Midlife often signifies a transition phase when women begin to contemplate the lives they’ve built. It’s a common period for exploring new professions or hobbies as both bodies and minds undergo changes. Some of us may assuredly ride these waves, while others may be unsure of how to manage new ways of being. If you find yourself navigating this transformative journey, these three podcasts can be your guiding light.
The Well Done Life Podcast
According to Pamela Davis, The Well Done Life Podcast is focused on creating a space where we learn from personal experiences, and embrace our “inner expert” to live our best lives. Davis has crafted a heart-centered digital space, where value is placed on women’s lived experiences. Guests are the experts of their lives, not a so-called guru and not a man. Davis begins each episode with what she calls “foundational” practices for developing a “safe space.” Each segment is based on “clarity and love,” because she believes “women are the foundation of society.” Though Davis doesn’t say this, The Well Done Life Podcast seems to be a reclamation for women to live and thrive in their divine feminine energy. With nearly 200 episodes, there are plenty of stories to choose from. Topics range from how to be an artist to how to become an expatriate. Trust me. You will leave inspired and feeling a deep sense of love and hope for your own life.
The Hotflash Inc Podcast
Ann Marie McQueen is a journalist, who founded The Hotflash Inc Podcast to inform, entertain and encourage people going through perimenopause, menopause andropause and midlife around the world and to give us the best information, in the most objective, balanced manner. This, she does. McQueen’s podcast is one of the few sources of information women have that is based on science and research. Because she has a journalism background, she uses fact-finding skills to do something that many media do not—offer sound options you can trust. McQueen is also big on not perpetuating the idea that our aging reproductive organs are a “deficiency.” I once asked her what we should call a decrease in hormones, and she promptly said, “menopause.” Whether you want to know if hormone replacement therapy is for you, or you want to understand how mindfulness can provide support as you age, The Hotflash Inc Podcast is for you.
Five Lemons Laughing and Growing Spiritually Podcast
Amanda, Drusilla, Melissa, Morgan, and Penny are on a spiritual journey together and have developed the Five Lemons Laughing podcast. These women discuss their breakthroughs, breakdowns, insights, and challenges, with spirituality and spiritual practices, and with lots of laughter and compassion. Unlike other podcasts where hosts seem to have everything figured out, the “five lemons” do not. They share about events that have happened in their recent pasts, or that are happening in real time, and then they help each other process the experience. For example, a two-part episode delved into the concept of rejection, where one of the lemons described how she felt being a stepmother. With each episode, including this one, the “five lemons” model empathy and active listening (and laughter). Other episodes offer deep insights into what it means to be non-judgmental or enact boundaries, if we are truly as spiritual teachings suggest, “one mind.” Five Lemons Laughing is for you if you want to dig into the messiness of life’s happenings while dissecting spiritual concepts.
Each of these podcasts can be found wherever you typically listen. Check out one or all of them! I guarantee you’ll gain knowledge of yourself as a result and a positive nudge toward your new middle-aged self.
K E Garland | K E Garland is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer, blogger, and author based in Florida. She uses personal essays and memoirs to de-marginalize women’s experiences with an intent to highlight and humanize contemporary issues. She has a husband and two adult daughters and is an associate professor at a community college.
