The Mindful Midlife Mom - Mindfulness Practices and Techniques for Mentally Exhausted Moms in the Sandwich Generation

Two Breathing Techniques To Lower Cortisol From Midlife Stress

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Something happened this week that spiked your cortisol. A call, a deadline, a caregiving moment that came out of nowhere. Your body responded exactly the way it was designed to. The question is — did you ever bring it back down?

This midweek practice pairs with Episode 154, where we broke down the hidden tax of midlife cortisol and introduced two breathing techniques to manage it. 


  • Technique 1: The Physiological Sigh — three rounds for acute cortisol spikes
  • Technique 2: Box Breathing — three rounds for the chronic background rise


Press play to bring your cortisol back down — right now, wherever you are.


Resources & Links: 

Check out more of Valerie’s writing on her blog, ‘Oh, Hello Midlife’. 

And if you sign up for the newsletter, as a thank you, we’ll send you the “10 Min. Calm Kit for Sandwich Generation Moms.” It includes three guided sessions for morning, mid-day, and bedtime, so you can find your calm in the midst of this chaotic season of life.

You’re listening to the right show, formerly known as the Mindful Life Changes or Mindful Career Change. We’ve pivoted through the years, but finally landed on the right path: content for moms in the ‘Sandwich Generation’, because midlife disruption doesn't have to break you. 

New episodes drop on:

  • Sundays: 20-min episodes addressing common midlife challenges with practical strategies plus a mindfulness practice (affirmations, mantras, or meditations)
  • Wednesdays: Bite-sized episodes to reinforce Sunday's mindfulness technique & reset your week

More from The Mindful Midlife Mom:

Discover Valerie's articles on ohhellomidlife.com or watch her videos on YouTube @ohhellomidlife

This podcast explores patience, meditation, confidence, presence, and overcoming resentment while cultivating calm, peace, mindfulness, clarity, mantras, and addressing loneliness and burn out; it covers boundaries, caregiving, guilt, affirmations, working moms, self-care, midlife crisis, empty nesters, empowerment, people pleasing, compassion fatigue, family caregiving, stress relief, self-worth, stress management, and how to shift from reactive to centered when feeling short tempered, offering tools for self acceptance, easing mental exhaustion, building emotional resilience, harnessing inner strength, and preventing caregiver fatigue for those in the sandwich generation through expert advice on boundaries setting.