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A Christian podcast for women in their 40s and 50s navigating perimenopause, hormone shifts, and soul fatigue. Each episode is like a letter—offering grace-based encouragement and holistic healing rhythms for your body and soul.
This podcast is rooted in the real, restorative work I offer through Ingrained Living: Functional Nutrition & Holistic Hormone Health. Whether you’re feeling stretched thin by emotional overwhelm or curious about the connection between your faith, food, and fatigue—there’s space for you here.
Some episodes are poetic and reflective.
Others are practical—grounded in functional nutrition, nervous system support, and rhythms of restoration.
All are designed to help you live with intention, alignment, and grace—even in the storm.
Come walk with me.
There’s space for you here.
May you remember:
Rest isn’t something you earn.
It’s something—and Someone—you return to again and again.
This is about living from rest.
And you don’t have to do it alone.
🫖 Take your first step toward feeling steady again: www.ingrainedliving.com
My husband and kids were riding bikes and scooters while I walked nearby, listening to the hum of cicadas and the deep croaking of frogs in our pond. Joy bubbled up as I watched my family laugh and play together in the light of the setting sun. In that moment, I was reminded: dinner at 5:30 isn’t just about a meal for us — it’s an anchor for joy, connection, and rest.
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—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 flourishing isn’t about pushing through, but learning to receive: grace, wisdom, and rest… body and soul.
Let’s walk together.
In our last episode—Episode 8—we talked about naming your season. Because before you can set a wise course forward, you have to know where you are. When you name your season honestly, you give yourself permission to honor it, instead of fighting against it.
Today, we’re taking the next step. We’re going to talk about anchoring with grace—why something as simple as a steady rhythm can bring peace and help us avoid burnout in the middle of perimenopause and busy midlife seasons.
Because midlife often feels like everything is shifting at once—our kids, our homes, our work, our hormones, even our sense of identity. Maybe you’ve felt it too: this longing for steadiness, for something that tells your body and soul, you are safe, you are held, you are steady—even here.
This has hit me afresh in what I’ve named my full-sail season. Just last week, I had 27 clients scheduled in my nutrition therapy practice. And it was amazing—I love this work so much. But it also reminded me: if I’m going to keep showing up for others, I have to be intentional about how I anchor myself. Otherwise, it’s too easy to run on fumes and drift toward burnout.
For me, one of those anchors has been keeping dinner time consistent. At our house, it looks like sitting down together most nights around 5:30—a rhythm that steadies us more than it schedules us.
At the beginning of this year, as part of my quarterly Planting Trio, I set a goal to have dinner ready to serve six nights a week at 5:30 pm. I was going to try one more time to make something work that I had never really succeeded at in the past because our evenings just didn’t feel restful. They felt uncertain—we never knew when we were going to eat.
Part of it was because I didn’t know what we were going to eat. I’d told myself for years that I was an extemporaneous meal planner—buying ingredients and then deciding later based on how I felt that day. But with older kids, shifting schedules, and re-launching my business, that method was failing me.
I couldn’t finish with clients at 5 pm, walk into the kitchen, and realize that the roast I wanted to cook was still frozen and wouldn’t be ready for two more hours. Something had to change.
So I made a commitment, wrote it down, and made it part of my Planting Trio. And this time, for three months straight, I actually did it. And the difference was undeniable. We weren’t rushing through our evenings. We had more meaningful conversation. My husband had time to lead us in Bible study and discussion. And sometimes, we even had space for a family walk after dinner.
Then the time change came. Schedules shifted. And I dropped the rhythm. For a whole quarter, I lost that anchor. Summer felt more relaxed, but I could feel the difference. Evenings were more scattered, sometimes less peaceful.
So as this new season began, I recommitted to the goal — but not just for the sake of punctuality. For the sake of presence. I added the window of 5:30–6:00. Serving dinner by this time helps me wind down work and step into what I call my ‘eventide hours.’ We eat dinner, and then we are free to exhale — to rest from the day’s pace and let the evening feel unhurried.
One of the reasons this dinner hour matters so much is that it marks my transition from work into family and restoration time. By the time we sit down at the table, I’ve wrapped up my charting, set my business tasks aside, and gone through my shutdown ritual — something I’ll share more about in another episode. For me, this rhythm is a boundary that says: the workday is done, and now I’m giving my family my presence. As an entrepreneur and small business owner, it would be so easy to let charting, emails, or admin tasks spill into the evening. But I know in this season, if I want to flourish, I have to draw that line. And I know many of you feel this too. Choosing an anchor isn’t just about creating calm — it’s about protecting what matters most.
