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Balance & Beyond Podcast

Episode Summary

#97: Biohacking for Burnt Out Women: What No One Tells You

When Camilla Thompson woke up in hospital after collapsing with sepsis, the doctor told her something chilling: "If you'd gone to bed last night instead of coming here,  you likely would have slipped into a coma."

Two days earlier, she'd been at work, pushing through fatigue and dismissing symptoms while juggling single motherhood and a demanding corporate career.

This wake-up call was just one chapter in Camilla's journey to becoming a biohacking expert. From postpartum depression that conventional medicine couldn't address to discovering her family home was riddled with toxic mold that was making them ill, Camilla's path reveals why so many women struggle to find answers to their health challenges within traditional healthcare systems.

In this eye-opening conversation, Camilla shares accessible, practical biohacking strategies specifically designed for busy women. Forget the expensive gadgets and complicated protocols pushed by "tech bros" – these are real-world solutions for women juggling multiple responsibilities while trying to reclaim their energy and vitality.

Learn why women need different approaches to sleep optimization, nutrition, and stress management, and discover simple five-minute hacks that can transform how you feel (including why a spoonful of honey before bed might be the sleep solution you've been searching for).

Perhaps most importantly, Camilla addresses the martyrdom mindset that keeps so many women from prioritizing their health. "We get stuck in survival mode," she explains, "running on cortisol and adrenaline, putting everyone else first." But what if the most revolutionary act is simply putting yourself at the top of your to-do list? Your health – and everything else in your life – might just transform as a result.

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Episode Transcript

INTRO: Welcome to Balance and Beyond, the podcast for ambitious women who refuse to accept burnout as the price of success. Here, we’re committed to empowering you with the tools and strategies you need to achieve true balance, where your career, relationships and health all thrive, and where you have the power to define success on your own terms. I honour the space you’ve created for yourself today, so take a breath, and let's dive right in…

Jo (Host)

Welcome to Balance and Beyond. Today, I'm joined by Camilla Thompson, who is a trailblazer in biohacking, an executive coach, and the author of Biohack Me—and also one of us: a mum of two with a burnout story and a health story. Today, she's here to help us understand what is actually going on with our bodies and how we can, as women, really step into our best lives—which, of course, includes our best health and energy. Welcome, Camilla.

Camilla (Guest)

Thank you, it's wonderful to be here. 

Jo (Host)

Why don't we start off? You've had an interesting journey that mirrors that of many women who are listening to this podcast and have come into our world. Why don't you tell us a little bit about where your journey toward biohacking began?

Camilla (Guest)

Yes, so look, there are sort of three key pivotal points in my life that put me on this path. But I guess it started at a very young age. I grew up with a mum who was a bit of a hippie—a very progressive thinker. Our house was low-tox, no chemicals, and our food came from local farms. We weren’t allowed sugar. So I really set my blueprint for health from an early age.

Obviously, I rebelled a lot when I was a teenager—I ate Maccas, had lots of sugar and alcohol, all those things. But I came back to it. That foundation has always been instilled in me, and my mum taught me so much. It’s funny—there are so many things coming out in the last couple of years that she was talking about 20, 30, even 40 years ago. So yeah, that’s where it all sort of started for me.

I call her the OG biohacker, because she was—she’s one of the originals.

But look, there are three things that really shaped this journey. The first was when I had my first son, Ollie, in London. He’s 22 now.

I had an awful labour—two days, very traumatic. They couldn’t get him out—suction caps, forceps. His poor little head was so misshapen. I had two epidurals and pethidine. He was stuck. So we ended up going with a spinal tap, which shouldn’t have worked, then a general anaesthetic—and I went under general and had an emergency caesarean section. So it was two days of hell.

Apparently, I sounded like something from The Exorcist, according to some of my friends. But eventually, we got him out, and he was healthy, thank God, because his heart rate had dropped as well. So there was a bit of a panic to get him out.

But I felt like I’d had a car accident. I had no idea I’d had a baby. They sort of said, “Oh, you’ve had a beautiful baby boy,” and I hadn’t held him for hours. So our bonding was really strained.

