The Happiness Habits Transformation Podcast

In today's episode, I’m joined by former professional dancer and founder of Dance Box, Illana Gambrill for an inspiring discussion about moving our bodies with acceptance and joy! Illana started Dance Box after experiencing the immense healing power of dance after a challenging childhood and wanting to change the narrative for herself and others. Illana says “I grew up believing that I was nothing, that I wasn’t deserving of holding my own place in the room. I was very anxious and I just knew that I couldn't continue. I made the decision to heal it. And I chose to heal it with other people as well. It was difficult to rewire but knowing I could help others spurred me on.” In our conversation today you’ll hear about: Illana’s own journey of healing through dance and how the reality of the professional dance world didn’t bring the joy that she expected it to Movement as a raw and natural expression and one of the most natural forms of medicine that can help us to ‘release the mask’ we wear in public and on social media How Illana is teaching women to be unapologetic in their passion and truth and the authenticity and confidence that comes from releasing ourselves in dance Dispelling the narrative ‘I can’t be sexy because I’m a Mom' The habits that help Illana to maintain her own power and energy on a daily basis following a mental breakdown in 2020 Illana’s DanceBox App that allows anyone to join a dance class from anywhere in the world. ‌Now, while you're listening today, think about how you can take what you learn and put it into practice. Take action in any way that's meaningful for you. And as always you’ll find the links and details of today’s show and all the other shows in this series at my new website michellereeveswrites.com/podcast

My guest on today’s episode is Marjorie Nass, who for two decades has helped thousands of women successfully navigate perimenopause and menopause and to feel healthy, vibrant, and energized. In our conversation today you’ll discover: How Marjorie’s own physical and mental health issues in her mid-late 30s as a feverishly busy corporate executive led her to discover the power that yoga and breathwork could have in healing her body and mind The different branches of yoga often overlooked by Western practitioners that can have a profound impact on our health and well-being, particularly perimenopause symptoms Why perimenopause is a stage rather than an age and why listening to our bodies is so important before we start making changes A breath and body scan practice that you can do right along with us during the episode Why lack of sleep causes a ripple effect that can impact all of our lives and how and why we need to be kinder to ourselves as we age and our body transitions into a new stage The habits and non-negotiables that Marjorie has adopted in her routine to manage her own wellness - and not just what she does but how and when she does it which is really interesting. Now, while you're listening today, think about how you can take what you learn and put it into practice. Take action in any way that's meaningful for you. And as always you’ll find the links and details of today’s show and all the other shows in this series at my website http://michellereeveswrites.com/podcast

Hey there, friends, welcome back to The Happiness Habits Transformation podcast, the place to discover the happiness habits that inspiring women have used to transform their daily routines, bringing them clarity, peace and joy.  Now, if you’re anything like me, or the thousands of women who struggle with managing their weight, and their relationship with food and nutrition, particularly during perimenopause, then I think you’re really going to enjoy today’s episode. I’m joined by food and eating psychology coach Josie Jones, founder of The Mindful Cook and creator of The Non-Diet Method. She works with women to help them to break free from restrictive diets and discover how to use nutrition and mindset skills to feel more energised, stronger and body confident. This is such an important topic and I’m delighted to have Josie back on the show. In our conversation today you’ll learn about The journey that Josie herself took to overcome her own unhealthy relationship with food The impact that our pervasive diet culture has had on generations of women and how restricting calories can actually slow down weight loss The link between our psychological response to ageing and our relationship with our bodies How we become more sensitive to cortisol during perimenopause and the impact this can have on our bodies including weight gain and cholesterol How stress can impact our absorption of nutrients and have a huge impact on our emotional response to food, and tips from Josie to help regulate our nervous system in just 10 minutes a day Now, while you're listening today, think about how you can take what you learn and put it into practice. Take action in any way that's meaningful for you. And as always you’ll find the links and details of today’s show and all the other shows in this series at my new website http://michellereeveswrites.com/podcast

