Unclassified Woman

Michelle Marie McGrath - Intuitive Guide, Writer, Self-love Mentor
  • 4.7 (18)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • SERIES
Unclassified Woman

Unclassified Woman offers an inspiring stream of conversation with women around the globe, who are building lives beyond society’s expectations. Part myth busting, part inspirational story sharing, Michelle Marie McGrath interviews amazing childless or childfree women, including authors, film-makers, activists, entrepreneurs, priestesses, leaders, speakers and creative mavens, who share their experiences and insights, while questioning the expectations of women everywhere. Michelle shares interviews with women all around the globe who are childless or childfree for a multitude of reasons. With almost 25% of women over 40 child-free by choice or childless through circumstance, it seems absurd that women still have to justify their decisions or endure pity about why they’re not mothers. Motherhood is not a mandate and yet so many women are made to feel ‘less than’ or viewed suspiciously or disparagingly, if they are creating a life of meaning beyond biological mothering. All of these outdated stereotypes lead to one dangerous assumption: what’s your value beyond being a mother? As mainstream society still tends to over-celebrate mothers juggling ‘it all’, and under-celebrate women who, whilst not mothers, have created lives of purpose and service. Unclassified Woman is the perfect antidote to limiting female narratives. Season 3 was released in April 2018. After a hiatus Michelle will return with another season in 2022! Each woman’s path in life is equally valid and sacred. Michelle is a Self-love Mentor for women birthing their soul gifts into the world and Creative Empress at Rosemere Retreat in Cornwall, UK. She offers one-on-one Intuitive Guidance/Distance Healing sessions, Womb Awakening healing sessions and the Sacred Self range of vibrational aromatherapy. www.michellemariemcgrath.com

  1. Womb Awakening with Dr. Azra & Seren Bertrand

    EPISODE 52

    Womb Awakening with Dr. Azra & Seren Bertrand

    How do you feel about the power of the womb, menstruation, and the mystique of the Divine Feminine? Today we are going to dive in. You may not have given much thought to these concepts, but they are pivotal in so many areas relevant to understanding our bodies and souls. My guests today will enlighten you in many ways. Today’s episode is more of a pilgrimage than it is an interview! Womb Awakening is a pre-historic tradition that has risen to popularity again in our modern culture. Everything old is new again! Come with me as we open the doorway to this magical, mystical journey. Dr. Azra Bertrand and Seren Bertrand are the founders of The Fountain of Life Grail Mystery School. They are teachers and mentors of mine who have so much wisdom to share.  Much of the visionary work they share about Womb Awakening came through direct gnosis in Sacred Union during the ‘Gateway into the Feminine Dimension’ in 2012. This was a period where the new wave of feminine Womb Consciousness birthed onto the planet. This experience fused all previous studies into a clear essence, and impassioned them to offer their lives to the embodied rebirth of our world, and to support men and women to meet in love again. NY bestselling authors have described their ground-breaking new book as “a masterwork of beauty, power, and mystical truth, a magical sacred feminine transmission, and a Mystery School in a book.” Azra graduated from the prestigious Duke University School of Medicine and has been a pioneering doctor, alchemical scientist, and spiritual guide for 20 years. Seren is a womb intuitive and channel of the Sacred Feminine mysteries and has been immersed in Womb Awakening practices for more than a decade.  Together, they are evolutionary enchanters, dedicated to helping women awaken their womb power and assist the rebirth of the masculine into his true gifts, uniting them both in Sacred Union. As midwives of the return of womb consciousness, they draw rich veins of wisdom from many traditions and have assisted over 25,000 people to heal on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level for over 20 years.  After having worked with them both personally and in group consciousness, I agree with those descriptions. They both bring lightbulb moments to every conversation. We hear much talk about the Divine Feminine and Rising Feminine consciousness, but there can also be much superficiality. These two embody this consciousness and are way-showers to teach us to dive deep into the wisdom of our own bodies and souls. What you’ll hear in this episode: Their background and how they came to their fascinating work today; The synchronicity of mermaids, the upcoming solar eclipse, and the Feminine traditions; Significant energies and events in 2012; The return of the Sacred Feminine and what it means for women and men; Dr. Azra’s work as a primal healer; How the doors of the great Cosmic Womb opened with their love; The vast umbrella of motherhood; The link between Mary Magdalene (“magical doorway”) and the womb mysteries; The divinized womb priestesses of every tradition; The Divine Harlot/The Holy Whore; Ancient symbols of the womb mysteries; The lost tradition of women rulers, oracles, and healers; The body as the vehicle of awakening and heaven on earth; Seren’s awakening experiences on a beach in Thailand: finding ecstasy within; Advice to start diving gently into womb consciousness; Symptoms expressed as divine communication and the pathway to true healing; The soul of the womb, its gifts, and painful memories; Feedback from people on the womb awakening path; Why men actually menstruate too! The Womb Circle and oracular awakening around the world; When it’s time to rest and receive; Why the book carries the frequency of lunar consciousness and what that means. Your womb has sacred power and a divine purpose and is the thread that connects you to the Universal Womb and the Source of Creation. You can call it whatever

