Changing Seasons: Ayurveda, Women’s Health, Menopause & Food as Medicine
A podcast exploring women’s health through the wisdom of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, with empowering conversations on menopause, natural healing, and food as medicine to support every stage of life.
Hosted by Jody Vassallo, Ayurvedic guide, intuitive cook, and founder of ‘Gather’.
Each episode is an invitation to slow down, listen in, and reconnect with the wisdom of your body and the cycles of nature.
Through the lens of traditional medicine and lived experience, we dive into the big topics: perimenopause, menopause, fertility, gut health, grief and loss, surrogacy, Ayurveda, and food as medicine.
This is a space for real conversations, tender truths, and practical ways to nourish yourself no matter what season you're in.
Episodes
63 episodes
63 - Jody Vassallo: Returning to Balance with Ayurveda.
Today Jody discusses how we can balance our doshas when they go out of balance. We look at what we can do with nature, sight, sound, mantra, exercise and emotionally to help settle us. Ayurveda uses the opposite quality to help treat an imbalan...
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Episode 63
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41:50
62 - Edwina Peden: The Perimenopause Summit - Navigating Perimenopause and Self-Care.
Edwina sits down with Ayurvedic health coach and author Jody Vassallo for a candid, nourishing conversation on meeting perimenopause as a rite of passage - not a problem to “fix.” Through the lenses of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine,...
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Episode 62
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1:11:21
61 - Marissa Clohesy: Conceiving and Mothering in Perimenopause.
In today's episode Jody welcomes Marissa Clohesy. Marissa gave birth to her first child at 49 years of age through egg donorship from a kind woman who worked at a clinic where she regularly had bloods done. Following the birth of her first chil...
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Episode 61
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1:11:52
60 - Jody Vassallo: Loneliness Through The Lens Of Ayurveda.
Today Jody ponders how the space element relates to loneliness. In Ayurveda the elements of air and space (ether) combine to create the vata dosha. Although we can clearly see and feel the elements of air, earth, water and fire, space is a litt...
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36:27
59 - Kimberly Ann Johnson: Menopause - The Only Way Out Is Through.
Today Jody welcomes Kimberly Ann Johnson to the Changing Seasons podcast. Kimberly is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Sexological Bodyworker, author and postpartum advocate. We discuss how Kimberly's own postpartum journey has informed ...
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Season 6
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Episode 59
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1:01:18
58 - Sole Del Riccio-Smith & Dylan Smith: Our Conception Story.
Today Jody is joined by Sole Del Riccio-Smith and Dylan Smith to discuss their fertility and postpartum journey. In this conversation we cover their preconception preparation and how they did 30 days of Panchakarma at home during CO...
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Season 6
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Episode 58
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57:30
57 - Kimberly Ashton: Making Food Your Medicine.
Today Jody welcomes Kimberley Ashton from Qi Food Therapy to the Changing Seasons podcast. We discuss in detail why certain foods will soothe and nourish the digestive system and other foods will aggravate and inflame it. She highlights the rol...
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Season 6
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Episode 57
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1:09:27
56 - Carly Merlo: The Good Oil - Understanding Ayurvedic Oils.
Today Jody welcomes Carly Merlo, owner of Bio Veda to the podcast to discuss the A-Z of Ayurvedic oils and how different medicated oils are prized for the healing process.Ayurveda has been using oils on the body, hair and internally for ...
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Season 6
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Episode 56
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1:10:50
55 - Jody Vassallo: How Is Your Sleep?
Today Jody takes a close look at sleep through the lens of Ayurveda. Sleep or nidra is an integral part of your health and there are many factors that influence the quality and quantity of your sleep. The different doshas can all experience the...
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Season 6
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Episode 55
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41:26
54 - Sonia Lloyd: Is Your Skin Care Aging You?
Today Jody meets Sonia Lloyd from Rasara Skinfood about how to treat your skin using the principles of Ayurveda. After a skin flare up in her late teens Sonia tried many things unsuccessfully to treat the problem. Fast forward to to...
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Season 6
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Episode 54
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1:21:27
53 - Holly Davis: Respecting What We Eat.
Today Jody welcomes whole-food chef and cookbook author Holly Davis to Changing Seasons podcast to discuss Food as Medicine. We speak about how Holly discovered macrobiotics at the age of 14 and how it continues to influence how she...
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Season 6
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Episode 53
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57:24
52 - Jody Vassallo: What Should I Eat?
