Creating Midlife Calm: Coping Skills for Stress & Anxiety in Family, Work & Relationships

Have you ever acted on anxiety, only to find out later your brain got it wrong?
You’re not alone — your brain’s alarm system can misinform, and knowing how to respond changes everything.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1.     What your amygdala is and why it can trigger anxiety even when you’re safe

2.     Three science-backed coping skills to calm your amygdala

3.     How to shift from anxious reactions that cause mistakes to confident, clear-headed decisions

🎧 Take 13 minutes to learn how to calm your amygdala and choose your next step with confidence — you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

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About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Do you feel like your nest is empty… but your kids still need you just as much?
You’re not alone — this “in-between” stage is one of the most emotionally confusing seasons of midlife.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why the empty nest often feels more like a “messy middle” than a clean break.
2. The Four D’s every parent needs to recognize — and how they shape your response.
3. Practical coping skills to help you update your role, set boundaries, and anchor yourself in your own life.

 Take 12 minutes to learn how to navigate the messy middle of parenting — you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Does your “empty nest” still feel full of emotions, memories, and a surprising amount of daily connection?
You’re not alone if this shift feels more complicated than you imagined.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1.     Why the empty nest often brings unexpected waves of emotion in midlife

2.     How savoring your home can be a powerful coping skill during times of transition

3.     Practical ways to reduce the pressure to “let go” all at once and move forward at your own pace
 🎧 Take 10 minutes to create calm in your midlife transition—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Ever feel like your mind is spiraling but your body can’t catch up?
You’re not alone—midlife anxiety and stress often demand more than just logic or positive thinking.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. Why your five senses are some of the fastest, most effective coping skills for anxiety and stress
2. What to do when your usual calming strategies aren’t enough to reset your system
3. How to build a personal “grounding routine” using sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste

 Take 10 minutes to calm your body and quiet your mind—you’re worth it.

 Listener Freebie Offering
Need help calming down right now?
I’ve recorded a Crickets Sound Reset—a peaceful, grounding MP3 to help soothe anxiety, especially during overwhelm or at bedtime.
To receive it, email MJ directly at:
[email protected]

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

How do you begin to feel safe and steady again after experiencing a shooting?

You don’t have to have all the answers, and you don’t have to go through this alone.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. The most important steps to protect your safety, body, and mind in the first days after a shooting
2. How to gently reintroduce routine and emotional regulation in the following week
3. Grounding practices and therapy options that can help you heal from the inside out

🎧 Take 10 minutes to protect your mental health and begin your healing—you’re worth it.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline – Call or text 988
• National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center – nmvvrc.org
• SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline – Call or text 1-800-985-5990
• EMDRIA Find a Therapist – emdria.org/find-a-therapist
• One-page guide from Episodes 6, 7, and 97 – Name, Tame, and Aim(request (request by email: [email protected])
• MP3 grounding guides – Box Breathing and Two-Minute Cricket Reset (request by email: [email protected])

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Is your anxiety hijacking your mind before you even notice it?
You’re not alone—and you don’t have to stay stuck in the cycle.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1.     How to identify your unique anxiety signals before they take over

2.     Why grounding your body in the present interrupts anxiety faster than thinking

3.     A 90-second coping skill you can use daily to stay calm, focused, and present

🎧 Take 10 minutes to stop anxiety from running your day—you’re worth it.

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Can imagining success actually reduce stress in midlife—or is that just wishful thinking?
You’re not the only one who doubts simple coping skills when  stress feels overwhelming.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
1.    A real-life listener’s story of using the “mental movie” coping skill to calm stress before a job interview
2.    How running the mental movie three times helps ease resistance and create calm
3.    Why imagining success in everyday tasks like getting to bed can break the anxiety cycle in midlife
 Take 15 minutes to learn a coping skill that brings your stressed brain back online—you’re worth it.
Email me at [email protected] for your free copy of The Mental Movie

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Is midlife stress making even simple tasks feel overwhelming?
There’s a powerful, brain-based coping skill that can help you stop avoiding and start doing—with more calm and clarity.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1.     Why your brain resists certain tasks—and how to gently override it

2.     A simple science backed coping skill that transforms stress and boosts motivation

3.     A real-life example of how this simple shift helped someone finally follow through

🎧 Tune in to learn how to calm midlife stress fast—so you can get things done and feel more in control.

Email me at [email protected] for your free copy of The Mental Movie

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support. 

Feeling anxious and overwhelmed—what if AI could actually help?
AI isn’t just for techies or task lists, it can support your emotional regulation too.
In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. How to pair ChatGPT with a simple 4-step emotional regulation method when anxiety spikes
2. How to use AI in the moment—whether your mind is racing at bedtime or after a tough call with your adult child
3. What therapists know (and AI doesn’t) about midlife anxiety—and how to bridge that gap wisely

 Listen now to learn how AI can support—not replace—your inner wisdom when midlife anxiety hits.

Send us a text

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About the Host:
MJ Murray Vachon LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 48,000 hours of therapy sessions and 31 years of experience teaching her Mental Wellness curriculum, Inner Challenge. Four years ago she overcame her fear of technology to create a podcast that integrated her vast clinical experience and practical wisdom of cultivating mental wellness using the latest information from neuroscience. MJ was Social Worker of the Year in 2011 for Region 2/IN.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.

How do you begin to feel safe and steady again after experiencing a shooting?

You don’t have to have all the answers, and you don’t have to go through this alone.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. The most important steps to protect your safety, body, and mind in the first days after a shooting
2. How to gently reintroduce routine and emotional regulation in the following week
3. Grounding practices and therapy options that can help you heal from the inside out

🎧 Take 10 minutes to protect your mental health and begin your healing—you’re worth it.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline – Call or text 988
• National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center – nmvvrc.org
• SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline – Call or text 1-800-985-5990
• EMDRIA Find a Therapist – emdria.org/find-a-therapist
• One-page guide from Episodes 6, 7, and 97 – Name, Tame, and Aim(request (request by email: [email protected])
• MP3 grounding guides – Box Breathing and Two-Minute Cricket Reset (request by email: [email protected])

Send us Fan Mail

****

About the Host: 

MJ Murray Vachon, LCSW, is a seasoned clinician, educator, and host of the podcast Creating Midlife Calm, recognized by Maria Shriver as a “Listen of the Week.” Over the past 40 years, MJ has led more than 50,000 therapy sessions and developed the Inner Challenge mental wellness program and the Inner Challenge Master Class, practical tools for emotional regulation, self-awareness, and resilience taught for more than 30 years in junior high schools and at the University of Notre Dame for freshman football players. Through her podcast, teaching, and coaching, MJ helps people build calmer lives, stronger relationships, and healthier communities.

Creating Midlife Calm is a podcast designed to guide you through the challenges of midlife, tackling issues like anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling unworthy, procrastination, and isolation, while offering strategies for improving relationships, family support, emotional wellbeing, mental wellness, and parenting, with a focus on mindfulness, stress management, coping skills, and personal growth to stop rumination, overthinking, and increase confidence through self-care, emotional healing, and mental health support.