    1h 6m
  2. The Garden Awakening with Mary Reynolds

    EPISODE 53

    The Garden Awakening with Mary Reynolds

    My guest today on Unclassified Woman is the fabulous Mary Reynolds, who is based in Ireland, one of my favourite places in the world. (I am 3/4 Irish so slightly biased!).  Mary lives and breathes her work as a landscape and garden designer, teaching others how to connect with the land beneath our feet and have a nurturing relationship with it. Her gorgeous book that is about much more than mere gardening. It's a call to action for all of us. The Garden Awakening highlights her role as “a guardian rather than a gardener.” She believes in cultivating a relationship with the land and working in harmony with Mother Nature. She views being a gardener/land owner as someone who is like a parent guiding a child. In creating vibrant and magical spaces, she displays her creative spirit where gardens are a partnership between sensitive souls and the earth that nurtures us. I highly recommend Dare to be Wild, a film inspired by a period in her life, when she became the youngest woman to win the gold medal at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. (Download after listening to this podcast on Google Play Movies).  What you’ll hear in this episode: Why Mary is a “custodian of the land” and a “creature of the forest”; Feeling at home and strongly connected to nature; A strong childhood memory of a field, sunshine, and butterflies; Belonging to the family of plants and creatures; Different places, different vibrations, and unique personalities; Our connection with places and bodies, mirroring the earth; Working in harmony with the land; Our role as guardians and light holders of the woodlands; Abuse of the land reflecting the abuse of women; How we treat the earth with industrial farming and chemicals; The synchronistic system between us and the earth; How Mary communicates with the earth, the plants, and the creatures; Her advice? Find some land to work with in your community; The unfair distribution of land; “Dismantle the ego-self and create the eco-self.” Evolving in the future and what's next for Mary; How the film came about; Remembering what’s important and finding your way home; How working with the land heals your heart. Order Mary's book: here:https://www.michellemariemcgrath.com/garden-awakening-designs-nurture-land/  To follow Mary on her journey as she works her gardens and her land, you can visit her website: http://marymary.ie  I do hope you enjoyed this episode and would be eternally grateful if you left us a testimonial or rating on itunes. Please subscribe and share with a friend who would enjoy. For more episodes go to michellemariemcgrath.com