Today Jody talks about how Ayurveda looks at digestion and how we can learn what foods are best suited for the different body types and their relevant doshas.Digestive fire or agni is dependent on a range of things, the food we consumed ...
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Season 6
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Episode 52
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54:29
51 - Jody Vassallo: Understanding Your Body in Perimenopause.
In today's episode Jody touches on the common physical and emotional symptoms she sees in Perimenopause from an Ayurvedic perspective.Weight gain, anxiety, hot flashes, anger, forgetfulness, waking up between 1-3am are all ways that our ...
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Season 5
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Episode 51
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1:06:39
50 - Jody Vassallo: The Qualities of the Doshas.
Today Jody talks about the qualities of each of the Ayurvedic Doshas and how they show up in the body, mind and emotions.She explains how Ayurveda balances disturbances in the qualities of the Doshas by treating with the opposite quality...
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Season 4
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Episode 50
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56:29
49 - Lisa FItzpatrick: Sexy Menopause.
*Caution this conversation contains references to sexual assault.Today pelvic floor and sexual therapist Lisa Fitzpatrick returns to Changing Seasons podcast to speak to Jody about Sexy Menopause. Lisa believes it is possible for every w...
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Season 4
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Episode 49
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1:00:43
48 - Lucette Romy: No Greater Grief.
Today on the podcast Jody speaks with Lucette Romy about the death of her baby boy Dash. Lucette birthed Dash at home and the birth was beautiful and without complications. However, six hours after his birth Dash's colour had not improved and a...
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Season 4
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Episode 48
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1:19:20
47 - Paula Rastrick: Is It Your Nervous System Or Your Hormones?
Today Jody speaks to Trauma Therapist Paula Rastrick about how the nervous system impacts our hormones. Paula shares her story of being prescribed HRT and the complications that arose from being over prescribed estrogen. Following t...
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Season 4
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Episode 47
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1:25:10
46 - Shonali Sabherwal: Gut Health Is Everything.
Today Jody speaks to Shonali Sabherwal Macrobiotic Nutritionist & Chef about the Macrobiotic and Ayurvedic approach to gut health. Shonali shares that she has attended a Panchakarma (an Ayurvedic detox protocol) once a year since she was in...
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Season 4
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Episode 46
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46:27
45 - Nicole Lange: Trauma and How It Can Impact Fertility.
Nicole Lange is an acupuncturist who has a Masters in Chinese Medicine, she has spent her entire career focused on working with women. Today she chats with Jody about her wholistic approach to supporting women through their fertility journey. W...
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Season 4
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Episode 45
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1:07:35
44 - Sarah Megginson: My Surrogate Journey.
Today Sarah Megginson returns to the podcast to speak with Jody about her decision to be a surrogate for her friend Lisa Messenger. Sarah had given birth to three healthy children of her own and at the same time had watched Lisa and...
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Season 4
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Episode 44
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1:02:24
43 - How the Changing Seasons Impact Us with Jody Vassallo.
In today's episode Jody explores how the changing seasons of the year impact each of the different Doshas. Ayurveda says that we need to protect our bodies around the junctions of the seasons and we discuss how Vata types need to ta...
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Season 4
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Episode 43
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44:00
42 - Dr Jimi Wollumbin: The Distressing State of Male Fertility.
Today Dr Jimi Wollumbin returns to chat with Jody about the distressing state of male fertility across the globe. Jimi shares disturbing research figures on the declining rates of male fertility across all age groups of men.We speak abou...
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Season 5
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Episode 42
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1:28:55
41 - Psychological Characteristics Of The Doshas.
Today Jody is speaking about the psychological characteristics of the Ayurvedic constitutions (doshas) Vata, Pitta, Kapha. The intention of this episode is to help listeners understand why they behave in the way they do. Jody talks ...
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Season 5
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Episode 41
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43:44
40 - Jody Vassallo: Babies Aren't Made By Wishing.
Today Jody speaks about her personal failed fertility journey. After realising in her mid-forties that she may not meet the man of her dreams and have a family she embarked on a solo mission to have a child. She chose to...
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Season 5
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Episode 40
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45:41
39 - Lola Berry: So you want to freeze your embryos? You may need your therapist on speed dial.
Today Jody talks to nutritionist, actor and presenter Lola Berry about her and her partner Matt's decision to freeze her embryos instead of eggs. Their choice to delay having a family came after Lola chose to leave her life in Australia to purs...
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Season 5
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Episode 39
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52:27