TURNED ON: Wild, free & sexy in your midlife

Penny van der Sluys
  • 3.0 (4)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Semimonthly

Are you ready to turn on the light switch of your soul and live an authentic, radiant, unapologetically pleasure-filled life? I’m Penny van der Sluys, I empower women in their midlife who are struggling to love their body and prioritise pleasure, play and passion, and help them discover their powerful, untapped sensual, sexual and feminine energy so they can feel wild, free, sexy in their body and life. Journey with me as we explore the aspects of our lives that are taboo and surrounded in shame, and reveal the keys to access to pleasure and joy in your midlife and beyond!

  1. 115 | The Cost of Shame & Silence, with Katelin Vincent, Coach, Speaker, Podcast Host, & Founder of You Go Girlfriend

    Jun 22

    115 | The Cost of Shame & Silence, with Katelin Vincent, Coach, Speaker, Podcast Host, & Founder of You Go Girlfriend

    What is the cost of shame and silence? In this episode, Katelin Vincent and I explore how shame can shape the way we see ourselves, the choices we make, and our willingness to speak up, be seen, and trust ourselves. Together, we unpack the stories we've inherited, the expectations we place on ourselves, and what becomes possible when we stop looking outside ourselves for permission and start honouring our own voice, wisdom, and experience. This is a conversation about self-expression, confidence, intuition, authenticity, and remembering that who you are is enough. Tune in to hear about: ✨ The difference between guilt and shame ✨ Why shame thrives in secrecy, silence, and judgement ✨ The cost of staying silent ✨ Trusting your intuition and inner knowing ✨ Self-expression, authenticity, and finding your voice ✨ Permission, confidence, and taking up space ✨ Letting go of other people's expectations ✨ Reclaiming the parts of yourself you've lost touch with ✨ Why speaking up gives other women permission to do the same And if you enjoy today's episode, you'll be pleased to know the conversation continues in my next episode as Katelin and I explore relationships, communication, desire, intimacy, and why The Relationship You Have With Yourself Changes Everything. Connect with Katelin: Connect with me:Instagram: @pennyvandersluysWebsite: pennyvandersluys.com Wonder Women Club: pennyvandersluys.com/wonder

    51 min
  2. 114 | Following your Spark: A Love Letter to Life with Wren Morrow, Outdoor Boudoir & Erotic Adventure Photographer

    Jun 10

    114 | Following your Spark: A Love Letter to Life with Wren Morrow, Outdoor Boudoir & Erotic Adventure Photographer

    What happens when you follow a spark? Less than five months ago, Wren Morrow and I met for the very first time on this podcast. Three weeks later, she boarded a plane from the United States to Australia for penFEST, the camping festival I created to celebrate turning 50 through community, creativity, adventure and connection. What followed was a two-and-a-half-month adventure, a deepening soul-sister connection, and countless experiences that neither of us could have predicted. When Wren called me recently and discovered I didn't have a podcast episode ready for this week, she suggested something simple: "Why don't we record this conversation?" So we did. In this heartfelt and beautifully unscripted episode, we reflect on the sparks we've followed, the adventures they've led us on, and how saying yes to life can become its own kind of love letter. We explore: ✨ Following the sparks that call to us ✨ The courage to say yes before we have all the answers ✨ penFEST, self-expression and taking up space ✨ Photography as a portal back to experience ✨ Why so many women hold themselves back from being fully seen ✨ Lingering longer when life is lighting us up ✨ Taking risks without guarantees ✨ Learning not to abandon ourselves when things don't go to plan ✨ The power of reflection, closure and honouring our experiences ✨ Writing as a way to process, heal and make meaning ✨ Wren's beautiful love letter to her time in Australia This episode is a reminder that life isn't meant to be lived perfectly. It's meant to be lived fully. That following a spark is more than a fleeting moment of inspiration. It's a way of saying yes to what lights us up, what calls us forward, and what helps us feel more fully alive. Instagram: @_wrenmorrow Substack: https://wrenmorrow.substack.com/ Wren'sdays on [ RENATA ] wrenmorrow Instagram: @pennyvandersluys Website: pennyvandersluys.com If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a woman who needs a reminder to trust herself, follow the spark, and say yes to life.

