When I spoke with Seema Sharma on this episode of the How Round is Your Roti podcast, we had a conversation that felt both deeply personal and widely relatable. As South Asian women, we often carry so much at once; family responsibilities, careers, caregiving, friendships, identity, and the pressure to keep everything together.

This conversation reminded me that midlife is not a breakdown. It is often a wake-up call. Seema brought such wisdom to the discussion around menopause, perimenopause, and the wider experience of midlife.

What I loved most was how she framed symptoms not just as something to “fix,” but as signals. Hot flushes, brain fog, anxiety, exhaustion, and mood changes can be clues that something deeper in our lives needs attention, whether that is sleep, stress, nutrition, or finally giving ourselves permission to pause.

I’m so grateful to Seema for sharing her experience and her insight so generously. This conversation is for every woman who has ever felt stretched too thin, unseen, or unsure of what comes next. It is a reminder that it is never too late to reassess, recalibrate, and choose yourself.

I hope you listen to the full episode and take a moment to reflect on what midlife might be asking of you.

Key areas we spoke about (with timestamps)

00:00 Introduction to Menopause Advocacy

03:06 The Overwhelm of Midlife Responsibilities

05:59 Rediscovering Self-Identity in Midlife

08:50 Setting Boundaries and Self-Advocacy

11:56 The Importance of Deep Connections

15:01 Navigating Loneliness and Friendship Changes

17:54 Challenging Societal Norms on Aging

22:29 Embracing Authenticity in Visibility

27:16 Navigating Midlife and Hormonal Changes

32:33 Empowerment Through Knowledge and Advocacy

You can find more about Seema’s work here

Ready to Break the Cycle?

Unlearning decades of people-pleasing, cultural guilt, and perfectionism is heavy lifting. It’s incredibly hard to do in isolation. That is exactly why I created the Beyond The Circle Group Program.

This is a curated, deeply supportive space for South Asian women who want to reclaim their autonomy, build unapologetic confidence in their careers and lives, and model a lighter, guilt-free path for the next generation.

We start soon, and spaces are limited to keep the group intimate.

Click here to explore the program details and claim your spot.

Let’s break the cycle together.

Priya

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