Second Breaks

In This Episode:

• How memoir-writing can be a transformative and healing process
• Why Janelle Hardy tells her students to be open to being "wrong" about their life patterns
• Writing versus thinking about our past stories
• The good and bad about "reframing" past stories
• Janelle's writing prompts to get us started

About My Guest:

Janelle Hardy is a writer, artist, and host of the Personal Mythmaking Podcast. For the past 5 years, she has integrated her expertise and training into supporting people in their creative healing work via the alchemy of transformational memoir-writing.

According to Janelle, writing our life stories allows us to tap into guidance that’s greater than ourselves. The process helps us make sense of our traumas and rewrite the narrative into an empowering, meaningful story.

For all the links and show notes, head on over to http://secondbreaks.com

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why our midlife can be the most powerful years of our life
• Strong habits that we can develop so we can not just enjoy but thrive in midlife
• Practical applications of these habits in our day-to-day
• Common situations where we can feel resistance as we apply these habits

ABOUT MY GUEST:
Sara Smeaton is a certified coach, writer, workshop and group leader, and creator of the interview series, Power Profiles: Redefining Midlife. She is determined to challenge the narrative that in midlife, and beyond, we are too old to have new adventures, romance, vitality and health, and to make meaningful contributions.

For all the links and highlights of this episode, head on over to http://secondbreaks.com

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Gail Gensler's pro-aging stance and philosophy
• Why and how she prioritizes fitness and a healthy lifestyle
• The legacy that she wants to leave behind
• How we too can embrace fitness in our midlife — even if we've never been "athletic"

ABOUT MY GUEST:
Gail Gensler is a 60-year old pro-aging fitness enthusiast living in Miami. Gail's goal is to change the narrative about aging through fitness and a healthy lifestyle and to inspire younger generations to not fear the years. In this episode, we talk about her pro-aging stance, how she stays fit physically and mentally, and the message she wants all of us to hear about what we can do as we get older.

For all the links and show notes, head on over to https://secondbreaks.com/podcast.

IN THIS EPISODE:

- Why self fragmentation occurs and why it shows up at work and home

- What is a “wholeness journey” and what is its end goal

- Self-advocacy: what it looks like and how it sounds

- The idea behind small brave YESes

- Where to begin our wholeness journey

ABOUT MY GUEST:
Shawn Fink is the founder and host of The Brave Yes Show and a coach for Gen X women who want to redefine themselves or their careers for the next half of their lives. In this episode, we explore what leads to self-fragmentation, how we can recognize it, and how we can begin the journey to our whole self. We also talk about a very important thing – self-advocacy – and how this is such a critical skill to learn and hone.

For all the links and show notes, head on over to https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why we all need a personal contingency plan
• What goes into our plan
• Analog vs Digital
• Where to start — the basics

ABOUT MY GUEST:

After 30+ years in corporate financial services, Mary Beth Simon now uses her strategic talents as a keynote speaker and to coach entrepreneurs and individuals on creating their contingency plans to empower their second-in-command to keep business and life flowing smoothly in an emergency. 

In this episode, Mary Beth and I talk about who needs a contingency plan, why we need to have one, that no one is "too young" to have a plan together - this has nothing to do with age. And where we should start and the bare minimum that we should have in place. 

For all the links and show notes, head on over to https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:

• It's easy to rationalize our way OUT and convince ourselves we don't need a career change.
• Asking for help at the outset can make all the difference.
• The transition to a new career can take different forms; there isn't one way to do this.
• A midlife career change doesn't mean starting from Square 1. We take with us all the experiences, skills, and perspectives that can only enrich our new role.

ABOUT MY GUEST:

Annie Schuessler is a business coach and the host of the podcast Rebel Therapist® Podcast. With her Rebel Therapist®Programs, she helps therapists, healers, and coaches make an impact beyond a traditional private practice.

Annie had thought she was having her version of a midlife crisis when she started to feel the strong pull to reinvent herself and her career. And in this episode, we talk about all that happened after that one beautiful weekend when she finally realized that this successful career that she had painstakingly built? The truth was she dreaded returning to it the following Monday.

For all the links and show notes, head on over to https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The concept of “Body Peace” and how we can achieve it
• The diet culture: how to recognize it, name it, and create healthy boundaries
• How we can approach weight loss, if that is our goal, and increase our chances of achieving what we really want
• Embracing our bodies in midlife
• Listening to our bodies

ABOUT MY GUEST:
Nina Manolson is a board-certified health and wellness coach. She helps women end the war with food and body so that we can finally feel at peace and at home in our bodies. The kind of home where we can run around naked and not worry about what is “good enough” or what others will think.

For all the links and show notes, head on over to https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Limiting Beliefs: where they come from and how they develop
• The limiting beliefs that are most damaging
• Why Lana doesn’t say that we “overcome limiting beliefs” and what she teaches her clients instead
• When fear and limiting beliefs intersect
• How to reframe old narratives

ABOUT MY GUEST:

Lana Hernandez is a Mindset and Empowerment Coach who guides her clients through the mindset triggers of the entrepreneurial journey. Using her intuitive gifts and 20+ years of corporate knowledge, Lana supports her clients as they navigate their mindset barriers so they can not only experience breakthroughs but also sustain empowered growth as they plan for success.

For all the links and show notes, head on over to https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

It’s been almost 4 years since I started this podcast, the first episode with my guest Shannon Davis airing in June 2017. Since that episode, I have been through a lot and have grown quite a bit, in a way that only our lived experiences can do for us.

The podcast has also changed over the years, in terms of frequency and the stories we cover here on the show. And now, the world itself has changed dramatically. 

As I began planning for Season 7 of this podcast, I realized something. This podcast has to evolve — just as you and me and the world have evolved.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why and how Shara’s search for natural solutions for her husband led to her plant-based diet and lifestyle change
• What’s been easy/hard about her transition
• How the initial decision to stop eating meat led to other lifestyle changes
• Various tricks she learned and adopted to stick to her plant-based lifestyle

Former teacher, Shara Haberman began her diet and lifestyle change somewhat accidentally. Her plant-based health journey began after her husband, Tom, was diagnosed with diabetes and prescribed meds. Shara was, in her words, on a mission to help her husband fight diabetes with natural solutions.

The more she researched, the more she realized how important it was for her to change her own diet in order to prevent potential health issues that may be ahead of her and to be an example for her husband.

The positive benefits that Shara experienced from her plant-based health transformation fueled her to earn an M.S. in Health Psychology and become a certified health and wellness coach.

In this episode, Shara shares her transition to a plant-based diet, the challenges she had to navigate around, and how she's been able to stick to this new healthier lifestyle.

For the highlights of this conversation and all the links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast