We have a special guest joining us for this episode, Dr. Ellen Albertson is otherwise known as The Midlife Whisperer.  Ellen is a reiki master, psychologist, registered dietician, natural board-certified health and wellness coach, and a mindful self-compassion teacher.  She helps women change their trajectory so they can experience joy, confidence, and radiant health on a daily basis.  I am excited to share her wisdom with everyone.Midlife can be a very powerful time of transformation and an opportunity to wake up and discover the real authentic you.  It’s time to change the narrative around menopause and view it as a beautiful right of passage rather than a downhill slide into oblivion. (2:00)In midlife, as in all phases of life, self-care and compassion is essential to our well-being.  Ellen emphasizes that self-compassion is like a muscle and in order for it to get stronger we have to actively work on strengthening it.  An easy way to cultivate self-compassion is to treat yourself the way you would treat a good friend. An exercise to begin to practice self-compassion is to imagine if a good friend were in a situation, what would you say or do to support them?  (10:00)The three key elements to self-compassion are:  1.  Being kind to yourself rather than judgemental. 2. Embracing our common humanity and understanding that everyone goes through suffering and we are all imperfect. 3. Mindfulness practices such as pausing to notice when you are feeling stressed and instead of beating yourself up, asking yourself what do I need right now. (15:00)Ellen shares that she hears her intuition as a small quiet voice when she is listening as well as receiving messages and signs from the outside world, like animal messengers. She believes that when we aren’t listening to our hearts and listening to ourselves, we can’t connect to our intuitive knowing. (20:00) You can connect with Dr. Ellen Albertson, The Midlife Whisperer here:https://drellenalbertson.com/Dr. Ellen’s FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/drellensmastermindBook mentioned in this episode:Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin NeffBooks can be found: https://bookshop.org/shop/VictoriashawintuitiveDisclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.