    42 min
  3. 54: A Creative Revolution with Flora Bowley

    EPISODE 54

    54: A Creative Revolution with Flora Bowley

    My guest today is the inspiring Flora Bowley, a painter, creative pioneer, gentle guide, and author of two books: Brave Intuitive Painting and Creative Revolution. Flora blends over 20 years’ experience as a yoga teacher instructor, healer, and lifelong seeker. She passionately believes creative expression is waiting to unfold within every person who is brave enough to trust, let go, play, and explore. How good does that sound? Flora’s soulful approach to the creative process has sparked a new holistic movement in the intuitive art world, empowering thousands of people to courageously pick up a paintbrush. She encourages this creative expression through her intimate, in-person workshops, books, and online courses. Flora lives with her partner, Jonathan, his son, and their dog, Pearl, in Portland. Her own vibrant collection of paintings can be found in galleries, shops, and printed on unique products around the world. Newsflash: I’m also delighted to share that Flora has VERY generously offered listeners an amazing discount on her upcoming Creative Revolution e-course happening in October, so listen in and you can apply the coupon code on her website. Join me for this amazing conversation with Flora! What you’ll hear in this episode: Flora’s unconventional, winding path in life. Everything Flora has created in following her dreams and implementing her “out of the box” belief system. “A blessing in disguise”---NOT getting into the art schools she thought she wanted. Positive results that come from “just creating”. The wounding from people telling us we “aren’t good enough”. Healing, empowering, and practicing ways of being through creativity. Your soul’s calling and your creative offerings to the world. “Intuitive wandering” exercise and how to implement it. Dropping into your intuition and finding wisdom there. The flow that happens when you engage in the creative process. Simple, accessible exercises to get your creative flow going. Flora’s biggest inspirations. Staying present and being open to focus on what IS working. Teaching a workshop including “all the beautiful parts of myself”. Moving forward for Flora: collaboration with others and co-mingling their creations through workshops. Resources: www.florabowley.com Find Flora’s courses, workshops, videos, and products. Use the coupon code Flora shares towards the end of the episode to receive 30% off Flora’s Creative Revolution course! I do hope you enjoyed this episode and invite you to share with a friend. For more episodes go to michellemariemcgrath.com I would be so grateful if you would leave a rating or review on Itunes. Thank you!

    37 min
  4. Feminine Leadership with Clare Dubois of Treesisters

    EPISODE 55

    Feminine Leadership with Clare Dubois of Treesisters

    Welcome to a special episode of Unclassified Woman today with the inspiring Clare Dubois. Clare is the founder of TreeSisters, which is a feminine nature-based organisation inspiring the world’s women to take shared leadership around tropical reforestation. TreeSisters reflects Clare’s exploration of the links between feminine consciousness and nature’s intelligence. She and her team experiment overtly to figure out how to call forth the unique capacities and creativity of women on behalf of trees. They aim to be funding ONE MILLION trees per month by the end of 2017! Clare is known for her direct catalytic energy, her whole systems approach to behavioural change and her unending loyalty and love for the natural world.  There is only one truth - and that is our indivisibility from nature - Clare Dubois For two decades, Clare created behavioural change processes within the personal growth and social change sectors and volunteered for three years as the UK coordinator for a massive agro-forestry initiative in southern India called Project Greenhands. Her aim in life is to reclaim balance, rediscover freedom and health, and to be walking permission for those who are fed up with being held back and just want to “have a go.” I believe that Clare is a great example of this and a role model for us all. She’s someone who has thrown herself into her life mission, and for me, she explains eloquently how female leadership and eco-revolution are a natural partnership.   "I had a complete mind-bending experience realising the depth of ecological destruction that we’re in. I knew it was bad, but I had an educational experience that floored me. I knew I had to do something." Clare Dubois   What you’ll hear in this episode: Clare’s background as a business coach and intuitive, working in education and living her passion for consciousness and helping people find liberation; How she went to India to find enlightenment and found Project Greenhands; Why we must realise that our planet is in peril; The combination of spirituality, social justice, and ecology; What it will take to wake up humanity; Clare’s car accident as a catalyst and the personal message she received about reforesting the tropics through the women of the world; The link between women and reforestation within the female receptive space; How today’s people are stealing from future generations; The process of discovering how to engage and encourage; How we live as humans and as women; Embodying the intellectual changes that must come as we deepen our understanding; Cooling the planet by reforesting: all because of CO2 absorption; The mycelial network that links all the trees in a forest; The Amazon rainforest: it’s the size of the moon, but 40% degraded; The rising and falling of water vapour: the heartbeat of the forest that has disrupted the rainfall; Things that happen because of trees: Trees absorb CO2 and trap the heat that causes global warming. If the trees aren’t there, the CO2 dissolves in the oceans and harms the food chain there. We need kelp and trees because they are most effective at sequestering carbon. Why we need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels; Why staying plugged into technology means you can’t listen to your intuition; Clare’s 9-day nature awakening trip and its benefits and correlation to womb awakening; The reality of the blessed life of Western women compared to most women around the world—all amidst the destabilisation of our planet; Clare’s damage from childhood abuse; Yearning to be pregnant, but not wanting a child; Why TreeSisters is everything parenting is about;  The profound privilege of women in giving back; Exciting upcoming focus for TreeSisters. Humanity is running out of time, but it’s not over yet. It’s going to take everyone rising to the challenge to get through what is coming. "The single greatest threat facing humanity is fear of failure, but you can call everything you

