2.06 Natalie Leeke - lived as a nun for 11 years and has recently been diagnosed with Bipolar - navigating multiple medication changes to find what works best.

Yogini, triathlete, vegan, mother and lover, Natalie Leeke, has created and enjoys an unconventional and beautiful life with her 7 year old daughter in South west Florida. After 11 years as a nun and a broad range of experience, Natalie consults for small to medium businesses on marketing and business strategy. Transitioning from one way of living to living outside of that community has been a huge shift and Natalie talks about this with me in our conversation. We also talk about the journey of navigating finding the right medication that works for you and how sometimes it can take many changes to get to what works best for each of us. Natalie has gone through 9 medication changes to find what works best for her. We talk about how we can be softer with ourselves and offer ourselves as much compassion as we can along the way to avoid shaming ourselves when we are already dealing with so much. We also talk about the importance of having boundaries in place for our working hours and how this differs for all of us. Since her diagnosis of bipolar in 2019, she has been learning to manage life more effectively. Friendships have been a large part of her support system. Her experience of authentic friendships prompted her to host "Social Animals" - a podcast about friendship. FB @natalieleeke IG @nun2fun pondb.com Please find support and resources on our website www.bipolaruk.org Insta: @bipolar_uk Twitter: bipolaruk Facebook: bipolaruk Hosted by Emma Belle: Insta: @emmakbelle Facebook: bellekemma www.emmakbelle.com