There’s something especially reassuring about a woman who talks about menopause and midlife without drama, but also without pretending it’s nothing. That’s what I felt reading Karin Wilson Edmonds’ answers.
She’s a yoga teacher and wellness coach based in Kingston, Jamaica, and through her work, she helps women over 40 feel better in their bodies, manage joint pain, and move through menopause with more support and self-trust. She also created Bloom, her online yoga and wellness membership, after moving her classes online during Covid, a pivot that clearly opened up a whole new chapter in her work.
What I loved most about this interview is how honest it is. She doesn’t pretend she was prepared for menopause. She wasn’t. The hot flashes, joint pain, anxiety, and brain fog all arrived more forcefully than expected. And yet the overall feeling here is not one of fear. It’s self-possession. A woman who has learned what supports her, what harms her, and what she is no longer willing to say yes to. There’s something deeply encouraging in that.
Also, I loved the sense of lightness in her answers. More fun, more presence, more confidence in who she is meant to be. Because that’s the thing about this season, it can be challenging, yes. But it can also be fabulous.
What stayed with me most was the combination of honesty and optimism. Karin is clear that menopause symptoms are real, and from her public writing, that’s very much part of her work too. She regularly shares yoga and wellness support for women over 40 navigating joint pain, stress, sleep issues, and menopause symptoms, all without the usual doom-and-gloom tone.
I also loved the simplicity of her shifts: drinking less, saying no more often, choosing fun, staying present, protecting herself from what damages her body, mind, or spirit. These are not flashy answers, but they are deeply lived ones. They speak to the kind of wisdom that comes when you stop trying to force yourself through life in ways that no longer fit.
And that micro-decision to move her yoga classes online during Covid really stayed with me, too. Because so often one practical pivot becomes the doorway to something much bigger. What begins as adaptation becomes expansion. What begins as survival becomes a new offering, a new business model, a new season of purpose.
Who are you, and what season of life are you in?
I'm Karin Wilson Edmonds, Yoga Teacher and Wellness Coach based in Kingston, Jamaica. I'm 61, almost 10 years post menopause, managing menopause without HRT.
What surprised you most about your 50s?
Menopause symptoms are real! I was totally unprepared for what menopause would bring and experienced quite a few symptoms (hot flashes, joint pains, anxiety, brain fog). Didn't expect any of it!
One thing you’ve stopped doing (and you’re better for it):
Stopped drinking as much as I used to and am much better for it! Also, stopped saying yes to things I really wanted to say no to!
One thing you’re choosing instead:
I'm choosing to focus on having more fun in life and to be present and mindful of TODAY!
One boundary you now honour, no apology:
I don't engage in activities that are damaging to my body, mind or spirit (as far as I possibly can).
One micro-decision that changed everything:
To move my yoga classes online during Covid, which has led to my online yoga and wellness membership business, Bloom.
One practice that keeps you steady:
Yoga and meditation!
One belief about midlife you no longer subscribe to:
That midlife means looking and acting "old".
The best thing about being in your 50s:
Having the self-confidence to be true to who I am and meant to be!
At 50+, I am…
Healthy, happy and pain-free!
This week, I want women turning 50 to remember:
The 50s can be FABULOUS! It's not downhill from here, but moving on to doing more fun, fulfilling, and fabulous things!
My Note to My Future Self
What I love about Karin’s answers is that they feel like a woman who has made peace with herself, not in a passive way, but in a grounded one. The kind that says: “I know what this body needs. I know what I’m no longer available for. I know I do not have to act old just because the world expects women over 50 to shrink into some tired stereotype.”
And maybe that’s one of the real gifts of this decade. Not that everything becomes effortless, but that you finally start trusting yourself enough to meet life differently with better boundaries, more mindfulness, more humour, more fun, more truth about what actually feels good and what doesn’t.
There is something deeply hopeful in hearing a woman say the 50s can be fabulous, because they can.
If you’re following along this week
My Stop: Where am I still saying yes when my body, mind, or spirit is asking for a no?
My Start: What would it look like to choose more fun and presence in my life right now?
My Boundary: What am I no longer willing to engage in because it quietly harms me?
My Micro-decision: What one practical pivot could open a new chapter for me?
My Practice: What helps me feel healthier, steadier, and more like myself?
Journal prompt: What if this decade is not about becoming old, but about becoming more fully who I am meant to be?
85 Weeks to Fifty is a series born from one woman walking herself towards fifty in the company of other women’s wisdom. If their stories are landing, if you’re finding yourself in their honesty, there is a space where this conversation continues, week by week, not just in interviews but in the deeper, more personal work of actually living this season differently.
The Midlife Circle is that space. Bi-weekly essays and The Midlife Edit, a private podcast, a Starter Library of tools, and a monthly personal video from me, from £19/month or £149/year.
And if you’re ready for the deepest layer, audio training, The Midlife Reset course, and four quarterly 1:1 calls with me, the Midlife Inner Circle is £297/year.
You don’t have to walk towards fifty alone. Come and do it properly.
I'd like to add that medical advances in menopause are available to women these days. You are so fortunate. When I went through it 40 years ago, my Dr. had to regulate my hormone therapy according to how it went previously. It was through experimenting that I got through it. Then I quit all that and went to holistic yam creams.