Midlife, Holy Rage, and Navigating the Saturn in Aries Portal
A guide to the "messy middle" of menopause and using the current astrology to build a life that actually fits you.
Midlife: when the Universe gently places her hands upon your shoulders, pulls you close, and whispers that she’s through messing around.
~Brene Brown
ICYMI
I shared this story with my inner circle list but wanted to give it a permanent home here on Midlife Joybellion.
Years ago, a woman who lived next door and I had a ritual. We’d walk the neighborhood with her dogs, and she’d tell me about her shifts as a server at a high-end restaurant.
She was in her 40s—a time when many of us start questioning why we are putting up with things that no longer serve us. The restaurant had a toxic environment. The culture protected the high-paying patrons, even when they were inappropriate, and left the staff to just “deal with it.” She was being harassed, she was exhausted, and she felt stuck.
Every time we walked, I’d ask her: “What would you do if there was nothing stopping you?”
She loved the spiritual world, but the path forward was blurry. Eventually, she whispered a possibility: Maybe a yoga teacher certification?
I offered her a “Hell yes.”
Time passed. She got the certificate. She started dreaming bigger. But she was terrified to leave the security of the restaurant money. I spent those walks acting as her “courage surrogate while she built her own.”
I shared my own stories of embracing fear as an actress and filmmaker. I talked about collaborating with the Universe and looking for signs of everyday magic. I mirrored her talents back to her when she couldn’t see them through the fog of a bad shift.
Then, one day, she rang my doorbell. “I did it. I quit.”
I’ll be honest with you—in that moment, I felt a flash of terror. As an HSP, I think I was catching her “leap of faith” adrenaline, but I also felt a heavy weight of responsibility. What if it doesn’t work out? I had encouraged her to jump. I kept that fear to myself and celebrated her courage and commitment to wanting something more in alignment with her truth.
Today? She takes women on yoga retreats all over the world. She didn’t need “fixing.” She just needed someone to hold the light while she found the door.
On February 13, 2026 Saturn moved into Aries for the next two years. The journey my neighbor went through is the type of shift you might experience when Saturn meets up with Aries.
It sets up an environment for us to face our fears, honor our personal agency, and take back our power. Like my neighbor, this transit supports us forging a new path for ourselves.
In astrology, Saturn is the planet of discipline, reality checks and opportunities for self-mastery. Aries is the sign of the pioneer, the bold start, the “I AM.” When these two collide, we’re being prepped for a long-lasting reset.
Given midlife comes with a built-in reset, hello ovarian retirement, this transit feels particularly significant for us. Menopause is about an energetic shift and transformation of identity. I am constantly amazed by midlife women and see this transit, happening until April 2028, as an opportunity to take radical responsibility for our greatness.
This can look like:
Redefining Your “I AM”: This transit asks us to look at the identities we took on to survive in a broken patriarchal system. Like my neighbor, you might find that roles which once served a purpose—providing structure, safety, or feeding old dreams—now feel like a costume that’s grown too tight. This isn’t about deleting who we’ve been; it’s about bringing to the surface parts of us we may have hidden and shifting from “Who do they need me to be?” to a sovereign “Who do I need me to be?”
Navigating the Pressure Cooker: Aries brings the fire and Saturn brings the container. In our bodies, this can feel like an intense internal pressure—a restlessness, a sudden “done-ness,” or even the arrival of a holy rage toward the things we used to tolerate. Instead of viewing this tension as a “mood swing” or something to be suppressed, see it as the sacred energy required to propel you forward. This transit is a call to ground yourself in your own truth.
Building a Foundation for Your Desires: Saturn in Aries isn’t interested in “maybe” or “someday.” It demands that we put real, sturdy scaffolding around our dreams. If you notice areas of your life—the career, a relationship, or your sense of purpose—starting to fall apart, try not to panic. Like my neighbor, her “server” role fell away because it could no longer sustain the “yoga retreat leader” she was becoming. Destruction is necessary so you can build a container big enough to hold the woman you are now.
The Joybellion Era: This transit mirrors the intense transformation of menopause. While the journey through the portal is often messy and disorienting, I see it as an invitation to stop listening to the “shoulds” of the world and start honoring the whispers of our intuition. It is the challenging, sacred work required to quiet the noise of the mind and commit to an age of enlightenment.
My headless series is meant to serve as a visual reminder of the opportunities that come with this phase of life. When we stop listening to our minds and instead listen to our hearts, anything is possible.
Chani Nicholas describes Saturn in Aries perfectly: “The planet of boundaries and commitment plunges into fiery Aries, where it fans the flames of our boldest passions and ambitions. It’s time to do the thing.”
Take a Joyride
Would you like to listen to a free private podcast I created just for us? It’s called The Joyride, and it explores the journey toward an age of enlightenment while diving deeper into the “how-to” of living this way.
Save the Date: June 8th
My book, Joybellion: Transforming Midlife Insignificance Into Freedom, Power, and Everyday Magic, arrives on June 8th. If you feel a “ping” in your heart to support the book and this mission, I’d be so grateful if you’d help me spread the word as the launch approaches.
Thank you for being a part of the magic and mischief here—I’m grateful for your presence. If you want to keep the Joybellion thriving, here’s how you can support:
‘Heart’ this post to spread the good vibes and boost its reach.
Drop a comment—I love hearing from you and do my best to respond.
Share this post by email or on social media, including Substack’s ‘Notes.’
Upgrade to a paid subscription to fuel the movement and keep it free for everyone.
Leave a one-time tip by buying me a matcha latte 🍵.
To the Joybellion. 🤸🏽♀️ ✊🏽