    1h 4m
  3. 113 | Turned On By Life Until The Very End with Denise Love, Circle-of-Life Doula, Hypnotherapist & Elder

    May 25

    113 | Turned On By Life Until The Very End with Denise Love, Circle-of-Life Doula, Hypnotherapist & Elder

    What if talking about death could actually teach us how to live? What if the thing we fear most… could become the doorway to more presence, pleasure, intimacy and freedom? In this episode, I’m joined by the extraordinary Denise Love - birth and death doula, nurse, hypnotherapist, educator and elder - for a delightfully honest, liberating and life-affirming conversation about life and death This episode isn’t heavy or depressing. It’s uplifting, wise, frank and refreshingly honest. This conversation will stay with you… and leave you reflecting on what you could be doing to truly live now. In this episode we explore: What people most regret at the end of lifeWhy women lose themselves trying to please everyone elseHow menopause can become a portal to truth and freedomThe power of sensuality, touch and intimacy throughout lifeWhy friendship, tribe and feeling seen matters so deeplyRituals around dying, grief and celebrating lifeHow talking about death can actually help us live more consciouslyWhat it means to stop saving your life for “one day” You can connect with Denise Love:Facebook: facebook.com/Denise.Love.122719Instagram: @deniselove330Email Denise deniselovelifeoptions@gmail.com to request her Advanced Directive / end-of-life planning document. To connect with me:Website: pennyvandersluys.comInstagram @pennyvandersluys If you’d like to explore my work around pleasure, embodiment, midlife awakening and feminine reclamation - or join the waitlist for the next Pleasure You’ve Been Missing Pilgrimage - head to my website or email me directly at penny@pennyvandersluys.com And if this episode moved you, please subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who needs this conversation too.

    1h 19m
  4. 112 | Healing with your wise, well & loving ancestors with Lyndal Walker,  Ancestral Lineage Healing Facilitator, Ritualist and Artist

    May 12

    112 | Healing with your wise, well & loving ancestors with Lyndal Walker,  Ancestral Lineage Healing Facilitator, Ritualist and Artist

    What if some of the heaviness you carry isn’t entirely yours? What if your ancestors could become a source of healing, wisdom and support in your life right now? And what if reconnecting with ritual, nature, spirit and the sacred rhythms of life could actually turn you on - making you feel more alive, sensual, connected and present in your body? In this conversation, I'm joined by Lyndal Walker, an Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner, Ritualist & Artist, to explore the wisdom, healing and support available through reconnecting with our ancestors, nature and ritual. Lyndal shares how her own journey led her into the world of ancestral healing and ritual practice. She explains how connecting with our wise and loving ancestors can offer profound healing, guidance and support - while also bringing awareness to inherited wounds, cultural conditioning and intergenerational patterns. Tune in to hear Lyndal share: + Why connecting with nature can feel deeply sensual and alive + The difference between wise/well ancestors and unwell ancestral patterns + Intergenerational trauma and ancestral healing + Rituals, rites of passage and what modern life is missing + The witch wound and cultural conditioning around older women + Midlife as a powerful transition into wisdom and leadership + Why our ancestors may care far more about connection, pleasure and meaning than perfection or productivity + The role of intuition, somatic knowing and spirit connection + How ritual can help us integrate change, celebrate transitions and reconnect with ourselves We also discuss the ceremony created by Lyndal for my 50th Birthday Celebration - PenFEST - to honour the transition into a new chapter of leadership, visibility and freedom from shame. Whether you’re spiritually curious, seeking deeper meaning, navigating midlife transitions, or simply longing to feel more connected and supported in your life, this episode offers a thought-provoking invitation into another way of relating to yourself, your lineage and the world around you. Connect with Lyndal: Website: www.conversationsintime.org Instagram: @conversations_in_time Connect with me Website: ⁠pennyvandersluys.com⁠ Instagram: @pennyvandersluys Email: ⁠penny@pennyvandersluys.com⁠ If you enjoy these topics and conversations, and long to feel more alive, connected, sensual and turned on in your own life, check out my experiences, challenges, circles, coaching and community spaces for women. I love to share potent and playful ways to reconnect with your body, pleasure and power in midlife. If you loved this episode, please subscribe, share it with someone who’d enjoy it, and leave a review. Every share and review helps more women discover these conversations and supports this independently created podcast.

    1h 11m
  5. 111 | A Women's Voice in the Age of AI: Why This Moment Needs You with Maria Golding, Business & Transformational Coach, & Co-Founder of RichHER

    Apr 28

    111 | A Women's Voice in the Age of AI: Why This Moment Needs You with Maria Golding, Business & Transformational Coach, & Co-Founder of RichHER