Now, sometimes my kids still have homework to wrap up, my husband may have a work call, or I have housework that needs my attention. So not every evening turns into a leisurely walk or a long family conversation. But even then, we’ve anchored ourselves together first. That touchpoint makes the rest of the evening steadier.
And I also want to say this: right now, this works in our season because we happen to all be home around that time. But that won’t always be the case. In another season, we’ll have to re-evaluate.
One night after dinner this week my husband and kids were riding bikes and scooters while I walked nearby, listening to the hum of cicadas and the deep croaking of frogs in our pond. Joy bubbled up as I watched my family laugh and play together in the light of the setting sun. In that moment, I was reminded: dinner at 5:30 isn’t just about a meal for us — it’s an anchor for joy, connection, and rest.
Some families don’t have the luxury of everyone being home for dinner at the same hour, and that’s okay. Dinner may not be the best anchor for you. What matters is not copying mine, but finding one that fits your season.
That’s why naming your season is so important — because your anchor has to fit the season you’re really in, not the one you wish you were in. And here’s the bigger truth: anchors keep us from drifting into burnout. They hold us steady when everything else feels scattered.
Teaching / Sustain
And that’s been especially true for me in this season.
Another reason I’ve been so intentional about creating steady anchors for my day and my week in this season is because I’m asking myself: how do I avoid burnout?
I’ve entered high-demand seasons before that weren’t of my choosing, and honestly, my family paid the price. When I was depleted—whether from health struggles or from the deep emotional work of healing old wounds—they felt the ripple effects. I wasn’t as present, I wasn’t as anchored, and more than just our evenings showed it. It affected the whole of our family.
But this time is different. I’m entering this full-sail season with intention. Anchors like this are preventative care. They tell my nervous system: you’re safe, you can rest now.
Because burnout sneaks up when every part of the day feels scattered and uncertain—when we’re pouring out but not replenishing ourselves. But one steady rhythm can help us step out of that cycle and live from a place of rest, even while we’re working hard.
My husband and I were talking about this the other night. I told him how much I want to care for myself and for my family in this season. I don’t want them to bear the cost of me running on empty.
I’m not perfect at this. But I’ve committed to it. And even when it’s messy or imperfect, it still anchors me — and that’s what matters most.
And the truth is, as women, we often are the heart of the home. We affect the atmosphere. We can be an emotional anchor for our families. But we can’t provide steadiness for others if we aren’t anchored ourselves.
That’s why this isn’t selfish—it’s actually a gift. When I stay anchored, I can be a refuge for my family instead of depleted by them. My steadiness blesses them.
Psalm 116:7 is a cornerstone scripture for me – Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
For me, setting dinner as an anchor is one way I invite my soul to return to rest. It’s a reminder that I don’t have to chase productivity into the evening. I can step into presence with my family, trusting God to hold the rest.
Anchors remind me of Psalm 23 too—that God makes me lie down in green pastures. It’s not forced—it’s an invitation. Anchors are little ways we say yes to God’s invitation into rest and steadiness.
So maybe for you, it isn’t dinner at 5:30. Maybe it’s journaling before bed… or a short walk at lunchtime before a busy afternoon… or even something as simple as lighting a candle before you pray.
The anchor itself isn’t what matters most. What matters is that it’s a rhythm you can return to — one that tells your body and soul: you are safe, you are steady, you are held. And remember: this isn’t about perfection, it’s about presence.
Here’s a journaling prompt for you this week: What part of my day or week needs to feel more steady in this season?
Then ask yourself: What kind of anchor could I create in that time — one that would bring calm and peace to my body or my soul?
Write it down. Try practicing it this week. And then notice what ripple it begins to create in your day.
Because flourishing doesn’t come from doing more. It begins with tending the soil of your life. And sometimes, it looks as simple as one steady anchor.
If you would like a little help with this, I’ll send you 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.
If you’d like to go deeper, I’d love to invite you into a Welcome Hour at ingrainedliving.com/welcome-hour. It’s a quiet space to be heard and to begin uncovering what your body and heart most need right now to find your steady in this season of perimenopause and midlife.
That might look like taking a deep dive into your hormone levels, nutrient stores, and gut health through specialized labs, so we can create a personalized nutrition and wellness plan to nourish your body. Or it might look like designing rhythms and spiritual practices that steady your soul.
Either way, the Welcome Hour is where we begin.
Dear one, before you keep pushing… before you let the pace of this season sweep you away — pause. And find your anchor.
Because when you’re held steady, you can move forward with more peace, more presence, and a lot less burnout.
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