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Please note that this episode includes open and candid conversations about grief, loss, and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, please know support is available.

Grief is tough… and so is talking about it…

Which can drive a wedge between us and our male nearest and dearest.

According to new research by Sue Ryder Charity, men tend to be action-focused grievers—so can appear less emotional as they prioritize practical issues.

But the research also found that 80% of men feel alone in their grief, with 52% admitting to bottling up how they were feeling and wanting to appear strong. And when asked why, 56% said they had to in order to support others.

So do men grieve differently to women? And how can we broach the subject of bereavement and loss with the gents in our life?

To explore this, I’m delighted to welcome my Episode 112 guest, integrative counsellor and psychotherapist Stuart Walker, an integrative counsellor and psychotherapist specialising in men's mental health, fatherhood, and grief.

In this powerful episode, Stuart and I discuss the complexities of grief, including how it manifests in different forms such as bereavement, empty nest syndrome, and the loss of roles or jobs. Stuart explains the stages of grief using a brilliant metaphor about losing keys, and we delve into the unique challenges of grief following suicide and loss.

We explore how men and women process grief, looking beyond stereotypes to individual experiences, and Stuart introduces his "Magnificent Seven"—a set of practical guidelines to help facilitate conversations about grief. This includes role modelling, talking alongside activities, resisting the urge to "fix" things, and being truly prepared for when someone opens up – DM me for the PDF link.

Tune in for an insightful conversation on creating safe spaces, approaching the people we love before they feel forced to ask for help, and supporting the men in our lives to give themselves permission to grieve.

Discover more and read the full conversation transcript over at https://kateporter.co.uk/

Connect with Stuart Walker: • Website: Me In Time • Facebook: Me In Time Facebook Page

· LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-walker-cafc1986

· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meintime2023/

Here’s to living #midlifeunlimited

Support the show

I'd love to hear from you - because Midlife Unlimited® is all about YOU!

Find out about my award-winning 1-2-1 and MORE! group coaching program for Midlife women and join the book waitlist for Your Empty Nest Epiphany on my website : Kate Porter Website • Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee • LinkedIn: Kate Porter Official • Instagram: @kate_porter_official • YouTube: @MidlifeUnlimited • Explore my personally designed range of digital planners for intentional living and Zodiac interiors prints: The Curated Day Company Etsy Shop

Here's to living Midlife Unlimited®

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Join the Midlife Unlimited® conversation by sending Kate a text

Do you doubt yourself? Are you hiding your talents? Stifling your creativity because you're worried about what others will think?

For Midlife women like you and me, this is a great time to dust off forgotten pastimes, to rekindle our passions, to turn that dimmer switch to full brightness and put ourselves out there.

And my Episode 111 guest is Fine Art Fingerpainter Saskia Skoric is a fabulous example of a Gen X woman who has done just that.

Join us as we explore how to stick your head above the parapet by overcoming long-held fear of judgement to reach that Eureka moment of at last feeling free from the shackles of low self-worth.

Saskia shares her artist's journey, and we delve into how hurtful experiences in our teens can have a huge impact on how we not only feel about our own abilities, but can hold us back from reaching our full potential - which drove Saskia to walk away from the art she loved.

Tune in for Saskia's insights from how she reignited her love of painting, which will inspire you to give yourself permission to experiment and explore your passions to find what is right for you now - and moving forward into your new chapter.

Discover more and read the full conversation transcript over at Kate Porter Website.

Connect with Saskia Skoric: • Website: Saskia Skoric Fine Art • Instagram: @saskiaskoricfineart • Facebook: Saskia Skoric Fine Art Facebook • TikTok: @saskiaskoricfineart

Here's to living Midlife Unlimited®

Support the show

I'd love to hear from you - because Midlife Unlimited® is all about YOU!

Find out about my award-winning 1-2-1 and MORE! group coaching program for Midlife women and join the book waitlist for Your Empty Nest Epiphany on my website : Kate Porter Website • Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee • LinkedIn: Kate Porter Official • Instagram: @kate_porter_official • YouTube: @MidlifeUnlimited • Explore my personally designed range of digital planners for intentional living and Zodiac interiors prints: The Curated Day Company Etsy Shop

Here's to living Midlife Unlimited®

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Join the Midlife Unlimited® conversation by sending Kate a text

When was the last time you felt like you truly belonged? Not because you were managing everyone else's needs, but just as yourself?

Many of us have spent decades fitting into roles. But as life shifts, that sense of deep connection can start to feel elusive.

Identity is a topic that comes up again and again here on Midlife Unlimited®. That feeling of not recognising the woman we are. Maybe mourning the woman we were. Or worried about the future... what kind of woman are we becoming?

What is our role now? Who are we?

