Women on the Brink

Send us Fan Mail What if two cultures separated by continents arrived at the same profound truth? In this episode, I explore the African philosophy of Ubuntu alongside the Ojibwe teaching of indinewemagadenoog, "all my relations", while sharing my own journey of learning Ojibwe and reconnecting with my family's language. Together, we reflect on what these teachings reveal about comm...

Send us Fan Mail I thought I was taking a course about drugs at University. Instead, I learned about race, power, history, and the stories we tell ourselves about addiction. In this episode of Women on the Brink , I share the lessons that shocked me the most; from the racial history of the War on Drugs to why some people are treated as criminals while others are seen as victims. We also explore ho...

Send us Fan Mail Today on the show, I explored the idea of threshold addiction, our tendency to pull back just as we're about to experience meaningful change. Whether it's pursuing a dream, sharing our work, starting a business, or stepping into a new version of ourselves, the closer we get to transformation, the more tempting it can be to retreat into what's familiar.  Maybe the bi...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the podcast, we explore a question that goes far beyond Madonna, Pamela Anderson, or celebrity culture: What is the next song of our lives? As we age, evolve, and face changing identities, we're all challenged to ask whether we're becoming who we're meant to be next, or simply trying to hold on to who we once were. It's a thoughtful conversation ab...

Send us Fan Mail Two years ago, I started a podcast to do something that terrified me: put my voice out into the world. And, almost 100 episodes later, I can officially say, I did the thing. In today's episode, I'm sharing why I've decided that Episode 100 on August 6th will be the final episode of the podcast, how returning to university influenced that decision, and why sometimes...

Send us Fan Mail The other day while running the Vancouver Seawall, I noticed something: lots of people passed me but I rarely passed anyone. Then Taking the Long Way by The Chicks came on, and suddenly it hit me: I’m the tortoise. I move slower than a lot of people when it comes to trusting myself and finding my way, and I almost always choose the less beaten path. Maybe that’s not a flaw. Maybe...

Send us Fan Mail What if one of society’s biggest blind spots is how much we  expect mothers to carry? From emotional regulation to attachment, to shaping tiny nervous systems, we place enormous responsibility on mother and then often leave them to do it alone. This week on the podcast, I’m exploring the invisible weight of motherhood. Inspired by a study on lab rats and addiction showing that ear...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we explore the idea that a pivot is not a restart, but more of an evolution. Inspired by a real-life career crossroads, we talk about how changing direction in life doesn’t mean starting over, but rather integrating everything you’ve already lived and learned. Whether it’s career, health, relationships, or where you choose to live, every pivot is built on the wisd...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is for the woman who is still showing up to her life… but feels like something inside her has quietly checked out. We’re talking about functional burnout , the kind no one sees.  The kind that looks like competence, reliability, and “having it all together” but feels like exhaustion, misalignment, and disconnection on the inside. This is especially for the woman on th...

Send us Fan Mail You’ve grown. You know you have. So why are the same old emotions showing up again? In this episode, we’re unpacking the disorienting experience of feeling “low” emotions after you’ve already done so much inner work. This is for the woman who thought she had moved past the shame, the fear, the grief…only to have it resurface and make her question everything. Those emotions aren’t...

Send us Fan Mail We like to think we’re seeing people clearly.  That what we’re reacting to is what’s actually happening.  But most of the time?  We’re not seeing them.  We’re seeing them through us. In this episode, I talk about the moments where I’ve been completely convinced I was right, only to realize I was looking through a very specific lens. One shaped by old beliefs like “I don’t matter”...

Send us Fan Mail We women have said we have been invisible for a long time.  Especially older women.  We're told to be visible, to speak up, to show up fully, but no one really talks about what happens after you do. In this episode, I unpack the real reason being seen feels so risky for women: the judgment, the interpretation, the nervous system responses that make us want to shrink back into...

