Midlife isn’t a breakdown. It’s the fire of becoming.
In this opening episode of The Second Firing, Kate Garland — somatic coach and stress recovery specialist — introduces the metaphor that reshaped her understanding of midlife, menopause, and transformation.
Drawing from the ancient process of pottery’s two firings, Kate explores why midlife often feels intense, destabilizing, or unfamiliar — and why those experiences are not signs of failure, but signals of initiation.
If you’re navigating midlife change, perimenopause, menopause, grief, anxiety, identity shifts, or the sense that your life no longer fits, this episode offers a grounding reframe rooted in the body and nervous system, not mindset alone.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- why midlife symptoms aren’t a malfunction — they’re a message
- the meaning of the second firing and why it’s essential, not optional
- how real reinvention begins in the body, not the brain
- the link between stress, menopause, and spiritual initiation
This is the fire that burns away what no longer belongs —
so your true form can emerge.
Next Up: Part 2 – The Making of a Vessel
We’ll walk the arc of a woman’s life—from wet clay to bone dry—and explore how each phase prepares us for the second fire. It’s mythic. It’s messy. It’s medicine.
Hi Love!
I want you to know how grateful I am that you’re here. . . and I would love to invite you to journey even further with me.
If you’re craving a steady place to land while life is shifting and reshaping you, come sit with us at The Hearth. It’s a gentle, grounded space for women in navigating change—an oasis of rhythm, reflection, and real support when the world feels loud or uncertain.
And if midlife has felt less like a problem to solve and more an initiation, it is! Join our waitlist for The Second Firing. This work is for women who know something meaningful is happening—even if they can’t quite name it yet—and are ready to meet who they’re becoming on the other side. We begin soon!
And finally, if anxiety has been looping in your body or mind, I have a simple gift for you. My FREE 54321 Anxiety Reset is a 7-minute, guided practice you can return to anytime you need to interrupt the spiral and come back into breath, body, and presence.
However you’re walking with this work—thank you. I’m so glad our paths have crossed. Don't forget to Subscribe/Follow (and maybe drop a review!)
xx.
Kate