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COVER PHOTO: David Zaugh
6 IN HER FLOW AN INTERVIEW WITH TESS MASTERS
30 PLANNING FOR A HEALTH GOAL HOW TO ACTUALLY MAKE TIME FOR YOU
MAGAZINE TEAM
Mia Moran Editor in Chief
Sara Barry
Senior Editor & Contributor
Regina Evangelista
Social Media
ISSUE 4 CONTRIBUTORS
Christi Bruzzi
Donna Cravotta
Amanda Dake
Lusundra Everett
Holly Fisher
Nina Froriep
Carolyn Herfurth
Danielle Hendrickson
M.Shannon Hernandez
Dolores Hirshmann
Dawn Jackson
Patty Lennon
Kelly Lubeck
Tess Masters
Candy Motzek
Sara Bird Nelson
Allison Schaaf
Christine Walsh
PAID SUBSCRIBERS receive a Seasonal Planning Packet each quarter to thoughtfully design life and business— while taking great care of themselves. UPGRADE HERE »
WORK
49 GROW YOUR BUSINESS MODEL
Carolyn Herfurth
50 GROW THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Shannon Hernandez
53 GROW YOUR NETWORK ON LINKEDIN
Nina Froriep
55 GROW YOUR BUSINESS CONFIDENCE
Amanda Dake
56 GROW YOUR MARKETING
Holly Fisher
ENERGY & SOUL
66 TEND TO YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM
Kelly Lubeck
75 THE SOUL COLLECTION THINGS WE LOVE
76 ORACLE CARD READING FOR SPRING FOR NAVIGATING THIS TIME OF RENEWAL AND REBIRTH. with Patty Lennon
80 ASTROLOGY REPORT with Danielle Hendrickson
42 WHAT’S GRIEF GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Dawn Jackson
58 MONEY APPOINTMENTS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS
from a Conversation with LuSundra Everett
65 THE WORK COLLECTION THINGS WE LOVE
Dear beautiful reader,
Welcome to the Spring issue of Pause Magazine
— a season that always feels like an invitation to begin again.
This issue arrives at a moment when so much feels like it’s moving quickly — in the world, in technology, and in our own lives — hello year of the Fire Horse. And yet spring reminds us that growth doesn’t happen through urgency. It happens through nourishment, patience, and the emerging decision to tend to what matters most.
I am especially excited to introduce you to our cover feature, Tess Masters. Tess has played a profound role in my health journey over the past few years, helping me navigate the early waves of perimenopause at the start of the pandemic, prepare for brain surgery last summer, and rethink what it truly means to support my body. Working with Tess helped me rebuild my relationship with food, energy, and daily care in a way that feels sustainable, deeply supportive, and always delicious. I’m so grateful to share her wisdom with you here. She is not only brilliant in her work, but also a deeply caring and wise woman whose approach reminds us that nourishment is foundational to everything we want to create.
We are holding the tension many of us feel right now — the intimacy of daily choices alongside the larger, complex realities unfolding around us. This is what keeps revealing itself to me: the world is asking a lot of us, and meeting it requires capacity. The collective work ahead — in our families, communities, businesses, and beyond — depends on individuals who are resourced enough to show up with clarity and strength.
Throughout these pages, we explore growth in many forms. You’ll find conversations about tending to your health and nervous system, creating calmer homes, processing the emotions that accompany change, and building businesses and financial lives that feel both sustainable and expansive.
I also find myself thinking often about the role women over fifty are stepping into. With lived experience comes perspective, resilience, and a deeper understanding of what truly matters. There is a quiet power in this stage of life — one that allows us not only to grow personally, but to help hold what comes next, what generations ahead will create
Our theme for this issue is Grow. Grow your health. Grow your energy. Grow your business and your inner wellbeing. Plant seeds that will support the person you are still becoming.
We’re also thrilled to launch the Pause Magazine Substack alongside this issue, where we’ll continue deeper conversations with many of the contributors you meet here.
Thank you for pausing with us — for choosing reflection in a world that often rewards speed. My hope is that these pages support you in growing gently, intentionally, and with hope in your step
With so much love,
Mia
Q&A TESS MASTERS with
What is your work in the world right now?
I am an actor, so I do voiceovers every week, and at the moment I’m doing a play.
I’m also a writer. I have a series of cookbooks, The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, which I still get emails about all the time, which is lovely.
I help people cook delicious food that helps their bodies feel great, and I facilitate a health program, called Skinny60®, specifically our 60-Day Reset that I lead with a team of dietitians. We help people get healthy, and work through obstacles that get in the way of making the better choices that make us feel good, food and otherwise. It’s really about wellness and meeting yourself at this phase of life. We work with a range of ages, but our core demographic is women 45 to 75.
What about your podcast?
I host It Has To Be Me, where I love to talk to people about moments in their lives where they went, “It has to be me. I’ve got no choice, I have to do this. I want to do this!”
I think of life in a series of it-has-to-be-me moments, where we take action in the presence of fear.
I enjoy speaking to people whose life experience is quite different than mine, and then we find how it’s similar every time. It’s really joyful. That’s a passion project, really.
What else are you balancing right now?
I balance self-care and care for others on a daily basis, because I work as a coach and facilitate the journeys of other people. I balance that in my personal life, with my family and friends.
I balance activity and rest. I balance joy and grief. I balance internal and external. I balance living in reality and living in the dream state. I’m really coming around to embracing and holding the idea that we can live in the dream state and reality at the same time. If we just shift our thinking about what the dream state is to see it’s a way to meet reality with curiosity and creativity, so that we’re open to all possibilities.
I’m constantly balancing how I feel in my heart, and how I feel in my head. And balancing preconceived notions about what I’m capable of doing and what’s an old tape from the past. Life is a balancing act constantly, every minute of the day, isn’t it?
Speaking of balance, do you feel like you’re a caregiver to your parents?
COVID was a huge invitation to re-evaluate what’s important. Who do you want to be a walk away from? So I made the decision that I wanted to return to Australia after having lived in the United States for 30 years. I wanted to spend quality time with my parents.
When I was thinking about doing it, my friend Melanie said to me, “We don’t know what’s going to happen when you move to Australia. But I tell you what we do know, you’ll never regret spending this time with your parents at this phase of life, while they’re not sick.” She was absolutely right.
I’m very fortunate that my parents are incredibly healthy. My father got prostate cancer 7 years ago, and yesterday he had his oncology appointment and got the complete cancer-free, you don’t need to come back to the oncologist. It was such a huge day in our family.
“
I’m in the ultimate joy phase season of my life.”
My parents are still completely with it. They’re going on an 8-week trip to Europe by themselves.
They’re doing very, very well. But are they slower? Do they have little falls? Yes. I am slowly noticing a little bit of cognitive stuff, definitely physical stuff, so I feel like I’m monitoring it, and that’s the gift of me being here every day, where I can literally be tracking it constantly. So, the short answer, yes. And I take it very seriously.
There is a lot to balance and I find that what we balance and how we balance depends on our season. What season do you consider yourself to be in right now?
I am in the spring of my Crone phase. I’m quite a ways off from claiming my role as an elder. I consider going into menopause to be going into your second spring, and it’s really shone a light on preparing for the legacy phase.
Once you pass the age of 50, you realize there’s more yesterdays than tomorrows. We’re old enough to realize and recognize how precious life is, but we’re still young enough to enjoy it. I really feel like I’m in the ultimate joy phase season of my life.
What are you protecting most fiercely in this season?
We think that menopause happens to us. I like to think that it happens for us. We recognize that our body is just for us. We can prioritize our health, what we want and what we need more than ever before.
It is an invitation to welcome the slow and the low. I’m a Type A, Enneagram 7 with a strong 8-wing, with a 1 to 1 subtype. I’m always on to the next thing, my mind is constantly going, and activity energizes me.
My central nervous system really responds to that, but being older, I’m really taking up the invitation to really see the value of the slow, and how beneficial it can be particularly in the midst of the chaos of the world right now.
I’m in the season of allowing, not pushing. That feels really, really juicy. It doesn’t feel dry, it doesn’t feel lazy, it doesn’t feel like the void that I always imagined that it was when I was a lot younger.
What are you choosing in this season?
Having been in the public eye a lot in my life, I am in the season of welcoming in private practice and the value of that, the value of stillness and quietness and privacy. I show up in a public way when I want to, and enjoy that, but I don’t need it as much.
I also get to choose where I spend my time and energy. I’m at the point in my life where I’m not doing anything out of obligation. I’m doing all of it because I genuinely want to show up, and I am energized and nourished by being there.
What I’m really coming to understand, not just in an intellectual sense, but in a visceral, embodied, heart song sense is that I choose what my capacity is at any given moment. There are an infinite amount of no’s and only a finite amount of yeses. Saying no with compassion is an act of love for yourself and the other person.
What tools or rituals are helping you do all that?
I am an introvert that presents as an extrovert. I sleep a lot. I nap a lot. I know when to leave a function. I might show up only for 30 minutes and be present, and then when I feel myself not being that way
anymore, then I exit from the situation. I’m very clear about what I’m capable of doing, and if I find myself not being present, then I need to pull back.
The other thing is an ongoing process, and I do find this challenging, is delegating. I often feel like I’m the only person that can be doing it or should be doing something, but there’s a level of arrogance to that. We need to allow room for others to fill spaces that we have previously filled. I’m finding the joy in doing that and having it be different.
As an over-50-year-old woman, how do you see our position and power right now, given the state of the world?
I feel called to use my voice more than any other time of my life. I’m 53, and the world is spinning on a different axis. It’s changing rapidly, and we’re not going back to the way that it was. I feel like I’m being called to step up and lead with my heart at a whole other level, to just find another gear in that, and not necessarily more, but more mindful, more conscious, more aware. I’m called to keep my eyes open, even when I’m resting. Because when I’m resting and sleeping, or in the dream state, or whatever we might call it when we are so-called unplugging from outside stimuli that’s where the greatest clarity comes.
I have to acknowledge my overwhelm, acknowledge my rage, acknowledge my grief about things that are happening in the world. And then ask, “What’s my contribution going to be in all of that? I keep coming back to the idea that my contribution is to use my voice in a constructive way and to continue to help people be healthier and stronger, and more
aware of their own choices and their own behavior.”
I also feel like privilege is a privilege and the freedom to be able to make those choices and actually be in a society where you can use your voice, I don’t take for granted.
What are you thinking about as an entrepreneur?
I’m always thinking about how we can share our message with more people. Once you know that you have a product that is of real value, and really changes people’s lives, you want more people to experience it.
