Welcome, beautiful woman.
This meditation is an invitation into the quiet, powerful space of ancestral healing — a place where the personal and the collective meet within your own body and breath. Inspired by the quote from Maya Tiwari, “When we heal ourselves, we heal our ancestors and our children,” this practice is a soul-deep remembering of the women you come from… and the women yet to come. It’s for the part of you that’s ready to let go of old patterns, soften inherited stories, and create spaciousness in your womb, your heart, your life.
Inside this practice, we tend to the Red Thread — the energetic thread that connects you to your mother, her mother, and all the mothers before. Whether your relationship with your mother has been nourishing or complex (or both, as mine has been), you are welcome here exactly as you are. This is a space for honesty, softness, and true transformation.
I share from my own lived experience — noticing in recent years how my mother’s energy has shifted, how martyrdom and negativity made a show at times. And how that same energy began to mirror in my own mothering and marriage. Through this work, I’ve been able to hold those patterns with love, understand where they come from, and begin the healing — for myself, my sons, and the line of women who walk with me. This is not light work. But it is liberating. And you don’t do it alone.
I invite you to approach this practice in a soft and sacred way. Light a candle. Sit quietly. Hold a piece of red thread if you have one, or simply imagine it. Let yourself be held by the great feminine — the Earth beneath you and the ancestors behind you. There is no right way to feel. There is only your truth.
Let this be a moment of devotion — to yourself, to the women who came before, and to the world you're shaping with your healing. 🧵 It ends with you. And it begins with you. With love, Edwina 🌹
As we wrap up this first season of the Perimenopause Summit, I wanted to bring us together in a closing circle.
We find ourselves in the midst of Navaratri — the Nine Nights of the Goddess — and it feels so aligned to close under the gaze of Shakti herself. Each night honours a different form of the Goddess: fierce Durga, abundant Lakshmi, wise Saraswati. She protects, she creates, she dissolves, she renews.
Perimenopause has its own Navaratri. It asks us to shed, to rest, to rise. It invites us to call on the Goddess to carry us across doubts, through rage, and into truth with courage, compassion, and clarity.
Over these past days, we’ve heard from so many incredible women. The feedback has been beautiful:
Jane McCann’s raw honesty was “so refreshing, inspiring, and real.”
Listening to Katie Rose felt like “two old friends catching up,” while Nat Kringoudis offered “so much knowledge on hormones and health.”
One listener loved the line: “When oestrogen drops, your give-a-shit drops.”
Another wrote: “I’m careful what perimenopause conversations I put in my ears, but this one was worth it.”
A woman in her mid-30s shared how much these conversations matter to her now — as a mother and practitioner preparing for what’s ahead.
And many of you told me you feel “shifted, more in tune, and held by a community of women, even if we don’t know each other in person.”
Nearly 1000 downloads later, I’m humbled and grateful. I never set out to do this work or be a voice for perimenopause, but Dharma has a way of finding us. And here we are, breaking the taboo, changing the conversation, and beginning to see this season differently.
Inside this closing session, I share:
✨ Practices you can take into daily life — mantra, meditation, rest, adornment, beautifying your thoughts and rituals.
✨ Reflections on the wisdom we’ve heard from all our incredible speakers.
✨ A blessing for your own journey into the next season of life.
💛 If you loved the summit, please take a moment to leave a review on your podcast app — it helps more women find these conversations and feel less alone.
🌸 This is not the end. Another season of the Perimenopause Summit will be coming soon.
And if you’d like to keep walking together, the doors to the Marigold Membership are open. Inside we continue this work — Ayurveda in feminine form, yoga and nidra, seasonal cleanses, and a circle of women walking side by side. As a welcome, you’ll also receive a one-to-one Ayurvedic wellness session with me.
✨ Thank you for being part of this first season. May we carry Durga’s courage, Lakshmi’s abundance, and Saraswati’s wisdom into our own journeys — and walk forward not in fear, but in power, grace, and sisterhood.
