Ep 76 | Midlife As A Living Bardo: How To Embrace Change And Find Peace With Ann Tashi Slater

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Feeling stuck in the unsettling space between who you were and who you're becoming? If you're navigating midlife transitions - whether it's empty nest, perimenopause, aging parents, or shifting identity - this episode of Pleasure in the Pause offers a transformative perspective on living consciously through change.

Host Gabriela Espinosa sits down with Ann Tashi Slater to explore the Buddhist concept of "bardo" - the in-between state - as a powerful model for midlife transformation. If you've been resisting change, clinging to what was, or feeling overwhelmed by uncertainty, this conversation reveals how accepting impermanence can actually open the door to deeper peace, creativity, and joy. Discover practical daily practices for meeting life's transitions with awareness instead of resistance, and learn how to live fully awake in the great in-between of midlife.

Ann Tashi Slater is the author of Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World. She contributes to The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Paris Review, Oprah Daily, Guernica, Granta, and many others. Her speaking engagements include Princeton, Columbia, Oxford, the American University of Paris, and Asia Society. 

Highlights from our discussion include:

• Bardo as a midlife model: The Buddhist concept of bardo - the in-between state - perfectly describes midlife when we're no longer who we were but not yet who we're becoming.

• Acceptance unlocks action: True acceptance doesn't mean giving up - it allows meaningful action. We must acknowledge reality before we can move forward through any transition.

• Resistance causes suffering: It's not change itself that threatens us, but our resistance to it. Clinging to what was creates additional suffering on top of natural grief.

• Practice noticing transitions: Build comfort with impermanence by observing daily beginnings and endings - the start and end of each day, changing seasons, how you've evolved over time.

This week, notice one beginning and one ending in your day. Then ask yourself: If things could be exactly as I wanted, what would my life look like? Remember, wanting to be happy isn't selfish, it's human.

CONNECT WITH ANN TASHI SLATER:

Traveling In Bardo

Website

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