In my case specifically, we help people with their health. I see it every day, people that have got diseases that they don’t need to have, and can absolutely recover from, and people that have mobility issues, and quality of life issues, and their quality of life dramatically improves, and quickly, with some very simple changes.
My business historically had a retentionbased model, where anybody that does our program typically comes and does something else that we do, or they come back and do it again because it worked, they love the community, they love the level of support, and they don’t find the level of support that we offer anywhere else.
My goal over the last couple of years has really been about how do we communicate what we do to somebody that knows nothing about The Blender Girl, or knows nothing about Skinny60®, or doesn’t know anybody that’s done the program, and just comes in cold?
I’ve been inside of it for so long, I’m thinking about it a little bit differently and perhaps
TESS HAS THREE BEAUTIFUL COOKBOOKS AND A WEBSITE WORTH CHECKING OUT.
taking some things for granted, that I know in my head, but that aren’t immediately obvious to somebody else.
I’ve really been studying and iterating on this one thing — and really listening. And it’s served me so well. Last year was really all about what are people really feeling in their hearts? What do they really, really want? Then making sure that we were delivering that, and we were communicating that, and we were meeting them in that place, and it’s been really glorious to see the difference in our business because of it.
What does growth mean for your business?
We’re now growing at a pace where we’ve outgrown our infrastructure and our current team. So hiring the right people that fit into our team, and our ethos will be a very big part of the focus moving forward. We want people that are not only wonderful practitioners, but also have a lot of heart, and are going to meet people in a place of compassion and listening.
A big focus for me, on a personal level, is learning to let go of the idea that I have to show up all the time and be everything to everybody. I started this as a solopreneur, and that transition is challenging for me.
At the moment, I know every single person in Skinny60® and their story, and I’ve personally coached them. We’re gonna be moving away from that soon. That’s scary. That’ll be a big, big change, but if I want to grow our company to the next level, that absolutely has to happen.
You teach others how to tend to their body. What are you thinking about your own health?
Rest is always the number one focus for me, because I have my nutrition dialed in and has been for decades. Now, I’m constantly listening and being intuitive about it as my body changes, because health is not static, and so our approach can’t be static. What you need in your 20s is different to what you need in your 50s.
One of the many wonderful things about being a coach is if you want to be a coach of integrity, you’ve got to be coachable, and you’ve got to be walking the talk. Every time I speak to anybody in our program, I think, oh, am I doing that too? I better make sure I’m doing that; otherwise I’m full of shit.
Stress management is also big, because we just often don’t recognize the effects that stress has on the body. Stress manifests excessive stress and prolonged stress manifests as inflammation, and inflammation is at the root of all disease.
I have to make sure that I’m scheduling in rest, I’m scheduling in play, I’m scheduling in fun, I’m scheduling in joy. I mean, literally, I’m consciously and mindfully wanting to microdose at the oxytocin buffet, right? I just want to make sure I’m getting those moments of joy and rest and play. Which is why dancing is so huge for me. It makes me feel free. It helps me have a belly laugh every single day.
Obviously bone health, cognitive health, making sure my blood sugar and my hormones are regulated as they keep shifting at this phase of life is always a priority for me, but the joy and stress reduction piece is the number one paired with rest.
What’s next? What are you excited about?
I love what I do. I loved writing my books with The Blender Girl. I’m so grateful they were so successful. I did 3 books in 3 years, and I was touring around the world, and I was the spokesperson for all these companies. It was such a wonderful chapter, but I wasn’t able to do as much acting as I love to do. So even though I did a lot of voiceovers, I couldn’t do plays anymore like I love to do, and so that’s what I’m really looking forward to. I did a play last year for the first time in 15 years. It was so joyful, and then I’m doing another play now, and I’m just looking forward to going back to that sense of play.
5 MINUTES WITH TESS
MORNING BEVERAGE OF CHOICE? Lemon water
WHAT’S A SONG THAT SHIFTS YOUR ENERGY INSTANTLY?
Uptown Funk, Bruno Mars
WHAT’S A RITUAL YOU NEVER SKIP, EVEN WHEN LIFE IS FULL?
Eating fermented foods.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO MOVE YOUR BODY? Dancing
FAVORITE PODCAST, BESIDES YOUR OWN, OF COURSE?
Diary of a CEO
Being in a rehearsal room is like nothing else on Earth. Where you can play and say anything, and be anything, and do anything, and there’s no consequences, in the sense of you don’t hurt anything, because we all accept that we’re in the make-believe world, right? And we don’t get to do that in life, ever, because people get hurt, but with acting, you don’t. There’s just nothing like it, so I’m just loving returning to that part of my creativity, because I’ve been finding other outlets for my creativity. That’s really the most exciting thing for me right now.
WHAT’S A BOOK YOU RECOMMEND?
The Four Agreements. It’s beside my bed, and I think everybody on Earth should read it.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BUSINESS TOOL? Zoom— because I get to have a facsimile of speaking face-to-face with people from around the world.
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU LET GO OF TO MAKE ROOM FOR BALANCE? Perfectionism
WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT SURPRISED YOU ABOUT THIS PHASE OF LIFE?
The possibilities. I thought it was going to be a limit on my possibilities, and I realized that it was the beginning of more. Also, how much more I can know and love myself.
WHAT’S ONE THING THAT GROUNDS YOU IN A BUSY WEEK? Meditation and my sound bowl
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN TOOL? My blender!
Want to feel like yourself again?
Even if you think that’s not possible after 45?
JOIN TESS’S 60-DAY METABOLIC & GUT HEALTH RESET
Lose 10–30 lbs in 60 days, without dieting or GLP-1 medication. Reduce bloating, cravings, and fatigue. Sleep through the night. Eat delicious food. Work with dietitians. No calorie counting or supplements.
JOIN MIA IN THE NEXT ROUND!
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THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK. MIA ONLY AFFILIATES WITH A SMALL NUMBER OF PROGRAMS SHE HAS PERSONALLY SPENT TIME IN AND CAN AUTHENTICALLY RECOMMEND.
YOUR CORE DOES MORE THAN YOU THINK
WITH CHRISTI BRUZZI
THE PURPOSE OF MOVEMENT AS WE AGE
You know you’re supposed to exercise for health, but what if you think less about working out and more about moving with ease — and continuing to do that as you age. Mobility is the name of the game.
Let’s focus on being able to bring the groceries inside in one trip, getting up off the floor, and doing whatever it is you love to do — yoga, pickleball, hiking, bike rides. To do that you need stabilization, strength, and flexibility. Your core is key to all of that.
STABILIZATION
We often focus on the muscles we can see, but the magic happens in the muscles that keep us still. Stabilization is the act of activating your core to create a solid foundation so your limbs can actually do their job.
Think about the simple act of taking a single step. It’s not actually that simple!
To lift your right foot, your body must:
• Shift all your weight to the left.
• Stabilize the entire left side so you don’t topple over.
• Engage the core to keep your torso upright.
• Then use strength and flexibility to swing that right leg forward.
Your body does this thousands of times a day without you even asking, but when we consciously improve our stabilization, everything from walking to HIIT workouts becomes smoother.
STRENGTH
Strength isn’t just about lifting heavy weights. You need strength to generate the force required to move your body. In our walking example, your hip flexors and quads need the “oomph” to pull your leg up and propel you forward.
Remember: Use your muscles, not momentum, to move.
FLEXIBILITY
Flexibility is essential to moving easily. Your joints and muscles have to have the necessary “give” to move through their full range of motion. Without flexibility in your hips and knees, that step you’re taking becomes short, choppy, and eventually, painful.
CultivateYour Core
All efficient movement should originate in your core—which is way more than just a six-pack.
We are talking about:
Abdominals: Your front-facing stabilizers.
Back Extensors: The muscles that keep you standing tall.
Obliques: Your internal “corset” that handles rotation.
When these muscles fire first, they protect your spine and create a platform for your arms and legs to work from. Without a stable center, movements are unstable, inefficient, and much more likely to cause an injury.
The Takeaway: To move better, stop thinking about your arms and legs, and start thinking about your center. Stabilize first, then mobilize.
MASTER YOUR BREATH
The foundation of true stabilization is mastering the breath. Correct breathing is a full-body experience, engaging the entire torso from the pelvic floor up to the collarbones. Try It.
INHALE
Breathe deeply through the nose; the natural resistance of the nasal passages helps you fill the lungs more completely. As you inhale, allow your belly to expand and your pelvic floor to soften. You might want to visualize a flower opening towards the floor to help relax the perineum. This often requires practice, as many people subconsciously hold tension for fear of “having an accident.” Ensure the breath fills from the low belly, through the ribs, and finally to the collarbones.
EXHALE
As you breathe out, engage the lower muscles of the perineum as if you are “stopping the flow” AND “stopping a fart” at the same time. It may be helpful to visualize lifting the pelvic floor—closing up that flower and sucking it up a tube, or like taking your flower up an elevator shaft to the penthouse—while simultaneously drawing your navel toward your spine. Continue this inward contraction until the lungs are completely empty.
BONUS: Within six weeks of consistent breath practice, many of my ladies reported that their issues with incontinence had gotten much better or resolved all together. What a “win-win!” My students now move with integrity and confidence, free from the fear of an accident.
YOGA FOR STABILITY
These yoga poses build stability by strengthening the smaller stabilizer muscles around your joints.
PLANK—On the toes, on the knees, or for my friends that can’t get up and down, leaning against the wall. You need to stabilize wrists, shoulders, core, knees, ankles, you name it!
TREE POSE—Remember to move from a place of strength, activate the core first. Stabilize the standing leg then lift the other leg a little, a lot, or not at all. If lifting the leg, lift to your stable place then place the sole of the other foot on your inner calf or thigh (Never the knee). It will help to focus your gaze on one unmoving point (AKA a drishti) to help steady yourself.
WARRIOR III—Stabilize the core, then shift the weight to the supporting leg and balance on one leg while leaning your torso forward and extending the other leg straight back, forming a “T” shape. Keep your hips level with the floor; don’t let the lifted hip “hike” up.
BIRD-DOG—On all fours (quadruped) on the floor, use your breath to stabilize your core then extend your right arm forward and left leg back. Hold for 5 breaths without letting your back arch or your hips tilt. Imagine a teacup with your favorite tea sitting on your lower back—don’t spill a drop!
PAUSE PRACTICE
Make it easy to move your body. Keep a yoga or stretching mat set up at home so there’s no friction when you want to stretch, breathe, or exercise.
FOOD + BODY
WEIGHTS
FINDING THE CORRECT WEIGHT IS AN ART.
