#85WeeksToFifty with Risa August
Author, speaker, cyclist, Gestalt practitioner, and patient advocate who turned a life-altering diagnosis into a different kind of freedom.
There are some women whose answers make you sit up a little straighter, not because they’re polished, but because they’ve lived.
That’s what I felt reading Risa August. On her site, Risa describes herself as an author, speaker, Gestalt practitioner, and patient advocate. She also speaks openly about surviving brain surgery, living with rare pituitary disease, and the bike journey that became part of her book, The Road Unpaved: Border to Border with a Brain Tumour and a Bike. What I loved most about this interview is that you can feel all of that in the way she speaks now. Not as trauma dressed up as a brand story, but as the hard-won clarity of a woman who has been cracked open by life and chosen to build something truer in the aftermath.
Also, you’re going to want to read what she says about honesty, self-trust, and the single decision that moved her from the couch towards a completely different life. Because sometimes the beginning of a new chapter doesn’t look dramatic at all. Sometimes it looks like one small yes to yourself.
Who are you, and what season of life are you in?
I’m Risa, an author, speaker, cyclist, and woman who rebuilt her life after a brain tumour diagnosis cracked it wide open. I’m in a season of reclamation. Of refinement. Of choosing what aligns and releasing what doesn’t. I’m no longer chasing a life that looks good from the outside, I’m building one that feels good on the inside.
What surprised you most about your 50s?
How much freer I feel. I care less about approval and more about truth. My 50s aren’t boring or diminished. They’re more honest, and because of that, more vibrant.
One thing you’ve stopped doing (and you’re better for it):
Pretending I’m fine when I’m not. My body taught me that silence (or inaction) can have consequences. If you ask how I am, you’re going to get an honest and full answer.
One thing you’re choosing instead:
Radical self-trust. Listening inward before looking outward. This is a work in progress!
One boundary you now honour, no apology:
I don’t abandon myself to make others comfortable. Not anymore.
One micro-decision that changed everything:
Five months after brain surgery, I chose to get off the couch. That one decision led me to a completely new life.
One practice that keeps you steady:
Movement. Whether it’s cycling, perusing a farmer’s market, or simply acknowledging my discomfort, forward motion reminds me I’m alive.
One belief about midlife you no longer subscribe to:
That's it, downhill from here. For me, midlife is the beginning, and from here, expansion.
The best thing about being in your 50s:
Clarity. I know who I am. And I’m no longer negotiating with that truth.
At 50+, I am…
At 50+, I am Unpolished. Unapologetic. Unleashed.
This week, I want women turning 50 to remember:
Your next chapter starts now, so what are you waiting for? What decision today could move you toward the life you crave, or make the one you have deeper, more you?
My Note to My Future Self
What I love about Risa’s answers is that they feel like the voice of a woman who has stopped decorating the truth.
There’s something about walking through a health crisis that burns off a lot of what was never essential in the first place. The performing. The pretending. The self-abandonment that once felt normal. And what’s left is often something rawer, but also far more real.
That line about no longer building a life that looks good from the outside, but one that feels good on the inside, really stayed with me. Because I think so many women arrive at midlife and realise how much of their life has been built around optics, expectation, or endurance. And then comes the deeper question: yes, but does it feel like mine?
Risa’s answers feel like a reminder that midlife isn’t where life narrows. It’s where truth gets louder.
If you’re following along this week
My Stop: Where am I still pretending I’m fine when I’m not?
My Start: What would radical self-trust look like in practice this week?
My Boundary: Where do I need to stop abandoning myself to keep others comfortable?
My Micro-decision: What one small decision could move me closer to the life I actually want?
My Practice: What helps me feel alive and in motion again?
Journal prompt: What would change if I stopped focusing on how my life looks and started honouring how it feels?
If you’d like to be part of the ‘85 Weeks to Fifty' series, or you know a woman whose voice would feel like medicine here, email me at hello@kiransinghuk.com. And if you’re reading this thinking, same, tell me in the comments: What is your takeaway from this interview?
Fabulous!!
Wow, I love this, thank you so much!