaged to tell me that my podcast was in the top 1.5 percent globally according to Listen Notes.
• Speaking of podcasts, this week I am a guest on my friend Andrea Donsky’s podcast and show Menopause Reimagined. We connected via TikTok and had never actually met – despite creating The Menopause Shift Summit together in 2022 (it’s coming baaack! Stay tuned!) – and this summer we finally did! This was recorded at Andrea’s home in Toronto a few weeks ago and my heart just filled up to meet her. (She’ll be on mine soon ). You can watch us talk about all the things on YouTube or listen to it on the podcast.
• As for Hotflash inc, I have done a SOLO episode this week and it’s in part about how after a lifetime of searching (and drinking) I finally found the confidence to be on a panel with a group of accomplished, impressive, high-heel-wearing, famous, smart, beautiful, kick-ass women without having that feeling of sand-through-hour glass, folding in on myself that I always used to get: “I belong in this room.”
Watch, read, click, follow, listen + learn
• Look, the well-funded marketing makeover of Barbie makes me uncomfortable. REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE. But it’s also delightfully subversive and leading to so many interesting conversations I’ll allow it. (Jokes). This is a good one… because ageism is the last ism. Unmasking Ageism: Recognizing the value of older age Little Black Book
• If you can’t say “I am enough” with a straight face, you can always work up to it by saying “I am Kenough”: Girls They Write Songs About author Caroline Bauer’s essay 25 things I learned the year I turned 50 Tue Night via The Oldster
• Yes, I didn’t want another newsletter: like you, I am drowning in them. (Thank you, by the way, for letting me in the water with you). But something made me sign up to this one by Amanda Goetz and gosh, is it good. For entrepreneurs, for work, for life. Life’s a Game
• The New York Times Magazine article about menopause that went viral a few months ago is now a podcast. Writer Susan Susan Dominus talks about what happened next in Menopause is having a moment The Daily
• I think we might be getting to the point where you can’t really say “we don’t talk about perimenopause” but then again, I talk about it every day and other people – blessedly, obviously – do not. Anne Holub wonders Why we don’t talk about perimenopause, HRT, or women’s pain (and yes, we do all need help navigating the doctor’s office) The Midst
Editor’s note
So much love to Liz O’Riordan, British breast cancer surgeon and breast cancer survivor (this is her story, in the Times of London — with a paywall), who had surgery this weekend for a recurrence. Liz is an outspoken force countering some of the hormonal zealotry that has seized the UK, a fellow member of the powerful group I am a part of, MenoClarity, and a lovely human being.
Thank you again for all your helpful information and your insight. Your material, your stories has touched and inspired me. Your fan in Brooklyn, NY Yvonne
Thanks for the helpful links. I’ve suffered from anxiety since childhood and a couple of helpful books have been: It’s Not Always Depression https://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Always-Depression-Authentic-ebook/dp/B0725F8MQY/ and DARE