Midlife Rising

Jennifer Reimer, PhD and Sheri Johnson | Midlife Experts | Holistic Nutritionist | Theta Healer
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This is not just another midlife podcast about belly fat, Botox, or bone broth.We’re not here to help you stay young, offer makeup tips, or share recipes to sneak kale into your brownies. If you’re looking for hacks to stay small or “age gracefully,” this might not be the space for you. We’re here to burn down the old rulebook - and help you rise from the ashes.We unpack the invisible systems and internalized conditioning that keep midlife women stuck, over-functioning, and exhausted. We talk about the links between patriarchy, stress, and menopause symptoms. This is the conversation behind the conversation—raw, wise, and necessary. We’re Sheri and Jen - twin sisters, former “good-girls” turned paradigm-breakers, and your new favourite midlife truth-tellers. Our unfiltered conversations crack open the things women don’t say out loud. We’re here to offer you the tools, re-frames, and permission slips to finally stop performing and start becoming.  Expect “why didn’t anyone tell me this sooner?!” kinds of insights, advice to nix your menopause symptoms without HRT, and paradigm-shifting “aha” moments that make you want to take your power back. So if you’re ready to stop performing, and rise into the woman you were always meant to be - pull up a chair. We saved you a seat.

  1. 5d ago

    52: Why You Keep Circling the Life You Want (And Never Land It)

    You know what you want - the new career, the business, the trip, the relationship. So why do you keep circling it instead of landing it? Today, we break down why so many high-achieving women get stuck wanting to shift but not getting there. We unravel why the answer isn't more competence or strategy - it's actually becoming the person who has what you want. It's an identity shift. We unpack the fears and subconscious beliefs that keep women tied to an old version of themselves, share personal stories, and introduce a tool for getting underneath the beliefs your conscious mind can't reach. Key takeaways The two most common reasons women name for being stuck, and what’s really sabotaging themFears and beliefs that keep women "circling" instead of landingThe 3 hidden brain mechanisms that keep your limiting beliefs in placeThe nervous system response tied to subconscious beliefs, which is why willpower and reframing alone often don't work.What to do to start becoming the person needed for your extraordinary next phaseLinks:  Book your Limiting Belief Audit Call with Jen Join our Costa Rica Retreat October 23-30, 2026 https://jamesclear.com/ Frequently asked questions Why do high-achieving women get stuck between wanting a change and actually making it? Because the block usually isn't a skills or logistics problem — it's an identity problem. You keep behaving like the person in your old role or old life even after you've decided you want something new, so the people around you (and you yourself) never see you as ready for the next chapter. What is an "identity shift" and why does it matter for career change? An identity shift means becoming the person who already has what you want, instead of trying to adopt new behaviours onto an old sense of self. It's the same distinction James Clear draws in Atomic Habits between "I'm trying to quit smoking" and "I'm a non-smoker" - one is a behaviour you're attempting, the other is who you are. What fears and beliefs keep women from making a career or life change in midlife? Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of judgment, financial security fears, lack of partner support, and inherited beliefs about worthiness. What is Theta Healing and how does it help with limiting beliefs? Theta Healing is an energy healing modality used to uncover and release limiting beliefs at a core level. It uses the Theta brain wave - in this state of relaxation, we speak directly with your subconscious to dig up deeply held beliefs and shift them. Keywords: identity shift, career change, midlife reinvention, limiting beliefs, subconscious beliefs, fear of success, fear of failure, imposter syndrome, nervous system regulation, Theta Healing, identity-based habit change Join us in Costa Rica, October 2026 for our Retreat: Soul-Aligned - Design Your Extraordinary Next Chapter! Click here for details. Find us on instagram:  @midlifewomenrising @jenreimercoaching

