Pleasure in the Pause: Midlife Conversations About Menopause, Sex & Pleasure

120 Episodes

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119 | Duty Sex: Saying Yes When Part of You Means No with Dr. Holly Richmond

2026-09-1648:44

Most women know the feeling. You say yes. Your body shows up. But some part of you is somewhere else entirely — running through tomorrow's to-do list, waiting for it to be over, checking a box so you will not be expected to again for a week. It is called duty sex. And it is one of the most common and least talked-about dynamics in long-term relationships. In this episode for Sexual Health Awareness Month, Gabriella sits down with Dr. Holly Richmond, somatic psychologist, certified sex therapi...

118 | Unlocking Sexual Longevity: A Midlife Guide with Dr. Peter Castillo

2026-09-0954:59

September is Sexual Health Awareness Month, and this year's World Sexual Health Day theme is Every Body — a reminder that sexual health, pleasure, and intimacy matter at every age and in every body, including our changing midlife bodies. To kick off the month, Gabriella welcomes Dr. Peter Castillo, a double board-certified urogynecologist and founder of Swan Medical Intimate Wellness in Los Gatos, California. Dr. Castillo is one of the rare physicians who treats pelvic and sexual health not a...

117 | The September Shift: How to Get Back Into Go Mode With More Ease

2026-09-0223:23

Gabriella is back from two weeks in Portugal and sitting at her desk, shoulders already creeping up toward her ears, pelvic floor clenching, inbox blinking. September is here. The calendar is filling. And the vacation version of herself is being tested in real time. But instead of pushing through the tension the way she always has, she pauses. Takes a breath. Softens. And asks herself a question she wants to explore with every woman listening: do I actually need all this tension in order to d...

116 | How To Take The Vacation Version Of You Home: More Pleasure, Presence & Connection

2026-08-1221:03

You know her. She shows up every time you go away. More relaxed. More present. More alive. Laughing more easily, sleeping more deeply, feeling more connected to yourself and to the people you love. And yes, often more open to intimacy too. She is your vacation self. And the moment you land back home and the suitcase opens, she disappears — absorbed back into the inbox, the to-do list, and the doing mode that swallows everything else. But here is what Gabriella wants you to know. The vacation ...

115 | Love in Midlife: Navigating Intimacy and Change with Dr. Tina Sogocio

2026-08-0545:43

Two women. Both champions in the midlife women's health space. Both celebrating their 25th wedding anniversaries in the same summer. And both deeply committed to changing the conversation around intimacy, pleasure, and connection in midlife. In this episode Gabriella sits in the interviewee seat again, joining Dr. Tina Sogocio, physician and menopause educator, for an Instagram Live conversation about what it actually takes to keep love alive through one of the most destabilizing transitions ...

#box-pro-ellipsis-178996590768288{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}Pleasure in the Pause: Midlife Conversations About Menopause, Sex & Pleasure

Pleasure in the Pause: Midlife Conversations About Menopause, Sex & Pleasure