Midlife Butterfly: Healing, Empowerment & Self-Discovery
Midlife isn’t just a phase—it’s a powerful catalyst for transformation. Whether you’re navigating divorce, an identity crisis, a breakup, feeling lost, a spiritual awakening, empty nest syndrome, moving to a new city or country, or grief—this chapter of life is calling you to heal, grow, and reinvent yourself.
I’m Kena Siu, your host and Self-Love & Empowerment Guide, and I’m here to help you embrace midlife as a time of expansion, self-discovery, and joy.
Join me and my guests as we share personal stories, mindset shifts, self-care practices, and spiritual tools to support you on your journey. Midlife is not the end—it’s a new beginning. It’s time to prioritize yourself, reclaim your power, and create life on your own terms.
Follow and listen for inspiration, healing, and practical steps to transform your life from simply surviving to fully thriving.
You are the creator of your life. Let’s co-create together so you can spread your wings and fly.
Much love 💜,
Kena Siu
Midlife Butterfly: Healing, Empowerment & Self-Discovery
#19 - The Midlife Butterfly Effect: Navigating Change with Courage and Resilience
In this solo episode, I’m sharing raw, real, and radiant reflections from the heart of a woman who’s living and breathing the sacred transitions of midlife. From my return to Montreal to the full rebranding of my blissness from The Wellbeing Project to Midlife Butterfly, this episode is a juicy blend of storytelling, lessons, and soulful reminders that you are not alone in your unraveling or your rising.
Whether you're in a cocooning season, dissolving an old identity, or just starting to spread your wings again — this one's for you, beautiful.
Here’s what I cover in this episode:
- Why I rebranded my entire blissness (biz) to Midlife Butterfly (and the divine click that led to it).
- The lesson I learned the hard way from ignoring my intuition at 3 a.m.
- How technical breakdowns turned into divine reconnections (yes, guac and wine included!).
- Why transitions feel extra wild during midlife — and how to ride the rollercoaster with grace.
- What it means to be in the cocooning, dissolving, emerging, or flying phase of your own life.
- A powerful reminder: emotions are neutral, and they're here to guide you.
- My client’s incredible transformation after six months of deep soul work.
- How to stop resisting what’s falling away and start trusting what’s being born.
- The deeper meaning of midlife as a series of sacred deaths and rebirths.
- How to build the strength to spread your wings — again and again.
This episode is a love note for the woman who’s navigating loss, change, and growth all at once — and knows deep down, she’s meant to rise from it all. You are the butterfly, my love.
Reflection Questions for You:
- Which butterfly phase are you currently in — cocooning, dissolving, emerging, or flying?
- Where in your life are you being called to listen to your inner voice more deeply?
- What would it look like to trust your emotions as sacred messengers rather than problems to fix?
Check out the free Midlife Butterfly Guide [http://midlifebutterfly.ca/theguide] with five key practices that have helped me navigate major life transitions with more ease and alignment. Visit midlifebutterfly.ca or follow me on Instagram @KenaSiu.
You can find all the podcast details right here: http://midlifebutterfly.ca/podcast
Download the Midlife Butterfly Guide with 5 Radical Practices to Heal, Take Your Power Back & Rise
Follow Kena on Instagram: @kenasiu
Join the Midlife Butterfly Community: http://www.facebook.com/groups/midlifebutterfly
For Coaching, Courses & More Visit Kena's Website: http://midlifebutterfly.ca/workwithme
Request a Free Empowered Call with Kena if you're interested in working with her: https://midlifebutterfly.ca/empoweredsession
Song: Reborn by Alexander Nakarada
Midlife butterfly, a woman in the sacred in between. She's not who she once was and not quite who she's becoming yet. She's unraveling, awakening, remembering. She's navigating life transitions, divorce, loss, reinvasion, moves With a burning desire for freedom, joy and solid living. She feels the pull to rise, to fly. She's no longer afraid of her own wings. Hello, beautiful soul, welcome back to the Midlife Butterfly Podcast with your host, Kena Siu. It is a pleasure having you here and having you in your ears. Thank you for your time. I deeply appreciate it.