  2. Sep 4

    51: The Cost of Making Menopause a "Medical" Issue

    We need to talk about something that's been irking us: menopause got turned into a diagnosis, and it's quietly keeping women out of leadership.  Somehow menopause has become a medical problem to be fixed rather than a natural transition to be honored. It's the same thing that happens with puberty and childbirth - anytime a woman's body changes, we treat the discomfort as a disease instead of a signal. That belief shows up everywhere, not just in the doctor's office. Workplaces (and schools) were built around a male body and a male cycle - steady, linear, on five days a week. They were never designed for a body that moves in cycles, so when ours does, it reads as a problem to manage rather than something to work with. And then there's the chase for "equality." We've been taught that equal means identical to men — no cycle, no fluctuation, no visible symptoms. But trying to make ourselves more like men to keep up isn't equality, it's erasure. What we actually need is equity: workplaces and systems that work for our bodies as they are, not accommodation that still frames us as the deviation. In this episode, we connect these threads: the medicalizing, the workplace culture, the equity conversation.   And we talk about what it looks like to stop numbing the signals and start listening to them instead. Here's what you'll discover: Why "medicalizing" menopause keeps women from full leadershipEquity vs. equality and why the second one isn't actually the goalThe one book that changed how we think about our cyclesA simple reframe to try this weekReferenced in this episode:  Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés Find us on instagram:  @midlifewomenrising @jenreimercoaching

  3. Aug 20

    50: Companies Are Getting Menopause Completely Wrong

    The media says menopause is costing companies billions in lost productivity.  We dug into the research - and found the story is backwards.  Jen has been researching menopause and leadership, and in this episode we unpack how the media's "business case" framing - positioning menopause as a profit problem - actually sets women up for judgment and failure at work. We get into what the research really shows (spoiler: it's far less conclusive than the headlines suggest), and make the case that the real culprit isn't menopause at all - it's productivity culture that punishes women exactly when they're wired to lead.  You are going to find out why: The "business case" framing backfires: Positioning menopause as a cause of lost profit makes women feel judged as the problem, and that judgment itself drives the stress response that worsens symptoms.The research doesn't back up the billion-dollar headlines: A literature review Jen found couldn't establish a conclusive link between menopause symptoms and work outcomes.  The media's loss estimates are outrunning the actual science.Productivity culture is the real system at play: Corporate culture rewards visible, tangible output over strategic and creative thinking, right at the life stage when women are neurologically and biologically primed for exactly that kind of leadership.It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: Pressure and judgment raise cortisol, cortisol worsens symptoms and clouds higher-level thinking, and that "lost productivity" becomes the very evidence used to justify the original narrative.Meet Your Hosts: Sheri and Jen are twin sisters, modern medicine women, leadership coaches, limiting belief busters and co-founders of Midlife Women Rising. Join us in Costa Rica, October 2026 for our Retreat: Soul-Aligned - Design Your Extraordinary Next Chapter! Click here for details. Find us on instagram:  @midlifewomenrising @jenreimercoaching

  4. Aug 6

    49: The Menopause Paradox: Why Your Brain Fog Might Be Your Leadership Edge

    Why Your Brain Fog Might Be Your Leadership Edge. You’ve been losing your train of thought in important meetings way too often these days. Laughing it off but silently cringing and wishing it would just stop happening so your colleagues won’t judge you.  Perimenopause can get the best of us. Especially when it’s brain fog, memory loss, or distracting hot flashes at work, making you feel less productive than ever before.  This is the paradox of menopause for women leaders. All the hard-won experience and maturity over several decades should set you up to be a great leader at the top of your game. And perimenopause makes it feel like the rug is being pulled from under you - undermining it all. And what if the exact thing making you feel like you’re falling apart at work is actually the thing that makes you the best leader in the room? Today we’re playing with the idea that menopause might not be the end of your career peak; it might be the start of it. You’ll hear: How this paradox plays out for so many womenWhat is making it worse3 ways you are uniquely set up to lead powerfully and intuitively as a menopausal woman (that are not your experience and capabilities)What to do to not only sustain your leadership edge, but step into an even higher version of yourself in this chapter of your lifeWalk away feeling seen, with a new perspective on your career, and a path toward finding your most aligned and meaningful next chapter. Get our free Guilt-Free Boundaries Scripts to say "no" easily. Join us in Costa Rica, October 2026 for our Retreat: Soul-Aligned - Design Your Extraordinary Next Chapter! Click here for details. Find us on instagram:  @midlifewomenrising @jenreimercoaching