If this resonates, join me and my guest Medicine Woman Angie Litvinoff as we explore how to use connection to feel you belong as a Midlife woman.

With beautiful honesty and openness, Angie relates how fleeing Chile as a child and beginning again as a immigrant in the UK has led to her questioning everything and that "belonging takes on a nomadic quality where you connect with something much deeper than where you were born".

We delve into why "the sh*t hit the fan" when Angie turned 50, and Angie shares how she walks a path that merges her roots and ancestral heritage with the now - and how her evolution of belonging has led to her becoming known as the Midwife of the True Self.

See the transcript for our full conversation.

Connect with Angie

https://www.angielitvinoff.com/

https://www.instagram.com/angie_the_medicine_woman/

https://www.facebook.com/angielitvinoff.tranformational.rites.of.passage/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angie-litvinoff/

Support the show

I'd love to hear from you - because Midlife Unlimited® is all about YOU! https://buymeacoffee.com/kateporter

Support the show https://www.buzzsprout.com/2417699/support

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4035518246684901

https://midlifeunlimitedpodcast.buzzsprout.com

for details of my award-winning 1-2-1 and MORE! group coaching program for Midlife women

Connect with me https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateporterofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/skateporter
https://www.instagram.com/kate_porter_official/

https://www.youtube.com/@MidlifeUnlimited

Here's to to living Midlife Unlimited®

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Join the Midlife Unlimited® conversation by sending Kate a text

I'm often asked why I use the word metamorphosis over transformation? And it's simple. Because in both my own experience and that of the fabulous females I coach, everything we need to fall in love with ourselves is already inside us.

It's just a matter of waking it up. Taking stock, as we stand on the threshold of our next era.

Not yearning to go backwards when we're feeling stuck between "Is this it...?" and "What's next...?".

But realigning ourselves with who we are right now. And giving ourselves permission to let go of what's no longer serving us, and the woman we've outgrown. To make room for what does bring us joy.

And my Episode 109 guest Jayne Clayton, founder of Menopause Well, feels the same.

Jayne shares how discovering new focus while navigating grief led her to come to understand and know herself for the first time.

And now living like me joyously alcohol-free, Jayne reveals how she realised that the answer to the questions she was asking herself lay not in a bottle of wine, but in the power of self-care and carving time to nurture herself - which is now at the core of her mission to help Midlife women. .

You can also read our full conversation in the transcript.

Connect with Jayne

https://www.the-cma.org.uk/practitioners/jayne-clayton/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayne-clayton-911750267/

Support the show

I'd love to hear from you - because Midlife Unlimited® is all about YOU! https://buymeacoffee.com/kateporter

Support the show https://www.buzzsprout.com/2417699/support

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4035518246684901

https://midlifeunlimitedpodcast.buzzsprout.com

for details of my award-winning 1-2-1 and MORE! group coaching program for Midlife women

Connect with me https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateporterofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/skateporter
https://www.instagram.com/kate_porter_official/

https://www.youtube.com/@MidlifeUnlimited

Here's to to living Midlife Unlimited®

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Join the Midlife Unlimited® conversation by sending Kate a text

Is something not sitting right with you? At work? At home? In the social circle you've found yourself in?

And if it's no longer aligning with your beliefs, do you really want to take it with you into your next chapter?

We talk a lot about pivoting here on Midlife Unlimited, but my guest founder, author and campaigner Jane Pangbourne is embracing a new word for how she is shaking things up and celebrating change as she nears her diamond decade - upcycling!

Jane explains why she has stepped back from the menopause world, after years helping women navigate this potential minefield - with support including her Menopause not Mad movement and best-selling book I Choose Menopause.

And she reveals how she is now choosing to find joy by stripping away all the noise to discover what she really wants going forward - and the myriad of new adventures this is creating.

See the transcript for our full conversation.

Connect with Jane

https://www.instagram.com/upcycleyourfuture/

https://substack.com/@unlearningmenopause

Website coming out soon: https://www.janepangbourne.org

https://www.instagram.com/upcycleyourfuture/

Email: jane@janepangbourne.org

https://www.youtube.com/@unlearningmenopause

Best Selling Book: “I Choose Menopause!” https://amzn.eu/d/06y0vBJw

Support the show

I'd love to hear from you - because Midlife Unlimited® is all about YOU! https://buymeacoffee.com/kateporter

Support the show https://www.buzzsprout.com/2417699/support

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4035518246684901

https://midlifeunlimitedpodcast.buzzsprout.com

for details of my award-winning 1-2-1 and MORE! group coaching program for Midlife women

Connect with me https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateporterofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/skateporter
https://www.instagram.com/kate_porter_official/

https://www.youtube.com/@MidlifeUnlimited

Here's to to living Midlife Unlimited®

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Join the Midlife Unlimited® conversation by sending Kate a text

What's your thing? The thing you used to love doing, but life has got in the way of late and you've put your thing on the back-burner, consigned to the "not today, I've not got time" pile?

If this sounds familiar, join me and my guest Brand Photography Strategist Liz Devonshire as we explore How to Keep Your Passion Alive as a Midlife woman.

Liz shares how her love affair with photography began in her teens, and how she has kept the spark alive - both at work and play - over the decades, so that today it remains both her business and her number one creative outlet.

And, with many of us adjusting to empty nests, we share our insights and inspiration for how now is a great time to resurrect long-forgotten or overlooked interests that can start bringing us joy at this pivotal time.

Our full conversation is also available in the transcript.

Connect with Liz

https://www.lizdevonshirephotography.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/lizdevonshirephotography

message Liz PASSIONKATE on Instagram go get your FREE guide

https://www.instagram.com/liz.devonshire/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-devonshire/

Support the show

I'd love to hear from you - because Midlife Unlimited® is all about YOU! https://buymeacoffee.com/kateporter

Support the show https://www.buzzsprout.com/2417699/support

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4035518246684901

https://midlifeunlimitedpodcast.buzzsprout.com

for details of my award-winning 1-2-1 and MORE! group coaching program for Midlife women

Connect with me https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateporterofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/skateporter
https://www.instagram.com/kate_porter_official/

https://www.youtube.com/@MidlifeUnlimited

Here's to to living Midlife Unlimited®

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Join the Midlife Unlimited® conversation by sending Kate a text

How do you feel about AI? Is it becoming an essential part of your Midlife? Or are you steering clear, heeding headlines that humanity's days are numbered, as industry bosses warn we need to slow AI down or face extinction?

It's scary stuff.

And whatever stance you take, it seems AI is here to stay.

So how can we strike a balance between taking a Luddite stance, and risking losing our identity as we give AI creative reign over our lives.

I like to shake things up on Midlife Unlimited®, so I’m delighted to be joined by my SECOND every male guest, author and Founder of My True Talent Jez Kay, to explore How to Survive the AI Age as a Midlifer.

Join us as we delve into what it means to be human, what lies at the core of our identity and the lure of alter-egos, and the joy of paradox.

And don't miss our insights and inspiration for how to invite AI into our lives as a co-pilot while still maintaining authorship of our future.

Our full conversation is also available in the transcript.

Connect with Jez

http://linkedin.com/in/jezkay

https://petertrueworld.substack.com/

http://tiktok.com/@jezkayplays

Support the show

I'd love to hear from you - because Midlife Unlimited® is all about YOU! https://buymeacoffee.com/kateporter

Support the show https://www.buzzsprout.com/2417699/support

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4035518246684901

https://midlifeunlimitedpodcast.buzzsprout.com

for details of my award-winning 1-2-1 and MORE! group coaching program for Midlife women

Connect with me https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateporterofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/skateporter
https://www.instagram.com/kate_porter_official/

https://www.youtube.com/@MidlifeUnlimited

Here's to to living Midlife Unlimited®

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Join the Midlife Unlimited® conversation by sending Kate a text

It can feel like a struggle some days to find something to smile about, let alone have a good old meno-belly laugh.

But the positive power of comedy, and the joy of unleashing the ability to laugh at ourselves, are two of my not-at-all-guilty pleasures.

And my Episode 105 guest agrees. Because I'm delighted to be joined by Lynne Parker, award-winning Founder and Chief Exec of Funny Women CIC, to talk about How to Find Your Funny.

Lynne shares what sparked her love affair with comedy, and we explore the evolution of female stand-ups and the legacy that Funny Women CIC is creating - and how you can get involved, from both a creative and audience perspective.

Both advocates of positive ageing, Lynne and I also share anecdotes and inspiration for how we can harness humour to add life to our years and smash those stereotypes and age-related misconceptions.

See the transcript for our full conversation.

Connect with Lynne & Funny Women

https://funnywomen.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynneparker/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/funny-women-ltd_3/

https://www.instagram.com/funny_women/

Support the show

I'd love to hear from you - because Midlife Unlimited® is all about YOU! https://buymeacoffee.com/kateporter

Support the show https://www.buzzsprout.com/2417699/support

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4035518246684901

https://midlifeunlimitedpodcast.buzzsprout.com

for details of my award-winning 1-2-1 and MORE! group coaching program for Midlife women

Connect with me https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateporterofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/skateporter
https://www.instagram.com/kate_porter_official/

https://www.youtube.com/@MidlifeUnlimited

Here's to to living Midlife Unlimited®

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