269. A Brain That Breathes With Jodi Wilson

You know, we may have teenagers.

We may be in the sandwich generation where we've-- we're also looking after our parents.

The cost of living keeps skyrocketing.

Um, women in their 40s are told that this is the, the prime to be earning the money, but for many of us, we're still raising children, and some of us are raising small children.

Um, and it can really rock our identity.

And so, so much of my work has been about breathing from a yoga perspective.

I've really focused a lot on perinatal health as well.

So I've written Australia's number one guide to pregnancy and birth and also to postpartum, which I think postpartum and perimenopause are two of the big health journeys that have really gained a lot of attention in the last five years.

Yes.

And they're connected.

When-- If we don't rest adequately in postpartum, we notice the difference in perimenopause, particularly around the pelvic floor.

So all of those kind of themes have threaded together.

But in my most recent book, A Brain That Breathes, I personally was backpedaling from burnout.

This was a few years ago, and I'd written three books in three years.

And I-- As a writer, I really wanted to understand what my brain needs to continue to come up with bright ideas and work efficiently.

That was kind of the crux of my question.

And then I looked around me, and I noticed that everyone around me, every woman around me, was dealing with a very prevalent sense of overwhelm in their daily life.

And I was just like, "Why are we all so overwhelmed? Why are we describing life as too much?" As, you know, um, like, you know, "I'm so busy.

It's just too much.

I, I, I can't, you know, I can't do-- I can't ever feel like I'm on, on top of things." And so I started to look at the science.

And in my research on postpartum, I discovered that what our newborns need from us biologically doesn't fit with the demands of modern life, and particularly in America, where there isn't really adequate maternity leave and moms are, are, you know, racing back to work.

And that's becoming more prevalent in Australia as well.

But newborns need us, and so that gap is making motherhood very hard.

And I wondered if that same gap exists for all of us.

And it didn't take much research at all for me to realize that the life our brain was designed for is vastly different to our normal everyday reality.