You want to start low and go slow, working on impeccable form, making sure that your bony landmarks (hips, knees, ankles) are tracking correctly through the entire exercise, then gradually add weight. The perfect weight is one where you are able to go slow, have impeccable form, feel no pain in the joint, and are sore in your muscles afterward. Remember just because you can lift a certain amount of weight doesn’t mean you should.
SHOULD I BE SORE?
If you are using the correct weight, you will be sore. Soreness is part of the process. So is rest and recovery. You need to listen to your body. Do not retrain a muscle group that is still sore. Wait until the soreness has subsided before hitting that muscle group again. You rebuild muscle during rest, not while lifting.
PROTEIN
Muscle repair requires fuel. While you should consult a dietitian for your specific needs, a good baseline for most people is 20 grams of protein per meal. If you have any kidney issues please seek professional advice: For exact macro-nutrient breakdowns tailored to your lifestyle, always consult a registered dietitian.
YOUR RECOVERY TOOLKIT
TRY ADDING ANY OF THESE TO YOUR RECOVERY PLAN.
Hydration: Water is non-negotiable. (And no, tequila doesn’t count!). Whatever else you do, everyone needs to hydrate.
Vibration Plate: Originally developed by space agencies to prevent bone loss in astronauts, vibration plates support bone density and recovery by providing “mechanical loading” without the impact of jumping or heavy lifting. The vibrations cause muscles to contract rapidly, improving circulation, reducing swelling, and helping flush out metabolic waste. Use for 5–10 minutes after a heavy lifting session to support recovery.
Sauna: Saunas also aid in vasodilation— opening up blood vessels to flush out metabolic waste (like lactic acid) Make sure you are properly hydrated first!
Soaks: Epsom salt or Japanese mineral salt baths are excellent for easing muscle aches.
Christi Bruzzi is the owner and fitness instructor behind Club Christi, a supportive small-group training community built for everyBODY. Learn more at clubchristi.com.
Not boring as in dull or uninspired — but boring as in steady, predictable, supportive. The kind of boring that removes decision fatigue and makes space for energy, clarity, and health.
I’ve been carrying that word into almost everything I do.
Over the past year, my relationship with health has shifted in profound ways. Last summer I had brain surgery. This winter I broke my wrist. Those experiences changed how I think about my body — I feel so strongly that she is something I want to actively support, like I would a client or best friend.
As an entrepreneur, a wife, a mother of young adults, and simply a human alive right now, I have this deep feeling that the best part of life — or at least the most important part — may be just beginning. This exact moment in history is far from easy, and I want to meet it with strength, focus, and energy.
Food helped me transform things 17 years ago, and it’s feeling like I’m back here again, a few more rungs up the maturity spiral.
LEARNING HOW MY BODY WORKS
A lot of what I’m practicing now comes from working with our featured guest Tess Masters and her team of dieticians through her SK60 Program. Together, we dialed in what my body actually needs in this phase of life — not what worked in my 30s, but what works now.
Some changes have been remarkable. I’m no longer experiencing hot flashes. I sleep deeply — truly like a baby. Once those pieces settled, I started thinking about something new: my brain and my bones. After surgery and injury, nourishment feels less theoretical and more essential.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST SHIFTS: PROTEIN
In my 30s, protein didn’t feel urgent. In my 50s, I take it very seriously. Tess and her dietitians helped me determine my personal protein target, and that clarity alone has been really powerful. Instead of guessing, I now build meals intentionally around what supports muscle, brain health, and long-term vitality.
I’m also focused on variety — envisioning the rainbow of vegetables each week. The rainbow was my jam, but I found myself remembering veggies beyond kale. One non-negotiable from Tess’s guidance: fermented vegetables show up at almost every meal.
HYDRATION
Hydration is another focus. I’m working on drinking more water, but I also lean into hydrating foods — especially raw vegetables — which naturally will weave into my spring meals.
And while I love the ritual of coffee, I’m experimenting with recreating the experience through teas and coffee-like flavors that support my nervous system better.
Being gluten-free and dairy-free for 17 years means that part is already dialed in. Removing sugar now has been a complete game changer for my energy. In the afternoon, I’m even avoiding bananas.
THE OPPOSITE OF INTERMITTENT FASTING
Another surprising discovery: my body thrives on the opposite of intermittent fasting at this moment.
I do my best eating every few hours. Often I’ll eat half my lunch at noon and the other half mid-afternoon. This steady rhythm keeps my energy stable and prevents the crashes that used to feel inevitable.
At 50, being healthy is not about being hungry. I’m not sure it was at 20 either, but alas there was no one to tell me that.
There is a lot of noise about what we need, but dialling in what your body needs is essential.
WHY PLANNING MAKES FOOD FEEL EASY
The food itself isn’t boring. The “boring” part happens on Sunday afternoon.
That’s when I decide what I’ll eat for the week and prep everything through Thursday. On Thursday, I make a lighter plan for the weekend.
Each night, I write the next day’s meals on my “Today Sheet.” If plans change, I don’t create drama — I simply adjust the plan.
I’ve noticed something interesting: when I suddenly want to change my lunch at 11 a.m. even though it’s already planned for noon, it’s usually not about food. It’s often avoidance or decision fatigue trying to sneak back in. Being boring removes that noise.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
So many things contribute to health — movement, sleep, stress regulation, supplements — but food is the daily foundation.
Right now, “boring” food feels surprisingly expansive. It frees up mental space. It stabilizes energy. It allows me to show up more fully in my work and my life.
Instead of asking, What do I feel like eating today? I’m asking, What supports the life I want to live? At this stage of life, that feels less like restriction and more like possibility.
Spring Recipes from Mia’s Rhythm
CLICK IMAGES OR TEXT FOR RECIPES
RECIPES FROM TESS MASTERS
1. TASTES-LIKE-ICE-CREAM KALE SMOOTHIE (WITH CHIA AND HEMP SEED BOOSTERS)
2. MIXED BERRY SMOOTHIE WITH SUPERFOODS
3. TAHINI DRESSING
4. ITALIAN DRESSING
5. GREEN GODDESS DRESSING
6. THE MOST INCREDIBLE VEGAN BOLOGNESE
TO GET PROTEIN, MIA OFTEN FOLLOWS A RECIPE:
THIS EASY ROASTED CHICKEN RECIPE FROM LAURA FUENTES
THIS SALMON RECIPE FROM THE SEASONED MOM
GWENETH PALTROW’S TURKEY MEATBALL RECIPE
SNACKS
7. ALMOND MILK CHIA PUDDING
8. VEGAN CHOCOLATE AVOCADO PUDDING
9. CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO CAKE
100 DAYS OF PRACTICE
We often try to change everything at once. But meaningful change rarely happens that way. It usually begins with one small move, then another.
Every 100 days, we invite you to choose one simple action that will truly support you in this season. Something that takes just 10–15 minutes a day. Something that helps you feel more connected to yourself.
It’s not about perfection. If you miss a day, you simply return the next. The beauty of a 100 Day Challenge is in noticing what unfolds over time — what feels nourishing, what doesn’t, and how your rhythm evolves. The magic isn’t in doing it perfectly. It’s in the practice of showing up.
“I’m
100doingdays of SketchPoetic.”
EVERY 100 DAYS I CHOOSE A NEW PRACTICE FOR MYSELF. SOMETIMES IT FITS THE SEASON BEAUTIFULLY, SOMETIMES I AIM TOO BIG. BUT EACH CYCLE TEACHES ME SOMETHING ABOUT RHYTHM, ALIGNMENT, AND SHOWING UP AGAIN. THIS SEASON, I’M SKETCHING. GET THE BOOK HIGHLIGHTED ON PAGE 75, IF YOU WANT TO JOIN ME!
WHAT WOULD YOU LOVE TO TRY FOR 100 DAYS?
We recommend something you can do in under 15 minutes (even 3 works!).
Some ideas:
Go on a short walk
Draw an oracle card
Write down 3 business ideas
Dance for 5 minutes
Take 3 deep breaths
Text a friend
Write a page in your journal
Plan your day
Doodle or Sketch
DOWNLOAD THE PLANNING SHEET
DESIGN YOUR HEALTH
HOW TO SET HEALTH GOALS THAT COME FROM SELF-CONNECTION, OVER SELF-CORRECTION
When women come into our world to plan their businesses, feel more productive, or achieve a big life goal, I always ask them to look at their health too.
Food and wellness is one of the four pillars of the FLOW Planning Method, because everything else — including creativity, leadership, relationships, and follow-through — rest on how we feel in our bodies.
Our health goals are sometimes the hardest to move forward. I’ve got a few ideas why this is the case.
HEALTH CHANGE RARELY GIVES IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK
The choices we make today often don’t feel dramatically different tomorrow. They compound quietly over time — and that’s where most traditional goal-setting breaks down. Skipping sleep or movement rarely creates instant consequences. But over months and years, small decisions shape our energy, mobility, and resilience.
When you plan for health, you’re not making decisions for today’s actions or appearance. You’re making decisions for the woman who will live in your body decades from now. When decisions come from care for her, motivation shifts from pressure to partnership.
MANY WOMEN ATTACH HEALTH TO WEIGHT LOSS
Even if we haven’t had to deal with weightloss in the past, unexplainable weight gain can be part of menopause.
Most of us learned early to associate health with fixing our bodies. Many of us still carry pieces of that story.
I often remind myself, and my clients, that healing our relationship with our bodies is part of almost every health goal, and that healing needs time, tenderness and often some extra support.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD THAT TRIES TO FIX BODIES
Much of our medical system is designed to treat symptoms. We are rarely taught to approach health proactively — or from a place of love.
Language rooted in fixing is subtly different from language rooted in care, even when the actions look similar on the surface.
One approach asks, What’s wrong with me? The other asks, How can I support myself?
FLOW Planning invites us into the second conversation.
1. GET CENTERED
Planning from self-criticism almost always leads to burnout or rebellion. Instead, we aim for neutrality — or even gentle self-respect.
Centered doesn’t mean perfectly positive. It simply means you’re not making decisions from old wounds.
You might get centered by:
• Closing your eyes and taking ten slow breaths
• Doing a short body scan meditation
• Spending a few minutes outside
• Noticing when you feel most at home in your body
• Doing anything from Kelly’s article on pg 66
Health decisions made from calm awareness look very different from those made in frustration.
2. CONNECT TO YOUR VISION (MEET YOUR FUTURE SELF)
I often invite people to imagine five or ten years ahead, but podcast guest Mary-Claire Herman once suggested something I love: imagine yourself at ninety.
What is your energy like?