It was London, it was miserable, it was winter. I didn’t recover very well, and I just got more and more depressed. I was crying a lot, and Ollie had colic and he was crying—he was really unsettled. His poor little head was so misshapen, and I ended up getting craniosacral therapy for him when he was a little bit older because I was so worried about the damage to his head. But we were both struggling.

Anyway, we moved to Australia when he was a year old, and I didn’t really know anyone here. So then I was suddenly in another country with a baby, and my partner was working all the time. I got diagnosed with postnatal depression quite late, and 22 years ago, there wasn’t the support that there is now. There weren’t the conversations that we have now, or that sense of community to support you. I really did feel very alone.

I got put on some SSRIs to help with the depression, but they didn’t really work for me. I think I was on the wrong ones, and again, they’ve developed them so much now, whereas back in the day, they weren’t—you know, I was on the wrong one. So I came off it because I, I put on lots of weight, I couldn’t get out of bed—like, it just wasn’t a good time. I was already feeling so crap, and then it was sort of compounding. I just sort of lost all joy and hope and, um, it was really tough. So I came off the SSRIs and had a complete breakdown—like, my emotions, I couldn’t stop crying.

I ended up finding myself walking into a Chinese Buddhist place in Rose Bay—an acupuncture guy—and he sort of sat there and held my hands while I sobbed. I was like, “I don’t know what to do.” And he just laid me on this bed, jabbed loads of needles in me, gave me these black and funky sort of herbs, and I kept coming back.

Week after week, I got better. I started healing, I started getting in nature, I started eating better, I could get out of bed in the morning, and I just—I found joy. And, you know, we managed to heal. I realized that my little boy needed his mum, and I’d been so, you know, distant—just trying to... You know, I felt like a complete failure as a mum. I was like, “Why is this not working?” I was 26, 27 years old, felt young—I was just like, “This... I’m not good at this.” So it was a really tough time.

Anyway, that was my first experience with some traditional Chinese medicine and learning other ways to heal the body. I guess another one is—I worked in corporate media for many years. Real perfectionist, pushed myself really hard, juggling two young boys.

I’d left my partner at the time, so I was massively in survival mode—having to financially support two boys on my own for a good couple of years—and I just pushed really hard. I was the only one—well, one other person had children in the agency—but I was the only other person with young kids, so I was overcompensating.

It was like, “Just because I’m a mum doesn’t mean I can’t do what you guys do. I’ll just be superwoman.” So: push, push, push. Had to be the best. Terrible perfectionism—you know, I’ve worked on that so much over the years—those feelings of not feeling good enough and the overcompensation to achieve all the time to give you those feelings of worth.

And I was suffering from high-functioning anxiety. So on the outside, I was like superwoman: power, I’ve got this, I’m all over this, I’m high-performing. And on the inside, I was just crippled with self-doubt and anxiety and, you know, a really negative inner critic. So this resulted in me just working too much.

I knew I wasn't feeling very well, but I just kept going to work—push, push, push. I went into a fever at work, went to the doctors, and they were like, “You've got a kidney infection. Here's some antibiotics. Within 24 hours, if you don't feel any better, come back.”

Well, within 24 hours, I was in A&E, and I woke up in A&E the next day in the ward. They said, “You had sepsis,” and the doctor said, “If you'd gone to bed last night, you potentially could have gone into a coma because you were that sick.” Two days before that, I'd been at work.

Jo (Host)

Really bad wake-up call. 

Camilla (Guest)

It was! When I read Dr. Libby’s book The Rushing Woman in hospital that I was like, Ah, she’s written this book for me. Every page, I was like, This is me. What have I done to myself? Why have I been doing this?

And I was so disconnected from my body, how I was feeling, and my intuition—that something was wrong. I was blaming it on full moons and Mercury being in retrograde. I’d say, I feel really heavy. No, you're actually ill, you’ve got an infection.

But anyway, that was a big wake-up call, and it set me on a new path. I started working in mental health and well-being, co-founded a business with my ex-business partner, and, yeah, I guess the final thing that got me into biohacking—something we both share in common—is mold.

So, I spent eight years living in mold in Rose Bay. Funnily enough, they think I started getting really sick after I had sepsis, and that the mold took hold because my immune system was so weakened. I spent years going back and forth to doctors for immune system issues. My eyes would swell up and weep, I was constantly dehydrated, my bones creaked like an old woman’s, anxiety was through the roof, and I just felt terrible all the time, like I was on a permanent hangover, and I wasn’t drinking.

Eventually, I was bedridden, not well. One of my friends, who had been working in mold remediation in Sydney for a while, came over to my house and said, Camilla, you've got mold everywhere. It was in my bed, in my bedside cabinets. We had water damage in a cupboard, and it had spread.

We had an old house, and it was everywhere—in every room, including my home office, where there was hidden black mold. Not everyone in the house was sick—my younger son had health issues, but my older son was fine, and my husband was too. So, it was really hard to figure out what was going on and realize that our home was making us sick.

So, conventional medicine doesn't really know about mold. Unfortunately, it's not their fault—they've had no training. They don't know how to diagnose it, and they don't know how to treat it.

So, you have to take control of your health and start doing things you know to heal your body because no one else is going to do it for you, and there's no magic drug that will fix it. That’s what led me to do loads of different crazy biohacking things to try and get well from mold. So yeah, that's kind of my story as to why I’m here.

Jo (Host)

Kimberley and I were talking before this podcast, and I realized, "I think I’m also a biohacker!" I’ve got this gadget, I do this, and wow—it’s an identity I’d never really given to myself. I know you had a similar journey. These things tend to start incrementally. You don’t wake up one day and say, "I’m a biohacker." As a woman, you start with, "I’ve got this problem, I need to solve it, I need to be well."

Camilla (Guest)

And then we start taking steps, right? Yeah, and it’s so hard being a woman because there are so many other factors. It’s very difficult—like hormones, stress levels, the mental load, all those invisible loads we’re carrying. It’s very hard to pinpoint what’s making you sick or if you’re just tired.

I’ve been completely gaslit by doctors who said, "It’s all in your head." Even a kinesiologist once said, "I think you’re just choosing to be sick." And I was like, "Why would I choose to be sick? I don’t want to be sick!"

So it’s really hard. And my husband didn’t believe me for ages. Even when we found mold in the house, he still wasn’t convinced that it was what was wrong with me, until we got the blood tests, and I was like, "Here it is, in black and white."

He couldn’t believe it. It was a very lonely time as well when you don’t have a community. I think now there are some great groups and communities you can join, so you feel part of something, which has its positives and negatives sometimes.

Jo (Host)

I think you’ve put your finger on something there. As women, we’re so used to pushing through and putting ourselves last that it’s difficult to know—am I just not tough enough? Do I just need to suck it up and, you know, try a little bit harder? And if, when I get through the list, then I’ll book that doctor’s appointment. That’s a prevailing thought, unfortunately, among many women listening to this podcast.

Camilla (Guest)

We always deprioritize ourselves, and I think the one thing that, when I had that significant burnout with sepsis, I was just determined to put myself at the top of my to-do list every day. I was like, there’s no way I’m putting work in front of my health or my children. I missed out on time with my kids because I was working all the time, and we get stuck in survival mode as women.

We’re just so used to running on cortisol and adrenaline, and our bodies just can't handle it. Our immune system is impacted every month with our hormones, and more women suffer from mold issues because of the impact on our immune system.

Jo (Host)

I mean, it does happen to men, but not as frequently. It’s just interesting for context that we also sold our house because of a mold issue.

And my husband also didn't think it was that big of a deal. Okay, I hear that all the time. Yeah, I was the one who was like, "You're just being a bit dramatic." We had black mold growing in our wardrobe, which was right near our bedroom, and my daughter was constantly sick. The whole family had health issues, and no one could put a finger on it.

It was only when I finally decided, "This is going to cost a fortune," but I got a mold assessment done. It was after one of those rainy periods in Sydney, and I thought, "Okay, we have to do something about this." I just went ahead and got someone in to check if there was a problem. It turned out my daughter's bedroom was branded uninhabitable.

Camilla (Guest)

Yes, same as my son. It was so bad, the readings were so high. Within 24 hours, we were told we couldn’t live in our house. We had to get out, and everything we owned was contaminated. It’s like going through a natural disaster—you lose your home, all your belongings, but you're also sick. It's really traumatic. I came up with PTMD, which stands for Post-Traumatic Mold Disorder, and I'm like, it's a thing. We've been through it, but yeah.

