{"podcast":{"title":"Practicing Love: Have the Best Love and Sex of Your Life After 40","slug":"practicing-love-have-the-best-love-and-sex-of-your-life-after-40-7053593","podcast_index_feed_id":7053593,"rss_url":"https://feeds.libsyn.com/549852/rss","website_url":"https://shanajamescoaching.com/podcasts/","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/d/0/6/2/d062780b2af2a37116c3140a3186d450/105728.png","author":"Shana James","episode_count":63,"summary":"Love between humans is not easy, and most of us never had great examples or education about emotions, communication, sex, or what keeps love alive. When you add the challenges of aging to the mix, love becomes even more complicated. Many people end up settling, or giving up on what they want most. But you don't have to! Dating and relationships become easier when you hear people share vulnerably about their struggles, and how they've created more connection and excitement. I bring my 20 years of experience, coaching thousands of people, to help you see what's possible, and how the practice of love makes it possible to have the best love and sex of your life! Find out how to have the best love and sex of your life! https://shanajamescoaching.com/goodies","last_synced_at":"2026-07-23T18:18:23.393961+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/practicing-love-have-the-best-love-and-sex-of-your-life-after-40-7053593"},"episode":{"title":"#54: Stop Getting Ghosted: The First Date Move You need to know","slug":"54-stop-getting-ghosted-the-first-date-move-you-need-to-know","published_at":"2026-05-29T00:28:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/practicing-love-have-the-best-love-and-sex-of-your-life-after-40-7053593/54-stop-getting-ghosted-the-first-date-move-you-need-to-know","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/practicing-love-have-the-best-love-and-sex-of-your-life-after-40-7053593","url":"https://55a15c30-fab8-4111-89c4-b7c13a31ff7f.libsyn.com/54-stop-getting-ghosted-the-first-date-move-you-need-to-know","audio_url":"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/55a15c30-fab8-4111-89c4-b7c13a31ff7f/Shana_Ep_2.mp3?dest-id=4744482","summary":"Dating after 40, especially dating after divorce, is supposed to get easier. You know yourself better. You're done with the games. You're clear on what you want. But somehow, the dates still feel like performances. The apps still feel like a chore. And getting ghosted still stings just as much as it did decades ago. That's exactly where this episode begins. In this solo episode of Practicing Love , host and dating coach Shana James gets specific about why dating feels so exhausting after 40. She explains why the fix is simpler and stranger than most people expect. The episode opens with a promise from the previous episode : that the real reason love feels hard to find isn't your age, your circumstances, or the myth that all the good ones are taken. It's that your protection is working too well. And the first move to shift that protection? It doesn't require more therapy, more affirmations, or another workshop. It can happen in the first two minutes of your next date. Most people think the first move is updating their photos, downloading apps, or saying yes to more social events. Shana calls these moves five, six, and seven. Without the real first move, everything that follows feels hollow. Dates feel like auditions, people never quite clear the bar, and the connection that could be there stays just out of reach. The real first move is naming the context of the date out loud. This comes before the small talk takes over. Rather than two people silently performing at each other, quietly asking, \" Am I good enough? Will they like me? Where is this going?\" You simply say it differently. Something like: \"I'm more interested in being real here than trying to impress each other. Can we keep this date honest and relaxed?\" That's it. A few sentences that shift the entire dynamic…","meta_description":"Dating after 40, especially dating after divorce, is supposed to get easier. You know yourself better. You're done with the games. You're clear on what yo…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1595,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/practicing-love-have-the-best-love-and-sex-of-your-life-after-40-7053593/episodes/54-stop-getting-ghosted-the-first-date-move-you-need-to-know/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/practicing-love-have-the-best-love-and-sex-of-your-life-after-40-7053593/54-stop-getting-ghosted-the-first-date-move-you-need-to-know.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}