Kena Siu:I feel just so inspired to come here today after having an interview with one of my pod sisters, dana hunter fradella from girls for recovery podcast. Uh, oh, my god. We had such a yummy conversation and it is amazing how impactful and how reflective and how full of connection a question can cause in a person. Like I tell myself oh yeah, I was questioning myself and I you know. But then when someone else comes and question me from a total different perspective, and then I was at one point like, okay, how am I going to answer this? And I was just being so present and said, of course I'm gonna, I'm going to know the answer. There's no reason why not knowing the answer and it was just it flew so beautifully. Of course, I'm going to be sharing with you eventually when that podcast comes out and it's been a while that I feel like it being recorded, because the last time was when I was in bed in Oaxaca. That was like almost a month ago, and here I am now.
Kena Siu:A lot has happened and as I work with you know women in transition, here we go, a lot of transitions happening. Since then, uh, I am back in montreal, I got here. I got here the very beginning of may and, uh, it's been wonderful, you know, to be back, uh, at my place. I kind of needed it. At the same time, I'm like, oh, I own my own again. Like, even though you know what, I I was having my own room in a hostel, but then I will just, you know, go to the kitchen and talk to people and all those things. So it's kind of like I'm kind of readapting on being on my own and, yeah, taking it easy, one step at a time.
Kena Siu:The other transition that I want to talk to you about if you don't follow me in social media yet it's about the rebranding of my business. Yes, we call it business, not business, because it's a bliss having the opportunity to do what I love. And so the well-being project, which it has been the name of my brand for four or five years, has turned around and become midlife butterfly as the name of this podcast, which it has been the main inspiration, uh, of it. Uh, again, talking about questions, I got questioned by someone. It's like, yeah, but your business is called Wellbeing Project, then you have the Midlife Butterfly podcast and then you have, you know, your social media handles and it's kind of confusing, too many names, whatever. And I was like, yeah, you're right. And she was like, what about if I just ask you, are you a midlife butterfly? And I was like, you know, like the freaking click, I was like, hell, yeah, this is it. So that's what I chose to rebrand my business, my business, to midlife butterfly as the name of this podcast. Thank you, maggie Moore, for that inspiration as the name of this podcast. Thank you, maggie Moore, for that inspiration. And so here I am.
Kena Siu:I just launched on May 7th and talking about the transitions, because I'm going to do a mix of them here. You know I like it. It's the date that I officially said that I was going to launch was May 5th, and then I was working during the weekend and the website, and then, around 3 am, I was actually feeling very inspired, but I heard this little voice in my head saying go to bed. And then my other voice saying oh, but you can stay a bit longer. You still have energy, right? If you know what I'm talking about. One voice was my intuition, my inner beautiful soul, telling me go to bed, it's time. When the other one was my little ego saying but you can do more. So I followed this last voice and then I screwed it up within minutes right after, and my website was literally an orange screen with a 404 error on it. I was like I cannot believe this. So there you go. It's important to listen to the right voice. It's always there and when we put attention to in it, when we follow there are things are gonna follow, that's for sure.
Kena Siu:On the other hand, I gotta share that because of that, I reach out to a beautiful dear friend of mine asking him for help because, like, even though I, you know, I put a ticket with the platform that I have my website with, they said, well, they must take, you know, like 24 hours and a while or whatever. And I was like, okay, I think this is going to take much longer. So I reach out to this friend of mine. And then he was like you know what? I'm actually on my way to Montreal now because he doesn't live here and to see a client so I might be able to go to your place.
Kena Siu:After I was like, okay, let's see how it flows, I'm just going to leave it there Ends up, yeah, he was able to come here to help me with some things. Well, fix the email. First of all, that I was having another issue. We fixed that. But then the website was still the same. And he was like you know what? I'm gonna check with my boss. He's pretty good at this and, as my father used to say, better friends than money. And yeah, within a couple of hours no, there was more than a couple of hours uh, his boss was able to help us. I know this guy as well. So, thank you so much. Thank you so much for your help, frank and um, and yeah. And then I was like this is is fixed. And you know what I got to mention.