Jo (Host)

Well, we then and there decided to sell our house. It was like we were going to renovate, and as part of the renovations, I thought, well, if we've got mold, let me find out how to rectify it when we do the renovation so I can fix it.

But it was going to be upwards of two hundred thousand dollars to put in the fans and refit—it was in the air conditioning vents. And I thought, I'm not paying that. I could buy a new house with that money. So, literally within the space of two hours, we decided: we have to leave this house.

Camilla (Guest)

Oh, and your daughter... It's just that I felt such incredible guilt as well with my son because the school was saying, "Oh, he's not concentrating in class," and his football team was saying, "He's just not running like he used to, he's not focused, he's not as active and energized as he used to be," and he kept getting sores on his lips.

And I just thought, I don't know what’s going on. I thought... I just... because not all of us were sick. And this is the thing: only 25% of the population has the gene, the mold gene, which is the HLA-DR or DQ part of the celiac gene sequence. That means we can't get rid of mold.

So, when we inhale it, we just can't bind it and eliminate it from our bodies. My son and I both have that gene, but my... you know, you just don't know that your home is making you ill, and what do you do? It's such a scary, fearful thing. I spent years living in fear, going to people's houses and thinking I was going to get sick again.

Jo (Host)

I don't know if you had a similar experience, but yeah, we sold our house, and we’re actually headed to a clinic in Norway. I’ve mentioned this to you before, but I was just sick of all our issues here.

My husband had a Rolodex of specialists, and no one was actually getting to the core of it. It was like, “stuff this, I’m not taking this anymore.” One of my daughters couldn’t get a diagnosis or anything. So, I knew that this clinic in Norway was the right choice—it was very much an intuitive hit. We’re going to Norway. This is it. We literally just decided.

I actually sent my husband and daughter the first week after lockdown, after the borders opened. I sent them to Norway without knowing anything about the clinic, just knowing where they had to go.

Then, this was another intuitive hunch I had at the end of 2022. We had actually booked a trip to Thailand, and I said, “We need to go to Norway.” My husband was like, “We’ve just paid for Thailand, we’re not going to Norway.” But I insisted, “We need to go to Norway.”

That trip saved all of our lives, and there's a pretty good chance my husband wouldn’t be here right now if we hadn’t gone and figured out how sick he was while we were there. He was dealing with mold exposure, but it was a whole range of other things as well.

He had heart issues, digestive issues, insulin issues, inflammation issues—you name it. The mold was just exacerbating everything and preventing his immune system from healing his other challenges.

So, we actually never let the kids go back into the house after we left for Norway. We had red light therapy and a whole range of healing treatments for various things. I went back into the house with a mask to clean it for sale, but the kids never returned.

Camilla (Guest)

I had to do everything. I had to go through all of our stuff and try to save what I could. There are pictures of me in full hazmat gear and a mask, going back in to try and salvage anything. We had to leave our cat at the house for a while because we had nowhere else to go, and she couldn’t be rehomed immediately. She lived there alone for a bit, but I went back every day to feed her.

Going back into that house was surreal. Realizing that I had been living in that environment all that time—it hit hard. I had been working from home in it all day, then sleeping in that same bed, breathing in the same air. But there’s a sense of relief when you finally know what’s been wrong with you.

But you know, it's the cost. I mean, I spent tens of thousands trying to get well—money we didn’t actually have. A lot of it went on credit cards, then paying it off, all the supplements, the treatments. I’m privileged that I could do that, but there are so many people living in social housing, disability housing, retirement homes—people who can’t afford to heal themselves. It's a crisis.

Jo (Host)

So, where would you recommend somebody start? Whether they're dealing with mold issues, are just exhausted and at rock bottom like you were, still recovering from childbirth, or experiencing complete burnout, there are a million and one pieces of advice out there. If you're thinking about someone who's overwhelmed, where would you suggest they start?