How do you move through your day? How does it feel to live in your body?
This perspective removes urgency and comparison. Instead of planning for a single event or appearance, you begin caring for the body that will carry you through an entire lifetime.
Let her guide your choices.
3. DECIDE: YOUR HEALTH FOCUS FOR THIS SEASON
In FLOW Planning, we work in seasons — usually about 90 days — but you could plan for a season before surgery or a season of recovery.
Before choosing specific goals, ask yourself: How do I want to feel this season? Sample words have been energized, calm, productive, connected, focused.
Your desired feeling becomes your compass.
As you decide your goal, ask yourself: What health focus will help me feel this way?
Then make sure you are doing what is within your control:
• Becoming more hydrated
• Understanding your blood work
• Moving your body in a way that supports your current stage of life
• Shifting how you nourish yourself
• Supporting sleep or recovery
Then identify the smallest possible starting step:
• Fill a water pitcher each morning
• Schedule one supportive appointment
• Walk five minutes daily
• Have healthy snacks you love available in your bag
• Stretch before bed
4. ANCHOR YOUR GOALS IN TIME
One of the biggest lessons I learned while promoting my book Plan Simple Meals was that time is a bigger obstacle to getting dinner on the table than knowing what to cook. Again and again, women told me: “I know what to do — I just don’t have time.”
Health habits fail because they never receive protected time.
Open your calendar and ask: When will this actually happen?
Schedule movement like a meeting.
Block time to meal plan or grocery shop. Create time to prepare food. (Even takeout takes time.)
If it matters to your health, it belongs on your calendar just as much as work or family commitments.
“Planningis simply making choices in advance.” -Mia Moran
5. FOLLOW THROUGH:
CREATE RHYTHM, NOT A CAGE
Follow-through becomes easier when health stops feeling like a project and starts feeling like a rhythm.
Three supports make a huge difference.
ACCOUNTABILITY
A friend, group, or structured support system creates gentle consistency. Decide how often you’ll check in and what support looks like.
RHYTHM AND RITUAL
Instead of thinking only in goals or to-dos, think in terms of your rhythm.
Ask: What rhythm am I creating? What rituals might help anchor it?
Morning walks, evening tea, or weekly planning sessions turn intentions into lived patterns.
PLAN FOR OBSTACLES
Compassionate planning means expecting real life.
If certain foods always derail you, what environment shift would help?
If evenings are exhausting, could mornings work better?
What obstacles can you solve before they appear? Support yourself in your goals by preparing for obstacles.
Create Your Wellness Plan
We all want dramatic change, but health changes really begin with attention. Use the FLOW wellness planning sheet to walk yourself through the process:
• Get centered.
• Connect with your future self.
• Choose what matters for this season.
• Anchor it into time.
• Create the support you need to follow through.
You can create a thoughtful starting place rooted in care for your body and your life.
DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET »
The Nourish Collection
HORMONE HARMONY BUNDLE
FROM DR. ANNA CABECA
We all need to find a hormone informed doctor we trust to help us make personal decisions as our hormones shift in menopause.
Mia decided to start with a bundle from Dr. Anna Cabeca and is excited that “all parts” of her are now moisturized and most of her menopause symptoms are gone. Extra bonus, they are HSA/FSA eligible.
Listen to Mia’s chat with Dr. Cabeca on the Plan Simple Podcast.
MAGNESIUM
Hello, hormones and aging! Mia has a strong bedtime routine that kicks off two hours before bed with a Magnesium drink. It is the resource she tells FLOW365ers about most often when anyone is having a hard time with sleep, and of course, she got the initial tip from Tess Masters. Please ask a doctor before taking any supplements.
MANDUKA YOGA MAT
These mats are still crafted using simple, enduring, natural, and whenever possible, renewable materials and a fine attention to detail. Manduka is a company built by and for yoga teachers and their students. Plus they have a lifetime guarantee.
Your home is a sanctuary. Let it hold you as you move through change. Let it reflect your resilience, your clarity and your progress. Let it always remind you to come back to your presence, embracing every season that you are in.”
Sara Bird Nelson Pause Magazine,
Issue 2
A GENTLE SPRING DECLUTTERING PLAN
CLEAR SPACE AND WELCOME NEW ENERGY
Spring has always marked a natural reset. Light returns. Windows open (well, we hope). Energy shifts — and many of us feel the urge to refresh our spaces along with the season.
But decluttering doesn’t have to mean overhauling your entire home in a weekend. Lasting change comes from small, doable shifts — the kind that build momentum and help your space support who you are now, not who you were in another season of life.
Think of this as a gentle reset: one drawer, one surface, one decision at a time. We’ve gathered wisdom from five decluttering teachers to help you create a simple, doable plan and refresh your home in a way that feels realistic and sustainable.
Start Where You’ll Feel
Immediate Relief
Dana K. White shares, don’t start in storage rooms or sentimental boxes. Begin with visibility. Start with a space you see every day — the kitchen counter, entryway, or bathroom.
Visible progress creates motivation. When your environment changes quickly, your brain registers possibility.
Doable Action: Clear one “hot spot”— completely — this week.
Release the Past Version of You
Some wisdom from Marie Kondo... Spring invites transition. Many items we keep belong to earlier seasons of life — old careers, past hobbies, or identities we’ve outgrown.
Honor who you are becoming. Instead of asking whether something once mattered, ask: Does this support my life now?
Doable Action: Let go of one item connected to a former version of yourself.
Focus on Energy
Courtney Carver says, decluttering isn’t about owning the least; it’s about carrying less mental weight. Fewer decisions mean more energy for creativity, connection, and rest.
Spring clearing is an act of self-care. This is the time to choose what feels lighter
Doable Action: Ask daily, “What can I release today that would make life feel easier?”
Add the actions you want to weave into your life to your DOABLE CHANGE LIST. After you’ve tuned in to be sure they’re truly your moves, put them on your calendar — just like you would a doctor’s appointment. That’s what makes them happen.
Edit Before You Organize
Love this advice from Shira Gill... Buying bins and containers too early often hides the real issue: too much stuff. Decluttering works best when you remove excess before creating organization systems.
Think: Less first, systems later.
Doable Action: Choose one category — shoes, mugs, workout clothes — and remove anything unused in the past year.
Create Systems That Match Real Life
Cassandra Aarssen teaches that clutter often returns when systems fight your natural tendencies. Organization succeeds when it feels intuitive. How can you organize for your habits?
If you like seeing things, use open storage. If visual clutter stresses you, choose closed containers. If you thrive on more detailed organization go for it, but don’t force it if that’s not you.
Spring action: Adjust one storage area to match how you actually live, and not how you think you “should.”
When the Ground Beneath You Shifts
FINDING YOUR WAY THROUGH GRIEF IN MIDLIFE, AND BEYOND
by Dawn Jackson
Midlife can feel empowering, yet it can also leave you wondering what happened to the life you’d envisioned for yourself.
I’ve always believed that with age comes wisdom, but as I’m navigating my 50’s, I’ve realized that it’s imperative to meet it with the proper tools; it’s not for the faint of heart.
Don’t get me wrong, midlife can be amazing, but it can also hit you with a 2 x 4 and highlight every disappointment, regret, and emotional pain living inside your heart.
Maybe you can relate to these:
• Your kids are launching, but your parents are aging.
• You can finally create extra space to do the things you love, but your body isn’t able to keep up with your desire to be as active as you were earlier in life.
• You thought menopause would be a welcoming experience, but instead, you’re left with sleepless nights, a dead sex drive, and a body that doesn’t feel as vibrant as you’d like.
• You’re questioning whether or not your career feels aligned anymore after years of working so hard.
• You welcome the thought of retirement but also fear losing your purpose.
• Your relationships (especially with your partner) don’t feel as connected or fulfilling as they used to.
• You’ve realized that the dreams you had for your life haven’t manifested.
If you’re like most women in midlife, these hit home, and it doesn’t feel good.
The reason you don’t feel good is that all of these things lead to grief, which is the result of any loss or transition and the conflicting feelings that come with it.
Many people hear the word grief and think it’s primarily the result of losing a loved one through death. In truth, grief can be caused by death, divorce, job loss, loss of health, loss of a home, retirement, or any other change in a familiar pattern of behavior.
It doesn’t feel good to go through these transitions. You likely want parts of your life back, yet realize it’s impossible. Watching your kids grow up, your parents age, your body age, your passion wane, and your dreams go unfulfilled can feel heartbreaking.
You may have learned at some point in your life to keep busy, trudge forward, and be strong. However, while your mind is trying to comply, your heart is hurting. Can you relate?
The longer you push the pain down and tuck it into the crevices of your heart, rather than giving it voice, the more it peeks out, letting you know it’s still there. The truth is that every unhealed part of your heart affects every aspect of your life.
Here’s an example
Think back to your first love. Remember how open your heart was? Exciting, new love was blossoming. Butterflies. Life seemed wonderful… until your heart was broken. Fast-forward to your next relationship, when your heart was likely less open and less willing to be vulnerable. We fear being hurt again, so we close off a part of our hearts. Every relationship moving forward is affected by the unhealed emotional pain from our first heartbreak.
While you’re navigating new transitions in life, it’s common for pain from past losses to creep into your thoughts. New hurts can remind you of old ones that still occupy space in your heart. The problem is that this emotional pain can affect you in unexpected ways.
Do you ever find yourself?
• Distracted by the past or worried about the future so much that it’s difficult to navigate the present moment
• Unexpectedly triggered by an experience or interaction with someone.
• Feeling emotionally exhausted, sad, or angry but unsure what’s causing it.
• Not wanting to open your heart for fear of being hurt.
• Shying away from relationships that remind you of events from your past.
• Having difficulty connecting with loved ones.
• Noticing a lack of joy in your life.
• Engaging in numbing activities to avoid pain, such as: social media scrolling, shopping, overeating, binge-watching TV or movies, excess alcohol use, use of other drugs
Each of these points to unhealed pain residing in our hearts. Sadly, most of us were never taught effective ways to deal with emotional pain, so we do our best with the tools we have. You might find yourself limping by and surviving, but also at a loss as to how to navigate these transitions that weigh heavily on your heart.
As women, we often find ourselves overcommitting, which keeps us from honoring our needs, especially during some of the most painful times of our lives.
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF EMOTIONAL FIRST AID FOR THE OVERCOMMITTED WOMAN.
WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
1. ACKNOWLEDGE where you find yourself. Explore the emotions and thoughts that are arising instead of keeping them stuffed inside. Offer yourself grace through this process, especially if it’s new to you. Giving grief a voice normalizes the experience, while “pretending” that you’re okay leads to shame and a belief that you must always be strong.