Send us Fan Mail I woke up in the middle of the night, completely awake, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, and there was a heavy pressure on my chest. Both times, there was a figure in the room that felt very real. I thought I was losing my mind… until I discovered that women across cultures have been describing this exact experience for centuries, sometimes calling it the Night Hag, the Mare,...

Send us Fan Mail When most people think of medicine, they think of something they take. But what if real medicine isn’t found in a bottle at all? In this episode of Women on the Brink , we explore a different way of understanding healing.  One that's rooted in connection, presence, community, and the natural world. From the clinic room to the forest trails, this conversation unpacks how medic...

Send us Fan Mail What if the life you’re holding onto… is the very thing holding you back? In this episode of Women on the Brink , I share the moment I had to leave a long-term relationship because our values were not aligned.  And here's the big question that changed everything: Who do I want to be 10 years from now, and would that woman be proud of the life I’m living today? This is a conve...

Send us Fan Mail At some point, healing turns into a full-time job… and your body still feels exhausted. More treatments. More rules. More effort. But what if that’s the problem? This episode explores why doing everything to get better can actually slow you down and how learning to pull back might be the thing that finally lets your body catch up. Support the show Thanks for listening and feel fre...

Send us Fan Mail   Why are so many young men searching for answers about masculinity online? In this episode of Women on the Brink , we explore the disappearing rite of passage for boys, the importance of male mentorship, and why the transition from boyhood to manhood has become so unclear in modern culture. Drawing on the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell and examples from traditional societies...

Send us Fan Mail Why do so many women feel pressure to stop aging at 40? In this episode of Women on the Brink , I unpack the quiet cultural conditioning that tells women they should look forever youthful, and what it takes to push back against it. From a funny shopping trip with my hiking buddy to turning 65 this year, we talk about body image, Botox, social pressure, and why choosing to age with...

Send us Fan Mail The headlines feel like a group chat between emotionally reactive world leaders  and our nervous systems are tempted to join in. In this episode of Women on the Brink , I explore radical responsibility where I'm choosing to regulate, set boundaries, and steward my own energy, instead of absorbing chaos I didn’t create. Because being informed without being inflamed is a radica...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of Women on the Brink dives into the blurry lines between friend, lover, and casual sex—and why those categories get so complicated for women, especially in midlife. Chris and regular guest Kim Protopappas unpack the emotional grey zones of modern dating: the fear of “having the talk,” the risks of making assumptions, the role of attachment and chemistry, and why so m...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, I’m reframing something so many women quietly carry: mistakes. We’re taught to value formal education, linear careers, and “getting it right.” But what about the lessons we learn from heartbreak, detours, wrong turns, and brave decisions that didn’t go as planned? I share a personal excerpt from my book I'm currently working on and reflect on how wandering, c...

Send us Fan Mail  What if the thing that’s making you feel lost, numb, restless—or strangely relieved—isn’t a crisis… but grief? In this episode of Women on the Brink , we explore the quiet, complicated grief that so many women encounter in midlife—the grief of relationships ending (even the right ones), parents aging or dying, careers shifting, identities dissolving, and the younger version of ou...

Send us Fan Mail When women stop creating, we don’t get calm — we get cranky. Tired. Flat. Irritated by everyone and everything. And we assume it’s hormones, stress, or ‘just getting older’…when really? Something essential has been shut down. If you’re midlife or beyond and wondering why your tolerance is gone,  this episode is for you. Support the show Thanks for listening and feel free to follow...

Send us Fan Mail Women on the Brink began as a personal inquiry — an attempt to understand how I kept tripping myself up, not just in romantic relationships, but in my life. I was curious about how smart, capable women (myself included) quietly abandon themselves in ways that are almost invisible. Over time, one truth became clear: women don’t want another conversation about how to attract love —...

Send us Fan Mail  What if ease isn’t something you earn — but something you allow? In this episode of Women on the Brink , I explore an idea that’s been quietly reshaping how I move through the world: that we’re not navigating life alone. Inspired by The Light Between Us by Laura Lynne Jackson and a surprising, science-grounded podcast called The Telepathy Tapes , I reflect on the idea of layered...