Gen opens up about a personal struggle — a project that brought her to tears — and uses it to explore why showing up for ourselves consistently is one of the most spiritual, scientific, and emotionally profound things we can do in midlife.

She weaves together neuroscience, psychology, and wisdom from spiritual traditions worldwide to reframe consistency not as a productivity hack, but as a devotional act — a form of self-love that rebuilds trust from the inside out. She addresses why so many women in midlife struggle to follow through (hint: it's not laziness — it's conditioning, hormonal shifts, and a brain in active transition) and offers compassionate, practical tools for starting smaller and staying longer.

The breakthrough isn't the practice. The faithfulness before the breakthrough is.

📚 RESOURCES Books: Composing a Further Life (Bateson) · Good Habits, Bad Habits (Wood) · Tiny Habits (Fogg) · An Altar in the World (Brown Taylor)

Researchers: Carl Jung · Dr. Lisa Mosconi · Donald Hebb · Kristin Neff · Roy Baumeister · John Bowlby · Adam Grant · Albert Bandura · Brené Brown

Institutions: University College London · American Psychological Association · Harvard Medical School & National Institute on Aging

Also referenced: Rumi

🔗 FIND US 🌐 www.fatefortyandbeyond.com ✨ Soulful Existence (readings & sessions): www.soulfulexistence.com 📸 Instagram: instagram.com/fatefortyandbeyond 🎵 TikTok: tiktok.com/@fatefortyandbeyond

In this warm and wide-ranging conversation, Gen sits down with Caren Paskel, self-evolution coach, author, and yoga teacher who transformed profound loss into a blueprint for radical reinvention. After losing her husband to brain cancer, her yoga studios during the pandemic, and eventually her home in Detroit, Caren didn't just rebuild — she completely reimagined what her life could look like. Now 48 and living in Colorado, she's the author of two books: The Power of Self-Belief and Midlife Crisis to Midlife Creation: The Five Steps to Recreate Your Life and Reclaim Your Power.

What unfolds is less an interview and more a conversation between two women who clearly speak the same language. They cover the tarot reading Gen pulls for Caren, the connection between nervous system regulation and abundance, and why staying open to multiple possibilities — in dating, housing, career, and life — is actually a spiritual practice.

It's the kind of conversation that makes you feel like you've been sitting at the table with them the whole time.
[00:00] Welcome & Caren's intro

[01:20] Losing her husband & writing The Power of Self-Belief

[02:50] Midlife Crisis to Midlife Creation — the five steps [04:00] Midlife awakening vs. midlife crisis

[05:00] Nervous system regulation & yoga

[05:50] Gen's wellness journey

[08:10] Tarot reading begins

[14:30] Midlife Olympic Dating — the viral post

[16:25] Influencing vs. inspiring

[18:15] Sacred pauses & social media breaks

[20:25] Staying open to multiple possibilities

[25:10] Grief, gratitude & not getting stuck

[29:10] What called Caren to Colorado

[34:05] When the universe forced the move

[42:10] Space is where the magic happens

[46:25] The Empress & the Hierophant

[53:15] Toxic positivity vs. genuine optimism

[59:25] Money as renewable energy

[1:05:30] Inspirational income

[1:19:20] Advice to your 20-year-old self

RESOURCES & LINKS

• Caren Paskel — Self-evolution coach, author, and yoga teacher
• The Power of Self-Belief by Caren Paskel
• Midlife Crisis to Midlife Creation: The Five Steps to Recreate Your Life and Reclaim Your Power by Caren Paskel (workbook)
• Caren on TikTok: @Caren.Paskel
• Caren on Instagram: @CarenPaskel
• Caren's website: CarenPaskel.com
• Brené Brown — referenced in discussion of shame and storytelling
• The Universal Laws (also covered in Gen's mini episode)
• Afformations (vs. affirmations) — referenced as a mindset tool
  If you love warm, real midlife conversations with humor and heart, you'll feel right at home here.

  Follow the show & connect with Gen: Gen's Website: http://www.soulfulexistence.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulfulxistence TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@soulfulxistence Podcast homepage: http://www.fatefortyandbeyond.com Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatefortyandbeyond Podcast TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fatefortyandbeyond

In this mini episode, Gen responds to a listener question that stopped her in her tracks. Their question: how do you know what's grief psychosis and what's real? Gen's answer is warm, grounding, and deeply personal.

Gen walks listeners through six of the most common signs that someone is opening up to mediumship, including clairaudience, knowing when someone has passed before being told, visitation dreams, heightened sensitivity to energy, synchronicities and signs, and a sudden pull toward all things metaphysical. She draws on her own lived experiences throughout.

But this episode isn't just about recognizing the signs. It's also about the doubt that almost always comes with them. She reminds listeners that you don't have to become a practicing medium to honor what's happening within you. You just have to be willing to stop explaining it away long enough to actually experience it.

• [00:18] Welcome and Listener Question That Inspired This Episode
• [02:45] What Mediumship Actually Is (Stripping Away the Hollywood Version)
• [05:10] Why Grief Opens the Door to Spirit Communication
• [07:00] Sign 1: Clairaudience — Hearing a Voice That Isn't Yours
• [10:20] Sign 2: Knowing When Someone Has Passed Before Being Told
• [13:45] Gen's Story: Waking Up the Moment Her Former Mother-in-Law Passed
• [16:30] Sign 3: Visitation Dreams and What Makes Them Different
• [19:50] Gen's Cousin and the Visitation That Left Her Feeling Settled
• [22:30] Sign 4: Heightened Sensitivity to Energy and Environment
• [25:00] Sign 5: Synchronicities, Signs, and Spirit's Language
• [27:15] Gen's Story: Smelling Spaghetti in an Empty House
• [30:00] Sign 6: A Sudden Pull Toward the Metaphysical
• [32:00] The Doubt Question — Is This Grief or Is This Real?
• [36:45] How Doubt Closes Down What's Opening Up
• [39:00] Closing Message to the Listener and Invitation to Go Deeper
  
  RESOURCES & LINKS
  • Journey of Souls by Dr. Michael Newton
  • Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr. Brian Weiss (referenced in context of Gen's broader spiritual framework)
  • Soulful Existence — Gen's private session practice: soulfulexistence.com
• The four clairs in mediumship: clairaudience, clairvoyance, claircognizance, clairsentience
  

  If you love warm, real midlife conversations with humor and heart, you'll feel right at home here.

  Follow the show & connect with Gen: Gen's Website: http://www.soulfulexistence.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulfulxistence TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@soulfulxistence Podcast homepage: http://www.fatefortyandbeyond.com Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatefortyandbeyond Podcast TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fatefortyandbeyond