Choice Wisdom explores the choices people have made that are creating the life that they want. Their stories are shared with the intent of providing you inspiration to embrace your own gifts and make choices that will transform your life. Choice Wisdom is hosted by Gayle Goodman Lynch and Louisa Garrett - two wild, wise midlife women who are passionate about sharing what they know works in creating the life you want through more love, more kindness and greater self-care. Choice Wisdom is published twice a month.
What if you throw your life up in the air and see what happens when it comes down?
That's the question we asked Cathy Derksen, who runs a collaborative book publishing company called Inspired Tenancity.
After leaving a toxic marriage, Cathy reinvented herself and now inspires other women to share their own stories of reinvention. It's an inspiring conversation about what it takes to embrace the courage within you.
Five years ago, Cathy was navigating some major changes personally and professionally. She eventually walked away from financial planning and found herself doing something she never expected, helping women tell their stories and become published authors.
But this conversation isn’t just about publishing books. We talked about what it takes to start over when you don’t know exactly what comes next. About trusting yourself enough to pivot. About finding purpose in places you never expected.
And we talked about the power of our stories. Sometimes we convince ourselves that nobody wants to hear what we have to say. But your experiences, the things you’ve learned and even the things you’ve had to overcome could be exactly what somebody else needs to hear.
That’s the beauty of sharing our stories. We never really know who they might reach or what they might unlock for someone else. Such a good conversation about courage, purpose, community and being willing to choose differently when life is telling you it’s time.
Find links to Cathy's work and other Choice Wisdom episodes at https://choicewisdompodcast.com.
7 Sept 2026
What Science Doesn’t Tell Us
What if meditation is helping you before your brain can prove it?
That’s one of the questions that came up in our conversation with Chelsey Charbeneau of Breathe Meditation and Wellness and Dr. Claudia Porras Pyland of Texas Woman’s University.
Chelsey and Claudia conducted a study looking at how often people actually need to meditate to experience the benefits. Participants who weren’t regular meditators were divided into three groups: a control group, a group that meditated twice a week and a group that meditated four times a week. Their brains were scanned at the beginning and again at the end of the study.
But the brain scans weren’t the whole story.
People in the meditation groups reported better sleep, less fatigue, greater well-being and more mindfulness. And those improvements didn’t always line up neatly with what showed up on the scans.
So what do we do with that?
We live in a world that wants data. We want to measure progress and see proof that something is working. But if you’re sleeping better, feeling calmer, experiencing less fatigue and handling life a little better, does it matter if a brain scan can’t fully explain why yet?
We don’t think so.
There was something else we loved about this study. You may not have to meditate every single day to experience a benefit.
That feels a little like kindness to us.
Taking care of yourself shouldn’t become another thing you have to do perfectly. Maybe being kind to yourself means finding a practice that actually fits your life instead of feeling guilty because you can’t fit your life around the practice.
That’s something we talk about often through #MakeKindLoud. Kindness isn’t only about how we treat other people. It’s also about how we treat ourselves.
Maybe twice a week works for you. Maybe four times a week works. Maybe the first choice is simply making a little space for yourself and paying attention to how you feel.
Because not everything meaningful can be measured.
Want to learn more about Choice Wisdom or listen to other episodes? Visit https://choicewisdompodcast.com.
21 Jun 2026
Laugh It Up
Studies have shown that babies laugh more than 300 times a day. Yet adults only laugh about 15-20 times per day.
So, what gives?
Louisa and Gayle explore the many facets of humor in this episode of The Choice Wisdom podcast - including the places where laughter goes to die (school, adult-ing and work), as well as places where it may be inappropriate, but secretly welcome (like the middle of a church service).
Laughter is infectious, and with intention, we believe that all of us can laugh and smile more. And by doing that, we can infect the world with joy.
Wouldn’t that be something?
Join us for this fun- and joy-filled conversation on the nature of laughter and how we can find ways to put more laughs and smiles into the every day:
Using habit-stacking to find places where we can laugh;
How laughing yoga and other practices are far more practical than they seem; and
The ways in which adult-ing is way overrated.
We guarantee you will leave this episode smiling! And our intention is that you can find ways to keep that smile on your face throughout the day - every day!
Want to listen to more episodes of Choice Wisdom? Check out our website at: https://choicewisdompodcast.com.
Reach and audience
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 45 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
65
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
60
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