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Message in the Middle: Midlife Women, Reinvention & Personal Growth
Message in the Middle is a podcast for women navigating the challenges, transitions, and reinventions that often come with midlife.
Hosted by Marianne DeMello-Smith, each episode explores the messy, meaningful moments that shape who we become. Through honest conversations with experts, authors, thought leaders, and everyday women, you'll discover practical insights, inspiring stories, and new perspectives on what it means to grow through life's most difficult seasons.
Whether you're facing a career change, caregiving responsibilities, health challenges, grief, relationship shifts, menopause, identity changes, or simply wondering what's next, Message in the Middle offers encouragement, wisdom, and real-world strategies to help you move forward with greater confidence and purpose.
Together, we'll explore resilience, personal growth, self-discovery, emotional well-being, and the power of turning life's messes into meaningful midlife messages.
Because midlife isn't the end of your story. It may just be the beginning of your next chapter.
Message in the Middle: Midlife Women, Reinvention & Personal Growth
Falling in Love With Your Brain: Midlife Brain Health with Dr. Leonaura Rhodes
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Stress, memory lapses, and brain fog aren’t just “part of getting older.” In this powerful conversation, Dr. Leonaura Rhodes, a physician turned executive coach, corporate trainer, author, and host of the Mindful Medics podcast, explains why your brain deserves as much love and attention as the rest of your body, especially in midlife.
After a career that began in the high-stress world of medicine, Dr. Rhodes experienced her own wake-up call: suffering from stress was not inevitable, and our brains have the power to heal and thrive at any age. Today, she draws from neuroscience, performance psychology, and lived experience, including a personal battle with Covid-related brain inflammation, to help high performers reduce stress, prevent burnout, and optimize brain health.
Together, we explore:
• Early, often overlooked signs that your brain may need more care
• Which brain changes are “natural” in midlife
• Small, science-backed habits to protect brain health, even in busy lives
• The surprising role relationships and emotional health play in brain resilience
• Why curiosity and lifelong learning protect against decline
• The truth about dementia and cognitive decline myths
• How to “fall in love with your brain” and why it matters
If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s too late to start building brain-healthy habits, this episode will remind you that your brain can recover, rewire, and thrive.
Connect with Leonaura: https://www.drleonaurarhodes.com
Connect with Marianne:
- Website: Message In The Middle with Marianne
- Message In the Middle Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlists
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966
- Email: Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne
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