More about Marigold Membership for Perimenopause & Beyond HERE
In this rich and practical conversation, Edwina is joined by Rachael Pole—ex-nurse, dietitian, yoga and breathwork teacher, and Fast Like a Girl coach trained with Dr. Mindy Pelz—to explore how women can harness the power of fasting and lifestyle shifts to support their hormones in perimenopause and beyond.
✨ A Personal Hormone Journey
Rachael shares her story of navigating late-onset menstruation, long-term contraceptive use, post-pill amenorrhea, PCOS, miscarriages, and eventually finding balance again in her 40s through functional nutrition and fasting. Her lived experience brings a depth of understanding to her work with women.
✨ Cortisol, Stress & the “Bucket” Analogy
We discuss the impact of stress hormones on women’s health, why cortisol must be regulated before anything else, and simple tools—from breathwork and short walks to oxytocin-boosting hugs—that release pressure from the stress bucket and restore balance.
✨ Fasting for Women
Rachael unpacks how fasting is not about deprivation, but about rhythm, rest, and repair. She explains the two energy systems (sugar-burning and fat-burning), why women need to fast differently at different stages of their cycle, and how to start gently with an overnight fast.
✨ Detox & Gut Health
From leafy greens to liver support, bowel health, and toxin awareness, Rachael highlights how detox pathways and gut health underpin hormone balance. She introduces Mindy Pelz’s “3 Ps” approach—probiotics, prebiotics, and polyphenols—and shares practical ways to weave them into daily meals.
✨ The Six Types of Fasts
Rachael walks us through different fasting styles—from a gentle 13-hour overnight fast to 17-hour autophagy fasts, 24-hour gut resets, and extended 36–72 hour fasts that support fat burning, anti-aging, dopamine resets, and immune regeneration.
✨ Living in Flow
The conversation closes with reflections on working with nature’s rhythms—sleep, eating windows, and cycles—so that perimenopause becomes not a battle to be managed, but a rite of passage into deeper vitality, clarity, and power.
🌿 What You’ll Learn
Why balancing cortisol is the first step in hormone health
How fasting supports hormonal balance when done cyclically and safely
Practical detox and gut-healing tools for midlife women
The role of joy, oxytocin, and micro-moments of self-care
How to view perimenopause as a transformative, empowering stage of life
This episode is an invitation to simplify, return to your body’s wisdom, and embrace the free, powerful practices that can bring more energy, ease, and clarity in midlife.
In this heart-centred conversation, Edwina sits down with Ayurvedic health coach and author Jody Vassallo (The Yogic Kitchen) to explore the messy, beautiful, and empowering realities of perimenopause and menopause.
Together they dive into:
🌼 The importance of offering alternative perspectives beyond mainstream hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
🌼 Jody’s personal journey through perimenopause and menopause, including anxiety, body changes, and her shift into deeper self-care and trust.
🌼 Ayurvedic practices for managing symptoms like hot flushes, sleep disturbances, and anxiety—through cooling foods, yoga, breathwork, and lifestyle rituals.
🌼 Why mindful eating, seasonal rhythms, and oil-based self-care (like abhyanga) can help women feel nourished and grounded.
🌼 The spiritual side of menopause: embracing this transition as a rite of passage into wisdom years.
🌼 The power of women supporting women, breaking taboos, and reclaiming perimenopause as a sacred season of life.
Resources & Mentions:
Jody’s book: The Yogic Kitchen (offered as part of the summit giveaway)
Jody’s podcast: Changing Seasons
Jody’s upcoming course: Food is Medicine
Find all this and more HERE
In this conversation, Edwina is joined by Bianca Clayton—chiropractor, educator, and movement guide—to explore how dynamic neuromuscular stabilisation (DNS) can support women in perimenopause and beyond.
✨ Reawakening Natural Movement
Bianca explains DNS as a method of reconnecting with the developmental movement patterns we all learned as babies—rolling, crawling, sitting, squatting—that form the foundation of how we move as adults. By returning to these pathways, we can restore strength, stability, and awareness, even after years of habits, injuries, or postural changes.
