[00:00.00] Judy: Well well well menopause it brings up so many connotations for people. But you know I'd like to say that it's a great time to leave the past behind and to quote Oprah. Embrace this is a time to reinvent ourselves I mean what a gift actually I think we are privileged to go through it and no, it's not easy and all transitions are not easy right? Transitions can actually suck. But they can also be a blessing and a privilege and so today in part one this week is part one I'm going to talk about my favorite books that actually helped me to navigate through menopause as a time of reinvention. I'm going to do part one today. We'll do half the books today and in the next episode come back because we'll have just as many books next time. So let's get right? after it. Okay, all right number one and these are in no particular order but they are books that I have read on more than 1 occasion. And found myself thinking about them long after I was done reading them. Okay, so the number 1 is women food and god an unexpected path to almost everything and this is by Janine Roth the quote from the inside flap of the book sums it up. Best.

Ready no matter how sophisticated or wealthy or broke or enlightened you are how you eat tells. All and I got to tell you when I first it took me about 3 tries to actually get into this book I really couldn't get past the first few pages I was. Just you know, very thinking. This is not for me. This is just not for me. This is not my kind of book and then I just said you know what give it a chance just just read through I I dared myself to read for 15 minutes without stopping and then after that I couldn't wait to finish it. So there's that. All right number 2 and I did read this I will tell you books that I read and books that I used as an audio version because I do like to do both right number 2 365 thank yous the year a simple act of daily gratitude changed my life. By John Kralich this wasn't audible and I definitely have listened to this on more than 1 occasion while outside walking by myself or with dogs. This is the true story of how the author hit a frightening low. His law firm was upside down he was in the middle of a second messy divorce. He was estranged from his 2 oldest daughters and was fearful of losing his youngest daughter. He lived in a tiny apartment that was frigid in the winter hot in the summer

And he was £40 overweight so I know he didn't go through menopause but just what he learned about this whole process that he went through this low in his life. He had to make a major change on a New York day walking in salate solitude excuse me, he considered how his life. Might change if he stopped to focus instead on what he didn't have and focused on what he did have he was inspired to write a thank you note every day for a year yes 365 thank you notes and in the next twelve months I won't spoil it for you. But I think you will find it very very helpful to see what happened to him and how he navigated through reinventing himself even though it wasn't menopause and he wasn't a woman number 3 okay, this is by Judy Holler and it's called fear is my homeboy how to slayed out boss up and succeed on your own terms. This book is a great message about learning to stop allowing fear to be the boss of you. It's all about getting braver and bolder and more confident. And what I like is her advice is really actionable. So I found this to be a very enjoyable read and again there were definitely takeaway points from it all right number 4 number 4 is this is a little bit more of a serious book. The body is not an apology second edition.

Power of radical self-love by Sonia Renee Taylor if you're on Instagram and that's where I found Sonia Renee Taylor I didn't know she was that famous I just found her on Instagram and started following her. Maybe everyone else did too. But this this book is an amazing. Thing in her stories. You can just visualize them and you can feel the emotions she really conveys her emotions quite well and I did this to me is inauudible I listened to this I'm not plugging audible here but I listened to it instead of read it. Although I do have. The Kindle version as well. Okay, so building a world that works for everyone begins according to Sonia Renee Taylor with radical self-love now. Radical self-love is not some frivolous little adjective. It actually. Picks up where self-acceptance takes off and it dives much much deeper and requires a lot more introspection radical self. Love she says is necessary to thwart the systems of oppression in our our inability. Okay, to make peace with our body feeds this oppression and when we take the real and make peace with our body systems of oppression cannot exist and all I have to say is you really have to listen and or read this to believe it. But it really takes you.

Ah, second you really have to stop and think with it. But again her examples in her stories are so I don't know what I want to say they they just really paint the picture very vividly is I guess what I want to say all right number 5 choose your story change your life silence your inner critic and rewrite your life from the inside out this is by Kindra Hall who herself and is an incredible incredible storyteller. She actually is obsessed. With the yellow brick road the wizard of oz and Dorothy and she weaves that story throughout the book as how her story works. So she talks about how most of the self stories. That we believe are invisible because they have become second nature to us in our everyday thoughts. We don't even recognize them these self stories influence our every action in hall's book. We actually can learn to take control of our self stories aka beliefs. To develop the life. We desire most this book will help us to and I really am definitely in agreement with because I've read it and have actually spent a lot of time contemplating it. It helps uncover the truth about the life we have it challenges what we think.

We know about how our life has been built and it uncovers this is my favorite part. The steps to create the life we want so we can take control of our story to become the author of who we really are this helps us to live in a different way and again it's all about reinventing. Ourselves. Love love love what this book did for me in menopause all right number 6 and this is the last one today is the x x brain the groundbreaking science of empowering women to prevent dementia by Lisa Mosconi also a fabulous book I first heard of this book I think from Lewis House he actually interviewed her on his podcast and then I couldn't read it fast enough. She talks about this woman is amazing. She's an amazing neuroscientist I hope I didn't get that wrong. But I think that's what she is I'd have to go back and look but she talks about how women more than men way more frequently suffer from anxiety depression migraines migraines excuse me brain injuries. Strokes and alzheimer's and she explains in a way that you don't mind reading it. It's not too sciencey. She explains the groundbreaking research research that shows that female brains actually do age differently.

Then male brains and she takes it a step further and helps to tell us what we can do to maximize our own brain health and help minimize ourselves as women from things like anxiety depression migraines brain injuries strokes and most of all. Alzheimer's disease and dementia I am just obsessed with her with this book again, it's something I've gone back to over and over again. These are the first 6 books that I have found really have helped me. To get through that menopause period and begin the process and continue the process now of reinventing myself. So I hope you enjoyed this make sure you come back next week because next week I have 6 more books for you that have also. Super helped me to get through and continue to get through this menopause in post menopause wonderful privileged blessed period of life and is it all. Great. No, it isn't all great. Of course it's not if it were all great I wouldn't need 12 books to read right? and neither would you but listen. I want to thank you for tuning in today remember the next episode in every episode comes out on Tuesdays here on the air hug community podcast if you are super interested in knowing more about these books respond to my email below in the show notes and.

I will put you on our mailing list and I will send out actually a copy of these 12 books so that you can actually see them I'm sure you didn't remember them all. You may want to actually stop this podcast and go back today but also go ahead and and shoot me an email i'll. Put it down there and just say I want the list. Okay, great tata for now.