The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall

So many mothers have found the world of work a hostile environment after they have children. The jobs they once loved just don’t work with babies, school runs and Christmas plays, and it can feel like everything suffers.  Hannah Martin of the Talented Ladies Club has dedicated herself to helping women find the courage and inspiration to create careers that work for them and their families. She has helped them unlock creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit that has brought meaning and fulfilment. Hannah’s idea for the Talented Ladies Club was born when she realised how many of her talented and experienced friends were struggling to resume their careers after having children. These were successful, talented and ambitious women who should have had no problem earning good money in jobs they loved.  Hannah decided there was a need for empowering online content to help women realise that becoming a mother wasn’t the end of their career – it could be the start of an exciting new adventure. Since Talented Ladies Club was launched in 2013, it has helped thousands of mothers.  Hannah is an award-winning copywriter, qualified psychotherapist, hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner. She is an in-demand business coach and trainer, and creates and runs Talented Ladies Club’s online courses and programs. She has also led workshops for Country Living and Mumsnet, and is a member of two All Party Parliamentary Groups on women at work.   Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Visit the website to take a look at the resources and learning Talented Ladies Club offers on women and careers.  Follow Talented Ladies Club on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram  and Pinterest  Read Andrew’s book on building a stronger relationship as parents: I Love You But You Always Put Me Last: How to Child-Proof Your Marriage:  Read Andrew’s book on making meaningful change in your life Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier:  Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

How do we live knowing that we will die? How can we face death, and how should we prepare for it? Dr Kathryn Mannix has spent her professional life working in palliative care, and the teams she has worked on have been involved in 10-15 thousand deaths. In this episode, Kathryn shares her insights into what it’s like to die and how we can love and support someone approaching the end of their life. If you struggle with thoughts of death - be it from a generalised fear, a terminal diagnosis, or the loss of loved ones - Kathryn’s calm and honest approach will help.  As well as working as a consultant in palliative care medicine, Kathryn is the author of With the End in Mind: How to Live and Die Well, a collection of powerful human stories of life and death. The book draws on a lifetime of clinical experience to offer advice on facing death and living life in its shadow.   Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Read Kathryn’s book With the End in Mind: How to Live and Die Well  Follow Kathryn on Twitter  Find Oliver Sacks’ book Gratitude, written at the end of his life. Read Andrew’s book on grieving the loss of his partner My Mourning Year Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube 

Too often we treat mind and body as completely separate: fear and anxiety belong to the mind, and then there are physical disorders. In fact, mind and body are parts of the same system. The road to calm and joy is much faster if we make sure to take care of both.  Henry Emmons MD looks at mental health problems like depression and anxiety by weaving together mind-body and natural therapies, mindfulness teachings and other holistic approaches.  As well as being an integrative psychiatrist, Henry is a sought-after presenter and a respected consultant on integrating natural and mindfulness therapies in psychiatry, the interface between spirituality and mental health, and personal and professional renewal.  Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Visit Henry Emmons’ website to find out more about his books, including The Chemistry of Joy, The Chemistry of Calm, The Chemistry of Joy Workbook and Staying Sharp: 9 Keys to a Youthful Brain Through Modern Science and Ancient Wisdom  Visit https://www.naturalmentalhealth.com, a website co-founded by Henry Emmons to help people of all ages optimize their mental health and build resilience in mind, body, and spirit.  Read Andrew’s book on making meaningful change in your life Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Read Andrew’s blog on making journaling a positive part of your daily routine Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

A diagnosis of bipolar disorder can be devastating: it is an extremely serious and debilitating mental illness. Family and friends may not understand what you’re going through, and can be full of unhelpful misconceptions. John Poehler is an award-winning blogger and mental health advocate who has developed an impressive range of tools to help people with bipolar. Andrew and John talk about how these tools can also help those of us without bipolar - especially John’s emphasis on building a positive daily routine.  John Poehler is dedicated to helping people with bipolar manage their disorder successfully and lead meaningful lives. He uses his own experience with bipolar to educate, make suggestions, provide ideas, and create a dialogue. According to John, bipolar disorder is a daily battle and a lifelong war.  John describes himself as an expert in his own bipolar disorder. He knows this illness as a best friend and his worst enemy. They are both there all the time and he has learned to live with them by his side.  Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50. Take a look at John Poehler’s website  Find John’s book  This War Within My Mind  Take John’s class: Taking Charge of Bipolar Disorder Masterclass  Listen to John’s podcast The Bipolar Battle Podcast  Follow John on: Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest or Youtube or LinkedIn  Read Andrew’s book on making meaningful change in your life Wake Up and Change Your Life:  Read Andrew’s blog on making journaling a positive part of your daily routine: Top Twelve Benefits of Journaling  Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

Parents like to feel they are independent individuals making their own decisions, but in reality parenting is hugely influenced by our own experiences of childhood. In this episode, Andrew and Philippa talk about how we are “links in a chain", and why it is really important for parents to recognise that and to make sure that their own links are shaped to the needs of their children.  Philippa Perry is a psychotherapist and author of several books, including The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did) and How To Stay Sane. She has also presented a number of documentaries, is Red Magazine’s agony aunt, and writes for numerous British publications. Philippa has also starred alongside her husband Grayson Perry in the recent Channel 4 series, Grayson’s Art Club.   Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall  Read Philippa Perry’s book The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did) Read Philippa’s advice column in Red Magazine Follow Philippa on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram  Read The Orchid and the Dandelion: Why Sensitive Children Face Challenges and How All Can Thrive by W Thomas Boyce MD. Read Andrew’s book on building a stronger relationship as parents: I Love You But You Always Put Me Last: How to Child-Proof Your Marriage Read Andrew’s book on making meaningful change in your life Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall 

As well as producing weekly episodes of The Meaningful Life, our podcast engineer Michael Dooney is a brand new dad. This week, Michael and his wife Christy talk to Andrew about their life-changing and at times traumatic journey to parenthood.  Michael and Christy battled infertility and grieved the loss of several pregnancies. When they finally conceived their daughter Elsie, they effectively held their breath for the next nine months, fearing something would go wrong at any moment. Now they are happily riding the rollercoaster of raising a newborn, and discovering life as a family of three.  Michael also has a podcast exploring the art world, Subtext and Discourse.    Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50: https://www.patreon.com/andrewgmarshall  Take a look at The Hypnobirthing Book by Katharine Graves Find out about the birthing course Christy and Michael took online: https://www.hebammenzeit.de/hebammenzeit-in-english/   Find out about Michael’s work in the Berlin art world here Listen to Michael’s podcast Subtext & Discourse Follow Michael on Twitter and Instagram and YouTube  Read Andrew’s book on building a stronger relationship as parents: I Love You But You Always Put Me Last: How to Child-Proof Your Marriage Read Andrew’s book on making meaningful change in your life Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall   

It isn’t hard as a parent to find advice on breastfeeding, your child’s education or managing their behaviour. What’s rarer is insight into how the parenting journey changes us as a person. Yet, becoming a mother is a unique opportunity for self-realisation. In this episode Lisa Marchiano and Andrew take a deep dive into motherhood: how it connects us to previous and next generations, how easy it is to be “devoured” by the experience of mothering, and what it means to feel rage as a mother.  Lisa Marchiano is a Jungian therapist from Philadelphia, and co-hosts the podcast This Jungian Life. She has recently published a new book called Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself. Lisa is also the parent of two teenagers.   Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.  Take a look at Lisa Marchiano’s new book Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself Listen to the podcast This Jungian Life  Find out about This Jungian Life’s twelve-month online course that teaches people how to work with their own dreams Follow This Jungian Life on Twitter and Facebook Follow Lisa Marchiano on Twitter Find James Hollis’ essay “Free your children from you” in his book Living an Examined Life. Read Andrew’s book on how to build a strong relationship with your partner whilst still being good parents, I Love You But You Always Put Me Last Read Andrew’s book on making meaningful change in your life Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.  