Camilla (Guest)

Look, I’m a big believer in being a biohacker. We’re all about data and testing, so my recommendation would be to get the right testing done. If you think you might have mold, have been living in mold, or might have been exposed to it, a urine test is the way to go. Blood tests are okay, but the urine test is more reliable. I would suggest doing different tests to find out what’s going on. Unfortunately, you can’t get this kind of testing through your GP, so once again, you’re in a situation where you’ll need to pay for a functional doctor or a naturopath. But the key is finding out what’s really going on with your body.

Jo (Host)

What if they don't suspect mold and are just feeling exhausted? What other biohacks would you suggest? People often talk about cold therapy, getting more sleep, and taking supplements. What are some general biohacking tips you would recommend?

Camilla (Guest)

Well, I think it’s important to focus on the biohacking basics, so I have a bit of a framework for that. I recommend looking at those foundational areas and really optimizing each one. If you still don’t feel better afterwards, then it’s time to dig deeper. I would suggest getting full blood work done, including a comprehensive blood and hormone panel. For women, the Dutch test is fantastic.

Unfortunately, if you just go to the doctor and get blood work, you won’t get a good hormone panel. So, again, it comes back to testing. But if you can’t do the testing and just need to start somewhere, that’s fine too.

Obviously, sleep is number one. That’s when we repair and regenerate, and it’s when the body has a chance to do what it needs to heal. So, I think that’s key—don’t compromise your sleep. Make it a non-negotiable.

We’re so distracted now with Netflix, Stan, and all these platforms that keep us from going to bed at a decent time. We say, "Just one more episode," or we’re scrolling on our phones. Having a non-negotiable bedtime to ensure you’re getting quality sleep is essential.

I was reading some research recently about the length of sleep and the timing of going to sleep. We’ve always said that an hour before midnight is important for better sleep, and there’s actually science behind that.

Different stages of sleep, like REM and deep sleep, happen at specific times, and different processes occur during those stages. Ideally, try to get to sleep by around 10:00 or 10:30 PM. Going to bed around 9:00 or 9:30 PM and waking up early is ideal, but this depends on your chronotype.

Some people are night owls, and that schedule won’t work for them. So, it’s important to be intuitive and use bio-individuality to figure out what works for you and your rhythm. But overall, sleep is number one.

Some great hacks for sleep include magnesium. If you're not taking magnesium, it’s an absolute winner. We absorb it better orally, through cream, and surprisingly, through our feet. In fact, applying magnesium cream to your feet is one of the best ways to absorb it. You can also try Epsom salt baths.

Additionally, there are some really good nighttime magnesium powders, like those from Ethical Nutrients and Bio-Ceuticals, which you can get over the counter. Just mix them with a bit of water, and they’ll help with your nervous system, sleep, and even restless legs. Most of us are magnesium deficient, so it’s a bit of a no-brainer. Magnesium is definitely worth incorporating. 

I also like using a silk eye mask, or any eye mask really. It's a great way to train your brain that it's time to sleep. As soon as you put it on, it acts as a signal to your brain, helping to rewire your sleep patterns. Plus, it’s great for preventing wrinkles, which is a bonus. The mask helps block out light, making it an effective, inexpensive hack for improving sleep.

I’ve got a honey hack as well. When we sleep, our brains are still very active. We may think we’re completely out of it, but our brains are busy processing and doing all sorts of things. During this time, the brain uses glycogen from our liver as its energy source. Often around 2 or 3 a.m., that glycogen store is depleted, which can cause us to wake up with surges of cortisol and adrenaline. The brain starts looking for an energy source.

That’s where honey comes in—it mimics glycogen. It needs to be good quality raw honey or manuka honey, but just a spoonful before bed can help. I’ve had clients who started sleeping through the night simply by taking honey before bed.

Yeah, so if you're fasting, you might want to have it after dinner. It’s also great for people with a sweet tooth because it curbs those cravings. Just make sure it's good quality raw honey—not the cheap squeezy stuff, as that will spike your blood glucose levels. Please avoid that.

But, yes, it’s a really effective hack. So, with honey, magnesium, eye masks, and breathwork—especially deep diaphragmatic breathing or yoga breathing—it’s great for flushing out cortisol and sending calming signals to the body.

It’s time to sleep, rest, and digest—you're safe. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system and the vagus nerve. Having these calming rituals is really important. Also, reading a book before bed can reduce stress by 68% if you read for at least six minutes. So, it’s definitely worth reading a chapter or two before bed instead of being on your phone or engaging with other distractions. Prioritize sleep.