2. BE EMOTIONALLY HONEST.
It’s one thing to be honest with yourself, but the next step is to be emotionally honest with loved ones who will hold a safe space for you to be heard. Vulnerable sharing creates connection and keeps you from the isolation that so many of us fall into during difficult times.
3. NORMALIZE your emotions. Perhaps you’re proud of yourself for “keeping it together,” but in all honesty, it takes more courage to be honest and express emotions than it does to tuck them away behind a locked door.
4. GRIEVE your loss or transition. Give yourself space and time to shed tears, which is a healthy way to express emotions. Don’t expect yourself to feel better in a specific amount of time. Time doesn’t heal; it’s what you do within time that allows healing or keeps you stuck in pain.
5. ASK FOR HELP. Remember, reaching out and saying, “I’d like some support and tools through this time in my life,” is not a weakness. It takes strength to admit you don’t have all the answers.
6. LEARN NEW TOOLS that will help you navigate these times. The world is full of individuals specializing in absolutely any problem you encounter, so why not enlist their expertise versus trying to wade through the muck alone?
The truth is that whatever transition or loss you’re navigating in life, it’s important to have effective tools and sacred connections to carry you through. Suffering in silence with emotional pain only prolongs the hurt and can lead to a cascade of additional pain that most of us would like to avoid.
You are strong, yet you aren’t meant to walk your path alone. Just like every other individual on this earth, you won’t avoid loss, transition, and grief. But you can choose courage, vulnerability, and healing, my friend.
Dawn Jackson draws on three decades of nursing experience and her work as an Advanced Grief Recovery Method Specialist to help others heal and rediscover joy. She is the bestselling author of Journey to Peace and Healing and Journey to Self Discovery. Learn more: dawnmichelejackson.com.
The Lifestyle Collection
THE GENTLE ART OF SWEDISH DEATH CLEANING
by Margareta Magnusson
The Swedish Art of Death Cleaning reframes decluttering as an act of care — gently encouraging us to simplify our belongings now so life feels lighter for both ourselves and the people we love.
THE CAREGIVER TOOLBOX
If you’re in the sandwich generation and helping care for aging parents, knowing where to begin can feel overwhelming.
The Caregiver Toolbox, created by Courtney Nalty, brings together expert resources, checklists, and clear next steps — all in one place.
Find a cute binder, grab the resource, and get started.
FIND COURTNEY ON THE PLANSIMPLE PODCAST
NOKBOX
ORGANIZING THE INFORMATION YOUR FAMILY WOULD NEED WITHOUT YOU
Nokbox is a guided home-organization system that helps you gather essential documents and information — from financial and medical details to account access and personal wishes — all in one clearly structured place.
Created by a mother who experienced how overwhelming crises can be for families, Nokbox walks you step-by-step through organizing life’s practical details so nothing important is left scattered or unknown.
Several FLOW365 members first brought Nokbox to our attention, describing the process as surprisingly grounding — less about worst-case scenarios and more about reducing mental load and creating peace of mind for themselves and the people they love.
PAUSE PRACTICE
Create a home for the things you reach for when leaving — your keys, phone, dog treats, or anything you’re always searching for. Pause when you walk in the door and put them there.
GROW YOUR BUSINESS THIS SPRING
Time to clear out the cobwebs and refresh your business. We talked with coaches and strategists to help you grow your business by focusing on your business model, thought leadership, confidence, network, and marketing. Which do you need most right now? Choose ONE and give it a try.
Keep your business model optimized.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Because it makes everything else stop working so damn hard. When the model is right, the payoff isn’t just revenue. A working business model also creates breathing room, a renewed sense of fulfillment, and that feeling of making a solid contribution.
A well-designed model attracts more of the right clients, protects your energy and profit, and expands your future options. All without an uphill push.
And here’s how it actually works: Your thought leadership isn’t just content — it’s baked into your offers, so it lands faster. Your value streams are clear — what leads people in, and what they naturally do next — so marketing stops compensating for a vague promise, and sales stops feeling like persuasion. The right people show up, and the conversation is basically, “Yes! This is exactly what I need right now.”
Carolyn Herfurth is an original thinker who expertise-driven founders turn to when they’re ready for what’s next. With decades of experience in business design, she helps clients shape their ideas, assets, and hard-won wisdom into aligned, profitable business models.
Learn more at https://carolynherfurth.com.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Choose ONE offer — not your entire model — and run a quick VALUE STREAM reality check (this is where most offers quietly break). Start by answering these four questions with one sentence each:
1. Problem: What is the prospect’s real problem in their words — not your methodology?
2. Promise: Can you clearly state what your offer fixes — and what changes for the client?
3. Purpose: Where does this offer sit in your value stream — what comes before it, and where does it naturally lead next? If it “works,” what’s the next step they’ll want … or has it become a dead end?
4. Price. Price it for its purpose. Sometimes the thing you’re giving away should be paid — and the thing you’re charging for should be free… or twice the price. Don’t mix them up. (I had a client raise the price on an evergreen program that hadn’t sold in months — no other changes — and it generated three sales in the first week. The offer was solid. The old price was signaling low value.)
Bonus: Once you’ve fixed one offer, run the same reality check on the rest — because one clean correction often exposes the next.
GROW YOUR THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Update your positions with live dialogue.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
If you want true business growth, you must understand that growth comes from the quality of trust you build.
When clients trust how you think, the conversations change drastically. Your prospects stop comparing tactics and pricing, and they start valuing your judgment. Sales cycles shorten because decisions are grounded in confidence (not persuasion). Opportunities align more naturally because people are responding to clarity in your thinking, rather than the volume of content you publish.
I often see founders whose expertise has evolved faster than their public positioning. That misalignment creates friction. When thoughtful dialogue informs how a business is positioned and communicated, growth becomes steadier and more sustainable.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Identify one area where your perspective has evolved. Instead of publishing another post about it, invite a trusted peer into a structured conversation around that perspective shift.
Explore the tension, the tradeoffs, and the decisions behind your current thinking.
Afterward, refine how you articulate that evolution and integrate it into how you position your work.
When founders and small-team leaders realize their work has outgrown their message, they turn to M. Shannon Hernandez, creator of the Profit-Driven Messaging Ecosystem™ and a leading voice on protecting authority and discernment in an AI-driven marketplace.
Learn more at https://joyfulbusinessrevolution.com/.
Dolores
“
Intentional AI starts with a pause. A moment to consider what we want to create, before we ask. It’s about using technology thoughtfully to enhance our wisdom rather than replace it.”
Donna Cravotta
Pause Magazine, Issue
2
GROW YOUR NETWORK ON LINKEDIN
Consistency (period, hands-down).
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Consistency is where most founders trip up—they either go all-in and burn out, or they ghost for months.
When you commit to a sustainable rhythm on LinkedIn, it’s a true gamechanger. But it’s not just about posting, it’s about connecting consistently too.
I post three times a week, but I also build in real time to engage deeply with others’ work, respond to comments I receive, and show up in conversation. This consistent follow up is how you build something that sticks.
When you do this, your network knows you’re reliable. Your ideal clients recognize you. And you’re not exhausted.
As LinkedIn has shifted from a broadcast platform to a networking one, growth becomes a natural outcome of genuine participation, not a separate campaign you run.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Pick your posting frequency—2x or 3x a week. Then schedule your engagement time first. Remember it isn’t just posting, but engaging.
Block the time on your calendar like a client meeting. Most people post sporadically and don’t engage, and then wonder why nothing happens.
Consistency starts with protecting the time. You can’t build a real network if you’re squeezing LinkedIn into leftover minutes. Give it the same priority you’d give a sales call.
Nina Froriep cultivates good LinkedIn™ citizens. She’s a content + engagement strategist for coaches, consultants + creators and a LinkedIn personal brand builder. Learn more at: https://clockwiseproductions.com.
PAUSE PRACTICE
Before making a big business decision, pause and get centered. Connect with your future self — maybe in the bath, on a walk around the block, or through three slow, deep breaths.
Decide what you really want.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Many of the women I work with have a business that looks successful on paper. The revenue is steady, the calendar is booked, but they feel tired and disconnected from their own offers. They’re unsure how to move forward without breaking what they’ve worked so hard to build. That friction is often a signal they’re building on an outgrown version of themselves.
When a business starts to feel misaligned, most people reach for surface-level solutions such as new offers, messaging, or tactics. Without a clear internal decision about what they actually want to create, even the best strategies will not work.
The most powerful catalyst for growth in business is the moment you make a grounded internal decision about what you actually want next. This is not a decision made from a brainstorm or a checklist, but one made from alignment.
When someone decides fully and honestly and commits to something new, everything begins to shift. Energy comes back. Focus sharpens. The right ideas start landing.
Making a decision gives the business shape again and brings direction back to the work. Clarity turns into momentum, and growth begins to feel sustainable instead of forced.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Start by getting honest with yourself about what you actually want. Not just the numbers or the next milestone, but the experience of your life.
• How do you want to wake up?
• What kind of pace feels sustainable?
• What would it feel like to work and create without bracing yourself, constantly compensating, or pretending you’re fine?
Write it down. Say it out loud. Let it take shape in your own language.
Everything begins to shift when you stop waiting for permission to want what you want.
Amanda Dake is a strategic advisor and author of 6 Moves to Your Next Six Figures, helping women find the clarity, alignment, and ownership that transforms not just their business, but their life. Learn more at: https://amandadake.com.
Sharing the right message to the right people and on the right platforms.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Words sell. A clear marketing message that prompts people to engage with your business is critical for growth. When your message is muddy, complicated, and full of jargon, you lose potential customers and clients.
Confused people don’t take action. They will look elsewhere for the products and services they need. You miss out on the opportunity to help individuals or organizations transform for the better.
Holly Fisher is a marketing strategist and messaging specialist. She also leads workshops and presentations on marketing and customer experience topics.
Learn more at: https://fisher-creative.com/.
HOW TO GET STARTED
First, identify the one problem you solve for your clients and customers. Stick to just one specific problem.
Second, briefly describe the solution you offer for that one specific problem. Don’t get into the weeds here. Let prospects know you have a class, framework, product, or other item that solves their problem.
Third, highlight the success. Note the transformation your customers or clients experience working with you. What’s the happy ending?
These three elements are critical to creating a clear marketing message that resonates with your potential customers and clients.
Once you figure out these three elements, talk about them everywhere. This way, you become known for solving a specific problem and leading people to a successful outcome.
You need more presence. More conversations. More trust. More aligned clients who already want what you offer. Podcast guesting helps you do all of that without running on the treadmill or shouting into the void.”