    52 min

  5. 07/20/2015

    01: Jody Day, Founder of Gateway Women

    Jody Day is an author,  social entrepreneur and the founder of Gateway Women a global friendship and support network for childless women.  She is a founding member at AWOC, (Ageing without Children Collective) and a Fellow in Social Innovation at Cambridge Judge Business School at Cambridge University in the UK.  Jody’s book, Rocking the Life Unexpected: 12 Weeks to Your Plan B for a Meaningful and Fulfilling Life Without Children is an Amazon bestseller. Jody runs workshops, social events and private sessions for women coming to terms with the life that doesn’t include motherhood as well as speaking out about the issues and prejudices that childless women face. You can find out more about Jody’s work here.   In this episode, Jody shares how she be turning 51 this year and her journey and experience of being a childless woman up until this point in her life.  At 20 years old she had an abortion. She was in a long line of women who have had children at a very young age and her mother had impressed upon her that she needed to live her own life before she should have children.  At 29 she tried to conceive with her then husband. However, by 33-34 she still was not pregnant. By this time she was doing all she could to conceive.  Unfortunately her marriage started to deteriorate. At 38, her husband suggested they try IVF. However she realised that it wouldn’t be right to bring a baby into their marriage. After having a nervous breakdown soon after and many realisations, she decided to divorce her husband. By the time she was 43 and had experienced a few other relationships, she realised that that her opportunity to be a mother had passed. Reflecting on her life and wanting to have a child, Jody realised how obsessed she had been. She admitted that at one point she even was willing to ignore her husband’s addictions because she wanted to have a child so badly. It was a very difficult and challenging time. Realising and accepting the fact that she wouldn’t be a mother was an excruciating and long process. For about 15 years she had the strong feeling of connection within her belly that she put her life on hold and planned her whole life around that feeling. She called this, psychologically nesting. She was preparing this space in her life for the family that was coming. She was living a half-life – it became one-track. It was a massive shock realising that this life would never happen. She went into a profound period of grieving which she wasn’t aware of at the time. Since she couldn’t find the right help for herself at that time, she decided to become a psychotherapist. At first she thought that she couldn’t be a good psychotherapist since she wasn’t a mother but then realised that after going through her experiences she could be a great one. She is in the process of completing her studies.. When she was going through the portion of her class on grief she realised that was what she was going through a few months previously. She wrote down a map of her emotional experience including the emotional experiences of the women she was meeting while she was writing the Gateway Women’s blog and realised that it was a perfect fit. With great relief she realised that: There was a name for what she was experiencing. She wasn’t going crazy. This will be over one day. She compares this grief to losing a parent. Once you lose them, you can’t have another. That’s the same as realising that you can never have a child, you will never have all the “firsts” experiences. The grief also came in the form of alienation from her peer group or how they thought about her because she’s childless. The loss of her identity as a woman. Some of her friends were understanding but it was too painful for her to be around them. She withdrew. People made the most hopeless but well-meaning comments. How do you deal with some of the inappropriate questions or comments? “It depends on who the person is, what the sit

    57 min
  6. 00: Introducing Unclassified Woman

    07/20/2015

    00: Introducing Unclassified Woman

    I’m excited to share this first episode of my new podcast,Unclassified Woman. This is a short audio where I explain why I am creating the podcast, what I hope to accomplish and who it is for! Unclassified Woman is for women who don’t have, or don’t intend to have children, but do intend to create a meaningful life they love. Unclassified Woman gives voice to the almost 25% of Western women who aren’t easily heard over the mother-focussed mainstream media. Part myth busting, part inspirational story sharing, the podcast features women living meaningful lives, sharing their experiences and insights, while questioning the expectations of women everywhere. I have a dream that one day, women who don’t have children – for whatever reason (and there are many) – no longer endure the unfair judgments placed upon them. My hope for these women, of which I am one, is that their worth as women isn’t measured by their ability to birth children, but rather by their ability to birth their true desires and contribute their gifts to the world. We have so much to look forward to and each episode will bring you the inspiring story of a woman who has chosen to birth the true desires of her heart. I will be sharing information that I hope is helpful and insightful. I would also love to hear any suggestions of any possible guests for future episodes. A new episode will be published weekly.

