The version of meditation most of us were handed is: sit still, empty your mind, and arrive at some smooth, untroubled state where nothing gets to you. It's a lovely idea, but for a lot of midlife women it's also a trap.

I've sat in rooms where I could feel myself sliding sideways out of my own opinion. There was a dominant view and mine was different, and somewhere between the thought arriving and my mouth opening, I let it go.