Candy Motzek Pause Magazine, Issue 2
The 5 Money Appointments to Put on Your Calendar
FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH LUSUNDRA EVERETT
If money makes you feel tight-chested, avoidant, or like you need a snack and a nap before you open your bank account, you’re not alone. Most women were never taught to own the financial picture, but you can start now to take charge of your financial situation.
When you avoid your money or only check in at tax time, it intensifies anxiety. But when you work with your money regularly, you get more comfortable. Your numbers are not a reflection of your worth. They’re simply information.
Think of money appointments as recurring meetings with your business—like you’d do for your team, your clients, your health, or your family. If you show up consistently, the drama will drain out of tax season.
LuSundra promises that when you keep these five appointments, preparing for taxes stops being about taxes—and becomes about being in relationship with your business.
APPOINTMENT 1
The Budget Date
QUESTION YOU’RE ANSWERING: What do I plan to earn and spend?
HOW OFTEN: Once per year (set it), then once per month (review it)
HOW LONG:
60–120 minutes for the annual set; 20 minutes for the monthly review
WHAT YOU DO IN THIS APPOINTMENT
• Create (or refresh) your revenue plan for the year: what you want to bring in, and what you’re aiming for.
• Map expected business expenses: monthly tools, annual subscriptions, licenses, taxes, contractors, etc.
• Decide what “profit” needs to be so you can pay yourself and support your life.
• Choose a goal that stretches you without shutting you down.
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
A written plan for the year, plus a clear target for the month you’re in.
APPOINTMENT 2
The Revenue Check-In
QUESTION YOU’RE ANSWERING: How much money am I making— and where is it coming from?
HOW OFTEN: Weekly (some people do it daily, but weekly is plenty)
HOW LONG: 10–20 minutes
WHAT YOU DO IN THIS APPOINTMENT
• Total that came in since last check-in.
• Break down by offer/service/product, so you can see your real money makers.
• Notice patterns: Where does the money reliably come from? What’s inconsistent?
• Identify your seasonality (peak months vs. quiet months) so you stop panicking in a normal “valley.”
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH
A simple snapshot: “This is what I earned this week, and this how I earned it”
APPOINTMENT 3
The Expense Review
QUESTION YOU’RE ANSWERING: Where is the money going—and is it worth it?
HOW OFTEN: Monthly (or twice per month if that feels easier)
HOW LONG: 20–40 minutes
WHAT YOU DO IN THIS APPOINTMENT
• Review what went out: subscriptions, contractors, ads, tools, software, travel, fees.
• Separate “ordinary & necessary” business costs from “impulse spending to solve discomfort.”
• Look for invisible leaks (auto-drafts are sneaky).
• Ask the return-on-investment question: Is this expense helping me make money, save time, or increase impact?
WHAT YOU LEAVE WITH A short list of what stays, what goes, and what needs to be used more intentionally.
APPOINTMENT 4
Budget vs. Actual
QUESTION YOU’RE ANSWERING: Did my plan go according to plan— and why?
A grounded big-picture understanding of what you get to show for your work and what to adjust next quarter.
BONUS APPOINTMENT
Meet With Your Tax Pro
QUESTION YOU’RE ANSWERING: Am I on track—and what should I do before year-end?
HOW OFTEN: Twice per year
• Tax time (filing season)
• Before the end of the year (so you can plan instead of panicking)
HOW LONG: 60 minutes
WHAT YOU DO IN THIS APPOINTMENT
• Review your books and get ahead of estimated taxes.
• Ask proactive questions when income jumps (“If revenue doubled, what changes for taxes?”).
• Identify smart moves you can still make before year-end.
LuSundra Everett, EA, is the founder of Everett Tax Solutions and an Enrolled Agent—the highest credential awarded by the IRS. She’s also the Amazon bestselling author of The Home Biz Tax Lady’s No-Nonsense Guide to Home Business Management and a proud Veteran, military wife, and mom of two.
Lead your money with love rather than fear.”
Christine Walsh Pause Magazine, Issue 3
Make Your Money Dates Feel Good
Money meetings don’t have to feel stressful. The more your nervous system associates these appointments with safety and care, the easier it becomes to show up consistently. Think less “spreadsheet obligation” and more “intentional check-in with your bestie, future you.”
Here are simple ways to make your money dates something you actually look forward to:
CREATE A SENSORY CUE
• Make a cup of tea or your favorite coffee.
• Bring out the good chocolate.
• Light a candle or diffuse a scent you only use for these meetings.
• Play instrumental music or a familiar playlist.
CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
• Go to a café
• Move to a different room in your house.
• Sit somewhere with natural light or a view.
• ` Take your laptop outside when weather allows.
ADD CONNECTION
• Hop on Zoom with a “money buddy” and do your reviews together.
• Start with a 2-minute check-in: What went well this month?
• Celebrate wins out loud before looking at numbers.
THINK OF IT AS A RITUAL VS. A TASK
• Start with three deep breaths before opening your accounts.
• Write one intention for the session: clarity, curiosity, compassion.
• End by noting one thing you’re proud of and one next step.
LOWER THE BARRIER
• Set a timer for 20 minutes instead of trying to do everything.
• Review just one category if you feel overwhelmed.
• Remember: consistency matters more than perfection.
PAIR IT WITH REWARD
• Save a favorite podcast episode for afterward.
• Take a walk when you’re done.
• Mark it complete in your calendar like any meaningful appointment.
The Work Collection
TIME TIMER
MOD HOME
EDITION
Get-It-Done Sessions are important to our programming at PlanSimple. What they are is 90 minutes, where we spend 5 minutes getting clear and centered, take a break midway, and then access how it went. Phones can bring us distraction before we start, so I love this timer as an alternative.
SALES PODCASTS
Mia leaned into sales skills last year.
Her two favorite sales podcasts are Make Money as a Life Coach with Stacey Boehman and the Courage and Clarity podcast with Steph Crowder.
E-MYTH REVISITED
This is a book I recommend to all mid-life women who are experts at what they do, but do not necessarily identify as an entrepreneur. They are healers, nutritionists, lawyers, money managers, coaches, therapists, product developers, trainers — who are ready to go out on their own in this phase of life. I have a list of books I personally recommend based on exact scenarios, but this is a great one for understanding the thinking of a business owner vs. a practitioner.
POST-ITS
Post-its turn ideas and tasks into something visible and movable. Instead of holding everything in your head or locking plans into a rigid list, writing one task per note allows you to see priorities clearly, rearrange your day, and focus on what matters now.
Megan Flatt taught in Issue 1 that breaking work into small, visible steps helps reduce overwhelm and makes follow-through more doable.
Feeling Stuck in Your Growth?
Tend to Your Nervous System
BY KELLY LUBECK
Your body isn’t sabotaging you. It’s trying to protect you. Here’s how to work with it instead of against it.
So often when we are struggling with growth, we think, “I just need to change my mindset.” We think it’s a willpower issue, or that we simply need to be more disciplined or self-motivated.
But the real problem may be that there are internal alarm bells going off inside your body. Our limbic system is all about survival — it’s continuously tracking what it needs to do to keep you safe. So when we courageously step out of what’s familiar by starting to make change or embarking on a path toward growth, it can feel alarming to our system.
That alarm can lead to avoidance, paralyzing fear, or self-sabotage — all problematic when we’re trying to create positive change in our personal lives or out in the world.
Losing weight, getting rid of stuff that’s been taking up space for years, taking a bold, next-level step in your business or career, entering a new relationship… any of these steps can signal “danger” in your nervous system.
Our nervous systems are fond of stability and predictability. They like rhythm. They like what they know. We throw that balance off when we step out of what’s familiar.
You’ve probably heard somebody joke, “I’m launching my new program and my bathroom’s never been cleaner.”
We all have old patterns that can show up in our nervous system’s effort to keep us safe — patterns like perfectionism, over-giving, people pleasing — instead of dealing with the bigger, harder, scarier things that move us toward growth.
People so easily get to work on the interminable list of things that need attention — but avoid the things that would most move them forward in the direction they’re dreaming. We all do it! It can feel unsafe to step into an upgraded, different version of ourselves, so we protect against it.
It’s important to know that, while it may feel like your body and nervous system are sabotaging you and making trouble, they are actually responding in deeply functional and adaptive ways — trying to protect you and take care of you.
Fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and fix-it functions are all signs of your brilliant autonomic nervous system at work. This capable system also controls your heart rate, breathing rhythms, wound healing, reproduction, digestion, and hormones.
All of these functions happen automatically and in very rhythmic ways. Our systems are really built for rhythm. When we make changes, we step out of rhythm, and it can engage our stress response.
CREATE SAFETY IN THE CHANGE
So what can we do to keep our nervous systems from overriding our dreams and goals in their attempt to keep us safe and steady?
One essential thing we can do is to create safety in the change we make. One powerful thing you can do is to simply get present to the here and now. Actually recognize who and where you are in this moment.
When our systems are activated, and we’re in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, we’re responding to old patterns within ourselves. Those patterns send us spiraling back into past experiences or what went wrong - or flying forward into fears of what might go wrong in the future. If we get present to right now, it helps us to recognize that in this moment we are here, we are safe, and we have the capacity to do the thing we want to do.
Also, our system can get overwhelmed with big leaps. Maybe you have a bigger vision in mind. You dream of leading retreats of 50 people, but currently have 100 people on your mailing list; or you want to be in a steady partnership in the next few years, but divorced 10 years ago or haven’t been open to dating in 15.
We look at these big goals, which feel like big leaps, and it’s terrifying! So we get stuck and can’t move forward.
Instead, we can identify smaller steps that we can take right now. Then we practice taking those smaller steps and pair them with practices that establish safety.
So let’s first make a more reasonable goal, for the next 6–12 months. If we stay with the retreat example, let’s say you do have 100 people on your newsletter list, and for your first retreat, you decide that filling your retreat means bringing in 10 people.
As an initial (safer) step, you personally call and email 10 people today to let them know you’re planning your retreat, invite them in, and also encourage them to invite others.
“The world needs you well.”
KELLY LUBECK
Then, you also write a note about it in your newsletter. Before you write your newsletter, you get really clear within yourself about the retreat, the vision you have, the excitement about all of what you’re going to offer the participants, and then write from that place.
Then, you talk to your body and say, “You just did this outreach. You wrote this newsletter. Well done! You’re starting the process, and moving forward, and you’re safe as you do it.”
There are numerous body-oriented techniques we can use to signal to your body that you’re safe as you take action that pair mindset work with body work.