Nutrition is absolutely key. If you're feeling off, chances are you're not getting enough nutrients or fueling your body with the right kinds of foods. Doing a food audit can be helpful—what are you eating every day? Are you getting enough of those good fats?

Our brain is made of fat, and our body needs fat. So, include avocados, extra virgin olive oil, macadamias, walnuts, and fatty fish. Also, make sure you're getting enough fiber, good-quality protein, and plenty of veggies.

Making sure you're fueling your body with the right foods is step one. Sleeping well, eating well, and focusing on gut health are all really important.

Often, if we're feeling sluggish, low in energy, anxious, or just not great, our gut health might be a factor. You can test your microbiome, but if testing isn't an option, make sure you're eating prebiotic foods and taking probiotics for a month.

After that, you can stop, but consistently ensuring you're getting good bacteria into your gut is crucial, as it's directly linked to mental health as well. There’s so much advice out there, but these foundational steps can go a long way.

Jo (Host)

A lot of the discussion around biohacking tends to focus on older white men who lead very different lifestyles or elite athletes, like Olympians, who are the ones saying, "This is how you biohack to win that gold medal." But when you're a woman with two kids, working full-time, it can be hard to step into that world. So, where do you think biohacking has let women down, or where has the advice not really landed?

Camilla (Guest)

Yeah, absolutely, and I think this is something I've been trying to highlight a bit in the media here in Australia. The biohacking world often focuses on these male tech bros, millionaires, and billionaires spending millions a year to reverse their age. It's fascinating what they're doing, like the Brian Johnsons of this world, but it's completely unrealistic and inaccessible for everyday people—especially women.

We're juggling so many responsibilities and invisible loads. Plus, most studies have been done on men, and the few studies conducted on women are often done with very specific groups of women over a certain age, which isn’t really translatable to the wider population. We are not just “little men,” as we’ve often been referred to in the past. For women, it’s really about intuition.

I look back at my own burnout story and realize how disconnected I was from my body. I had no intuition; I didn’t even realize I was sick. How did I not know? How was I blaming Mercury in retrograde for feeling heavy?

Anyway, I think really tuning into your own body and being intuitive is crucial. Women have been let down because, for example, fasting can look different depending on where we are in our cycle. Ice baths, too—if women are experiencing high cortisol levels at certain points in their cycle, it's not advisable for them to do those.

We can't just blindly follow what mainstream biohackers, mostly men, are telling us to do. There are some wonderful women in the US championing biohacking for women, and I have a fantastic colleague, Azra, up on the Gold Coast with a brand called Biohack Her, which specifically targets women.

I also talk about women in my book, discussing biohacking for both men and women across different generations, because it looks different for Millennials, Gen Z, Gen X, and Boomers. So, yeah, for women, we really need to...

Hormones are key. I think many of us have disrupted hormones because the stress we're under is impacting our cortisol levels, which in turn affects our estrogen and progesterone. On top of that, we're exposed to an average of 168 chemicals a day, which is insane. This exposure is disrupting our entire endocrine system and our hormones.

There's a reason why women aren't feeling great. This is why biohacking is so important for women—we need to take control of our health. We need to be empowered to fight, especially when it comes to things like perimenopause. I went to the GP last year, explained my symptoms, and felt like I was going crazy. I said, "I feel like someone's burgled my body. I don't even know who I am anymore. I'm crying for days on end." Yet, I was told everything was fine.

This is horrendous—night sweats, anxiety through the roof, my chest pounding, waking up in the night feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. Something’s not right. I went to the GP, had my bloods done, and was told everything was fine.

They said, "Come back in six months, but if you haven't had a period..." I was like, "No, no, something's not right." You have to fight for your health. It's insane. I think, for women, we really need to find our voice. If something doesn’t feel right, we need to explore it thoroughly. We need to get support and connect with a community if we can—talk to other women and figure out how we can support each other.

Jo (Host)

It's definitely a big part of the conversation. I know myself and many other women who, whether personally or with family, have experienced unusual symptoms that fall outside the conventional system.

