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Nourishing Her Midlife Rest: Body & Soul is a podcast for Christian women in their 40s and 50s navigating perimenopause, hormone shifts, exhaustion, burnout, and the changing rhythms of midlife.
Hosted by Bethany Thomson, Registered Dietitian, functional nutritionist, and Christian life coach, this podcast blends functional nutrition, hormone health, whole-person wellness, and grace-filled encouragement to support women in body and soul.
Some episodes are practical and educational—covering topics like perimenopause, hormones, fatigue, inflammation, nervous system support, digestion, stress, and nourishment in midlife.
Others are more reflective and restorative, offering gentle conversations about rest, emotional healing, caregiving, faith, identity, and learning to live with greater steadiness and compassion in seasons of overwhelm.
Whether you feel exhausted, disconnected from yourself, stuck in survival mode, or simply weary from carrying too much for too long, there is space for you here.
Together, we’ll explore a gentler path toward nourishment, steadiness, and rest—body and soul.
Learn more at:
www.ingrainedliving.com
We live in a world that wants to skip to the glamorous part of healing — the supplements, the fancy labs, the high-tech answers. And I’ll be honest… I love that part too.
But after twenty years in nutrition care, I can tell you this: if your nervous system isn’t steady, those results won’t take you far.
That’s why, before the glamour, we start here — with something incredibly practical, yet foundational: naming your season.
Because before we choose the tools, the protocols, or the next steps — we need to know where we are.
You can’t hack your way to healing.
You can’t hustle your way to wholeness.
You have to return… to rest.
Welcome to Nourishing Her Midlife Rest — I’m Bethany Thomson and I walk with women as a Registered Dietitian, functional nutritionist and holistic Christian life coach.
This podcast is for weary Christian women navigating perimenopause, menopause, and the sacred middle seasons of life—
where healing is no longer about pushing through, but learning to receive…
grace, wisdom, and rest—body and soul.
Let’s walk together.
Before we dive into supplements, labs, and protocols, we have to lay the foundation — and that starts with knowing the season you’re in.
In my work as a functional dietitian nutritionist, I’ve seen it over and over: the root of so many health issues is stress… we live in a constant storm.
And here’s the thing — you can’t heal in a stressed-out, stormy environment. That’s true physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Regulating your nervous system is often the very first step in healing.
So today, we’re going to start finding our steady in the storm.
And to do that, we’re going to talk about naming your season — not as a cute metaphor, but as a real way to get your bearings.
Because until you know where you are, you can’t chart a wise path forward.
My husband and kids will tell you — I have a terrible sense of direction. I don’t even pretend otherwise. My four-year-old can tell where we are and which way we should turn better than I can if I am not using using GPS.
One time, years ago, I was driving from Nashville to Atlanta and somehow… I ended up in Knoxville. True story. I just knew I was heading east and going down.
What I didn’t realize was that I had added a huge number of hours to my trip — and I didn’t even know it until I got to my destination and someone asked me what had taken so long.
That’s what happens when we don’t know where we are — when we don’t take time to get our bearings. We can waste a lot of time and energy going in the wrong direction.
Naming your season is like finding yourself on the map before you start the journey.
Your season is not always tied to the calendar or a time frame.. Some seasons last weeks; others last years.
Sometimes we know what’s ahead; sometimes we don’t. But we can always acknowledge where we are.
In my own life, I like to name my seasons — just like I’ve named my “eventide hours” for that shift from work into family time.
As I talked about in our last episode, right now, I’m in what I call my Full-Sail Season — life is moving forward, the winds are strong, and my sails are full.
That doesn’t mean I’m frantic; it means I’m steering intentionally.
When you name your season, you start to see what’s realistic right now — and what’s not.
Maybe this is your season to focus on your marriage, and friendships take a quieter role.
Maybe it’s a season of healing, where you’re stepping back from leadership roles to restore your body and soul. Maybe it is a season when your children have just left the nest (kind of) and you are ready to move forward with launching your business. Or maybe you have aging parents and are in the throes of caregiving and you have no idea how long that season will last.
When we name our season, we also give ourselves permission to honor it.
Not every season is for growing in every area — and that’s okay. When you stop fighting the season you’re in, you can actually move through it with more grace, steadiness, and peace.
So how do you actually name your season?
Start by asking yourself, “What’s the dominant theme of my life right now?”
You’re not looking for a perfect answer — you’re looking for something that feels both true and hopeful.
If your first instinct is to call it “Crazy Chaos,” ask yourself: What’s the deeper truth underneath that chaos? Is it that you’re being stretched? That you’re building resilience? That you’re learning to let go?
Naming your season from that deeper place can shift how you carry it. Then, let that name do some quiet work for you: let it shape your expectations. Let it influence your commitments. Let it soften your self-talk.
Sometime this week, carve out a few quiet minutes and simply ask: “If I had to give this season a name, what would it be?” You don’t have to make it poetic — though you can if that’s your style. Just choose something that captures the tone, pace, and focus of this time in your life.
But before I give you some examples, I want to pause here and make something really clear: naming your season isn’t about denying reality or slapping a pretty label over pain. That would be toxic positivity. Some seasons really are heavy. Some are exhausting, confusing, or just plain hard. Pretending otherwise won’t help.
What naming is about is honestly acknowledging the weight while also holding onto the deeper meaning God may be weaving through it.
Here are a few examples:
The Stretching Season → Honest about pressure, but reframes it as growth.
The Bridging Season → You’re not “there” yet, but you’re crossing into something new.
The Mending Season → Acknowledges brokenness and the process of slow healing.
The Unfolding Season → Life feels messy, but something new is slowly emerging.
The circumstances don’t instantly change—but the posture of our hearts does.
It’s like carrying a heavy bag. If you sling it awkwardly over one shoulder, you’re straining and stumbling. But if you adjust it across both shoulders, with a secure strap, the weight is still there—but your posture changes, your endurance changes, your outlook changes.
That’s the gift of naming: it doesn’t erase the hard, but it helps you carry it with intention and hope.
And if you’re not sure what to do with it after you’ve named it — that’s okay. Next week, I’ll walk you through how to choose an anchor that will help you live in step with the season you’ve named.
If you’d like my free “Find Your Anchor” worksheet for August, make sure you’re on my Ingrained Living Letters list at ingrainedliving.com/letters. I’ll send it straight to your inbox when it’s ready.
And if you’re ready to take this deeper, I’d love to invite you into my 1:1 coaching — a space for body-and-soul restoration, rooted in nourishment, presence, and rest. You can take your first step by scheduling a Welcome Hour at ingrainedliving.com/welcome-hour.
Dear one, before you set the course, before you choose the tools — find where you are.
Name your season.
Because when you know your bearings, you can move forward with more peace, more purpose, and a lot less wasted energy.
May you lean into the God who meets you—even here as a Good and Gentle Shepherd.
And may you know…
You are not behind.
You are not broken.
You are deeply loved.
Right in the middle of your season.
Thanks for joining me today.
I’m so glad to be walking this pathway with you.
Until next time…
Grace and peace,
Bethany