Midlife Rising cover art

Midlife Rising

Midlife Rising

By: Jennifer Reimer PhD and Sheri Johnson | Midlife Experts | Holistic Nutritionist | Theta Healer
Listen for free

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.



© 2026 Midlife Rising Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Philosophy Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 45: What No One Tells You About UTIs After 40

    45: What No One Tells You About UTIs After 40
    Jun 18 2026

    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 it
    • Why antibiotics for your last UTI may actually be setting you up for your next one
    • What the emotional connection is to UTI's and the somatic expression of those emotions
    • How examining the spiritual connection can give you clues to what's out of balance, not just in your body but in your life

    What 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 now
    • You've been getting recurrent UTIs and feel stuck in the antibiotics cycle
    • You're ready to look at what your body might be trying to tell you beyond the physical

    We'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

    If you're a woman in your 40s to 60s, who’s ready to trade “going through the motions” for a life that actually lights you up...this is your invitation to step beyond the quiet sense that there’s more for you and into a deeper, more vibrant way of living.

    Check out all the details of From Autopilot to Soul-Aligned - a 9 Day Sacred Journey in Peru.

    Find us on instagram:

    @midlifewomenrising
    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
  • 44: How to Set Boundaries Without Guilt (and the Nervous System Secret No One Tells You)

    44: How to Set Boundaries Without Guilt (and the Nervous System Secret No One Tells You)
    Jun 11 2026

    How to Set Boundaries Without Guilt (and the Nervous System Secret No One Tells You)

    Do you find yourself saying "yes" when every part of you wants to say "no", and then spend hours wondering why? If you feel guilty setting boundaries, you're not weak and you don't lack willpower. In this solo episode, Jen explains why boundaries feel so hard in your 40s and 50s, and why the usual advice to "just set stronger boundaries" keeps failing you.

    If you've ever frozen in a "deer in the headlights" moment and agreed to something you resented seconds later, this episode shows you exactly what's happening in your body, and what to actually do about it.

    In this episode:

    • Why boundaries get harder in midlife. As estrogen fluctuates in perimenopause and declines in menopause, you lose a key buffer against stress, making chronic overcommitment more harmful to your health than before.
    • The research linking poor boundaries to illness. Jen unpacks Dr. Gabor Maté's three traits that predict who gets sick: selflessness, suppressed anger, and over-conforming to who society says you should be.
    • Why it isn't really guilt, and isn't your fault. What women call "guilt" is often obligation, shame, or fear of being a "bad person." The real driver is nervous system dysregulation: the fawn and freeze responses.
    • What the fawn response is. Less known than fight-or-flight, fawning is a people-pleasing survival response wired in childhood. It's a subconscious program like "if everyone's happy, I'm safe."
    • Why boundary scripts don't work alone. When your nervous system is activated, your body overrides your brain. Lasting change comes from somatic tools and subconscious reprogramming, not rehearsing the perfect words.
    • A 3-part reflection to start today: notice where you feel it in your body, name the emotion (guilt, obligation, shame, fear), and uncover the hidden narrative running underneath.

    Questions this episode answers:

    • Why do I feel guilty when I set boundaries?
    • How do I set boundaries without feeling guilty?
    • What is the fawn response and how do I stop people-pleasing?
    • Why is it harder to say no during perimenopause and menopause?

    Free download: Download our free boundary-setting scripts here.

    Mentioned in this episode:

    • Our first international retreat in Peru's Sacred Valley — midlifewomenrising.com/peru
    • Theta healing and somatic nervous system work inside the Midlife Red Tent

    If you're a woman in your 40s to 60s, who’s ready to trade “going through the motions” for a life that actually lights you up...this is your invitation to step beyond the quiet sense that there’s more for you and into a deeper, more vibrant way of living.

    Check out all the details of From Autopilot to Soul-Aligned - a 9 Day Sacred Journey in Peru.

    Find us on instagram:

    @midlifewomenrising
    Show More Show Less
    27 mins
  • 43: You Don't Have a Hormone Problem. You Have an Alignment Problem.

