This season, we’re diving into something deeply personal, often misunderstood, and wildly powerful: creativity for women in midlife. The theme is inspired by my own observations and the voices of so many women I've worked with as a women's empowerment coach. There’s a narrative tension in this chapter of life: a deep, almost primal hunger to make, express, and reinvent… right alongside physical symptoms like brain fog, emotional reactivity, night sweats, anxious insomnia, and a creeping sense that you’re not as fired up as you used to be. You wonder: What the heck is going on inside of me? What do I need to express—and why is it so hard to get it out? Add in the cultural messaging that a woman’s midlife brain is in decline, and you’ve got a potent mix of doubt, confusion, and disconnection from your power.

So I wanted to begin this season with something grounding. Not just inspiration—but the science. The “under the hood” truth of how our brains evolve as we do. To help us, I’m joined by Dr. Sarah McKay, a neuroscientist, author, speaker, and unapologetic brain nerd, who’s spent the last decade unpacking the wildly misunderstood world of women’s brain health.

About Dr. Sarah McKay:

Dr. McKay is an Oxford-educated neuroscientist who lives on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, where she writes, teaches and translates brain science into real-world tools for clinicians, coaches, and curious minds. Her books include:The Women’s Brain Book (2018) second edition due September 2025); Baby Brain (2023), on how pregnancy and motherhood rewire the brain for the better; Brain Health For Dummies (2025). And she also gave a TEDx talk on the power of naps—a woman after my own heart.

Sarah’s journey began with a viral blog post on “baby brain.” Instead of brushing off the stereotype, she got curious. That spark turned into a decade-long exploration of how the female brain transforms across life stages—from matrescence to menopause. When she started researching menopause and the brain, it was niche—barely a blip in mainstream science. Now? It’s everywhere. And Sarah helped lead the way.What makes her work powerful is how she breaks the science down—dissecting, decoding, and making it useful. She shines light on what’s long been hidden, creating a hunger for understanding, agency, and more.

In this conversation:

• We explore what really happens to the brain during hormonal transitions—not the myths, but the messy, magical, science-backed truth.
• We talk matrescence, connection, sleep, and why midlife might be your most creatively fertile season yet.
• Why midlife isn’t a crisis but a creative recalibration
• The truth about hormones
• The neurological shift of motherhood
• Sleep as a creative superpower
• Social connection as brain medicine
• How purpose and play keep the brain alive

So, whether you’re foggy, fired up, or somewhere in between, this episode will reframe how you see your midlife mind—not as decline, but creative rebirth.

Connect with Me:

•Book a discovery call at www.zevabellel.com

•Subscribe to my Substack: On Becoming

•Email me: [email protected]

•Leave me a voice message on Speakpipe

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