Celebrate what you did. Point out to your nervous system the amazing thing you just did and that it doesn’t have to be hella terrifying. Or if it was terrifying, that you survived it and everything is ok! This matters.
Remember, you’re working with your brain and nervous system here, and the more primitive parts are focused on your survival. By creating safety around the actions you take, you engage the more evolved parts
of your brain and nervous system bringing them into leadership as you acknowledge your safety and well-being while you’re doing the hard things.
Do some safety creation, whatever helps you feel safe. This varies by individual, and may vary at different times for you.
A few ideas, right after taking action:
• Dancing — doesn’t need to be choreographed, just good movement to release stress and bring on joy
• Stroking opposite arms from shoulder to elbow repeatedly, so soothing
• Getting some big hugs
• Going outside, being on the earth, and looking at the sunset
The best thing that we can do is take small steps, and then create safety in the body before, during, and after. Then take more small steps, and again, create safety. The more that we do that, the more that we’re able to recognize that there is safety in the growth.
ROOT. REWIRE. RISE.
A SIMPLE FRAMEWORK FOR GROWING YOUR CAPACITY SAFELY.
ROOT
Connect to stability. Look outside of you, notice what’s steady. Borrow from what’s steady and stable. For example, look at the sunset or the sunrise — they happen in predictable rhythms. Or look at the big boulder in the park where you walk, or the old tree on your morning route. Notice the stability that exists in these natural spaces. Borrow from it by rooting into it.
REWIRE
Notice when you’re doing the thing that doesn’t actually move you forward, like over-cleaning the bathroom, or reaching for foods that comfort in the moment but leave you depleted a few hours later. Recognize what you meant to be doing in that time — writing your newsletter or taking meaningful action.
Notice. Challenge the old pattern. Take the step.
Celebrate the step. Create a sense of safety. This is rewiring. Do this over and over. Notice how you expand your capacity in ways you hadn’t even imagined possible.
RISE
Capacity builds through practice. Continue taking aligned steps into change, expanding your capacity as you do.
Safety is built in community. The love and connection part of our nervous system is essential. When we create safety within ourselves, connect to a larger purpose, and join others in meaningful action, both personal and collective, we generate belonging. Belonging strengthens nervous system resilience. And resilient nervous systems have a greater capacity for change, personal and collective.
PERSONAL CHANGE ISN’T
SELFISH
Let’s name something that’s really important for these times, because you might be wondering, why should I focus on my own personal change when so much is going wrong in the world and it feels like the world’s on fire?
Personal change is often hard, but when it feels like the country or the world is falling apart, you might feel guilty thinking about business growth or personal growth. I get this and have done deep reflection and work on this myself and with my clients.
You CAN work on personal change and act for collective change. It’s not either/or. It’s both/ and.
Let’s look at three reasons why we need your personal and business growth now.
#1. You can make a bigger impact with a regulated nervous system. Instead of thinking of your personal growth as selfindulgent, I invite you to think, “I need this body and nervous system and spirit to be functioning as best as she humanly can right now. This allows me to show up for my kids, my partner, my community, my business and in the world.”
This is an extraordinary time to be on the planet — and a profoundly important time to grow our nervous system capacity to show up and make change. And there are some hard things being asked of us.
The more of us that take a stand and act in ways that matter, ways that promote and help to create the world we want to see, the better off we’re all going to be.
But if we’re trying to make change on high stress, processed food, overconsumption of social media, imbalance and insomnia, it’s going to be much harder to ripple out something positive into the world. (I’m not judging anyone’s choices. just noting that when we fuel and tend to our bodies and nervous systems in a positive, consistent, powerful way, our capacity for change becomes greater.)
#2. You can contribute to the change you want to see. When you grow your business and make more money, you can put money towards the things that really matter. Right now there are a whole lot of people holding power who have extraordinary amounts of money, and they are wielding it like weapons, financially backing their actions in horrendous ways.
We know that when conscious women have money, it gets poured back into community. Children, families, communities do better when conscious women have more funds. As you grow your nervous system capacity to do powerful things in your business and career, and you make more money as you do, you then have the capacity to contribute financially in ways that matter to you. In ways that align with your values and that help make the world a better place. This is another way to contribute to change.
#3. Co-regulation and mirror neurons create ripples. When I have a system with greater capacity to handle big challenges and scary things personally and collectively, then you come into my space and you’re going to co-regulate with me. You’re going to have a more settled system because you are in space with me.
The reverse is true, too. If I’m in a space where I’m super stressed, my nervous system is dysregulated and I’m feeling anxious and/ or frozen, and I can’t manage my impulses, and you come into my space, you’re going to feel that as well.
We’ve all had that experience of being around someone who’s really dysregulated and struggling, and feeling the ripples of that within our own bodies and nervous systems as well as in the collective around us.
Research on mirror neurons shows that if you take a specific action (say, sending out a heartfelt newsletter, or doing a courageous act out in the world, or apologizing to your kid for yelling, etc.), and someone else is watching you, they show activity in the same region of the brain as yours, because they’re witnessing you.
Similarly, when you’re resilient to what’s happening in the world, when you have grown your nervous system capacity to show up even when it’s hard, others witness you, and it supports their brains in believing that they too can be resilient to what’s happening in the world and to show up even when it’s hard. This is mirror neurons in action.
These times are deeply calling for people with nervous systems that have capacity, because that capacity ripples out. That doesn’t mean you don’t cry or feel afraid when you take to the streets or make a call to a congressperson. It doesn’t mean you don’t feel grief or deep concern for your neighbors or those you read about. It means you show up anyway, with more stability, more capacity, more confidence and clarity, and without being paralyzed by anxiety or fear.
When we have more safety on board in our nervous systems, we can make clearer and better decisions for ourselves, for our business, for our families, and for the world. We can operate in a way that fuels us towards showing up in community, whether that’s monetarily, or with our feet, or with our actions, or with our words, or through mutual aid and support. You choose the way you can and want to show up. With more safety on board, you expand the range of ways you can show up.
I always share with my community that the world needs you well. In times like these, your regulated, steady, courageous presence is part of the change.
So tend to your wise body and nervous system. Take the small step. Create the safety. And keep going. The world needs you well.
Kelly Lubeck, MPH, helps visionary women, changemakers, and caregivers move from overwhelm to resilience—so they can lead, love, and live without burning out. Blending nervous system healing, shamanic practice, and soul-rooted coaching, she supports clients in reclaiming power and deepening resilience. Connect with Kelly at www.kellylubeck.com.
The Soul Collection
KIM KRANS’
WILD UNKNOWN ORACLE CARD DECKS
Kim Krans’ Wild Unknown oracle decks blend art, nature, and archetype, using simple, hand-drawn imagery to invite reflection and intuition rather than prediction. Each card offers a quiet prompt to pause, notice patterns, and reconnect with inner guidance.
SKETCH BY SKETCH BY SHEILA DARCEY
We recently ran a 3 Week Sprint in FLOW365, where everyone chose one thing connected to her 90-day goal and went all in. There were big things and little things. But the thing that got the most attention and praise was one FLOW365ers doodling process, as a tool to process grief.
BEESWAX CANDLES
After learning how many conventional candles release toxins into the air, Mia began choosing beeswax — a clean-burning alternative rooted in simplicity and tradition. Sourcing candles from local makers at Massachusetts farmers markets and her children’s Waldorf school Christmas fair became part of that ritual, and an invitation to seek out local artisans wherever you live.
This lead Mia to Sheila Darcey, and let’s just say her morning routine has never been more fulfilling.
ESSENTIAL OILS FROM MOUNTAIN ROSE HERBS
Kelly Lubeck shared with Mia that her favorite oil is lavender. She recommended helichrysum for helping Mia to heal from surgery, and Mia keeps peppermint oil in the kitchen in case anyone gets a burn.
Want to know more about essential oils? We love this reference book: Essential Oils Pocket Reference 8th Edition.
GUIDANCE FOR NAVIGATING THIS TIME OF RENEWAL AND REBIRTH.
There is a particular kind of strength required to build a business in midlife.
You are holding vision and responsibility at the same time. You are navigating purpose, family, leadership, aging parents, changing bodies, shifting identities and still showing up to create, serve, and lead.
The next three months carry powerful energy. There is a reset forming. An opening. But before renewal arrives, discernment is required.
As we step into Spring, consider for a moment what will support you in the months ahead.
This season’s oracle reading offers guidance for navigating this time of renewal and rebirth.
Let your intuition guide you to the message meant for you.
ORACLE READING WITH PATTY LENNON
There are three separate messages ahead, each connected to a single card. Before turning the page, choose a number: 1, 2, or 3. Trust whatever calls to you.
Then, read the message that corresponds to your number. That is the guidance meant for you this season.
IF YOU CHOSE CARD ONE: RELEASE
The message is clear: it is time to let something go.
Over the next three months, you are being asked to actively release what no longer serves you. This may be a client, a type of work, a commitment, or a role you’ve quietly outgrown. If there is something you’ve been circling, letting go and then picking back up again, consider this your confirmation.
Courage is required now. If you are wrestling with letting something go it can help to remember you aren’t abandoning it, you are handing it off to Spirit. If it is meant to return to you, it will.
When you cling to what is misaligned, your energy fragments. When you release it, your energy consolidates. The coming months reward bold, clean decisions, not hesitation.
Let it rise. Let it leave. What remains will be lighter and more aligned.
IF YOU CHOSE CARD TWO: STILLNESS
My love, you have worked hard and that is recognized. You do not need to paddle harder.
This card invites you to pause and look at the landscape of your life and business. Where are you headed? And more importantly, is that a direction you want to be headed in?
There may be a tendency right now to push, to produce, to make something happen. But the deeper power in this season comes from stillness.
Stillness does not mean withdrawal. It means intentional reflection. Even fifteen quiet minutes a day can shift your trajectory. In that space, you will see clearly whether the boat you are steering is headed where you truly want to go.
If you make room for stillness, clarity will meet you there.
IF YOU CHOSE CARD THREE: HOPE
This card carries strong energy. The image shows a winter landscape and a small child gazing toward light breaking through. You do not need to deny how hard it has been. Spirit knows that. However, you are asked to trust that light is coming.
If the last season has felt heavy, know this: it will not last.
Hope, right now, requires courage. It requires choosing possibility even when certainty is unavailable. You are being asked to stay anchored in what could be, not in what appears limited.
And if you are one of the few individuals who feel blessed with a deep energy of hope right now, know this card is a blessing of gratitude from Spirit. She sees what you have had to overcome to stand so firmly in hope right now. She thanks you for anchoring that energy on earth at this time.