✨ The Breath as Foundation
At the heart of DNS is the breath. Bianca highlights how cultural conditioning—like sucking in our bellies—disrupts natural breathing, and how relearning diaphragmatic, 360-degree breath can reset our core and pelvic floor. This not only improves physical stability but also regulates the nervous system and reduces stress.
✨ Perimenopause, Pelvic Floor & Confidence
Bianca sheds light on the often-taboo topic of pelvic floor health, reminding us how central it is to confidence, sexual wellbeing, and quality of life. She explains how breath-led, functional movement can improve pelvic floor function and address common issues like incontinence, hip pain, and instability—concerns many women face in midlife.
✨ Play, Longevity & Joyful Movement
From balance and coordination to joint health, Bianca encourages women to stay curious and playful with movement—whether that’s jumping, squatting, or simply getting up and down from the floor. Longevity, she reminds us, isn’t about doing more; it’s about consistent, joyful movement that keeps us adaptable, resilient, and confident in our bodies.
🌿 What You’ll Take Away
Practical breathing techniques to support core and pelvic floor function
How DNS principles can ease perimenopausal symptoms like instability, hip pain, and fatigue
The role of play and joyful movement in vitality and longevity
Why small shifts—like moving more often when sitting—make a big difference
Bianca’s work is a reminder that sustainable, nourishing movement is possible at any age—and that midlife can be a powerful invitation to reconnect with strength, confidence, and joy.
Find Bianca (& her Hubby Darren who is an Osteopath & Ashtanga Yoga Teacher) in clinic Pacific Palms NSW and online with Banksia Movement, where they run a fabulous online movement membership.
Instagram: @banksia.movement
In this heartfelt and humorous conversation, Edwina is joined by speaker and creator Jane McCann to explore the raw realities and surprising gifts of perimenopause. Jane shares her personal journey, beginning at age 43 with misdiagnosis, antidepressants, and a mental health crisis, before discovering support through social media, alternative practices, and self-care.
Together, Edwina and Jane discuss:
🌸 Perimenopause as Transformation – from the challenges of misdiagnosis to finding purpose and strength after 50.
🌸 Empowerment in Menopause – increased confidence, sexual satisfaction, and freedom that can come in this new life stage.
🌸 Embracing Ageing Naturally – letting go of the pressure to stay youthful and instead honouring the beauty of natural change.
🌸 Body & Mind Shifts – weight gain, sleep changes, and body image, with tools like exercise, Yoga Nidra, and self-acceptance.
🌸 Daily Self-Care & Gratitude – from meditation to positive affirmations, Jane reminds us that aging is a gift and self-love is the foundation. This episode is a blend of honesty, humour, and wisdom—an invitation to reframe perimenopause as a season of empowerment, authenticity, and deep self-care. 🌸
In this conversation, Edwina sits down with somatic guide, author, and women’s health advocate Kimberley Ann Johnson to explore the emotional and physiological landscape of perimenopause and menopause. Together, they unpack how these seasons of life can resurface old wounds—like sexual trauma or pregnancy loss—while also offering profound opportunities for healing and personal growth.
Kimberley shares her own journey through menopause and midlife transitions, from navigating rage and letting go of motherhood dreams to finding joy in life’s natural rhythms. She offers a compassionate perspective on how declining estrogen changes our relationships, emotions, and nervous system responses, and why perimenopause can feel like a “wet clay” moment—tender, impressionable, and ripe for transformation.
The conversation dives into:
🐆 Trauma & Perimenopause: why unresolved hurts resurface and how to approach them
🐆 The Nervous System Tiers: understanding safety, energy, and rest responses
🐆 Rage & Self-Care: expressing emotions in healthy, embodied ways
🐆 Societal Narratives: challenging the medicalised and “fix-it” approach to menopause
🐆 Embracing Ageing: reclaiming joy, wisdom, and ancestral continuity in midlife
Kimberley and Edwina both highlight the importance of simple, grounding practices—consistent meals, rest, movement in nature, and connecting with other women—while reminding us that joy and pleasure are just as vital as symptom management.
