This is not a wellness podcast. Not a therapy podcast. Not a sobriety podcast.
It's for women who want to stop escaping their lives and start inhabiting them.
Women don't lose themselves all at once. They lose contact in small ways. The desire. The pleasure. The sense of being fully present in their own existence.
Each episode explores what happens when women lose contact with their own life force—and what becomes possible when they find it again.
We touch on sexuality, identity, midlife, grief, relationships, and yes, alcohol. But none of those are the thesis.
The thesis is this:
Women want to feel more alive than they do now.
And they want that back.
Hosted by Ashley Kelsch—writer, coach, and somatic practitioner in Austin, Texas.
ashleykelsch.substack.com (https://ashleykelsch.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
Publisher
I help midlife women stop escaping their lives and start inhabiting them.
Quitting Drinking, Desire & Reinventing Yourself in Midlife
I just wrapped up a Substack Live with Allison Deraney (https://substack.com/profile/46320510-allison-deraney) and I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it.
We talked about quitting drinking in midlife, why so many of us become seekers of self-help and personal growth, and what we’re really searching for underneath all of it.
We also got into one of my favorite conversations: the stories women inherited about desire as they age. We’re told that sex fades, that desire is only about sex, and that wanting less is simply part of getting older. But what if none of that is true? What if desire is about so much more than sex? What if it’s the life force that fuels our our capacity to feel fully alive and it’s finally coming online?
Whether you’ve quit drinking years ago, you’re questioning your relationship with it now, or you’re simply interested in what it means to come back to yourself, I think you’ll find something in this conversation.
I hope you’ll give it a listen.
Get full access to Ashley Kelsch at ashleykelsch.substack.com/subscribe (https://ashleykelsch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
15 Jul 2026
Desire, Sex Drive and The Discovery of Something of New
hi again!
I know, you’re hearing from me on Substack. I’ll get to that in a second.
but first…
This live video was a bit of experiment that frankly, went off the rails when I thought my Dad was watching. It turns out I have zero problem talking about sexual desire and pleasure practices UNTIL I think my Dad is listening.
I’ve already decided I am going to do a follow up so I can expand on
* desire and sexual drives shifting
* how some of us may feel like we are losing our identities
* and that maybe all of that is okay
* plus the practices that have brought a sense of peace to all it for me
Consider this video a pilot… or a preview of what’s to come :)
Speaking of…
This Friday at Noon, I will be going live with Allison Deraney (https://substack.com/profile/46320510-allison-deraney) of DARE TO BE to discuss being seekers of self help and personal development or, as I like to call it, self help sluts. We will also be talking about sobriety, desire and midlife. I think you should join us.
Next month I will be going live with Romi (https://substack.com/profile/338214844-romi) of BREATHE MIJA who has been sharing her story on Substack and quickly rose to the TOP 10 in the literary department. It’s that good!
See you Friday!
xo
ash
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ashleykelsch.substack.com (https://ashleykelsch.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
17 Jun 2026
On Aliveness and the Things We Don't Let Ourselves Feel (2023)
Nobody taught us how to feel. Only how not to.
Most of us learned early that certain emotions weren’t welcome — not in public, not in relationships, sometimes not even alone. So we got very good at managing. Reaching for something to take the edge off. Keeping the lid on whatever was building underneath.
This episode is about what’s actually under there. And what happens when you stop trying to keep the lid on and let it move through instead.
Jealousy. Grief. Rage. Disappointment. The feelings we were told made us hysterical, crazy, too much. Turns out they were just incomplete.
I recorded this in 2023. I’m putting it back out because everything I’m building now grew from what’s in here — the idea that a body that learns to feel everything becomes a body that needs to escape nothing.
In this episode:
* Full catastrophe mode. What it is and why some of us live there
* The NOW practice: Name it, Open to it, Watch it; a body-based framework for processing emotion in real time
* Swamping: a practice from Mama Gena for moving emotion through the body completely, including what it looked like the night I used it
* What a 20-mile run in Taos taught me about grief I didn’t know I was still carrying
* Why pleasure and self-touch are part of how the emotional cycle actually completes
If you’ve been holding something for a long time and you’re ready to stop — this one is for you.
This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Get full access to Ashley Kelsch at ashleykelsch.substack.com/subscribe (https://ashleykelsch.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
183,974
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
61
Social presence
0
YouTube
82
Engagement
0
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