The Women Doing Their Thing Podcast

This Scorpio New Moon on Monday 9 November is a moon of release. It’s the season of the Phoenix, burning to ash so we can rise renewed. With Mercury and Venus both retrograde, this isn’t a time for shiny new intentions. It’s a time to look at what we’re ready to let go.In the first of our new guest-interview episodes, I’m joined by Jessica, founder of Ash & Origin. Jessica was initiated as a Grim Reaper, and her work lives in the shadow, in death and in renewal. We talk about endings, transformation, and finding our way back to ourselves when life has pulled us away.In this episode:– The energy of the Scorpio New Moon: water, fire and transmutation– The Phoenix archetype and what it asks of us– Shadow work and why the dark matters– The Return Ritual: remember, release, returnNew Moon journaling prompts:– What am I still carrying that I already know is finished?– Where am I keeping something alive out of fear, loyalty or habit?– If I let this part of me die, what is waiting underneath?Find Jessica and The Return Ritual, her 21-day guided journal, at ashorigin.com and on IG you'll find Jessica @ash_originFind me at fredereka.com and on Instagram @freddyjohnstonxoxIf this episode stirred something in you, please share it with someone who’s in their own Phoenix moment.

One Hundred Days of Rewilding: Launch POD!Listening to Pain, Reimagining Healing, and Trusting Embodied IntuitionKatie, a dance movement psychotherapist, hosts a launch event for Freddy Johnston’s self-published book One Hundred Days of Rewilding, outlining the evening’s reading, and Q&R (responses).Freddy reads from the opening of the book, describing how a prior manuscript “stepped aside” after a June diagnosis of fibroids and adenomyosis following months of worsening symptoms, repeated GP visits, and frustration with being offered hormonal interventions like the Mirena coil without imaging; she pushed for an ultrasound/MRI and reacted to a seven-month wait for gynecology. The discussion challenges “gold standard” medical framing, emphasizes agency, “healing as liberation,” and listening to pain rather than suppressing it, while addressing fear-based decisions, women’s health knowledge gaps, medical language power imbalances, and support for patients. There is a discussion around concerns about “leaning into pain” and how this could be misconstrued, given the racial bias in pain management (in who is and is not prescribed painkillers, in documentation, and in stereotypes about Black women’s pain tolerance).Freddy also describes a womb-led pilgrimage to Chartres Cathedral and the role of creativity, community, and play in transmuting anger and illness.Time stamps below, read on for details about the upcoming guest on November's New Moon pod.00:00 Welcome and Book Launch00:31 Katie Introduction and Somatic Healing02:36 Tonight Agenda and Creative Flow03:31 Meeting Through Movement and Art05:15 Introducing Author Freddy05:52 Book Reading Health Wake Up Call11:59 First Book Vulnerability and Process15:45 Questioning the Gold Standard20:54 Body Politics and Womens Health Gaps22:18 Community Stories and Creative Activism26:08 Pain as Teacher26:49 Shaking Out Trauma28:41 Listening to Pain31:48 Rewriting Medical Language36:32 Leaning In Question38:00 Pain and Bias42:48 Support at Appointments44:39 Womb Led Pilgrimage46:51 Chartres Heart Return48:07 Trust and Making It Work50:32 Practical Spirituality51:43 Ending With PlayNext up on November 9th, Jessica from Ash & Origin, on developing her entrepreneurial voice and what prompted her to develop Ash & Origin in the first place.Where to buy One Hundred Days? UK and Europs https://amzn.eu/d/05FBWoobAmerica https://a.co/d/05WBAKDx

✨ Book launch tomorrow, Wed 28 October✨Doors open 7:45pm UK time on Zoom. Join me for a dance party, a conversation with my dear friend Katie, and a short guided creative process. No experience needed. Sign up HERE🌙Darling beans of the universe, it's been a minute! In this short poderoo I share where the pod is heading. From now on there’ll be a solo episode around each full moon, and a conversation with a woman entrepreneur finding her voice around each new moon. First up, in November, will be Jessica from Ash and Origin 🥳🌟🥳Also in this episode:The addiction to intensity in the entrepreneurial world, and why I’m choosing to talk with people who are responding rather than reactingHow One Hundred Days of Rewilding came to be: following a simple healing protocol for 100 days while living with adenomyosis and fibroids, and watching what shiftedGoing from barely managing a walk along the seafront to walking Margate to Broadstairs and back, no probsThe belief hiding behind “I can’t afford it”A self-publishing tip for anyone with a book brewingThe question at the heart of the book: what’s your fibroid? What’s the stagnation in your own life that’s ready to be freed up?📖 One Hundred Days of Rewilding is out now on Amazon 📸 Follow along on Instagram, the best place to find out what’s happening: @freddyjohnstonxoxAre you thinking about writing or self-publishing your own book? Let me know in the poll below. If there’s enough interest, I’d love to chat more about it on upcoming pod's or even create a course on getting your story started.Also, there's. One Hundred Days of Rewilding Playlist I'm linking to.Chat soon, my loves 💛

Freddy shares a raw, honest Sunday morning update from Margate... diving into her 50-day "Free the Fibroid" healing journey using qigong, visualization, and energy work, and what it's taught her about stagnation, self-trust, and liberation. She opens up about survival mode and the winding path to flourishing boldly, reflects on grief following the recent deaths of Carolyn Elliott and Glen Hansard, and shares an exciting update about her upcoming appearance at the OM Yoga Show. A tender, unfiltered conversation about healing your body by listening to it instead of fighting it.