✨ This is a rich, real, and deeply affirming conversation about honouring perimenopause and menopause as sacred rites of passage.
In this heartfelt episode of the Perimenopause Summit, Edwina is joined by clinical psychologist and yoga teacher Dr. Lauren Tober for a deeply nourishing conversation about perimenopause, motherhood, and the power of self-compassion.
✨ Life Transitions
Dr. Lauren reflects on the season of mothering teenagers while moving through perimenopause—a stage she describes as both challenging and beautiful. Together, she and Edwina explore the “sweet spot” of having children who are more independent, and the opportunity this creates to return to themselves and reclaim personal space.
✨ The Inner Journey of Perimenopause
Sharing openly, Dr. Lauren speaks of perimenopause as a kind of dark night of the soul—a period that invites women to question their life’s purpose, face emotional turbulence, and prioritise self-care in new ways. She describes how the experience, while confronting, ultimately opened the door to greater fulfilment and alignment.
✨ Self-Compassion & Daily Rituals
A central theme of the conversation is compassion—especially towards oneself. Dr. Lauren offers a simple yet profound practice of saying goodnight to oneself with gentle words and touch, cultivating kindness and trust within. Edwina echoes this, sharing her own phrase—“how human of me”—as a reminder to embrace our emotions without judgment.
✨ Evolving Practice
Dr. Lauren also shares how her yoga and meditation practice has shifted over the years. From the rigour of Ashtanga in her 20s to a more spacious vinyasa practice in her 40s, she now emphasises joy, strength, and adaptability. Her morning tea ceremony and dynamic asana are daily anchors that reflect her belief that practices should be nourishing, not obligations.
🌿 What You’ll Take Away
A compassionate lens on navigating perimenopause and life’s transitions
The importance of listening to your inner wisdom and honouring what you need
Practical self-care tools to cultivate kindness and connection with yourself
Permission to evolve your yoga and mindfulness practices as your body and life change
This inspiring conversation is a reminder that perimenopause isn’t just a challenge—it’s also an invitation. An invitation to slow down, listen inward, and step into a more authentic, resilient, and self-connected way of being.
In this enlightening episode, we dive deep into this deeply personal journey of a remarkable woman, Shae Spry, who shares her unique experience with cancer, menopause, and the transformative power of self-awareness and community.
✨ Her Story
Diagnosed with breast cancer at just 24 years old while working in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, Shae opens up about the whirlwind of emotions and medical procedures that followed. Because her cancer was hormone-responsive, she entered a medically induced menopause that lasted for five years—beginning when she was only 25.
✨ The Turning Point
Shae speaks candidly about the lack of resources for younger women navigating similar challenges and why she felt compelled to share her story. On her 30th birthday, she made a pivotal decision to leave her job at a cancer hospital and travel—a choice that not only changed her life path but also led her to meet her now-husband, Mark, in Berlin. Around this time, her menstrual cycle also returned after years of hormonal suppression, marking a new chapter in her journey.
✨ Perimenopause & Intimacy
We explore the physical and emotional aspects of her ongoing experience with perimenopause—from fatigue and mood swings to the tender challenges of intimacy. She shares the importance of open communication in relationships, especially when it comes to sexual health during transitional phases.
✨ Wisdom & Resilience
Her story is infused with lessons in self-trust, intuition, and the importance of listening to our bodies. Shae encourages women to embrace their femininity and honour the natural cycles of life. Together, we also discuss the broader societal implications—why supportive workplace policies, open dialogue, and community care are so needed in the conversation around women’s health.
🌿 What You’ll Take Away
This heartfelt episode shines a light on:
Join us for this moving conversation that celebrates resilience, self-discovery, and the beauty of womanhood.
In this Perimenopause Summit episode, Edwina speaks with Nat Kringoudis—women’s health expert, doctor of Chinese medicine, and hormone specialist—about navigating the real drivers of perimenopause symptoms and reclaiming this season as an upgrade, not a downgrade.
Nat brings over two decades of experience helping women understand their hormones and challenges the common belief that symptoms are just about estrogen decline. Instead, she explains how stress and falling progesterone play a central role, and why nervous system regulation, protein, sleep, and weight training are non-negotiables for thriving in midlife.
The conversation covers:
💪 Hormones & Stress: why progesterone decline (and cortisol competition) are often at the root of symptoms
💪 Nervous System Care: practical ways to regulate stress and support resilience in daily life
💪 Sleep & Rhythm: why being in bed by 10 pm is essential for hormone health
💪 Protein & Fibre: how much women really need and why they’re vital for hormones and detoxification 💪 Weight Training: building muscle as one of the best protectors for brain, bone, and cardiovascular health
💪 Hormone Testing: why comprehensive baseline tests matter and how to interpret results beyond “normal” ranges
💪 Reframing Menopause: Nat’s powerful perspective—“an upgrade, not a downgrade”—on this life stage
Nat also shares her own midlife experiences and resources, including her hormone quiz, podcast, and practical guides for women ready to take charge of their health.
✨ This conversation is packed with truth, empowerment, and science-meets-wisdom insights to help women approach perimenopause and menopause with strength, clarity, and confidence.
In this beautiful session, Edwina is joined by yoga therapist and mentor Rachel Noakes to explore the gifts of mantra yoga and goddess teachings as companions on the perimenopause journey. Rachel shares her personal reflections on entering her fifties, moving through midlife transitions, and finding deep purpose and authenticity through spiritual practice.
Together, Edwina and Rachel dive into:
🌸 Midlife as Transformation – embracing perimenopause as a sacred season of change, with space for reflection on grief, purpose, and life choices.
🌸 Goddess Teachings – how archetypes such as Durga and Saraswati offer strength, balance, and empowerment during this stage of life.
🌸 The Power of Chanting – Rachel’s journey with the Durga Suktam, and how precision in Sanskrit chanting (diacritics, notes, breathwork) becomes a meditative and transformative practice.
🌸 Guided Meditation – a gentle introduction to Sanskrit chanting, including mantras invoking Kanyakumari, Durga, and Gayatri.
🌸 Durga Energy – connecting with the protective and supportive qualities of the divine feminine for empowerment in perimenopause.
Rachel also introduces her upcoming offerings:
✨ The Becoming – her online membership weaving yoga philosophy and mantra chanting.
✨ A Way of the Goddess retreat in North Bali (November).
✨ A spiritual Yatra to India (January).
Books mentioned:
Find the mantra notation/diacritics for the Durga Gayatri HERE
This session is a reminder that perimenopause can be more than a physical shift—it can be a season of sacred expansion, creativity, and devotion. 🌸
In this episode of the Perimenopause Summit, Edwina is joined by Ayurvedic practitioner and Vedic wisdom teacher Laura Plumb for a heart-opening conversation on beauty, consciousness, and the sacred transition of perimenopause.
Laura shares how true beauty is not just skin deep, but a higher state of consciousness—an invitation to presence, connection, and living from the heart. Together, she and Edwina explore how Ayurveda guides women through midlife with practical, nourishing practices that support rest, vitality, and emotional balance.
The conversation includes:
🌙 Beauty as Consciousness: shifting from outer appearance to inner radiance and presence
🌙 Ayurvedic Wisdom for Midlife: oil massage, grounding rituals, and foods that build ojas (life energy)
🌙 Self-Love & Intergenerational Care: replenishing yourself while honouring ancestral rhythms
🌙 Detox & Prevention: daily habits and simple meals to support digestion and protect against modern toxins
🌙 Emotional Release: the healing power of Yoga Nidra and meditation for nervous system reset
🌙 Embracing the Wisdom Years: menopause as a rite of passage into alignment, reflection, and self-acceptance
Laura reminds us that perimenopause is not something to fix, but a threshold into deeper embodiment, wisdom, and self-love. By simplifying daily rhythms, resting more, and tending to body and spirit with kindness, this transition becomes a path of radiance rather than resistance.
✨ Tune in for a soulful exploration of Ayurveda, beauty, and the wisdom of menopause—with practices you can begin today.
