Reclaiming Your Power in Midlife: Why Audacity Is the Most Underrated Health Strategy
By Dr. Sara Poldmae, Doctor of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, Functional Medicine Practitioner
Have you noticed a tension lately, a pull between wanting to speak up and a quiet voice that wonders if it's "too much"?
Maybe your confidence has been shifting. At work. At home. In your own skin. You sense there's more you want to say, more space you want to take up, and yet something holds you back.
If this resonates, I want to talk about something that doesn't get nearly enough airtime in midlife health conversations: the connection between your power and your wellbeing.
In Episode 141 of Menopause Rise and Thrive, I sat down with two remarkable leaders, Gloria Feldt, co-founder of Take The Lead, and Heather Florio, CEO of Desert Harvest, for a conversation that went far beyond hormones. We talked about what it really means to own your power as a woman today. And I believe every woman in midlife should hear it.
Why Confidence Shifts in Midlife, and What's Actually Happening
It's not your imagination. Many women describe a shift in confidence during perimenopause and menopause that feels confusing, even destabilizing. Part of this is hormonal: declining estrogen and testosterone affect not only physical symptoms but also mental clarity, assertiveness, and the neurochemistry of confidence itself.
But there's another layer that deserves attention, a cultural one.
Women in midlife often find themselves at a crossroads between the roles they've long inhabited (caregiver, accommodator, the one who smooths things over) and a growing, undeniable awareness of what they actually want, need, and deserve. This tension is real, and it has health consequences.
Chronic self-suppression, the habit of minimizing your needs, silencing your voice, and deferring your desires, is a form of chronic stress. And chronic stress, as we know, does significant damage to hormonal health, immune function, and overall vitality.
Reclaiming your voice isn't just an act of personal empowerment. It is, quite literally, a health intervention.
What "Audacity" Actually Means for Midlife Women
Gloria Feldt has spent decades studying the ways women lead, and hold themselves back. One of the most profound insights from our conversation is this: audacity doesn't mean aggression. It doesn't mean taking up space at the expense of others.
Audacity means choosing to act despite uncertainty. It means deciding that your perspective has value before you have permission from anyone else. It means being willing to be visible, at work, in your healthcare, in your relationships, even when it's uncomfortable.
For many women in midlife, this is actually the work. Not adding more to the to-do list, but beginning to take seriously the dreams, convictions, and contributions that have been quietly waiting.
The Language of Power (and How Women Unknowingly Undermine Their Own)
One of the most eye-opening parts of our conversation involved language. The subtle ways we soften our statements, preface requests with excessive apologies, or frame our expertise as tentative ("I might be wrong, but…") can quietly erode the confidence of both the speaker and the listener.
This isn't about becoming someone you're not. It's about noticing when self-diminishing language is a habit rather than a genuine reflection of your certainty, and beginning to practice something different.
Menopause in the Workplace: A Conversation Whose Time Has Come
Heather Florio brought something important into our conversation: the intersection of menopause and career longevity. This is a topic that has been invisible for too long.
Women are leaving or scaling back in careers during their peak earning and leadership years, often because unmanaged perimenopause symptoms (brain fog, sleep disruption, emotional volatility, fatigue) are making their professional lives untenable. And they're doing this silently, because the culture hasn't created the conditions for an honest conversation.
Real workplace support for women in midlife isn't a ping-pong table or a wellness app. It's education. It's policy. It's the normalization of a health transition that affects more than half the workforce.
If you're navigating this at work, wondering how to manage your symptoms while maintaining your professional standing, know that you are not alone, and you are not obligated to white-knuckle through it in silence.
Redefining Success on Your Own Terms
Perhaps the most liberating piece of this conversation was the reframing of what success can look like in midlife.
The traditional "ladder" model, climbing higher, accumulating more, constantly ascending, is often incompatible with the values and desires that emerge during this life stage. Many women in midlife begin to sense that what they actually want is not more, but more meaningful. Not higher, but more aligned.
This is not failure. This is wisdom. And acting on it, with audacity, is one of the most powerful things you can do for your long-term health and fulfillment.
One Audacious Action , Starting Today
Gloria issued a challenge in our conversation that I want to pass along: take one audacious action. Not a complete life overhaul. One thing that reflects what you actually want, said out loud or put into motion, that you've been holding back.
It might be:
- Finally making the appointment you've been avoiding
- Having the honest conversation you've been rehearsing in your head
- Pursuing the opportunity you've been waiting until you're "ready" for
- Advocating for yourself with your healthcare provider
Midlife is not the beginning of the end. For many women, it is the beginning of the most honest, purposeful, and powerful chapter of their lives. But it requires the audacity to actually step into it.
If you're ready for personalized support in your midlife health journey, the RenewHer Concierge Membership was designed for women exactly like you. Learn more at https://meadowhillwellness.com/renewher.
Listen to the full conversation on Episode 141 of the Menopause Rise and Thrive podcast.