Freddy records an early morning update from her kitchen in Margate, overlooking the sea, sharing a wild month of health discoveries. After finally getting a comprehensive private ultrasound of her uterus, she received confirmation of adenomyosis and fibroids.However! Instead of defaulting to allopathic solutions, she dove deep into a Qi Gong healing protocol, hypnotherapy, and an embodied art process drawn from her Tamalpa training. She reflects on the empowering shift of taking ownership of her own healing, the shocking statistic that nearly 60% of hysterectomies are fibroid-related, and her growing vision of a community art project to honour women's unheard health stories. She also muses on perimenopause, feminine power, fear-based living, and what it really means to believe "I am enough."Connect with FreddyInstagramWebsiteFree Meditation

In this episode, Freddy is joined by Dr. Julie Millour PhD cellular andmolecular biologist, Chinese medicine practitioner, nutritionist, and somatic guide - for a rich and honest conversation about what perimenopause really is, and what it can be.Together they explore why "don't freak out" might be the mostimportant advice nobody gives us, how perimenopause mirrors the autumn season in Chinese medicine (a time of letting go before the second spring), and why the hormonal rage, the grief, and the sleepless nights aren't new - they're just old, unresolved emotions finally demanding to be heard.They also get into the shift from womb energy to heart energy, thesurprising statistics around women entrepreneurs in their 40s, the highest divorce rates at menopause, and how slowing down - truly slowing down – might be the most radical and rewarding thing a woman can do in this season of life.In this episode:Why perimenopause is a portal, not a problemThe link between unresolved emotions and physical symptomsHow grief is part of the transition - and why that's actually reassuringChanging your rhythm and learning to trust itChinese medicine's "second spring" frameworkDr. Julie's free perimenopause talk and her upcoming embodiment programmeConnect with JulieWebsite InstagramConnect with FreddyWebsiteInstagramFree meditation Inner Smile Activation

In this episode, Freddy opens up about finally getting a scan that revealed a uterine fibroid, after years of doctors pushing the Mirena coil without ever doing a scan to see what was actually there. Rather than rushing into medical intervention, she shares how she's written a bespoke qigong program to work with her body from the inside out and activate her inner apothecary.Along the way she reflects how old habits of self-deprivation die hard, on learning to receive support, the power of the inner child, and why dancing and painting are just as important as any "protocol". She also teases an exciting upcoming episode on perimenopause recorded with TCM practitioner and molecular biologist Dr. Julie Milleur.If you've ever been dismissed, given a vague diagnosis, or talked yourself out of trusting your own body — this one's for you.Ready to watch your radiance rock and roll? Go to the website to download the inner Smile meditation, your portal awaits https://www.fredereka.com/inner-smile

This week, an embarrassing admission: I used to judge people who live at their own pace. I thought they were out of touch, oblivious to the world's suffering — away with the fairies. Turns out, I was the one who was missing out.In this episode, I'm getting honest about the martyr matrix I grew up in, why I quit working for other people (spoiler: I just wanted to chew my food), and what's happened since I decided to make waking up my one practice this year. We're talking slow mornings, dark bedrooms, Wei Qi fields, and compound interest for the soul.If you've ever felt like enjoying your life was somehow a betrayal of everyone who's struggling — this one's for you.Also: Qigong in Margate, my upcoming Paris pilgrimage, labyrinths, and butterfly masks for the third eye.

This week, Freddy opens up about navigating a flare-up of chronic symptoms linked to her menstrual cycle — and asks a question that's been on her mind (and her students' minds): Does feeling terrible mean you have to stop doing the things you love? (Answer in podcast)She shares 20 years of experience being dismissed and gaslit by doctors, the profound moment she came off the pill and felt like "a different woman," and her ongoing journey to get answers — including a private consultation she's finally booked in London.But this episode isn't just about struggle. It's about finding the entry points back to yourself — painting, gong meditation, teaching qigong, running workshops — and why, when the calling is strong enough, you show up anyway.She also reflects on going self-employed and making a commitment to only share work that "turns on the lights" — and what it means when your work nourishes you instead of costing you.

This week's q comes from one of my peers on a recent training I did with Rebel Business School (check em out, they're truly wonderful)... A question this week:“How do I figure out how much I actually need to earn?”And what starts as a practical question…quickly becomes something much deeper.In this episode, I explore:the difference between just getting by and being truly supportedwhat it means to take care of the “matter” of our lives, our bodies, our homes, our futurewhy your income needs to include not just now-you, but future-youthe hidden pressures of self-employment (and the freedom within it)and why words like wealth and prosperity land so differently in the bodyThis isn’t about picking a number out of thin air.It’s about building a life — and a business — that actually feels good to live inside.As always, take what resonates, leave the rest…and if you’ve got thoughts, you can now comment on Spotify I believe.Love you!