Reframing Me - Self-Development & Parenting Teens for Midlife Moms

Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for being here!! It wasn’t about the berries! In this episode of Reframing Me , we explore how small, everyday moments—like an almost missed berry picking trip—can trigger deeper emotional responses in parents of teens. Grounded in Family Systems Theory, Relational Dialectics Theory, and Metaphor Theory, this episode explains how family rituals carry symbolic mea...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for being here! In the U.S. (and especially living at the beach!), Memorial Day is the "official" launch of summer! And never is our unappreciation of our bodies as great as it is during the summer. Can we say that we love our body... and mean it? What if instead of crititicizing all of our flaws based off of narratives that have been planted in our hea...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the show! I'm so happy that you're here!  If you’re a mom, especially a mom of teenagers, you are probably  feeling  tired. All. The. Time. But what if your exhaustion isn’t just about lack of sleep? What if it’s about the  type  of rest you're not getting? There’s a powerful framework I want to share with you today - I was introduced to it in the book  T...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for being here! It's our 200th episode!! And today, for the first time, "Reframing Me" is ranking in France, so I am dusting off my high school French (well... that may be a BIT of a stretch...). “You are the sky. Everything else—it’s just the weather.” Or, maybe more simply:  You are not your feelings. You are the one who feels them. Emotional com...

Send us Fan Mail With prom season in full swing, and graduations upon us, and wedding season – tryouts – the post-college decision day aftermath - and of course the always a favorite "What are you going to do after graduation?” question that may be looming in the air, I wanted to revisit a favorite conversation of mine because Sometimes it’s almost as if your teens didn’t see your parenting v...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you for being here today! In celebration of Mother's Day, let's revisit our special Mom episodes! When these first aired, I was excited about our upcoming 50th episode. Now, here I am, about to record our 200th episode! In part 1 we talked about the struggles that working moms face, so we continue our conversation by looking at the struggles of stay-at-home moms. S...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you for being here today! In celebration of Mother's Day, let's revisit our special Mom episodes! When these first aired, I was excited about our upcoming 50th episode. Now, here I am, about to record our 200th episode! I guess I was right: Girls CAN do anything! In part 1 of this MONSTER-sized mom episode, we're celebrating moms, girl power. Girls can do ANYT...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you SO much for being here! Today’s Jen is Zen is episode number 199! As I approach 200, I can't help but reflect on what a transformation I have undergone over these last couple/few years! Through my curiosity, I discovered myself, who I am underneath and who I wanted to be. And by focusing on what I wanted, rather than what I didn’t want - I found my passion. And once...

Send us Fan Mail With summer creeping up, college students about to come home, and teens ready to enjoy summer break at home, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much the dynamic in many of our homes is about to shift. For some of us, the daily routines we’ve gotten used to will be flipped upside down - again. And even though we love having our kids back under our roofs, let’s be honest, it’s not a...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for being here! Today, I invite you to hold two truths at once: I can celebrate her. And I can believe in me. They’re not opposites. They’re connected. They make each other stronger. And as we start living from that place of abundance - of lifting each other up instead of tearing ourselves down - we create a world that’s bigger, brighter, and more beautiful for a...

Send us Fan Mail I've been reading the book "Power Manifesting" by Paul McKenna, and he talks about a process called "Clean and Clear" to do an ecology check on your goals. An ecology check is how you ask, If I change one thing—will the rest of me still thrive? And the questions are simple: What are you willing to do to reach this goal? What are you not willing to do? But...

Send us Fan Mail Our true character doesn’t lie in not getting mad or upset or angry or jealous or disappointed – or feeling any of that negative energy. Our true character lies in how quickly we can shake that feeling off and refocus on what we need to do now.  Like many of you, I’ve always been one to hold myself to a really high standard – whether it’s in my career or being a mom or a wife or a...

