What if the most productive thing you can do in midlife is…less?

This week on Before Boca, we're joined by Sarah Heinss toexplore slowmaxxing — the art of optimizing yourlife by slowing down. If you've spent decades rushing through every moment, treating everyday tasks like a crisis, and running on the fumes of hustle culture, this conversation is for you.

We unpack how constant multitasking impacts your nervoussystem, why midlife women are leading the backlash against optimization culture, and the surprising grief that can surface when life finally slows down. Sarah shares her top five practical ways to stop rushing and how toedit your lifestyle so you're not just doing less, but living more.

In this episode:

What is slowmaxxing? The internet's quiet rebellion against burnout

Why treating small momentslike emergencies is draining your nervous system

The grief of slowing down: what happens when the calendar finally clears

Practical ways to stop rushing — from walking slower to saying no

How to edit your lifestyle for calm, not just productivity

🎙️ Before Boca is the podcast for women rediscovering who they are after being everyone else's everything.

Can forgiveness help us let go of resentment, anger, andemotional pain? In this episode of Before Boca, we explore forgiveness in midlife—and why forgiveness is not the same as forgetting, trusting again, or reconciling.

Using the television show Shrinking as a startingpoint, we unpack what it really means to forgive someone who has hurt or betrayed you. We discuss the research-backed benefits of forgiveness, including reduced anxiety, rumination, depression, stress, and even blood pressure.

You’ll learn an eight-step process for forgiveness, includinghow to acknowledge what happened, stop minimizing the hurt, set healthy boundaries, replace rumination with intentional thoughts, and find meaning in your experience.

Most importantly, we explain the difference between forgivenessand reconciliation. Forgiveness may release the emotional grip an offense hason you—but reconciliation requires accountability, genuine remorse, consistent change, and emotional safety.

This conversation is for anyone in midlife carrying anger,disappointment, betrayal, or unresolved hurt and wondering how to move forward without pretending everything is okay.

Spoiler alert: This episodediscusses plot points from Shrinking.

What Our Adult Children Taught Us AboutBeing Authentic (We Weren't Ready)

In this episode, we sit down with two people who know us better than almost anyone — our children, Stella and Jake. Inspired by Brené Brown's Braving the Wilderness, we asked them the questions most parents never think toask: How do you stay true to yourself? What does self-trust actually look like? And where did we, as your parents, get it wrong?

Their answers surprised us. They challenged us. And honestly?They taught us more about living authentically in midlife than any self-helpbook ever has.

This conversation covers:

· What "belonging to yourself" meanswhen the world wants you to fit in

· How Stella and Jake navigate being true to theirvalues — even when it costs them

· The moment we realized our kids were braver thanwe are

· Practical advice for midlife women who arefinally ready to stop performing and start living authentically

Whether you're 25 or 55, this episode will make you rethinkwhat it means to be yourself.

🔗 Mentioned in thisepisode: Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown