Alive and Kicking with Clare McKenna

Changing the Conversation around Menopause.

Evanna Lynch chats to Clare McKenna about her powerful new memoir 'The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting'

Miriam and Gerry Hussey on finding more soul space in Portugal. Plus Newstalk Reporter Sarah Madden on why Feminine Hygiene products need to go green

Steve Garrigan is well known as the lead singer of the band Kodaline, the group from Dublin who have found international acclaim and had a string of hits. But what you might not know is that Steve battled with anxiety and feeling like he didn’t fit in for many years. He’s documented his journey in his memoir ‘High Hopes- Making Music, Losing My Way, Learning to Live‘ and today he talks to Clare about helping others and what worked worked for him. Future Beauty is the first live show in the world aimed at educating women on all of the latest options in aesthetic ‘tweakments’, clinical skincare, cosmetic dentistry, and plastic surgery for a range of bodily concerns. Clare is joined by its co-founder Liz Dwyer to ask if we need to except what we are given and embrace ageing.

This week on Alive and Kicking Clare McKenna chats to Professor Francis Finucane about the latest research into obesity and diabetes. Clare also talks to Fiona Lambert who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. Two years later, Fiona’s cancer returned, and whilst it is not curable – it is treatable. Today she talks to Clare about not bowing down to illness and taking part in the great pink run this year.

On Thursday Clare spent the day in a wheelchair for Spinal Injuries Ireland and you can hear how she got on over the course off the day.  Clare also chats to Sinead Brophy the founder of two female focused health and wellbeing companies; Go with the Flow Coaching and Bumps and Babies. Today she talks to Clare about why men and women shouldn’t necessarily train the same way. Clare also chats to Anthony Deegan who overcame lifetime addiction at Smarmore Castle which is a residential clinic for the treatment of alcoholism, drug and behavioural addiction.  He now works as a recovery advocate giving back to others at the place where he was once treated.

Jacqui Taaffe was a young teenager in hospital for a minor procedure when and incident led her to carry trauma in her life for many years. This week on Alive and Kicking she talks to Clare McKenna about how she worked through it and why she was ready to document her story in her book ‘Inspire Heal Empower’ Aidan O’Brien was working as a personal trainer in Limerick when a job led him on to cruise ships where he began to speak to groups of people about mindset. Today he joins Clare  to talk about how even the most successful people have a guide or mentor to nudge them in the right direction and how he’s not comfortable with the label of life coach.

This week on Alive and Kicking Clare McKenna talks to Neuroscientist Sabena Brennan to find out more about our REM sleep and what’s really going on when we dream.  A new podcast series has recently launched for people living with and affected by migraine in Ireland and Clare meets the host Debbie Hutchinson. Plus Clare brings us a report from a big sea swim when she meets June Curtin who lost her husband to suicide in 2013 and looking for some solace she embraced sea swimming and over the years she has built a community called Snaimhai Sasta

This week on Alive and Kicking Clare McKenna talks to Dr Joshua Wolrich  who is the author of ‘Food is not Medicine’ and in it he talks about the turnaround he made on how he views dieting, weight-loss and why now his life’s work and personal view has changed to health and every size. Plus we hear from Dr Catherine Kelly on our relationship with water and why we are attracted to blue spaces. She is the author of ‘Blue Spaces-How and Why Water Can Make You Feel Better’

With the kids back to school how do we help them through the anxiety brought on by the pandemic or life in general and should we even use the term 'anxiety' around them? This week on Alive and Kicking Clare McKenna chats to Psychologist Jennifer Ryan about all of this. She is also joined by the man who has set up a research team who hope to discover a way to diagnose mental health conditions quicker based on his own breakdown. Plus Clare chats to the organisation 'Sick of Plastic' about ending the single-use scourge!