I've had children with broken arms—something obvious, like a broken bone, you do an X-ray, put it back together, and you're done. But too often, with women's health, things are not as straightforward. Our experiences aren't cookie-cutter, and everyone’s journey is so unique.

You're right, we have to make sure we have the energy to advocate for ourselves. I know for many women, they feel like they just don’t have the energy for that—they don’t have the time to ask questions, seek specialists, or bounce from doctor to doctor.

So if a woman is feeling that way, whether it's around perimenopause or any other health issue where she’s just being passed from one doctor to another, apart from finding a community and reading your book, what else would you suggest? 

Camilla (Guest)

I think finding a women's specialist, naturopath, or functional doctor is really important. You need someone who can help figure out what's going on because there are so many invisible threats to women. It's crucial that we find someone who can assist us.

For example, the Australian Menopause Centre was amazing for me. There’s also Well-Fam and other great places we can turn to. Additionally, asking friends for recommendations on good GPs can be really helpful. There are some excellent GPs out there who are curious and open to exploring alternative approaches. 

But ultimately, we shouldn't feel this way. I hear it from a lot of my girlfriends who are over 40 now, and some even over 50, saying, "I feel so old, I have no energy, I feel terrible." But we shouldn’t be feeling that way.

Yes, there will be days during the month where we don’t feel amazing due to our cycle, but for the most part, we shouldn’t feel this way. If we're eating right, sleeping well, exercising, and maintaining the right mindset, we should be feeling good. It’s also about avoiding that martyrdom mentality, which is another important factor. 

As moms, we can easily fall into the martyr role, thinking, "There’s no time for me, how am I supposed to do that when I have to take care of everything else?" But we really need to prioritize time for ourselves. We can’t keep seeing ourselves as victims. I spent many years feeling like a victim, asking, "Why is this happening to me?"

But I’ve reframed that now, and I see it as a gift. This is now part of my story. As women, especially when we have kids, we often neglect ourselves, but we must make time for ourselves, no matter what that looks like.

When my kids were younger, my lunch break was sacred. I had one hour, and I couldn’t do anything before or after work, but that one hour was mine. I would always go for a walk—whether around Centennial Park or just somewhere for myself.

That lunch hour was my form of self-care. It’s about finding time and prioritizing it. We can easily spend an hour scrolling on our phone, but we could also use that time for something more positive.

Jo (Host)

Yeah, I completely agree. "I don't have enough time" is probably the number one complaint of women who are feeling burnt out and exhausted. I challenge any of them by saying, "You don't have enough time? Give me your phone, let's open the screen time app and see how much time you're actually spending there." And then they start to shrink back, saying, "Don’t do that!" So, there is time.

Camilla (Guest)

I love it. Jo, that is awesome. I am actually going to steal that now. I'm going to nick that. That is brilliant. 

But it's so true—three hours and 27 minutes on your phone, and it's like, well, there was clearly time to do other stuff. I talk about biohacking, stacking, or habit stacking, and trying to find ways that you can still do things for yourself, whether it's running while you're pushing your pram, or going on a bike ride with your kids, or doing something where you're also getting a benefit.

You're hanging out with your kids, but you're also getting some exercise. Or, you know, a walking meeting where you can say, "Actually, let's just jump on a phone call for half an hour, and we can walk and talk," and then you feel like you've had some exercise.

So, I think for women, we have to be much more alert to where these sudden pockets of time are, and we just have to take them and say, "No, I'm actually going to do something for myself."

But, you know, the amount of women I speak to, and I ask, "When was the last time you had a massage?" or "When was the last time you did something for yourself?" I talk about self-care Saturdays or self-care Sundays—once a month, take half a day, half a self-care Saturday, or half a self-care Sunday, whichever day works.

If you've got to get someone to help with the kids or your partner can support you, or whatever, take even just two or three hours to say, "Once a month, I am off, and I'm doing a self-care Saturday." We just have to have boundaries. 

Jo (Host)

You've got to be stronger, yeah. I'm with you on the martyrdom thing. It's a very big trend, where part of the reason that women don't put themselves first—whether it's not going to the doctor, not investing in themselves, or not allocating the time—is because they think everyone else is more important.

