The Luminescence Podcast with Schuyler Grant

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Latest Episodes:

Why Women Age Differently: Bone, Muscle & Menopause with Dr. Vonda Wright Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Women lose up to 20% of their bone density during perimenopause, often silently, until a fracture makes it impossible to ignore.

Dr. Vonda Wright, MD, an orthopedic sports surgeon and author of Unbreakable, explains the biology of bone loss, muscle loss, and menopause, and why women, the 51% who make most household and healthcare decisions, still receive only a sliver of research funding after age 40.

Recorded live at Luminescence Los Angeles in February 2025.

Here's what you'll learn:

Why bone functions as an endocrine organ that influences the brain, metabolism, and more
The biological drivers of aging: epigenetics, cellular senescence, inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction
Why lifting heavier weights and eating more protein matter more at midlife than moderate cardio
Making hormone decisions based on evidence rather than fear This talk is for anyone concerned about bone density, osteoporosis risk, or building strength through perimenopause and menopause.

Topics: bone density, osteoporosis prevention, perimenopause, menopause, strength training, women's health research

Fire Your Doctor? Robin Berzin & Mindy Pelz on Health Advocacy Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

55% of women say they've felt gaslit by a doctor. 80% delay care rather than walk into an appointment where they know they won't be heard.

In this Luminescence LA conversation, Dr. Mindy Pelz (Fast Like a Girl, The Menopause Reset) and Dr. Robin Berzin, founder and CEO of Parsley Health, talk about why the medical system is built for medicine, not health, and what it actually looks like to walk into a doctor's office as an equal instead of a patient.

What you'll hear, and when:

[00:00] Mindy's origin story: misdiagnosed at 19, and the homeopathic doctor who changed her life

[03:00] The stats behind why healthcare feels broken right now

[08:00] The patriarchal medical model, and why chronic disease keeps winning

[13:00] "The body heals itself" — the principle Robin says conventional medicine forgot

[16:00] Walking in as an equal: treating your doctor like an employee, not an authority

[21:00] Why "I don't know" is the hardest thing for a doctor to say, and where GLP-1s fit into our quick-fix culture

[26:00] Why only 8% of women get preventive testing

[30:00] The closing message: you are the hero of your own health story

This episode is for anyone who has left a doctor's office feeling dismissed, and anyone ready to take an active role in their own healthcare.

The Heart of Menopause: Four leading experts on the cardiovascular chapter of menopause no one prepares you for. Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

Menopause is usually talked about in terms of hot flashes and mood swings. But beneath those symptoms are silent, system-wide changes and one of the most important ones happens in the heart.

Cardiovascular disease doubles after menopause, and most women aren't told why, when it starts, or what they can do about it. The truth is, perimenopause can begin in your mid-thirties, and the decisions you make in the decade that follows shape the next third of your life.

The Heart of Menopause is a master class bringing together four of the leading voices in women's health: journalist and filmmaker Tamsen Fadal, Harvard-trained physician Dr. Sara Szal, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Vonda Wright, and board-certified OB-GYN Dr. Mary Claire Haver.

Together, they unpack the science of estrogen and the cardiovascular system, the window of opportunity for hormone therapy, and the practical tools — from biomarker testing to nutrition to resistance training — that protect your heart for the long run.

You are not invisible. Let's change the conversation together.

Desire, Arousal & Menopause with Dr. Cindy Meston Sep 08, 2026

Show notes

For decades, almost everything we knew about sexual desire and arousal was based on research done on men — and simply assumed to apply to women too.

In this conversation, Dr. Cindy Meston, professor of clinical psychology and director of the Female Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin, breaks down thirty years of research into how women's desire and arousal actually work, and why the male template got it wrong.

Why the science of women's desire is decades behind the science of men's
The surprising model that flips the usual order of desire and arousal
What an eight-year study found about desire through menopause — and who defied the trend
Why a woman's body and her mind don't always agree on when she's turned on
The unexpected 20-minute intervention that changed the research

This conversation is part of Sex in Menopause, a free masterclass with Naomi Watts featuring sexual health expert Dr. Somi Javaid, Dr. Cindy Meston, and real women navigating changing bodies and desire most of us were never prepared for. Watch it for free at sexinmenopause.com.

Right now there is only one trained menopause provider for every 32,000 women who need care. This episode is for anyone confused by their own changing desire, and anyone who wants the actual science instead of the myths.

Menopause Taught Me to Put My Oxygen Mask On First: Gabby Bernstein & Emily Morse Sep 01, 2026

Show notes

Two women, one shared reckoning: perimenopause and menopause arrived and rewrote everything they thought they knew about their bodies, their sex lives, and themselves. In this extended conversation, #1 New York Times bestselling author Gabby Bernstein and sexologist Emily Morse (host of Sex with Emily) open up about the messy, unglamorous entry into midlife hormonal change — rage, hot flashes, vanished libido, and in Gabby's case, a fertility journey that included IVF and pregnancy loss. Emily, meanwhile, is living out her own perimenopause in real time, testing on herself everything she's spent over twenty years teaching other people about pleasure. Both conversations are part of Sex in Menopause, a free masterclass with Naomi Watts featuring sexual health expert Dr. Somi Javaid, psychologist Dr. Cindy Meston, and real women navigating changing bodies, mismatched desire, and identity shifts most of us were never prepared for. Right now there is only one trained menopause provider for every 32,000 women who need care. If sex has disappeared or changed in ways you can't explain, that's not a personal failure. That's a gap in the medical system. In this episode:

Menopause as a "spiritual shakedown" — Gabby's reckoning
Early perimenopause symptoms & finding real support
Marriage, communication & educating a partner
Fertility, IVF & pregnancy loss
HRT, lifestyle shifts & feeling more herself than ever (Gabby)
Preparing for menopause & a message of hope
Emily's own perimenopause & why she's not exempt from the confusion
Medical dismissal & why doctors aren't trained on this
Communication as "lubrication": talking to partners about sex
Letting go of duty sex
Desire, burnout & the nervous system connection
Toys, lube & modern arousal aids, without shame
Why midlife can mean the best sex of your life

Topics covered: menopause, perimenopause, women's sexual health, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), fertility, IVF, pregnancy loss, low libido, desire, arousal, sex toys, lube, communication in relationships, medical dismissal, nervous system regulation, self-pleasure, healing, spiritual growth, midlife identity, Gabby Bernstein, Emily Morse.

If this episode landed for you: watch Sex in Menopause, the free documentary with Naomi Watts, at sexinmenopause.com. For more conversations like this — plus live events, retreats, and past seasons — head to Luminescence.health.

Why Your Libido Disappears in Menopause with Dr. Somi Javaid Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, board-certified gynecologist and sexual health expert Dr. Somi Javaid — founder of HerMD, who raised $40 million after being told she had "less than a half percent chance" — breaks down exactly what's been missing from women's health care, and what's finally starting to change. She walks through the real gender gap in FDA drug approval (six months for Viagra, six years for the first female libido drug), the black box warning that scared a generation of women off hormone therapy, and why testosterone — not just estrogen — matters for female sexual function and almost nobody gets properly tested for it. Her work is featured throughout Sex in Menopause, a free masterclass with Naomi Watts featuring Dr. Somi, psychologist Dr. Cindy Meston, and real women navigating changing bodies, mismatched desire, and identity shifts most of us were never prepared for. Right now there is only one trained menopause provider for every 32,000 women who need care. If sex has disappeared or changed in ways you can't explain, that's not a personal failure. That's a gap in the medical system. In this episode:

The phone call that became her calling — her mother's dismissed heart symptoms
The patient who couldn't get help — and why she left traditional OB-GYN care
Building HerMD from scratch, and raising $40 million against the odds
The real gender gap: Viagra vs. the first female libido drug
The black box warning and the hormone therapy scare that set women back decades
What HSDD actually is (and what it isn't)
Spontaneous vs. responsive desire — why "wanting sex out of nowhere" isn't the only normal
Testosterone's role in female libido, mood, and energy — and why almost no one gets tested
The surprising reason birth control clears skin (and quietly lowers libido)
Your brain as your biggest sex organ
Thyroid, medications, and other overlooked causes of low desire
When low libido gets mistaken for a lack of love
The truth about orgasm and anatomy
Femtech tools and innovations — vibrators, erotica apps, and evidence-based supplements
The real barriers to care, and her message to women who feel dismissed

Topics covered: menopause, perimenopause, women's sexual health, testosterone therapy, HSDD (hypoactive sexual desire disorder), low libido, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), medical dismissal, gender gap in medicine, sexual desire, orgasm, femtech, Dr. Somi Javaid, HerMD, Viagra, Addyi, birth control, brain health, thyroid, biopsychosocial approach, sexual wellness.

