Softening into the Pleasure of Midlife with Catherine Zack

This episode is a conversation with my dear friend Catherine Zack, which we initially recorded for her podcast "The 40 Portal". Catherine is the owner of Village Yoga in Kinderhook, NY, an executive coach, speaker, writer and collector of women’s wisdom. This past summer, on her own 40th birthday - only 2 days apart to my own - she invited a group of close female friends to participate in what she calls The 40 Portal, a book in which everyone of 40 and under was invited to write a question, and everyone of over 40 was invited to share their wisdom. This book turned into the podcast The 40 Portal, on which Catherine invites 40 women to have conversations around their path towards 40, and beyond.

In this conversation, Catherine and I discuss midlife and what it brings up for us to move into our 40s. I talk about what this portal means to me, and how I’m experiencing this non-linear space of self discovery. We discuss the liberation that can be found in midlife and a sense of shedding the pressure of the societal gaze. We share about embracing a sense of invisibility, the reclaiming of personal magic, erotic awakenings, re-villaging and being seen by the people we actually want to be seen by.

Resources + Links

• Cath’s ‘The 40s Portal Project’
• Cath’s podcast ‘The 40 Portal’
• We mention these books: Terry Tempest Williams, “When Women Were Birds” and Miranda July, “All Fours”
• Sign up for my newsletter, How We Come Back
• My book, Root and Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self
• Connect with me on Instagram @beccapiastrelli

Timestamps

[00:00] Introducing Catherine & her project ‘The 40 Portal’ 

[08:25] The start of our friendship and the origin of the 40 Portal project 

[12:16] The personal definition and visual of portal and midlife 

[16:10] Exploration of identity through name, life phases and self definition 

[21:41] The myths and blessings of midlife 

[29:34] Seeking examples of women in their femininity and agency as a mother and as a daughter 

[34:47] Feeling seen, safe and at home in spaces with other women 

[38:23] Erotic awakening in midlife 

[46:29] Releasing patterns and self discovery in your 40s and beyond 

[50:00] Disappearing from the aggressive societal gaze and feeling seen in the community we knit 

[54:54] Life as a portfolio with many projects of many seasons and receiving your life’s assignment