I'm trying something different this week.

A mini, solo episode, unscripted, unedited...more like a short, intimate conversation just between you and me. Some of the private, in-the-moment thoughts I feel called to share.

This first one is about taking a sacred pause. It's my permission slip for you, right now, to take a break. Because we get to do that ya know?

Amid all that life throws at us, invites us into, lobs our way...we still get to slow down and take a deep breath. To take it all in. To look around and see what's actually happening. To wonder if we are where we want to be. And to celebrate what is going really Well. Yes, we get to do that too.

I hope you enjoy. I'd love to know what you think and what your pause looks like.

Today’s conversation is with Colleen Rosenblum & Bridgett Garrett of the podcast, Hot Flashes and Cool Topics.

Colleen is a former attorney, pilates instructor and now podcaster. She raised two daughters, married her high school sweetheart and she is loving midlife.

Bridgett is a former elementary school teacher, actress and now podcaster. She raised a son and a daughter, married her college sweetheart and she is also loving midlife.

Their show recognizes the multi-faceted women in this age group where they eagerly share both the “hot flash” side of health and wellness along with the “cool topics” side of lifestyle, travel and fashion.

This episode is like sitting down with your favorite neighbors (which they are) for a glass of wine or cup of tea and just talking about all the different facets of life, with sincerity, depth and humor.

We talk about pivoting careers, what challenged them most heading into midlife, the critical element of community at this stage of life and how they find magic in the day-to-day.

Our stories of resilience and transformation never cease to inspire me. And this conversation is no different.

Today, I speak with Alison Rothman MA CYT. She is a Body-Centered Holistic Empowerment Coach, Emotional Doula, Guide, Mentor, and Transformational Group Facilitator with over 25 years of study and experience in somatic healing arts and therapies, yoga and meditation, authentic embodiment practices, and holistic healing channels. Through her extensive studies, practices, and experiences she provides clients and students with the ability to tap into their innate inner resource, release debilitating life patterns, reclaim their body, mind, heart, and soul connection so as to access their true selves empowering them to live life awake, embodied, and in alignment. In addition to her one-on-one work she facilitates retreats and events, runs women’s groups (both virtual and in person), writes, speaks and is the host of the podcast "Embodied and Awake." She lives in beautiful Boulder, Colorado with her partner and teenage son.

In this episode, Alison tells her incredible story of overcoming major life obstacles including a debilitating eating disorder when she was young, losing almost everything in a house fire and a near death experience in Mexico.

Whether we are trying to lose a few extra pounds, get stronger or improve our health in general, midlife shows us that the things we did to get those results in our 20s, 30s and early 40s often just don't work at all anymore. And with the insane amount of health information out there, it can be really difficult to know which approach is the right one for us.

Claire and James Davis are the husband and wife team behind the multi- award winning wellbeing company 38 Degrees North and thriving midlife coaching business, The Midlife Mentors.

The couple have a successful midlife health podcast; The Midlife Mentors (top 1.5% globally) and their passion is helping midlifers achieve the body, mind and lifestyle they deserve.

At this point in our lives, I would confidently say most women have tried most to all the eating trends. I’m not going to even call them diets anymore, because they actually do feel like trends because the science seems to constantly be changing. Not faulting science. It’s just as technology grows and we are able to dial in precision medicine, it can make what we are “supposed” to be eating that much more confusing.

This is why I lean into and encourage women to listen to the wisdom of our own bodies. No matter what everyone else is doing.

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by Pam Moore.

Pam is an occupational therapist-turned-intuitive eating coach and health and fitness journalist who lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and two daughters.

As an intuitive eating coach, her mission is to help women stop micromanaging their food and exercise so they can start fully showing up to their lives.

Listening to each other’s stories is one of the most impactful ways to learn. This week’s guest on the podcast is Jen Berlingo, and she has a powerful story of midlife transition which helped inform a beautiful approach to reframing this life threshold.

Jen Berlingo, MA, LPC, ATR (she/her) is a midlife coach, a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Colorado, a Nationally Registered Art Therapist, and a master-level Reiki practitioner.

After two decades of midwifing hundreds of women through life’s major transitions and experiencing her own passage through a fiery midlife portal, she was inspired to write her book, Midlife Emergence, to accompany other women in traversing their midlife journeys.

Psychology. Parts work. Somatic healing. Dance. Movement. Embodiment. Parenting. Sex. Relationships.

This conversation with therapist, Deb Rubin, is especially dynamic and expansive. Every piece of Deb’s work resonates deeply with me and she drops many nuggets in this episode.

According to Deb, love and deep connection are her lifelines. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has worked in numerous therapeutic job settings, as well as sexual health education - consciously blending the best of both Eastern and Western theories into her practice.

This episode speaks directly to creating magic and mayhem and is about one of my favorite topics … pleasure… and I am speaking with Elizabeth Wood, who literally wrote a book called The Pleasure Prescription: A Surprising Approach to Healing Sexual Pain, with her business partner Dee Hartmann.

Elizabeth is a co-founder of the Pleasure Movement™, an organization dedicated to helping women find pleasure in their bodies, some for the very first time. As a certified Erotic Blueprint™ coach, tantra educator, and somatic sex educator, she has immense knowledge of the healing power of pleasure.

She has been working in sexual health and wellness for over two decades with individuals, couples, and groups. She has led comprehensive sex workshops and lectures at multiple universities including Metropolitan State University of Denver and Naropa University. Elizabeth earned her master’s degree in clinical social work from Loyola University Chicago and is a former licensed private-practice sex therapist.

We do a deep dive into the importance of pleasure in all areas of life and why we both believe in its healing and transformational power.