If you are self-aware, emotionally intelligent and still finding yourself people-pleasing or walking on eggshells in your relationship, this episode will help you understand why, without blaming yourself.

Trauma-informed coach and somatic therapist Steffi Seefeld joins me to unpack why so many high-achieving women feel confident and successful on the outside, yet anxious, unseen, or unsure in their relationships.

If you’re a midlife woman who identifies as empathetic, driven, and emotionally aware — but still finds yourself people-pleasing, self-abandoning, or choosing emotionally unavailable partners — this conversation will help you understand why and what actually helps create change.

Steffi explains how early childhood conditioning, emotionally unavailable caregivers, and family dynamics wire the nervous system for survival, not self-trust. We talk about why insight alone isn’t enough to break relationship patterns, how people-pleasing shows up in love and at work, and why learning to feel safe in your body is the key to choosing healthier relationships in midlife.

This episode is especially relevant for women navigating midlife transitions who are questioning their relationships, struggling with guilt or over-functioning, or sensing in their body that something needs to change — even if they don’t yet know what.

In this episode, we discuss:

•Why self-aware women still end up in unhealthy relationships

•How people-pleasing and self-abandonment are learned survival strategies

•The link between childhood emotional conditioning and adult relationship patterns

•Why insight and therapy aren’t always enough to create lasting change

•How the nervous system keeps us stuck in familiar but unsafe dynamics

•Signs you may be dimming your light or editing yourself to keep the peace

•How people-pleasing shows up for high-achieving women and female leaders

•What it actually means to rebuild self-trust in midlife

•How slowing down and nervous system regulation support healthier choices in love and life

•Why healing in community can accelerate change

Steffi also shares details about her group program, Rising Woman, which supports women in midlife who are ready to move out of survival mode and into relationships — and lives — that feel safer, steadier, and more aligned.

Connect with Steffi:

Book a Discovery Call

3-Min Nervous System Reset

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Understanding Emotional Safety in Relationships

02:58 Childhood Experiences and Their Impact

08:10 Understanding Narcissism & Wounded Empaths

10:37 Sibling Dynamics

13:01 Learning Self-Awareness

20:37 The Importance of Nervous System Regulation

26:30 Key Takeaways

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

✨Get my favorite New Year Journal Prompts and plan for an aligned AF 2026!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Most midlife women don’t burn out because they’re doing something wrong. They burn out because they don’t know how to stop pushing.

Why does rest feel so uncomfortable for so many capable, high-functioning midlife women?

In this short solo episode, health coach and podcast host Jessica Long gets honest about burnout, nervous system conditioning, and why stepping back can feel scarier than staying exhausted. After pushing through the holidays without a real break, Jessica reflects on what midlife is asking of us now: not more effort, but more awareness.

This episode is an invitation to notice where you’re still pushing out of habit, obligation, or fear—and to consider what might become possible if you eased off, even a little.

If you’re navigating midlife while juggling work, family, hormones, and expectations (both internal and external), this conversation offers permission to pause—and a reminder that burnout isn’t a failure. It’s information.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why taking a break feels harder than staying busy in midlife

• How nervous system conditioning keeps high-achieving women stuck in overdrive

• The difference between honoring yourself and chasing arbitrary goals

• What it means to choose possibility instead of exhaustion

• A gentle invitation to take your foot off the accelerator—without guilt

➕Follow the show to catch upcoming episodes on midlife relationships, perimenopause, parenting through puberty, and peptides for sleep, energy, and brain fog!

▶️ Aphukenbrake video

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

✨Get my favorite New Year Journal Prompts and plan for an aligned AF 2026!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

This episode explores how midlife women can use the Enneagram to plan a more aligned year at work and at home, instead of bracing for the Sunday Scaries every week.

Leadership coach and Enneagram facilitator Ali Dunn returns to the podcast to help midlife women plan a year that actually fits—without forcing goals, burning everything down, or fantasizing about moving to Fiji (tempting though it may be).

The Enneagram isn’t about personality labels or behavior. It’s about motivation—and when you understand what truly drives you, you can make better choices in your career, relationships, parenting, and daily life.

Take Ali's quiz to learn your Enneagram type and what motivates you!

In this conversation, we talk about how deep self-awareness can help you advocate for yourself at work and at home, recognize when something is out of alignment, and set goals that support your energy instead of draining it.

In this episode, we cover:

•Why the Sunday Scaries are often a sign of misalignment—not weakness

•How knowing your Enneagram type and what motivates you helps you plan a more aligned year

•The difference between goals that stretch you and goals driven by “shoulds”

•What to do when your job or work environment feels off

•How to advocate for yourself at work without quitting or blowing everything up

•Why your strengths can quietly become blind spots—and how to work with that

Whether you know your Enneagram type or not, this episode will help you get more intentional, self-aware, and aligned as you plan the year ahead.

How to Get Really Clear About What Matters to You

It’s not about resolution-setting or vision boarding (no shade). It’s about asking yourself specific questions and getting really honest about the answers.

Get my full list of New Year reflection questions here!

Connect with Ali Dunn

Alidunn.com | @enneagrambyali

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Understanding the Enneagram

05:48 How to Use Your Enneagram Type to Plan Your Year

10:29 How to Know If Your Goal is Right for You

15:02 When Your Job is Not Aligned with Your Enneagram Type

19:56 Use the Enneagram to Improve Your Relationships

26:14 Use Your Enneagram Type to Identify a Theme for the Year

29:02 Key Takeaways

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

✨Get my favorite New Year Journal Prompts and plan for an aligned AF 2026!

For more midlife musings: @midlifeadvicepodcast | @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com