Kena Siu:Everything happens for a reason. I really wanted to catch up with my friend, so he brought a bottle of wine, we had some I mean some guacamole, and so we have a really nice conversation and everything we catch up. And then the next day I was like I don't want to feel the rush to to launch my website, so I'm just going to finish whatever I have to finish with calmness, intentionally, with peace, and then it's going to flow. So I just end up whatever I needed to do, at least to have it up and running, whatever and then I launch it on May 7th midlifeputterflyca, if you want to go check it out. So that's the other transition that I'm going on, besides coming back to montreal, is the fact that my website is up. I'm super excited about it. It feels so aligned you don't have an idea. It is feels so aligned with the kind of work that I'm doing now with my clients, with my soul, with the soul of my business, that you can hear it now in my voice. I feel so emotional and so honored to be able to do this kind of work and put it out there, because I keep seeing the results that people can get and in the last calls that I have had, like especially one of my clients, like I literally hung up the call in Zoom and then I start crying because of the shifts that she's been doing in her life. We were working together for six months and it's just incredible how she has shifted and how she has improved her life and the opportunities and the synchronicities and the connection with her children and back with her family and it's just so freaking amazing that that's what it feels. So fucking proud, because I know that the work that I'm doing, I know the help that I can offer women in transition is transformational. It is. It is At the same time, I want to mention that midlife it's a roller coaster.
Kena Siu:Well, life itself is a roller coaster of our lives. The ups and downs are probably coming more often and deeper and we feel it wilder. And yeah, because there's a lot of things happening at the same time, because if either is you know, know something happening with your partner at home, or if you have children, with your children, either if they are there or they have special needs, or if they are, you're going to become an empty nester. Or if you are separating or divorcing, or if you are moving to a new city, to a new country, or if you are just traveling around and coming back to your place and if you're changing um jobs or if you're, you know, meeting new people and then letting go of their friendships, all those transitions in this season of midlife, it's just more wild, you know, it's just, and it's so exciting at the same time because I mean, that's life, that's the journey is just so freaking great and and I mean it truly it's so freaking great when we go up the hill, and it's so freaking great when we go up the hill, and it's so freaking great when we go down, because then we're going to learn something and we're going to discover something within ourselves that we didn't know it was there. And then, when we go up the hill, oh, we know, like, oh, I can be more resilient, oh, I have all this courage, and then when we go down the hill, it's like, oh shit, like all this grief and all this sadness, but I know, to have resilience, that I can keep going. And that's my invitation for you, beautiful, to keep going, because this journey is so fucking worth it. If you are here, I believe, because there is a connection with our souls and because you believe that we have a soul, and by welcoming whatever it is in life that is happening. Whatever it is in life that is happening, it just goes with more flow and more ease and more peace, despite whatever is happening out there and whatever it can be happening inside of. You know, with all your emotions, whatever between quotes we call bad emotions, but they are not such a thing, it's just all emotions are neutral. It's just about, you know, getting back into alignment, getting back into um, into center, because our emotions are there just to guide us. That's it, that's all. And when they are guiding us, it's just about allowing them to go through us and then they will move away. That's it, that's it, that's it.
Kena Siu:So are you a midlife butterfly? In which transition of your life do you feel that you are going at this very moment? What is happening that you might be now? You know, in the cocooning phase where it's time for you to go in and really do a self-discovery over there, because, I don't know, probably a relationship broke, you lost a dear one, or your children move away, or you know whatever it is, or probably it's your own awakening. Are you in that cocooning phase where you need to get more intimate with yourself at looking at your dots, at your emotions and your patterns and whatever it is that it can get your attention. That is like calling you up for something that has or needs to be healed, that needs, yeah, that attention, that presence. Or are you already kind of like a? Yeah, because that's part of the gooey part, right, that cocooning? Sometimes it looks so that it's never going to end because we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I can tell you there is a light. There is a light the length of the tunnel, I don't know, but what I can tell you is the more time you take to explore, to begin to experience those emotions, to heal, the shorter that tunnel might get. Water that tunnel might get.
