Midlife Shaman: Maria da Silva
Learning how to rest in midlife isn’t a luxury, it’s a radical return to self, especially for women who’ve spent decades in service to everyone but themselves.
We live in a culture that praises doing. Achieving. Producing. For many of us, especially women, this pattern runs deep. We have spent decades caring for others, managing households, tending to careers, giving, giving, giving. Somewhere along the way, we may have forgotten how to receive.
Midlife brings with it an invitation, a sacred threshold. It asks us to slow down, to listen, to rest. What if healing at this stage of life isn’t about pushing harder, but about learning to pause? What if the most radical, life-giving practice we can embrace is sacred stillness after 50?
Why Learning How To Rest In Midlife Feels So Hard:
Turning fifty and beyond is a time of transition. Children grow up and move on. Careers shift. Our bodies change. Aging parents may need our care. It is a tender season—full of wisdom, yet also layered with fatigue.
For years, our worth has been measured by productivity: what we do, what we give, what we accomplish. And yet, constantly doing leaves us depleted. Midlife whispers a countercultural truth: rest is not a weakness, but a source of power. Sacred stillness after 50 is not a luxury; it is medicine for the soul.
The Spiritual Power Of Pausing:
When we pause, we return to ourselves. In the quiet, we hear our own breath, the rhythm of our heartbeat, the voice of Spirit moving through us. Sacred stillness is where intuition awakens and creativity stirs.
I remember a season when exhaustion had settled into my bones. I had been saying “yes” to everything and everyone, except myself. One day, I sat by the ocean, doing nothing but watching the waves. At first, I felt guilty. But as the minutes stretched into stillness, something softened. My breath slowed. My shoulders dropped. In that quiet, I felt held. That simple pause became a turning point: a reminder that stillness is not empty, it is full of grace.
This is the paradox of pausing. When we release the need to fill every moment, we discover we are already filled, with wisdom, strength, and presence.
How To Create A Daily Rest Ritual:
Sacred stillness doesn’t require hours of meditation or retreating to a monastery. It can begin with just a few minutes a day. Here are three simple ways to invite pause into your life:
Morning Pause:
Before checking your phone or starting the day, place your hands over your heart. Breathe deeply, and silently set an intention for the day.
Midday Pause:
Step outside for five minutes. Feel the sun on your skin, the air on your face. Notice your surroundings without needing to fix or accomplish anything.
Evening Pause:
Write down one thing you are grateful for, and one thing you are releasing. Let the page hold what your heart no longer needs to carry. If evening reflection speaks to your spirit, you may also enjoy this bedtime ritual for women over 50—a gentle guide to ending your day with presence and peace.
The key is consistency, not length. Even a brief ritual, repeated daily, can become a sacred rhythm that restores balance.
Reclaiming Rest As A Sacred Right After 50:
For women in midlife, pausing is not selfish. It is sacred. Each time we allow ourselves a moment of stillness, we are reclaiming our vitality, our joy, and our connection to the divine.
Ultimately, when we pause, we remain in the present moment – in the sacred present moment – exactly where we want to be.
So let us give ourselves permission to pause. To breathe. To rest. Because sacred stillness after 50 is not a luxury—it is medicine for the soul. And in this stillness, we remember who we truly are: not just doers and givers, but wise women, deeply rooted, blooming into the fullness of our lives.
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About the Author:
Maria da Silva is a practicing shaman, writer and traveler who lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts and travels frequently to her home islands of the Azores. The founder of Wise Shaman Within, she is bringing peace, healing, and light to the world one client and one workshop at a time. Maria provides individual client sessions and also facilitates workshops in both the USA and Portugal. Visit her website: Wise Shaman Within.