The relationship between a man and his penis is rarely discussed except as a joke. Men don’t often talk to each other about erection issues, and women are left in the dark. Angus Barge took the plunge and spoke to his cousin about the problems he was having getting an erection at the age of 27. His cousin was also brave enough to break the silence, and this led them to create Mojo, a pill-free solution to erection issues.  In this episode Andrew and Angus discuss the harm done to both men and women by the general silence over erection issues. It’s also the case that being let down by their penis can be a major fear for many men; and that there is liberation and happiness to be found in facing up to this fear.  Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.  Find out about the work Mojo is doing to help men get reliable erections. Follow Mojo on Facebook Watch Angus and his cousin Xander’s video on Why We Made This Angus and Andrew talked about the book Mind the Gap: the Truth About Desire and how to Futureproof Your Sex Life by Dr Karen Gurney. Listen to Jed Diamond talk about the “father wound” and writing your personal creation story. Read Andrew’s book Have the Sex You Want: A Couple’s Guide to Getting Back the Spark Read Andrew’s blog on how to Have the Sex You Want Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Our parents’ divorce can have so many ramifications, some of which don’t become apparent until well into adulthood. How do we face up to and understand the unprocessed pain of divorce? How do we build more successful relationships of our own? Terry Gaspard specialises in helping clients overcome the legacy of their parents’ breakups in order to build strong, happy relationships. Terry is also an expert on second marriages - these have a higher divorce rate than first marriages, but with support and skills, can bring a huge amount of happiness.  Terry is a licensed therapist, author, and college instructor who works with children, adults, couples, and families. She also works from personal experience: her own parents divorced when she was ten, and she herself went through a divorce, and went on to make a very happy second marriage. Her book Daughters of Divorce is co-written with her own daughter.  Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.  Read Terry Gaspard’s books The Remarriage Manual and Daughters of Divorce Find out more about Terry on her website Find Terry’s articles published in Patheos.com, TheGoodMenProject.com, The Gottman Institute Relationship Blog, DivorcedMoms.com, DivorceMagazine.com and marriage.com Follow Terry on Twitter and on Facebook  Andrew and Terry also discussed the books Second Chances: Men, Women and Children, A Decade After Divorce by Judith S. Wallerstein and Sandra Blakeslee and Generation at Risk: Growing Up in an Era of Family Upheaval by Paul R. Amato and Alan Booth. Read Andrew’s book I Love You But I’m Not in Love with You: Seven Steps to Saving Your Relationship Read Andrew’s book on turning things around in midlife Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and be Stronger, Wiser and Happier Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

When did you last learn to do something totally and utterly new? Tom Vanderbilt, author of Beginners: the Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning, was awestruck by his young daughter’s insatiable need to know how to do almost everything. He was inspired to embark on a year of learning purely for its own sake. Tom had a truly unique year - a circuitous journey of learning, in which he attempted to learn chess, singing, surfing, drawing and juggling. These skills were chosen on the basis of difficulty and lack of marketability.  Close encounters with scorpions aside, Tom found that his new sense of curiosity opened him up to a profound happiness and a deeper connection to the people around him. By reinventing himself in small ways, life began to seem more magical. In this episode Andrew and Tom talk about just why it is that so many of us stop learning new skills as adults. While we’re encouraging our children to be adventurous and to try new things, are we ourselves afraid of failure? Have we forgotten the pleasure and rewards of starting from scratch? Follow Up Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.  Learn more about Tom Vanderbilt’s book Beginners: the Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning Follow Tom Vanderbilt on Twitter or Instagram @tomvanderbilt  Andrew and Tom also discuss Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein. Find out more about dealing with midlife and the relationship issues it can cause in Andrew’s book It’s Not a Midlife Crisis, It’s an Opportunity  Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on: Twitter https://twitter.com/andrewgmarshall  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AndrewGMarshallTherapy  YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF5gT7ru5sblpFaU2-iWTTw