Kena Siu:Or, I don't know if you're in the part of the dissolving, because, remember, the worm actually eats itself until it has to die. And that's what midlife is all about too, about those, about death and rebirth continuously. What is something that you have to let go, or somebody, or what part of you is dying that you need to honor, that you need to take the time to grieve that? If it's a relationship, if it's another job, if it's an older version of you, are you really taking that time to dissolve, to go to that death and honor it. So then you can move to that phase of emerging, of that little butterfly growing back again little by little, and how important it is to honor that phase as well, that phase of growth, that phase of becoming that we say, but I prefer the word of remembering, because it's a remembrance of who you really are. Every time you are shedding something out, it's about remembering and coming back to yourself. So what is it that is emerging in there? And I invite you in this phase to have that courage and that resilience to keep going Because, as you might have seen, you know when a butterfly is coming out, the butterfly need that push, that strength to be able to rip off that cocoon I think that's the word in English, sorry and to be able to spread the wings again, because they say that if someone helps a butterfly get out of that cocoon and not use their own strength, they might die because they're not gonna be able to fly on their own.
Kena Siu:So that's what I'm here for as an empowerment coach it's to show you tools and practices that you can use in your daily life to build in that strength and to regain that power and that responsibility so you can spread your wings With such an expression and splendor and magnificence so you can fly again, because I know you can fly again. If I was able to do it, you can do it too, and there's so many stories about that here in Midlife Butterfly, in the other episodes of comebacks from women after many things, after you know being a widow, after you know living from trauma from a mom, after recovering from divorce, after so many things, after so many things, because you are not alone. You are never alone. One thing is when we isolate ourselves, but truly we are never alone.
Kena Siu:So in which phase of the midlife butterfly are you? In the cocooning phase? In a dissolving phase? In the emerging phase? In the flying phase? I would like you to share that with me. Either, you know you can send me a dm and in instagram, or, if you're listening in Spotify, you can actually write a comment in here, or you can also share it in Apple Podcast. If you do a testimonial, you can also write it down in there. You're more than welcome to do that.
Kena Siu:And yeah, that's life, that is midlife the transitions that we go over and over again, the phases that we go over and over again, and that courage and resilience that we can build from within by taking care of yourself, by prioritizing yourself, by taking responsibility for yourself, by setting beautiful boundaries with people, by acknowledging your worthiness, by feeling whole again when you welcome and embrace and accept all parts of you. This is the path that I have walked to be where I am now. All these different tools, all these different practices that I have been putting out, and it is because I have embodied them now and that's what I am here to teach and to show others, because life is going to continue to shift over and over again, and the more you get to know who you are, love yourself, know your worth, the more solid, grounded, stable and aligned you're going to feel that it doesn't matter what transition you are going through. You're going to be able to stay grounded or, if you really fell down, you're going to have the tools for you to get up faster. And that's what I offer, that's what I have these conversations with other women that you know, with their practices, with the things that they have come through to be where they are now, because it is possible for you to come out and to get up again and to do it again and again and again, and the more you are into alignment with your soul, body and mind, the easier it's going to be for you to move through those transitions. So that's my invitation for you, and I have the midlife butterfly guide. It's a free guide which actually shows the five main practices that have helped me move forward after every transition after my father passed away, after I separated and divorced, after the breakup of one of my best friends, after getting to live on my own, after having a short relationship of six months, after living now as a digital nomad, after still going into healing with the relationship with my siblings you know all these things that are always happening again, the roller coaster is there. We are in it. So keep, strap on, take these tools with you and you're gonna see that these ups and downs are gonna get easier, at least with more flow by you not creating resistance okay. With more flow by you not creating resistance, okay. So cheers to the transitions in life, cheers to you for investing in yourself by listening to this. Thank you so much. I appreciate you, I love you and I hope to hear from you very soon.
Kena Siu:If you want to follow this podcast, podcast midlife butterfly, if you want to leave a review if you want to share in the socials when you're listening to it, whatever it is that inspire you. So I know that you are there. I know you are there. It's just different when I'm just looking at my screen now while recording this. But be sure that I'm recording with a heart open, with an open heart, with a big smile in my face of happiness, of gratitude and for having the honor of your time. Thank you so much. I love you, sending you lots of kisses, take care.
Kena Siu:Thank you for tuning into Midlife Butterfly. If this episode lead a spark in you, hit that subscribe or follow button on Apple Podcasts, spotify or wherever you love to listen so you'll never miss the magic. If you're feeling generous, drop a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps this empowering content reach more souls ready to transform their lives. And don't forget to take a photo of you while listening and share it on your socials. You can tag @KenaSiu so I can celebrate you and your expansion. Until next time, keep spreading those wings and living in joy, growth and pleasure.