Send us Fan Mail In this final episode in our Matrenaissance conversation series, we chat with Amy—a nurse, mom, and now med spa owner—who opens up about rediscovering her identity after years of being “just mom.” Amy shares her emotional journey from full-time motherhood to launching a thriving aesthetics and wellness business, all while navigating grief, guilt, and the fear of failure. Together,...

Send us Fan Mail Join me on my birthday for a conversation about contextual age and its profound implications on our sense of self and well-being. Delving beyond mere chronological age, we explore how factors such as biological age, social roles, perceived age, and subjective age shape our identity and outlook on life. Let's challenge conventional notions of aging and embrace an ageless minds...

Send us Fan Mail Today, you get to choose, what are you going to focus on? It’s very easy and natural for us to want something different – if I could just go back to the past, or if it could just get to the future already. For years we just wanted to get older, and now, if we could only be young again… It’s ok to have those reactions. Honor wherever you are and however you feel, but let go of that...

Send us Fan Mail In this special birthday episode of Jen is Zen , I share my top five reasons I feel more peaceful, grounded, and fulfilled at 49 than ever before. From daily gratitude and intentional movement to supplements, intermittent fasting, and deep self-reflection, i share the habits and mindset shifts that have helped ne stay “Zen AF” despite life’s challenges. Perfect for women navigatin...

Send us Fan Mail When Kris Janik realized that "you only live once!" also meant, "you DO ONLY live ONCE," she realized that she wanted to make it really mean something special - something that she and her family could be proud of. In this third episode of our Matrenaissance series, I have a conversation with contemporary artist and mother of three, Kris Janik, to explore the be...

Send us Fan Mail T hank you so much for being here! What would it feel like to fully trust the space between who I was and who I am becoming? This question isn’t about naming where you are. It’s not even about clarity, or about your goals, about or knowing your vision or about manifesting your future self. It’s about trust. Trusting yourself and trusting where you are and trusting the process.  I...

Send us Fan Mail Before we were moms, we were women—whole, vibrant individuals with passions, dreams, and a sense of self. But somewhere along the way, our identities began to revolve around our kids. And now, as they grow into their independence, we’re left asking: Who am I now? In this special Matrenaissance re-release, I revisit a powerful conversation with Certified Life Coach Marybeth Cale of...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for being here! While I'm currently in my healing era, it’s the perfect time to revisit powerful topics that never lose their relevance—like senioritis . This time last year, I was right where many of you are now—parenting a high school senior navigating the emotional rollercoaster of their final year. Senioritis is often brushed off as laziness or apathy, b...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back! Thank you for being here! In this Jen is Zen episode, we need to chat about the in-between —that space where transformation is happening, even when it feels like everything is falling apart.  So, I've had a bit of a surprise injury that needs surgery (like, literally tomorrow!) and I'm finding myself unexpectedly sidelined in this limbo, so I’ve had to shif...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you realize the life you’re living no longer aligns with who you want to be? How do you navigate the fear, resistance, and self-doubt that come with stepping into a new version of yourself? In this episode of Reframing Me , I sit down with Emily Allen , a certified alcohol-free life coach who helps women break free from wine mom culture and reclaim their power in...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever let go of the limiting beliefs holding you back and truly allowed yourself to dream? In this Jen is Zen episode, we explore what happens when you suspend your disbelief and give yourself permission to imagine the life you truly want. We often think self-esteem comes from achieving big milestones—landing the job, losing the weight, earning the degree—but true confiden...

Send us Fan Mail At some point, every woman in midlife finds herself asking: Who am I now? Maybe your kids don’t need you the way they used to. Maybe your career feels stagnant. Maybe your relationships are shifting in ways you never expected. You’re not the same person you were ten years ago, but where does that leave you? In this episode, I’m sharing my own story—the moment I realized that I was...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you so much for being here!! Your best is going to look different on different days for different reasons and in different seasons. We often need a reminder that external pressures, life circumstances, and emotional bandwidth shape our daily "best." And our best today isn't the same as our best yesterday or our best tomorrow. And that's ok. Sometimes our...