  5. Jul 23

    48: What Orcas Know About Aging That We've Been Missing All Along

    What Orcas Know About Aging That We've Been Missing All Along Trillions of dollars are being put towards an industry to fight a perfectly natural process.  The anti-aging industry…that bombardment of marketing and advertising we get daily about all the creams and things women should buy to look "better." What if this patriarchal story that being youthful is better was completely wrong? What if we gracefully aged into wise women the way our ancestors did? You’ll be shocked at the answer. This episode is part 2 of our “Grandmother hypothesis” series, where we take it out of “theory” and turn it into a working blueprint. You’ll learn the four mistakes that sabotage women in midlife, why your "symptoms" are actually your body's most honest messages, and what leadership looks like when it's not about managing a team but about becoming the woman your family, your friends, and your future self actually need.  What you'll walk away with: How to stop managing decline better and shift into a completely different philosophy of the purpose of this life stage.The mistakes that are making midlife harder: the "strong and capable" armor, the need to be needed, fighting your symptoms instead of listening to them, and chasing the anti-aging narrativeContrary to popular opinion - why your creativity, intuition, and leadership are sharpening right now, not fading. A simple 3-step exercise to identify the identities you're clinging to and start leading from where you actually are (family, friend group, work, or just yourself)"Putting up armor doesn't help you step into a leadership role. That doesn't make you a leader;  it makes you a doer, and it makes you exhausted."  Resources: Midlife Women Rising website Liz Wiseman leadership website Join us in Costa Rica, October 2026 for our Retreat: Soul-Aligned - Design Your Extraordinary Next Chapter! Click here for details. Find us on instagram:  @midlifewomenrising @jenreimercoaching

  6. Jul 9

    47: The Grandmother Hypothesis - Why Menopause Isn't a Decline

    Why Menopause Isn't a Decline...If you've been telling yourself that aging is decline, this episode is your wake-up call. Sheri and I are pulling back the curtain on one of the biggest patriarchal misconceptions keeping women feeling invisible after 40, “less than” and maybe even a little resentful. It's the belief that we need to stay youthful to be beautiful, relevant and respected. You know the feeling: less capable at work, exhausted from proving you're still relevant, wishing you could have your younger body and strong, capable identity back, a little angry… If any of that sounds familiar, it's just a story. And in this episode, we're taking that story apart. What we cover: ✨The myth we've been sold. The idea that menopause is "the beginning of the end" isn't science; it's culture, and a very specific, very Western one. We’ll uncover how and where it shows up, and why it’s so important to challenge it. ✨The biology that flips the script. Almost no species on the planet lives significantly beyond its reproductive years. Humans are one of the rare exceptions, alongside some species of whales. The Western narrative is that there is no real biological reason to live past menopause. We reveal the truth.  ✨The evidence that turns this myth on its head. Research on some remote indigenous communities gives evidence that women live beyond menopause not by accident, but because evolution selected for it.  ✨The reframe to move forward with. The energy that once went toward reproduction doesn't vanish after menopause - it redirects. This is the time to lead, not decline. Next week: what's actually getting in the way of stepping into this  and what this next chapter of leadership is supposed to look like for you. References:  Healthy at 100 by John Robbins Kristen Hawkes Research on Postmenopausal Lifespans Join us in Costa Rica, October 2026 for our Retreat: Soul-Aligned - Design Your Extraordinary Next Chapter! Click here for details. Find us on instagram:  @midlifewomenrising @jenreimercoaching