In this episode, Edwina is joined by yoga teacher, doula, Ayurvedic guide, and author Katie Rose to explore the power of intuition, Ayurveda, and women’s interwoven life patterns during perimenopause and beyond.
Katie shares insights from her new book The Yoni Codes, which invites women to trust themselves and reconnect with their inner wisdom. Together, she and Edwina dive into holistic strategies for navigating perimenopause—beyond pharmaceuticals—through simple, steady lifestyle choices, seasonal cleanses, and cultivating joy in everyday moments.
The conversation covers:
🌹 Self-Trust & Intuition: how perimenopause can be a gateway to rediscovering your body’s wisdom🌹 Perimenopause Strategies: holistic tools vs. HRT, from magnesium for sleep to cutting caffeine and alcohol
🌹 Ayurveda & Hormone Balance: the liver’s role, ama (toxicity), and the value of seasonal resets
🌹 The Red Thread: intergenerational patterns, ancestral trauma, and how they show up in midlife
🌹 Friendship & Connection: why laughter, sisterhood, and simple pleasures are medicine in this season
🌹 Personal Passions: honouring your “cruise”—that dream or project you’ve put off for too long
Katie and Edwina remind us that perimenopause is not a decline, but an invitation to greater empowerment, self-awareness, and joy. By slowing down, tending to our bodies, and pursuing what truly lights us up, we can transform this season into one of deep healing and growth.
✨ Tune in for wisdom, laughter, and practical tools to navigate perimenopause with grace, clarity, and self-trust.
Welcome to the Perimenopause Summit ✨
This summit is so close to my heart because perimenopause is not just a list of symptoms to manage, but a powerful season of life — a natural rite of passage, and a portal into becoming your most free self.
In this opening episode, I share why I created the summit, a little of my personal story and what you can expect over the next 12 days. Together, we’ll cut through the noise, the barrage of fads, and the medicalised takeover of this season, and instead lean into the whispers of our bodies — messages that guide us to joy, softness, and empowerment.
These conversations are raw, real, and unedited — because women don’t need to be edited or silenced. You’ll hear practical advice you can action for free, alongside spiritual insights that invite you to meet yourself exactly where you are. From simple, everyday practices to deeper soul work, this summit offers tools, wisdom, and inspiration to help you embrace perimenopause not as something to endure, but as something to celebrate.
✨ What you’ll hear in this episode:
Why perimenopause is a season of life, not something to “push through”
My perspective on this time as a portal to freedom and self-acceptance
The golden threads woven through the 11 conversations with our speakers
How the summit works: one conversation released daily, straight to your private podcast feed
How to join the community and be part of the giveaways
✨ Housekeeping:
A new episode drops every day for 12 days. Listen in your rhythm — on a walk, while cooking, or with a quiet cup of tea.
Join the Instagram broadcast channel for behind-the-scenes updates, bonus inspiration, and prize draws.
Share your reflections on Instagram and tag @edwina_peden — I’d love to hear what resonates for you, and you’ll go in the draw for our giveaways.
Perimenopause is not a season to endure — it’s a season to reclaim. Let these conversations be your companions as you step into your wise woman years with curiosity, joy, and radiance.
The studies show that during the years of perimenopause and menopause, women can find that they don't handle stress as well as they used. This is due to the fluctuation of hormones and the effect on the mind. When we view this through the lens of ayurveda, we see this as a vata imbalance and the decline of ojas in the body.
Yoga Nidra will profoundly support you to build ojas, and help you to cope with whatever life throws at you. This is something that I am personally experiencing right now, yep I'm i the think of it with you, I've just sold our family home, we're packing up to move, looking for a new home etc... last week I was pulled over by the highway patrol (that's another story) but what I noticed was that I went into a complete panic - normally I'd handle this with now sweat, but not these days.
However, I am very aware that this is a season and I have these incredible tools at my disposal to manage these stressful moments. I practice Yoga Nidra a few times a week and it's honestly a game change, this is why I have filled this membership with access to many.
Enjoy, Edwina xx