    AI is here. And for many women in midlife, it’s bringing curiosity… resistance… and a whole lot of questions. In this episode, I chat with Maria Golding - coach, mentor, AI Advocate and guide for women stepping into their next level - to explore what this moment really means for women. This isn’t about becoming more technical. It’s about becoming more expressed, more visible, and more fully yourself. Together, we discuss: Why women’s voices are critical in shaping the future of AIHow fear and resistance might actually be keeping you from your next expansionThe intersection of feminine wisdom, embodiment, and emerging technologyPractical ways to start using AI without losing your humannessHow AI can reduce mental load and give you more time, clarity, and creative freedomThe role of community, collaboration, and sisterhood in navigating this new era This conversation is a call forward. You’re not behind - this is the perfect time to step in. There are so many possibilities that can be unlocked when you allow yourself to explore, play, and grow with AI. * This episode builds on a conversation I co-wrote with Jen Annette in Ramona Magazine: Read the article: Women & AI – Emergent Intelligence, Feminist Future I'd love you to check it out. In the article, we explore the idea that AI is not just technology, but culture in motion – and that women’s intuition, embodiment, and lived wisdom are essential in shaping what comes next.  Connect with Maria Reach out via Facebook Messenger: Maria Golding @maria.golding11DM her AI Power and she will send you her 5-minute activation Enquire about working with her or joining the RichHER waitlist Let's Keep Connected Instagram: @pennyvandersluysWebsite: pennyvandersluys.comJoin the Wonder Women Club – a space to be seen, celebrated, and fully expressed

    1h 4m
  6. 110 | Facing the Dark: Water, Wilderness, Fear & the Courage to Trust Yourself with Daniella Hogarth,  Wellness & Energetic Practitioner

    Apr 13

    110 | Facing the Dark: Water, Wilderness, Fear & the Courage to Trust Yourself with Daniella Hogarth,  Wellness & Energetic Practitioner

    What if the edge you keep avoiding is actually the place where more freedom, more pleasure, and more of you is waiting? I invited Daniella Hogarth (episode #109) back to share how she has moved from fear to flow and explore how she is living bravely, wildly, and in deep trust with herself. The conversation covers a LOT - from social anxiety, seawater phobia, and fear of the dark, to learning saxophone as an adult, joining a band, exploring wilderness skills, and undertaking a vision quest. Daniella shares how leaning towards discomfort has opened her to more aliveness, freedom, self-trust, and joy. This conversation is a beautiful reminder that fear does not have to be the end of the story. It can be the beginning of coming home to yourself. Listen now to hear us talk about meeting your edges and why discomfort can be a doorway to growthDaniella’s experience of social anxiety and learning to show up as herselfhow fear of seawater became a path to freedom, confidence, and pleasurewhat a vision quest taught her about control, safety, and trusting herselfthe power of nature, wilderness, and simplifying life enough to hear yourself clearlyreclaiming abandoned parts of self through courage and experimentationlearning new skills in midlife and why it is never too late to beginhow joy, pleasure, and euphoria can live on the other side of fearthe importance of community, support, and sisterhood when meeting your edgepractical encouragement for women wanting to take one small brave step in their own livesConnect with her via: FB: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/daniella.hogarth/⁠ Insta: ⁠@daniellajhogarth⁠ email: ⁠daniella.hogarth@gmail.com⁠ YouTube: @DaniellaJayneHogarth daniellahogarth.com  Come and say hi to me over on Instagram: @pennyvandersluysExplore more of my work and offerings at: pennyvandersluys.com Or email me directly penny@pennyvandersluys.com to share what landed for you from this conversation. Instagram: @pennyvandersluysWebsite: pennyvandersluys.com And if you’re craving spaces where you can be encouraged, celebrated, and supported to meet your own edges, explore the Wonder Women Club. pennyvandersluys.com/wonder

    1h 7m
  7. 109 | Trust Your Gut: Gut health, Intuition, & the Body's intelligence with Daniella Hogarth,  Wellness and Energetic Practitioner

    Mar 30

    109 | Trust Your Gut: Gut health, Intuition, & the Body's intelligence with Daniella Hogarth,  Wellness and Energetic Practitioner