  7. Jun 25

    46: Night Sweats: Three Things Nobody Tells You

    Night Sweats: Three Things Nobody Tells You You wake up in the middle of the night soaked. PJs drenched, sheets drenched. You throw off the covers, change, put a towel down, and try to fall back asleep - only to wake a few hours later and do it all over again. You might be thinking this is just your estrogen dropping and there's nothing to do but ride it out or go on HRT. That's pretty much all you'll hear in a doctor's office. But here's what your doctor probably won't tell you: night sweats aren't your body malfunctioning.  They're a signal, and that signal has a root cause you can actually address. In this solo episode, Sheri shares her own story of waking up soaked in her early 40s with no idea what was happening and how, once she understood it, she made it through perimenopause with only a few weeks of night sweats on and off. We break down all three layers — physical, emotional, and spiritual — because understanding all three is what points you to real relief. What actually causes night sweats in perimenopause? Estrogen doesn't just take a nosedive in perimenopause.  It fluctuates up and down, which is why night sweats come in waves: a rough stretch, then nothing, then back again. As estrogen swings, it narrows the "neutral zone" of the hypothalamus, the part of your brain that regulates temperature. Suddenly a tiny temperature change your body used to manage gets read as an emergency, triggering a full-on sweat. Nighttime is worse because your body temperature naturally drops to initiate sleep, which can pull the trigger. Why do night sweats so often hit at 2 or 3 AM specifically? Cortisol. If you're running a high-pressure life, cortisol can spike in the middle of the night when it's supposed to be calming down — and that amplifies the whole response. Blood sugar is closely tied to this: instability from refined carbs, sugar, or alcohol before bed can cause cortisol surges overnight, even if you don't feel especially stressed. What you'll learn in this episode: How cortisol and blood sugar instability set off middle-of-the-night sweating, and what makes it worseThe physiological root-cause approach no one is talking aboutWhy the worst thing you can do for night sweats is treat them as purely physical and ignore the emotional componentA simple reflection practice to connect what you felt during the day to the night sweats that followedWhat's the emotional connection to night sweats? Here's the part most women have never considered: night sweats aren't just physical. Heat in the body often reflects suppressed inner fire and there are specific emotions, especially common in women raised to keep the peace, that have been building for decades with nowhere to go. As your fertility-era hormones shift, the buffers that kept those feelings in check start to fade, and that inner heat looks for an exit. Sheri shares the surprising place in the body where she could actually feel it begin and the everyday situations that set it off. If you've done all the physical things and your night sweats still won't budge, this is the layer you're likely missing. What's the spiritual meaning of night sweats? There's a third piece almost no one talks about - and it may be the most interesting part. Sheri uses the chakras as a framework to explain why night sweats show up as fire, which energy centers are involved, and what it means when that fire is blocked versus actively moving. There's also a simple reflection practice she walks through during the episode: a question to ask yourself the morning after a night sweat that can reveal exactly what your body was processing. Tune in for the full picture - and why working with the fire, rather than resisting it, is what finally lets it move. This episode is for you if: You wake up drenched and dread the laundry, the exhaustion, and the brain fog that followYou've been told it's "just low estrogen" and that HRT is your only optionYou've done all the physical things and night sweats still won't budgeYou get hot flashes during the day, not just at night (much of this applies to you too)You're ready to look at what your body might be trying to tell you beyond the physicalIf you want to nix night sweats for good so you can sleep through the night soundly, get free access to our secret podcast here: The Midlife Sleep Reset.  If this episode resonated, share it with a woman in your life who gets night sweats - chances are many of your girlfriends do. And if you're getting value from the podcast, follow or subscribe so you know the moment we drop a new episode. Join us in Costa Rica, October 2026 for our Retreat: Soul-Aligned - Design Your Extraordinary Next Chapter! Click here for details. Find us on instagram:  @midlifewomenrising @jenreimercoaching