If this episode landed for you: watch Sex in Menopause, the free documentary with Naomi Watts, at sexinmenopause.com. For more conversations like this — plus live events, retreats, and past seasons — head to Luminescence.health.

Empathy, Elderhood & What Comes Next: Giving Fewer F*cks Part 2 of 2 Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

You came into this season navigating a transition. You're leaving with a different relationship to what's on the other side of it.

This is the season finale of the Luminescence Podcast. Schuyler Grant, Dr. Somi Javaid, Dr. Sarah de la Torre, and Elena Brower close out by looking forward — to grandchildren, creative reinvention, travel, radical career pivots, and the profound privilege of becoming a wise woman elder.

They discuss:

Why the mild depression of perimenopause can be a form of protective cocooning — the difference between hormonal anhedonia and clinical depression, and why one might actually serve a purpose
What the grandmother hypothesis is — the anthropological theory that women's post-reproductive longevity isn't a biological accident but evolution's design for women elders to hold things together and pass wisdom down
How oxytocin shifts in menopause redirect empathy toward more authentic connection — and why women between 45 and 55 are starting businesses at record rates
What each panelist is genuinely excited about for the next chapter — grandchildren, music, Qigong, language, travel, and the versions of themselves that are still coming
Lightning round verdicts on early retirement, radical career pivots, staying together for the kids, forcing couples therapy, and abundant cleavage after 50

For any woman ready to see this transition not as decline, but as preparation for what might be the most powerful chapter yet.

For information on our upcoming events, retreats, and to connect with specialists and other women in our online community, visit www.luminescence.health.

Presented by our sponsors:

Stripes:

Visit stripesbeauty.com and use the code COMMUNE20 for 20% off the entire product line.

Genova Connect:

Save 20% on testing with code COMMUNE20 so you can stop guessing and make adjustments to support what matters. Visit connect.gdx.net.

LivOn Labs:

Get 15% off your first order of elite-absorption, foundational supplements that fit into your routine with code COMMUNE15 (valid through 6.30.26) at LivOnLabs.com.

BiOptimizers:

Go to bioptimizers.com/luminescence and use code LUMINESCENCE for 15% off.

Try Schuyler's new personalized yoga app: https://schuylergrant.com/app

Partnerships, Priorities and Purpose in Midlife: Giving Fewer F*cks Part 1 of 2 Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

Somewhere in your mid-forties, you realize that the compromises you made in your thirties stop sitting right. The relationships that used to feel necessary start feeling optional. The drive to be everything to everyone, quietly or not so quietly, starts to dissolve.

In this episode of the Luminescence Podcast, Schuyler Grant sits down with Dr. Somi Javaid, Dr. Sarah de la Torre, and Elena Brower to get into the liberating, complicated, and sometimes messy reality of giving fewer f*cks in midlife. What does it actually look like when women stop performing and start choosing?

They discuss:

The neurobiology behind caring less — estrogen decline, oxytocin shifts, and how the post-menopausal brain rewires toward self-prioritization in ways men's more gradual hormonal decline simply doesn't
What gray divorce actually looks like — why some of it is liberation, some of it is grief, and all of it is information about what happens when women stop absorbing dysfunction
How women are restructuring friendships in midlife — smaller circles, higher standards, and Elena's four-step nonviolent communication framework for ending a friendship without drama
Why women between 45 and 55 are starting businesses at record rates — and how the domestic labor imbalance in long-term partnerships quietly builds the resentment that eventually demands change

For every woman who has spent decades making herself smaller and is ready to understand what happens when you stop.

For information on our upcoming events, retreats, and to connect with specialists and other women in our online community, visit www.luminescence.health.

Presented by our sponsors:

Stripes:

Visit stripesbeauty.com and use the code COMMUNE20 for 20% off the entire product line.

Genova Connect:

Save 20% on testing with code COMMUNE20 so you can stop guessing and make adjustments to support what matters. Visit connect.gdx.net.

LivOn Labs:

Get 15% off your first order of elite-absorption, foundational supplements that fit into your routine with code COMMUNE15 (valid through 6.30.26) at LivOnLabs.com.