    Your gut is always on your team. It’s constantly speaking through your body – sometimes it's upset and letting you know through bloating, brain fog, fatigue, cravings, flatness, discomfort, and then there's those quiet inner nudges that whisper yes, no, not this, or try that. In this rich and energising conversation, I’m joined by the gorgeous Daniella for a deep dive into what it really means to trust your gut. Together, we explore the connection between gut health, emotional wellbeing, intuition, flow state, energy, joy, and the body’s innate intelligence. Daniella shares her lived journey from postnatal depression, disconnection, and survival mode into vibrant health, clarity, community, and deep self-trust. This conversation moves far beyond food. We talk about the physical clues your body gives you, the everyday habits that can quietly disconnect you from yourself, the role of thoughts and environment, and why connection, joy, movement, and community are powerful medicine in midlife. This episode is a beautiful reminder that your body is not working against you – it is always offering information, support, and guidance. The invitation is to pause, listen, and trust what it’s already telling you. Tune in to hear us explore: what it truly means to trust your gutphysical signs your gut may be asking for supportthe link between gut health, mood, foggy thinking, and fatigueDaniella’s personal healing story and what changed everythinghow food, movement, and thoughts shape wellbeingwhy intuition often speaks through the body firstthe connection between flow state and feeling turned on to lifecommunity, belonging, and joy as medicinepractical ways to return to alignment when you feel offwhy midlife is the perfect time to start listening more deeply Daniella shares healing sessions, community circles, workshops, beautiful handcrafted wellbeing products, and transformational spaces to help people reconnect with themselves. Connect with her via: FB: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/daniella.hogarth/⁠ Insta: ⁠@daniellajhogarth⁠ email: ⁠daniella.hogarth@gmail.com⁠ YouTube: @DaniellaJayneHogarth daniellahogarth.com  Free Sample Version of her Published book, Mind Your Gut Health Get your Free Powerful Energy & Entity Clearing Channeled Prayer  - Declaration of self Sovereignty https://youtu.be/YTre2w1tqT8?si=Lk4xujejf_ZWz1pZ Come and say hi over on Instagram: @pennyvandersluysExplore more: pennyvandersluys.com Or email me directly penny@pennyvandersluys.com to share what landed for you from this conversation.

    1h 20m
  8. 108 |  Liberating your Voice: Pleasure, Power, and Self-Expression in Midlife.

    Mar 16

    108 |  Liberating your Voice: Pleasure, Power, and Self-Expression in Midlife.

    Have you ever wondered what your voice is really communicating about you? What if the qualities in your voice could give you clues about different parts of yourself? And what if learning to access those sounds could help you be heard, noticed, and cut through when it matters? In this episode, voice coach and author Barbara McAfee shares her powerful five-element framework for understanding the voice, revealing how vocal qualities are connected to the body, our behaviours, and the ways we express ourselves in the world. Together, we explore this framework through a practical walk-through of the five elements - so you can listen, play along, and begin experimenting with the sounds of your own voice, discovering how each one gives you access to different qualities within yourself. Along the way, Barbara shares insights and practices to help you explore your voice more fully, including: • how our voices can carry the imprints of our life experiences, cultural expectations and early messages about how we should sound • why making simple sounds, laughing, singing and playful vocal expression can reconnect us with parts of ourselves that have been held back or forgotten • how experimenting with different vocal qualities can help us express boundaries, passion, tenderness, clarity and imagination • why tone often communicates more than words, and how the way we say something can completely change how our message is received • how listening for vocal qualities can help us recognise people’s strengths, energy and natural gifts • how creating a playlist of songs with different vocal styles can help you practice and explore the range of your own voice • Barbara’s playful metaphor of taking your voice to the “vocal dog park” - letting it off the leash to explore sounds that are wilder, freer and more embodied • how discovering new vocal range can challenge the stories we hold about ourselves and open the door to new emotional, creative and sensual expression Connect with Barbara: Website https://www.barbaramcafee.com/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/mcafeemusic Facebook https://www.facebook.com/barbara.mcafee Instagram https://www.instagram.com/barbaramcafeesings/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbaramcafee/ Bringing Your Full Voice to Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze763kgrWGg How Oral Tradition Singing Helps Us Work & Live Better Together https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrRQulQnaoQ Full Voice for Leaders: Cultivating Vitality, Presence, and Impact in a Changing World (soon to be renamed Vocal Intelligence, 2025) https://www.audible.com/pd/Full-Voice-for-Leaders-Audiobook/B0FPPDSP8S Full Voice: The Art and Practice of Vocal Presence (2011) Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/Full-Voice-Audiobook/B008S06VR0 Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Full-Voice-Practice-Presence-Business/dp/1605099228 Vocal Intelligence: Leading with Vitality, Presence, and Impact Coming Spring 2026 Explore Barbara’s original music catalogue on Bandcamp: https://barbaramcafee.bandcamp.com/ Instagram: @pennyvandersluys Website: pennyvandersluys.com If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing, sharing the episode, or leaving a review. It helps more women discover these conversations and reconnect with their pleasure, power and voice.

    1h 6m
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Ratings & Reviews

3
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Are you ready to turn on the light switch of your soul and live an authentic, radiant, unapologetically pleasure-filled life? I’m Penny van der Sluys, I empower women in their midlife who are struggling to love their body and prioritise pleasure, play and passion, and help them discover their powerful, untapped sensual, sexual and feminine energy so they can feel wild, free, sexy in their body and life. Journey with me as we explore the aspects of our lives that are taboo and surrounded in shame, and reveal the keys to access to pleasure and joy in your midlife and beyond!

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