WEBVTT - Why are we self-conscious about our vulvas?

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<v Speaker 1>Hey there, welcome to Healthy Ish. Thank you for joining

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<v Speaker 1>us today on this Body and Soul podcast. I am

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<v Speaker 1>Felicity Harley.

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<v Speaker 2>Now.

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<v Speaker 1>A recent report published by Women's Health Victoria landed on

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<v Speaker 1>our desks here at Healthy Ish and we were pretty

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<v Speaker 1>worried about some of the findings. It is called the

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<v Speaker 1>Labia Diversity Report, and overall it has found increased rates

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<v Speaker 1>of labia and volver anxiety. To tell us more about

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<v Speaker 1>the findings, I am joined today by Kate Johnston Utter Utter.

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<v Speaker 1>She's a manager policy, health promotion and Advocacy at Women's

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<v Speaker 1>Health Victoria. Now listening to our chat on extra Healthy

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<v Speaker 1>Ish as well, where she shares more about the current

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<v Speaker 1>state of women's health. That was a really interesting chat.

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<v Speaker 1>You can search for that wherever you get your podcasts. Kate,

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<v Speaker 1>nice to have you on Healthy Today. Thank you for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you for the opportunity.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm excited to hear more about this real Body report.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell us about it. What were some of the highlights

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<v Speaker 1>the findings for you?

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<v Speaker 2>Sure? So, we at Women's Health Victoria, we did a

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<v Speaker 2>survey with Yugov in April this year where we surveyed

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<v Speaker 2>about one thousand women and people with laber between eighteen

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<v Speaker 2>and fifty about their thoughts and feelings and knowledge about

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<v Speaker 2>their laber. So what we found was that on the

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<v Speaker 2>good news was it about a third of our respondents

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<v Speaker 2>so happy and comfortable with their laber and had no

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<v Speaker 2>concerns about the appearance or anything like that. However, about

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<v Speaker 2>one in six had negative feelings unfortunately, so they were

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<v Speaker 2>worried about the appearance. They felt ashamed or that there

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<v Speaker 2>was something wrong with the way that they look. And

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<v Speaker 2>when we drilled down into the findings a bit further,

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<v Speaker 2>we found that this was particularly heightened among our younger

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<v Speaker 2>women and people with laber, so the gen Z's or

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen to twenty four, and about nearly a quarter of

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<v Speaker 2>those young people had real concerns and associates of their

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<v Speaker 2>labia with words like weird or disgustingly, which was really

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<v Speaker 2>sad to hear.

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<v Speaker 1>So I suppose the big question is why not just

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<v Speaker 1>gen Zs but everyone else? Why the hang ups? I

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<v Speaker 1>suppose is that hey, you call it with our labia?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Look, I think that there's a couple of things.

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<v Speaker 2>The first one is that we just actually as women,

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<v Speaker 2>don't have good information about what labia should look like.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not doesn't tend to be covered in sex ed

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<v Speaker 2>at school. Many of our health professionals themselves don't get

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<v Speaker 2>information when they're doing their training, so they are not

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<v Speaker 2>aware unless they work specifically in women's health. And also,

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<v Speaker 2>as you would know and your listeners, with no pornography

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<v Speaker 2>and the online environment are really important influencers now in people,

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<v Speaker 2>and that's what came out in the survey. We've found

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<v Speaker 2>about one in five gen Z respondents get their information

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<v Speaker 2>about what labia should look like from online pornography. So

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<v Speaker 2>that's an environment where a lot of the laba that

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<v Speaker 2>people see are either airbrushed or the performers have had surgery,

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<v Speaker 2>and so there's a kind of very idealized appearance where

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<v Speaker 2>it's very neat and tucked away like the barb you

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<v Speaker 2>look as they say, but that's just one type of LaBier.

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<v Speaker 2>In fact, over half of labia have the labia manora,

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<v Speaker 2>which is the inner labia extend below the outer labia.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's completely normal. But unfortunately, because we don't have

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<v Speaker 2>good information and people awareness of what is normal, people

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<v Speaker 2>wrongly think that there's something wrong with them.

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<v Speaker 1>It's interesting when you were saying that I mean I

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<v Speaker 1>worked in magazines for many years around women's health many

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<v Speaker 1>of the years, and back in the Cosmo days, I

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<v Speaker 1>remember running a sealed section on volvers and what we

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<v Speaker 1>call them vaginas back then, and I think that helped

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<v Speaker 1>normalize what a labor looks like for me because I

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<v Speaker 1>was just exposed to all these different pictures of books,

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<v Speaker 1>like which you've done with your fantastic labor library, which

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<v Speaker 1>I love, love, love love listeners, go and have a look.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell us about this and why it has been so successful.