BiOptimizers:

Go to bioptimizers.com/luminescence and use code LUMINESCENCE for 15% off.

Try Schuyler's new personalized yoga app: https://schuylergrant.com/app

Trauma, Resilience & Better Coping: What Used to Work Doesn’t Part 2 of 2 Aug 04, 2026

Show notes

We're all coping with something. The question is whether what we're reaching for is actually helping, or just numbing us from the discomfort we're too busy to sit with.

This is part two of the conversation on coping in midlife. Schuyler Grant, Dr. Somi Javaid, Dr. Sarah de la Torre, and Elena Brower dig into the deeper current running beneath perimenopause: the old traumas that float to the surface when the busyness of building a life no longer keeps them submerged.

They discuss:

Why resilience is about returning to ease, not powering through — and how service, meditation, sweating, and somatic practices build real neurological resilience instead of just tolerance
Why perimenopause is often the first time women address their mental health — and what unresolved trauma looks like in midlife versus what it looks like when it's been metabolized
The brain circuitry behind doom-scrolling and every other cortisol loop you can't quit — and why boundaries weren't in Dr. Somi's vocabulary until midlife
The 3am worry closet and the divorce wave — why perimenopause, as brutal as it can be, might be the most useful moment to finally deal with what we've been carrying
Lightning round verdicts on microdosing, ecstatic dance, California sober, and more

For any woman who's tired of just getting through and ready to address what's underneath — midlife has a way of surfacing what you've been too busy to deal with.

For information on our upcoming events, retreats, and to connect with specialists and other women in our online community, visit www.luminescence.health.

Presented by our sponsors:

Stripes:

Visit stripesbeauty.com and use the code COMMUNE20 for 20% off the entire product line.

Genova Connect:

Save 20% on testing with code COMMUNE20 so you can stop guessing and make adjustments to support what matters. Visit connect.gdx.net.

LivOn Labs:

Get 15% off your first order of elite-absorption, foundational supplements that fit into your routine with code COMMUNE15 (valid through 6.30.26) at LivOnLabs.com.

BiOptimizers:

Go to bioptimizers.com/luminescence and use code LUMINESCENCE for 15% off.

Try Schuyler's new personalized yoga app: https://schuylergrant.com/app

Alcohol, SSRIs & Midlife Coping: What Used to Work Doesn’t Part 1 of 2 Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

Your favorite coping mechanisms — wine, edibles, even your go-to SSRI — might suddenly betray you in midlife.

In this episode of the Luminescence Podcast, Schuyler Grant sits down with Dr. Sarah de la Torre, Elena Brower, and Dr. Somi Javaid to dig into why alcohol hits harder after 40, antidepressants become less reliable, and the things that used to take the edge off start creating new problems instead. They explore the neuroscience of why your old stress relievers stop working as hormones shift.

They discuss:

Why hormonal shifts change how you experience pleasure, reward, and stress — how declining estrogen affects dopamine and serotonin, and what that means for mood and cravings
What makes alcohol and cannabis hit differently during perimenopause and post-menopause — the metabolism changes, sleep disruption, and anxiety that weren't there before
The truth about SSRIs in midlife — when they help, when they don't, and what the risks actually are as your brain chemistry changes
The real impact of your nightly glass of wine — when it crosses from pleasure into problem, and why that line moves in midlife
How to tell the difference between what actually supports you and what just keeps you stuck — and why your coping mechanisms need to evolve

For any woman whose go-to stress relief isn't working anymore and wants to understand why — before figuring out what comes next.

For information on our upcoming events, retreats, and to connect with specialists and other women in our online community, visit www.luminescence.health.

Presented by our sponsors:

Stripes:

Visit stripesbeauty.com and use the code COMMUNE20 for 20% off the entire product line.

Genova Connect:

Save 20% on testing with code COMMUNE20 so you can stop guessing and make adjustments to support what matters. Visit connect.gdx.net.

LivOn Labs:

Get 15% off your first order of elite-absorption, foundational supplements that fit into your routine with code COMMUNE15 (valid through 6.30.26) at LivOnLabs.com.

BiOptimizers:

Go to bioptimizers.com/luminescence and use code LUMINESCENCE for 15% off.

Try Schuyler's new personalized yoga app: https://schuylergrant.com/app

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