In today's episode I’m chatting with Lucy Wahl, a professional organiser from LMW Edits, who believes that being organised is a superpower which can help us to shape our environment to support the positive habits we already have and encourage the habits we want to adopt. As someone who is naturally quite organised (ok, I admit it, I’m obsessed with all things organisation and planning as my coaching clients would probably tell you!), this topic is a favourite of mine but I love the extra dimension that Lucy brings to it. You’ll learn: How our environment can raise our cortisol levels, increasing stress and overwhelm - particularly relevant during perimenopause and menopause How an organised home can help to reduce friction in our daily life, relationships and mental health and make it easier to get positive habits in place How to separate our work and home environments - even if they’re in the same house The principles we can follow to start shaping our environment, whether we’re a naturally organised person or not The habits that Lucy has cultivated to support herself after nearly fainting at a client appointment Now, while you're listening today, think about how you can take what you learn and put it into practice. Take action in any way that's meaningful for you. And as always you’ll find the links and details of today’s show and all the other shows in this series at my new website http://michellereeveswrites.com/podcast   PERSONAL UPDATE But before we get to today’s interview, in this episode’s personal update I’m working through the audio book version of The Happiness Habits Transformation which, if you listened to episode 91 you’ll know is being created using AI, specifically Google Books' ai reader Madison. When I was choosing the reader’s voice it was really important to me that I’d enjoy listening to the sound as well as the content. I love the timber of Madison’s American voice, it’s soft and slightly deeper than my own voice which I think makes it easier to listen to for a longer period of time. Like most people I really don’t like the sound of my own voice! Anyway, you can let me know what you think when it’s published later on this year. In other news, I’ve started the cut phase of my weight training programme after a long gain phase. At the moment that means keeping the weights part of the programme the same, adding in 20 minutes more cardio and eating a few hundred calories less, which I’m very happy about, I didn’t enjoy how I felt eating the amount of calories I needed to for the last muscle building phase. I’m excited to see what shape my body is in when we finish this new phase, but it’s definitely part of a long-term muscle building programme for me helping to support my bone density, something we all need to think about during perimenopause and beyond. I’m also really excited to have just finished my first virtual blog tour with Love Books Tours as a self-published author. I’ve worked with Kelly from Love Books Tours before and I’ve met some absolutely lovely bloggers who have been very kind in their reviews of my book. I’ll put a link to Kelly’s website in the show notes if you’re an author and are interested in finding out more. And while we’re on the subject of reviews, just to say that they are probably the most important gift you can give an author, including me! The algorithms on online stores are biased towards books that have a larger number of reviews so if you enjoyed reading The Happiness Habits Transformation please do pop a quick review up on Amazon or Goodreads or wherever you found your copy. It would mean the world to me and help other readers find the book. Enjoy the show!

We all have habits. Some help us achieve our goals, while others can hold us back. Since 2009 I’ve learned a lot about the activities that boost my everyday happiness and I’ve written about them in my book The Happiness Habits Transformation. But knowing the things we need to do to make us happier and actually DOING them are two very different things. After all, if we’re honest we all know that eating junk food, drinking too much alcohol and not exercising regularly doesn’t constitute a healthy, joy-inducing lifestyle.  In the past when I was working with a coaching client, they were often fully aware of what they needed to do to make a significant change in their lives, but for whatever reason (and there can be many) they weren’t doing those things. The knowing just isn’t enough.I’ve been fascinated with habits for some time - after all they’ve helped me and my readers to become happier people - but I’m also fascinated with technology. I do like to geek-out on the latest apps and tools! So I thought it might be fun in this episode to take a look at how technology can help us to build stronger habits.While you're listening today, think about how you can take what you learn and put it into practise. Take action in any way that's meaningful for you. And as always you’ll find the links and tools I mention, details of today’s show and all the other shows in this series in the shownotes at michellereeveswrites.com/podcast