So, the more we see this continual trend, the more we realize that putting yourself first, whether that's investing in a naturopath, your health, your wellness, your mindset, or your emotional health, and finding a coach, whatever support you need, will make everything better. And I'm sure everybody's got the best. Investing in coaching is great. 

Camilla (Guest)

You know, I've coached a lot of women who are high achievers, with big jobs, but haven't been able to find time for themselves.

But once you start doing an audit of your diary and your life— I want to know every single thing they do, from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed. Then we look at it and say, okay, how do we layer something in? How do we find where we can pop some hacks in so we can do it? 

It is possible, but it's hard—particularly for single moms who have kids and don’t have family support. It’s really tricky. But when you're in a relationship, whether it’s a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man and a man, you can support each other. There’s no reason why you have to carry all the load.

Often, women will say, "Well, if I don't do it, no one else will," or "I do it better," or "It’s easier if I do it myself," so they don’t allow others to help. But actually, sometimes you need to back off a bit and let someone else step in. That way, you can create some space for yourself. We're singing from the same song sheet, I think. 

Jo (Host)

When you come into my program, you do a time audit, and we have a module on the mental load. We have an entire module on the mental load, so this should all sound very familiar. Absolutely well. Camilla, thank you for joining us today. You've shared some beautiful hints and tips for women, and really important messages about not being the martyr, and offering some really basic, cost-effective, time-effective hacks they can do.

If you could leave everyone with one parting hack that could fit within a five or ten-minute window—like while you're waiting to pick up the kids or when you'd ordinarily just pick up your phone—what's one thing you'd love to leave them with? So, I’ll give you one thing, and then I forgot to mention something else, which might be good as well. But, um, my one thing is my plant hack.

Camilla (Guest)

So, plants need sunshine, vitamin D, water for hydration, and air in order to thrive and grow, and so do we as humans. Just five minutes of sitting in the sun, doing a bit of breath work, drinking some water, and hydrating properly will help charge your battery back up. So, take five minutes—no phones, no screens—and just be in your body, connecting with your senses. It’s literally like a recharge.

That, I think, is really important—just taking five minutes of stillness. You’ll also benefit if you can get a bit of vitamin D and hydration.

A good hydration hack is to add a bit of Celtic sea salt to your water. Our bodies are like the ocean, so we actually respond really well to water and salt. This is why saline drips are used when we're dehydrated. Celtic sea salt is one of the best salts, so you can simply sprinkle some in your water bottle to help you hydrate a bit better.

And the last thing I was going to mention is that I’m hosting a retreat for women in September in Bali, which is a biohacking retreat. So, if anyone is into all of this and wants a bit of a reset, it’s at Revivo Wellness, which is stunning and new. It will be all about women’s health, hormones, and biohacking.

We’ll be doing all the testing, and they have a longevity clinic there. So, it's a great place to start if you want to learn all of this and set up a solid plan. It’s going to be amazing!

Jo (Host) 

Apart from the retreat, where else can they find more information about you, your book, your story, and how you help people?

Camilla (Guest)

Oh, okay, so www.biohackme.com.au is my website. You can get a free biohacking guide there. Just visit the website, enter your details, and you'll receive a full guide. You can also find a link to my book on there. It's currently available for pre-order and pre-sale on Amazon, so it's a great time to buy.

And, yeah, I offer one-on-one coaching programs as well, similar to yours. Mine is called "Supercharge Your Life," and it’s focused on future-proofing your health, longevity, and health span.

Jo (Host)

Well, we'll put all the links to those in the show notes. Go ahead and grab your biohacking guide. And I guess, a word of warning—watch out for some of that "bro" stuff and make sure you're getting information that’s relevant for women and for your life. So, Camilla, thank you for joining us. Bring on the feminine energy! Awesome, thanks for coming.

OUTRO: Thank you for joining us today on the Balance and Beyond Podcast. We're so glad you carved out this time for yourself. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who might need to hear this today. And if you're feeling extra generous, leaving us a review on your podcast platform of choice would mean the world. If you’re keen to dive deeper into our world, visit us at www.balanceinstitute.com to discover more about the toolkit that has helped thousands of women avoid burnout and create a life of balance, and beyond. Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next time on the Balance & Beyond Podcast.