Better days are forming. Keep your gaze toward the light.
Make This Reading Your Own
You might have felt called to more than one number — or noticed a card that pulled at you unexpectedly. That’s not a mistake. If your heart wants to hear more than one message, trust it.
Take a moment to really look at the imagery in your card(s). What colors, symbols, or feelings stand out to you? Is there a detail that seems meant just for you? Messages often arrive in subtle ways - through art, emotion, or intuition.
Let the card speak to you beyond the words. Let it become a mirror for your own wisdom.
If you’d like to see how the cards were pulled, and receive an additional bonus message connected to this reading, you can watch the full video version on my YouTube channel. There is something powerful about witnessing the energy unfold in real time.
www.PattyLennon.com/PauseSpring
The Astrology Report
BY DANIELLE HENDRICKSON
As you move through perimenopause, menopause or the years beyond, your relationship with the Moon may begin to feel different. For decades, an inner rhythm has lived within your body – an “inner moon” guiding you. As bleeding comes to completion, this shift can feel disorienting and tender.
Yet there is an invitation here, a doorway into a new depth of connection with the Moon and her cycles.
As your inner cycle completes, the Moon, ever present, becomes the primary rhythm you move with. You may have always worked with her magic, but now the relationship can take on a deeper quality. In the Crone chapter of life, clarity expands, direction steadies and trust in your inner knowing deepens. Working with the Full Moon for release and the New Moon for intention can feel even more powerful now!
What’s happening is that during these years, your creative and fertile energy turns inward. Dreams root in wiser soil, held within a more intentional field of your womb of creation (Even if you no longer carry a physical womb, this creative energy continues to live within the sacral center).
The energy that gathers in your pelvic bowl carries a steady power and the intentions you set may feel more focused, more grounded and more aligned with who you truly are.
In this deepening season of life, you may also find yourself more drawn to the mystery schools/archetypes of each zodiac sign. As the Moon moves through the signs, her passages open new layers of reflection, insight and self-understanding for this half of your life.
To support this evolving relationship with the Moon, you may consider working with a physical Moon Map or lunar calendar. Whether bleeding or not, tracking the phases can anchor awareness of her rhythm in everyday life.
As we move through the moons of the coming quarter, this column is here as a companion, offering another way to stay connected to the Moon while honoring who you are in this season of life.
NEW MOON IN PISCES
MARCH 18, 2026
9:23PM ET
This New Moon in Pisces opens a field to empathic service, surrender and deep connection. Pisces carries the energy of the mystic and the compassionate witness, the one who knows how to hold space with tenderness. It reminds us that love is something we practice and that compassion is a powerful form of strength.
Under this dark moon, there is an invitation to soften and let your heart make room for what is true. Pisces meets grief and suffering with presence. It stays, listens and allows what is present to be held gently so healing can begin.
Pisces also holds the longing for union, the desire to feel connected to something larger than ourselves, whether that is Spirit, humanity or the living world. This lunation can heighten intuition, dreams and sensitivity, inviting deeper inner listening.
Let this be a New Moon of compassionate service. Offer care in ways that feel sustainable and true to your capacity. When love is rooted in healthy boundaries, it becomes steady, nourishing and sustainable.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Where in your life are you being asked to lead with compassion and presence?
Who or what needs a safe space to be held, without being fixed?
What does selfless service look like when it stays rooted in healthy boundaries?
What spiritual practice helps you soften into trust and devotional surrender?
What message is arriving through your dreams, intuition, or quiet inner knowing right now?
FULL MOON IN LIBRA
APRIL 1, 2026 | 10:12PM ET
The Full Moon in Libra brings our attention to the sacred path of relationship as a mirror for growth and deeper self understanding. Libra carries the energy of conscious partnership, inviting us into connection rooted in equality, honesty and mutual respect. Under this moon, we are asked to see ourselves more clearly through the reflection of the people in our lives.
Libra reminds us that relationship is not separate from the spiritual path. It’s actually one of the ways we come to know ourselves more fully. Through interaction, reflection and honest dialogue, we begin to understand our patterns and learn how to stay true to our inner knowing while living in connection with others.
This moon illuminates the balance between individuality and togetherness. It invites us into partnership where giving and receiving feel steady and aware. There is an opportunity here to shift old patterns of over giving or self-abandoning and move toward healthier interdependence.
Across the sky, the Aries Sun reminds us that true partnership begins with self-awareness and personal responsibility. Together, these energies support relationships that honor both autonomy and connection, allowing each person to stand fully in themselves while remaining open to shared growth.
Libra also speaks to harmony beyond our personal relationships. It encourages us to create spaces where different perspectives can be respected and held with care, remembering that the balance we cultivate within ourselves naturally ripples outward.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
What relationships are helping you see yourself more clearly right now?
Where are you being invited to create more balance between giving and receiving?
What old relationship patterns are ready to be rewritten?
How can you practice healthy interdependence while staying rooted in self-awareness?
Where are you being called to create more harmony in your personal life or community?
NEW MOON IN ARIES
April 17, 2026 | 7:52am ET
The New Moon in Aries begins a new cycle, calling us back to a clear sense of self and the courage to start from what feels true at our core. Aries carries the energy of the Spiritual Warrior, meeting life directly with presence, instinct and a willingness to fully engage with the moment.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Where in your life are you being invited to begin with courage and fresh perspective?
This lunation holds the freshness of beginner’s mind, reminding us that renewal happens when we release the need to have everything figured out and instead trust the spark of aliveness moving through us. Aries invites spontaneity, boldness and a wholehearted participation in life simply because we are here to live it.
There is a spirit of discovery under this moon. Aries celebrates individuality and the excitement of new experiences, encouraging us to explore what feels energizing and true without overthinking the path ahead. At its highest expression, Aries stands in alignment with what is honest, life affirming and real.
This is a powerful moment to reconnect with the cause that calls your heart forward, the truth you feel willing to stand for fully. When instinct leads, clarity unfolds through action and lived experience.
What feels worthy of your full energy and commitment right now?
How can you trust your instincts more deeply as you move forward?
Where might you bring more playfulness and spontaneity into your choices?
What does it look like to stand fully aligned with what feels true and life giving?
FULL MOON IN SCORPIO
May 1, 2026 | 1:23pm ET
The Full Moon in Scorpio brings us into a powerful moment of transformation, inviting deep emotional honesty and a willingness to feel what is real. Scorpio carries the energy of initiation through experience, guiding us to explore the full range of emotion as a pathway to wisdom and self-understanding.
Under this moon, we are asked to meet what is real with presence, allowing will and desire to come into alignment through honest feeling. Scorpio reminds us that knowing often comes through experience, through allowing ourselves to feel fully without needing to control the outcome. There is an invitation to trust emotion as a guide, revealing what is alive and what has come to completion.
Themes of death and rebirth are strong under this lunation, encouraging the release of what feels finished so new vitality can emerge. Scorpio teaches that transformation asks for courage, the willingness to move beyond familiar edges and explore deeper layers of truth.
This moon also reconnects us with life force energy, passion and authentic desire. When we honor what we truly feel, energy that has been held beneath the surface begins to return. From this place, creativity and renewal naturally unfold.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
What emotional truth is asking to be fully felt and acknowledged?
What feels complete and ready to be released from your life?
Where are you being invited to explore deeper authenticity and passion?
Across the sky, the Taurus Sun brings grounding and steadiness, helping us integrate emotional depth with presence in the body and the physical world. Together, these energies support transformation that is both deep and delicious.
NEW MOON IN TAURUS
May 16, 2026 | 4:01pm ET
The New Moon in Taurus invites us into the experience of embodiment, where Spirit is welcomed fully into the physical world to be felt, savored and enjoyed. Taurus carries the energy of the Earth keeper and the Epicure, reminding us that pleasure, beauty and intimacy are pathways to the Divine.
This lunation opens a space for receptivity. Taurus teaches us how to receive life more deeply, to slow down enough to notice what truly nourishes us and to allow ourselves to be supported by the steady presence of the Earth. There is an invitation to bring awareness to the senses, to notice texture, sound, taste and touch as ways of deepening connection.
Under this moon, intimacy can feel more present and intentional. Taurus honors the beauty of connection, whether with the Earth, with others or within yourself. It encourages you to linger in what feels good, to savor moments without rushing and to recognize the beauty woven through everyday life.
This is a powerful time to plant intentions rooted in sustainability and true nourishment. Taurus reminds us that what is built slowly with care has the strength to endure. When you allow yourself to receive more fully, you create space for abundance to unfold in a steady and natural way.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Where in your life are you being invited to slow down and savor what is present?
What helps you feel more open to receiving support, love or abundance?
How can you bring more beauty or sensory nourishment into your daily rhythms?
What does healthy intimacy look like for you in this season of life?
Where can pleasure become a source of grounding and connection rather than distraction?
The Sacred Feminine
As we move through these Spring moons, we are reminded of the full living tapestry of the Sacred Feminine. Each zodiac sign holds a unique archetypal expression, a mystery school offering its own wisdom, medicine and divine expression. As the Moon travels through each of these signs, she invites us to learn directly from their teachings, guiding us into a deeper relationship with the many faces of the feminine within and around us.
To follow the lunations is to participate in this ongoing initiation. Each phase guides us to deepen into our purpose and remember the sacred intelligence woven through our lives. Through Virgo we learn devotion, through Pisces compassion, through Aries courage, through Taurus embodiment, through Libra relationship and through Scorpio transformation. Together, they form a living curriculum for the soul.
When we move with the Moon, we remember that growth happens in cycles. Nothing is rushed and nothing is wasted. Each phase is part of a larger unfolding, guiding us toward greater wholeness and deeper trust in our own becoming.
May these lunations walk beside you, deepening your awareness, your reverence and your presence as you continue along your sacred path.
Danielle Hendrickson is a Venusian astrologer and priestess devoted to guiding women to live in rhythm with the Venus Cycle. Through her writing, teaching and readings, she helps women activate their unique Venus Rose Codes. This sacred blueprint illuminates their soul, ignites ancient wisdom in their body and reveals their fullest magical expression. When women receive the key to their Venus Rose Codes, their awakening anchors the rise of the Sacred Feminine even more deeply in our modern world and offers healing to the collective.
Learn more at www.daniellehendrickson.net.
MOON JOURNAL (REVISED)
Our updated Moon Journal arrives May 1 for all Substack members. It offers guidance for creating your personal energy map beyond regular cycles and leads you through a simple 5-minute daily practice for 84 days to help you understand your new rhythm.
MAKE SURE YOU’RE SUBSCRIBED.
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