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<v Speaker 2>So the Laber Library has well, it's actually been around

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<v Speaker 2>for ten years. We just didn't update to coincide with

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<v Speaker 2>the Real Bodies Report, so we've expanded. Our Focio gallery

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<v Speaker 2>now has one hundred and four images in there, so

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<v Speaker 2>that's fifty six models, so there's a front and a

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<v Speaker 2>below image from each one, and we also have extensive

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<v Speaker 2>information on the site as well, so that's all been

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<v Speaker 2>fully updated to be current with current research. So that

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<v Speaker 2>tells you lots of information about like the anatomy of

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<v Speaker 2>the volver and the laber functions. You know what's normal

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<v Speaker 2>and what isn't in terms of health issues and things

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<v Speaker 2>like that, and where to go for more information. It

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<v Speaker 2>also has some fantastic resources for parents who might be

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<v Speaker 2>concerned about their child or their childs come to them

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<v Speaker 2>with a concern, as well as resources for health practitioners

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<v Speaker 2>and sex ed providers. So it's a wealth. It's a

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<v Speaker 2>treat to show of information.

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<v Speaker 1>What if we are concerned about I mean, there's no normal.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's the main thing, the main message in

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<v Speaker 1>its no nor It's comes in many different shapes and sizes,

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<v Speaker 1>as we do as humans, exactly if we are suffering

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<v Speaker 1>from hang ups, if we're questioning it, if we don't

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<v Speaker 1>you know, if it comes to sex and we don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to show it, and when we're embarrassed about it,

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<v Speaker 1>what can we do?

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<v Speaker 2>So I think that firstly, obviously go and visit the

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<v Speaker 2>labybr just tup that into your browser, I think them

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<v Speaker 2>and we get great responses from people. There's a little

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<v Speaker 2>feedback form there and even since the update we've had,

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<v Speaker 2>like you know, we gets over like eighty percent of

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<v Speaker 2>respondents saying this really helped them with their knowledge and

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<v Speaker 2>awareness and the way they feel about themselves. So that's

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<v Speaker 2>a great place to start. So if you've visited the

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<v Speaker 2>Laber Library and you still have concerns or you have

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<v Speaker 2>any discomfort or anything like that, then obviously go and

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<v Speaker 2>see a health practitioner. If you're feeling like your doctor

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<v Speaker 2>isn't comfortable discussing this or doesn't have the knowledge that

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<v Speaker 2>you're looking for. I feel I think you should be

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<v Speaker 2>encouraged to shop around because you know, like any service

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<v Speaker 2>provider doctors very until you find somebody who does really

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<v Speaker 2>know what you talking about and is happy to have

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<v Speaker 2>that conversation with you. And then the other piece of

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<v Speaker 2>advice we give to people is that if you are

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<v Speaker 2>of an age where you're consuming pornography, you know there

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<v Speaker 2>is more diverse imagery out there. You just have to

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes put a bit more effort into looking for it. Though. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>be aware that there is imagery out there that is

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<v Speaker 2>a bit more varied and realistic.

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<v Speaker 1>What about changes? Can changes happen to your labia throughout

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<v Speaker 1>your life? Tell us a bit about this.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, so when you go through adolescents and puberty, obviously

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<v Speaker 2>your laby a change a lot, and so that can

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<v Speaker 2>be an issue too sometimes because it's quite like there's

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<v Speaker 2>a trend towards removing pubic care now. Often when people

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<v Speaker 2>remove their pubic care in their teenage years, they might

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<v Speaker 2>have a mental image of what they look like as

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<v Speaker 2>a child, and their bodies look different because of all

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<v Speaker 2>of the hormonal changes, So that's something to be aware of.

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<v Speaker 2>Then obviously, pregnancy and birth can change your labia. So

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<v Speaker 2>during pregnancy, your labia may increase in size and appear

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<v Speaker 2>more swollen and darker in color because of the hormones,

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<v Speaker 2>and then after birth they will generally return to their

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<v Speaker 2>pre pregnancy state, but there can be permanent changes, like,

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<v Speaker 2>for example, if you experience any injuries to your labor

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<v Speaker 2>during birth that might leave some scarring. And then there's

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<v Speaker 2>changes again later in life during the perimenopause in the

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<v Speaker 2>sort of late forties for most people and after menopause

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<v Speaker 2>where the inner laba may change color and become a

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<v Speaker 2>bit thinner, And similarly the tissues of the vulva andlining

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<v Speaker 2>of the vagina can become a bit thinner as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but the big takeaway I think for me is

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<v Speaker 1>just look at the labiers in the library and it

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<v Speaker 1>will help will reassure you that it's all okay.

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, that's right. I think when you look in the

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<v Speaker 2>and yeah, everybody who guys they're basically is like, oh,

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<v Speaker 2>I had no idea, so very much incare and it's

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<v Speaker 2>a really it's presented in a very kind of like

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<v Speaker 2>non sexualized way. It's very safe and you know, lots

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<v Speaker 2>of really useful information as I said, that sits alongside it.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, thanks Kate for coming on Healthy.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>Folks. I highly recommend you go on and have a

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<v Speaker 1>look at that Lavier library. I will leave a link

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<v Speaker 1>to it in the show notes. If you did enjoy

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<v Speaker 1>this chat, jump on tell Us rate and review this podcast,

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<v Speaker 1>or of course you can subscribe anything else you know

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<v Speaker 1>where to go. Bodyansoul dot com dot you follow us

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<v Speaker 1>on socials. We have our print edition which is out

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<v Speaker 1>in your local Sunday paper and until tomorrow, stay healthy,