    43: You Don't Have a Hormone Problem. You Have an Alignment Problem.
    Jun 4 2026
    You Don't Have a Hormone Problem. You Have an Alignment Problem.What happens to your body when you stay in a misaligned life?Most women in perimenopause assume their symptoms - exhaustion, brain fog, sleepless nights, gut issues, anxiety - are purely hormonal. But there's a layer most doctors don't address: chronic misalignment, and the stress response it creates in your body.In this episode, we break down exactly what staying in a life that doesn't feel right is costing you — physically, emotionally, and spiritually — and what to actually do about it.Why misalignment makes perimenopause symptoms worseIn your 20s and 30s, estrogen helped buffer your stress response. In perimenopause, that buffer is gone. The same level of pressure, resistance, or misalignment that felt manageable at 35 now hits your nervous system completely differently.When you're doing something that doesn't feel aligned, whether it's a job, a relationship, even a life that feels like someone else's, your nervous system registers it as a threat. It moves into fight-flight-freeze. And your nervous system governs your hormones. That means:Cortisol rises, often at the wrong times of daySleep becomes harder and more disruptedHot flashes, mood swings, and gut issues intensifyAnxiety or low-grade depression surfaces — often without a clear causeThe key insight from this episode: It's not just your hormones fluctuating. It's your nervous system — dysregulated by a life that doesn't feel true to you — making everything worse.What does "feeling misaligned" actually feel like?You might not use the word misaligned. It might sound more like:"I feel like I'm on Groundhog Day""I should be grateful, so why don't I feel it?""I don't know what I actually want anymore""I can't keep going like this, but I don't know what to change"Jen shares honestly in this episode that even knowing what she knows, she's currently living this - working a side hustle that doesn't feel aligned, feeling the physical and emotional cost of it in real time. That's not a failure. That's what this transition period actually looks like, and it's more common than most women admit.The emotional costs women don't talk aboutLiving out of alignment doesn't just affect your body. Over time it costs you:Your relationships: you give your best hours to things that drain you, and the people and things you love get what's leftYour sense of self: the longer you wear a "work mask," the harder it becomes to remember which version of you is realYour intuition: every time you override your gut, you lose a little more trust in itYour full emotional range: when you suppress desire because you "should be grateful," you end up flattening your entire emotional experienceWe make an important distinction here: gratitude and desire are not opposites. You can be genuinely grateful for your life and still want something more. Suppressing that desire doesn't make you more grateful, it just makes you less alive.Why women in perimenopause suffer in silence at workOne of the most important conversations in this episode: the silent spiral many women in their 40s and 50s experience professionally.Brain fog makes us forget things in meetings. Exhaustion makes us slower. We work harder and longer to compensate, which raises cortisol further. We don't tell anyone at work because we're afraid it will affect our career trajectory. So we hold it in, push through, go home, work more, sleep badly, and start the whole cycle again.The spiral grows until something breaks — and for some women, that something is their health.Can misalignment cause physical pain?Sheri shares a personal story in this episode about debilitating hip pain that appeared — not once but twice — when she was most out of alignment. Through a ThetaHealing session with Jen, they traced the pain back to the emotional and energetic cost of moving in a direction her soul wasn't ready for.The hips and knees are associated with movement, security, and moving forward. When you're being pushed forward in a direction that doesn't feel right, the body sometimes responds.This isn't mystical — it's the body-mind connection that research increasingly supports.What actually helpsThe answer isn't a complete overhaul of your life overnight. It's:Recognizing the cost — which is what this episode is designed to help you doGetting back in touch with your intuition — not overriding it with "I should be grateful"Taking micro steps — one aligned choice at a time, not a full life demolitionStepping outside your environment — because you cannot get perspective on a picture you're still standing insideAbout the Peru retreatEverything we discuss in this episode is what our November retreat in the Sacred Valley, Peru is designed to address but at a depth that daily life doesn't allow. Check out From Autopilot to Soul-Aligned here.Nine days. Ten women. A deliberately designed container to let your body regulate, release what you've been carrying, ...
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet