Coming Home to Self: Mindful Compassionate Journaling in Midlife

Join us online to explore mindful, self-compassionate journaling and reconnect with your true self in midlife.

Midlife often arrives quietly.

Not always with dramatic change — but with a subtle sense that something inside is shifting.

You might notice restlessness.
A lingering tiredness.
Questions surfacing that didn’t used to be there.
Or simply a feeling that you’ve been tending to life for everyone else for a long time… and somewhere along the way, your own inner voice has become harder to hear.

This is where self-awareness becomes deeply supportive.

Because if you can’t notice what you’re feeling, needing, or carrying — it becomes very hard to respond to yourself with care.

Mindful journaling offers a gentle way back into that noticing.
Not to analyse yourself.
Not to fix anything.
But to create a quiet space where your inner experience can be seen, acknowledged, and held with compassion.

In this guided session for midlife women, we’ll explore:

• what mindful compassionate journaling is (and what it isn’t)
• why self-awareness often becomes especially important in midlife
• how reflective writing can support emotional clarity, regulation, and wellbeing
• how to journal without pressure, perfectionism, or self-judgment

You’ll then be guided through a calming meditation to help you settle inward, followed by a reflective journaling practice designed simply to help you notice what is present for you now.

There is nothing to achieve here.
Nothing to perform.
Nothing to get right.

Just a space to pause, listen, and gently reconnect with yourself.

About Midlife Reclaimed Teachings

Description

Midlife Reclaimed Teachings are occasional, theme-based gatherings for midlife women who want to tend to their wellbeing by staying connected to themselves — gently, intentionally, and without pressure to fix or optimise.

Each 90-minute session offers a calm, supportive space to:

• learn about a key midlife wellbeing theme through a compassionate, evidence-informed lens [recorded and provided]
• experience an embodied guided meditation [recorded and provided]
• reflect and integrate through journaling and gentle reflective inquiry [pdf provided]
• ask questions that help the practice land in everyday life [not recorded -transcript provided]

They are ideal for midlife women who want a meaningful pause, a sense of orientation, and practical inner resources they can return to again and again.

They are not therapy — but they are therapeutic.

Sessions are offered every quarter on the 3rd Thursday of the month (Feb - May - Aug - Nov) year to honour depth, presence, and sustainable pacing.

What’s Included

• 90-minute live online session
• Teaching + guided meditation + reflective journalling
• Space for questions and integration
• A recorded meditation to keep
• A reflective prompt you can return to in your own time again and again

Please note that the teaching and meditation section will be recorded as audio for a resource to take with you. This will be shared via email in the following days after the event.

About the Teacher

Shannon A. Swales is an Australian Clinical Psychologist, speaker, and author who supports midlife women navigating stress, burnout, and life transitions. She is the founder of Midlife Reclaimed and brings a compassionate, evidence-informed approach grounded in mindfulness, reflection, and lived experience.

To learn more about Shannon and her work, visit www.shannonaswales.com/about

Other Ways to Work With Shannon

Alongside these teaching group sessions, Shannon offers a range of supportive spaces through Midlife Reclaimed. This includes a gentle online community for midlife women, weekly Heart Space gatherings, the Midlife Reclaimed podcast, and her book Nothing Left to Give. She also provides 1:1 telehealth psychotherapy support for midlife women across Australia.

You can explore these offerings at www.shannonaswales.com