    10 min
  7. 02: Melanie Notkin - Savvy Auntie

    07/20/2015

    02: Melanie Notkin - Savvy Auntie

    Melanie Notkin is a media entrepreneur, author, speaker, marketer, and a leading voice of childless, often single women.  She is the founder of the Savvy Auntie lifestyle brand and is also the national best selling author of the book, SAVVY AUNTIE: The Ultimate Guide for Cool Aunts, Great Aunts, Godmothers and All Women Who Love Kids and Otherhood: Modern Women Finding A New Kind of Happiness. You can find out more about Melanie’s work here. Melanie believes that being childless for her was due to circumstance. She always wanted to find love, get married, and have a child with that man and yet she remained single. She is 46 and always expected to have found that love and would not settle for anything less. Unfortunately, whilst she hoped it would happen before her fertility waned, she has remained without a child. What do you think are some of the reasons that women are facing? “Social infertility” is an increasingly used term.  Melanie uses the term “circumstantial infertility,” the pain and grief over not having a child because you don’t have a partner and you would prefer to have a child with a partner.  It is a global Western trend and is a global phenomenon. There was a 15-page feature in DE Morgan, the largest daily in Brussels for Mother’s Day on “Otherhood”,  the title of her second book. “I think that part of it has to do with the fact that women today, our generation, the daughters of the feminist movement born in the 60s, 70s, 80s, imagine we’d have the social, economic, and political equality our mothers didn’t have when they were born. Naturally we’d have the husbands and kids that they did have. Plus the education and the financial stability, and independence, alas many of us had not been able to find that love.” Melanie thinks it’s partly because of the even split in education and in financial strength and ability. This generation of single women are among the most well educated, most financially successful, often the most fit and fabulous. These are the most A+ women who can’t find a match.  It’s not because they are too picky, it’s that they want to have a partner who challenges and supports them and to feel that the person adds value to their life and family. Also, on the women’s side, we’ve been told, believed, and in some ways agree that in order to be equal to men, we have to become a little more like men. Women have lost our femininity and trying to shoulder a lot of the traditional roles that men often participated in. Melanie thinks that we are all a little confused about how we should act and truthfully feels that we get turned on by courtship. It seems that there is work to do on both sides to try to bring that together in a more balanced way.  She believes that the simple solution is honesty. Melanie learned to only agree to dates that only work for her. This means that she would make the man work and choose the place of venue rather that her making the decision. We have to understand as women, that there is tremendous power in our femininity. If there weren’t such great power in our femininity, there wouldn’t be such male misogyny. It’s actually our femininity that is threatening to men than there is masculine energy. As women, we nurture everyone around us so we need to be aware and know how to use that femininity appropriately. How did Savvy Auntie come about? Savvy Auntie came about before Otherhood. Melanie had the idea in 2007 and she launched it in the summer of 2008. She was in her late 30s and always expected to be married and have kids by then. The most important people in her life were her nephews and nieces. She didn’t know what to do, what they were in to, and all the things parents were talking about. Often, women who don’t have children can feel left out because they are spending a big part of their life without kids. Melanie then got the idea that there needed to be a community just for them, which is how Savvy Au

    44 min

  8. 07/22/2015

    03: Amy E. Smith - The Joy Junkie

    Amy E. Smith is a certified and credentialed confidence coach, a masterful speaker and personal empowerment expert. She is the founder of the Joy Junkie Enterprises and uses her role as a coach, writer, podcaster and speaker to move individuals beyond their limiting beliefs and sabotaging mindsets to a place of radical personal empowerment and self-love. Amy is very focused on helping people find their voice and uses her popular weekly podcast, the Joy Junkie Show to address issues of worthiness, self-confidence and letting go of people pleasing tendencies to assist listeners in creating and living radically joyful lives. She’s also the co-founder of The Self-love Revolution and has been instrumental in aiding hundreds of women to step into their authentic power and crafting lives they desire. She is a highly sought after speaker and has an uncommon style of irreverence, wisdom and humor. She’s also a featured expert on Fox 5 San Diego and Your Tango.  You can find out more about Amy at The Joy Junkie and get a free copy of her eBook, Stand up for Yourself without Being a Dick, how to face challenges to radically improve self-confidence and self-love. There’s almost 50% of women in the US of the child-bearing age who are currently childless. Amy sees the difference in how people speak to her about this subject from the first few years of her marriage with her husband of 17 years to now. Lately there’s more of an acceptance in that regard than what it was years ago. Almost a quarter of women over 40 don’t have children. What are your thoughts about that? One of the overwhelming response that Amy received from people when she broached this subject on her podcast was that they didn’t realise that they were allowed to not want children. Now she feels that there is a huge personal development movement. How did this decision evolve for you personally? When Amy was a little girl she saw clearly for herself to not have any children of her own. She didn’t have the overwhelming feeling of being matriarchal. It still took many years to be totally confident about it. It’s not our job to make people understand. This is where self-love and self-care comes in. People may never get it. She decides to not participate in conversations where she feels disrespected about her decisions. No one has the right to tell you when you should be fulfilled or not. Did you have any backlash from family or friends on your decision? There was a long period of time when people within their families were convinced that she would change her mind. By the time they were about to go through the procedure they had already been married for 9 years. They then understood that having children just wasn’t for them. Amy’s mother mentioned one time, “it just makes it really hard when everybody in the office talks about their grandkids.” Amy clarified the fact that it’s her own life that’s being affected and not so that her mother can talk about grandkids. A conversation regarding having children historically: You needed children to work your fields. You needed children to carry on your lineage. We weren’t over populated like we are now. That was the priority at the time. The word selfishness leaves a really bad taste in our mouths. What’s needed is more people tending to themselves. Decisions should be based on yourself and not what other people think you should be. Those people who are fulfilled with themselves don’t need to look outside of themselves for validation. “By being selfish, you’re being selfless.”  How would say you mother yourself? “To mother” = to give rise to; to produce. Amy feels that the word didn’t resonate with her. She considers this more like self-care: If she feels good about something she doesn’t cower about expressing it. She handles herself with grace and kindness. If someone says something to her that’s highly offensive, you need to conduct yourself in a way in wh

    45 min
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4.7
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

Unclassified Woman offers an inspiring stream of conversation with women around the globe, who are building lives beyond society’s expectations. Part myth busting, part inspirational story sharing, Michelle Marie McGrath interviews amazing childless or childfree women, including authors, film-makers, activists, entrepreneurs, priestesses, leaders, speakers and creative mavens, who share their experiences and insights, while questioning the expectations of women everywhere. Michelle shares interviews with women all around the globe who are childless or childfree for a multitude of reasons. With almost 25% of women over 40 child-free by choice or childless through circumstance, it seems absurd that women still have to justify their decisions or endure pity about why they’re not mothers. Motherhood is not a mandate and yet so many women are made to feel ‘less than’ or viewed suspiciously or disparagingly, if they are creating a life of meaning beyond biological mothering. All of these outdated stereotypes lead to one dangerous assumption: what’s your value beyond being a mother? As mainstream society still tends to over-celebrate mothers juggling ‘it all’, and under-celebrate women who, whilst not mothers, have created lives of purpose and service. Unclassified Woman is the perfect antidote to limiting female narratives. Season 3 was released in April 2018. After a hiatus Michelle will return with another season in 2022! Each woman’s path in life is equally valid and sacred. Michelle is a Self-love Mentor for women birthing their soul gifts into the world and Creative Empress at Rosemere Retreat in Cornwall, UK. She offers one-on-one Intuitive Guidance/Distance Healing sessions, Womb Awakening healing sessions and the Sacred Self range of vibrational aromatherapy. www.michellemariemcgrath.com

Information

  • Creator
    Michelle Marie McGrath - Intuitive Guide, Writer, Self-love Mentor
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2017
  • Episodes
    70
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Unclassified Woman

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