  8. Jun 18

    45: What No One Tells You About UTIs After 40

    What No One Tells You About UTIs After 40 - Body, Mind, Spirit Have you suddenly started getting UTIs in your 40s or 50s and wondered why? You're not doing anything differently, but your body is.  In this solo episode, Sheri shares her own story of having her very first UTI at 53, and breaks down exactly what's happening in the body, mind, and spirit when urinary tract infections show up in perimenopause and menopause. This isn't just about bacteria. It's about estrogen, your pelvic floor, your emotions, and the deeper message your body may be sending you. Why do perimenopausal women suddenly get UTIs? As estrogen declines in perimenopause, the tissue lining the bladder, urethra, and vaginal walls thins and loses moisture. Thinner tissue means less protection — bacteria adhere more easily and the body becomes more vulnerable. At the same time, the vaginal microbiome shifts, allowing more pathogenic bacteria to take hold. This combination is why so many women who never had UTIs in their 20s and 30s suddenly start getting them in midlife. What you'll learn in this episode: Why estrogen loss changes your urogenital tissue Why post-sex UTIs increase significantly in midlife — and the shame spiral that keeps women from talking to their doctors or partners about itWhy antibiotics for your last UTI may actually be setting you up for your next oneWhat the emotional connection is to UTI's and the somatic expression of those emotionsHow examining the spiritual connection can give you clues to what's out of balance, not just in your body but in your lifeWhat is the emotional connection to UTIs? Somatically, the bladder is associated with release and suppression of what needs to be released. Sheri explores the literal and emotional meaning of being "pissed off," what it means to hold everything together for everyone else, and the pattern of putting your own needs last - including something as basic as going to the bathroom when your body tells you to. What is the spiritual meaning of UTIs in midlife? The bladder and urinary system are connected to the sacral chakra — the energy center that governs water, flow, pleasure, creativity, sexuality, and boundaries. A contracted, dried-out body may be pointing to a sacral imbalance. Perimenopause is also the life stage where we're biologically shifting from nurturing others to nurturing the self. For women who haven't made that turn yet - who are still pouring out without replenishing - UTIs may be one of the ways the body calls that forward. This episode is for you if: You've had your first UTI in midlife and wondered why nowYou've been getting recurrent UTIs and feel stuck in the antibiotics cycleYou're ready to look at what your body might be trying to tell you beyond the physicalWe're accepting new members into the Midlife Red Tent! Find the details and join us here: Midlife Red Tent  Resources Mentioned in this Episode:  Not Done Yet: A Podcast For Midlife Women with Rachel Perry Join us in Costa Rica, October 2026 for our Retreat: Soul-Aligned - Design Your Extraordinary Next Chapter! Click here for details. Find us on instagram:  @midlifewomenrising @jenreimercoaching

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About

This is not just another midlife podcast about belly fat, Botox, or bone broth.We’re not here to help you stay young, offer makeup tips, or share recipes to sneak kale into your brownies. If you’re looking for hacks to stay small or “age gracefully,” this might not be the space for you. We’re here to burn down the old rulebook - and help you rise from the ashes.We unpack the invisible systems and internalized conditioning that keep midlife women stuck, over-functioning, and exhausted. We talk about the links between patriarchy, stress, and menopause symptoms. This is the conversation behind the conversation—raw, wise, and necessary. We’re Sheri and Jen - twin sisters, former “good-girls” turned paradigm-breakers, and your new favourite midlife truth-tellers. Our unfiltered conversations crack open the things women don’t say out loud. We’re here to offer you the tools, re-frames, and permission slips to finally stop performing and start becoming.  Expect “why didn’t anyone tell me this sooner?!” kinds of insights, advice to nix your menopause symptoms without HRT, and paradigm-shifting “aha” moments that make you want to take your power back. So if you’re ready to stop performing, and rise into the woman you were always meant to be - pull up a chair. We saved you a seat.

Information

  • Creator
    Jennifer Reimer, PhD and Sheri Johnson | Midlife Experts | Holistic Nutritionist | Theta Healer
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Midlife Rising
  • Show Website
    Midlife Rising