See Jane Run With It

When a friend asked if I’d like to come with her to see Jane Fonda at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, I jumped. After all, how could I pass up an opportunity to hear the 85-year-old screen legend dish on Ted Turner, address sex after 50, and discuss her current work—educating people on the climate crisis?

After literally dancing onto the landmark stage, Fonda settled into her chair for a glorious chat that touched on her screen work, relationships, philosophy on aging, and decades of activism in some of the biggest movements of our time (including her recent environmental work via the Jane Fonda Climate PAC).

She didn’t disappoint when it came to revealing the fun stuff, such as the fact that her good friend and Nine to Five co-star Dolly Parton couldn’t see the keys of her prop typewriter because her long nails and ample breasts got in the way. She also told us how Katharine Hepburn hid in the bushes and mimed gestures of encouragement that enabled Jane to finish filming a difficult scene with her emotionally stinted father, Henry Fonda, for On Golden Pond.

But the actress’ eyes lit up when she talked about her many years of activism and how she discovered during midlife that fighting for causes she believes in are what gets her out of bed in the morning.

Here are just a few of the Jane Gems I picked up during the evening:

🎬 On never giving up the fight for a cause: “I used to think it was a sprint. [When I got older], I thought it was a marathon. Now I know it’s a relay race…where you pass the baton to the next generation.”

🎬 On the demographic that’s changing the world: “The young people give me hope….and the gray-haired women really give me hope. Unlike men, when women get older we get braver!”

🎬 On whether or not it’s ever too late: “It’s OK to be a late bloomer as long as you don’t miss the flower show.” Jane said she didn’t discover her true purpose until she became an activist and knew that was the work she was put on this planet to do.

🎬 What would she tell her 20-year-old self? “Life gets better. It’s so hard to be young. Now it’s like, been there, done that. You can just let go and you feel very light. You’re [focused] and you know what’s important to you.”

🎬 Most important life lesson? “No is a complete sentence.”

🎬 The pearl I’m clinging to: “You can’t make your life longer, but you can make it deeper.”

The Pleasure Principle

Season three of the More Beautiful Podcast is finally here, and we’re kicking off the season with a taboo-busting converstaion about midlife sensuality and pleasure.

We hear the advice so often: Get out of your head and into your body. Listen to your body. Trust your body. But what do those things actually mean, and how do you achieve them—especially if you're a woman in the throes of perimenopause or menopause?

My guest is the lovely Gabriella Espinosa, founder of Women’s Body Wisdom, who empowers women to own their pleasure, power and purpose in midlife. Gabriella works with clients to help them feel more at home in their skin and address all kinds of issues such as lackluster energy, anxiety and decreased libido. She also assists people in healing old emotional wounds and trauma—which often surface during midlife.

Gabriella and I chat about many things, including why it’s so common for women in their 40s, 50s and beyond to feel disconnected from and lose trust in their bodies, as well as experience feelings of grief as they’re undergoing physical changes. Gabriella says those feelings shouldn't be ignored, and she offers solutions for getting out of your head and tuning into your body in a way that maximizes your health, joy and capacity for pleasure.

You don't want to miss this beautiful, motivating conversation with Gabriella!

See you next week!