AGEING ON YOUR OWN TERMS: EMBRACING THIS NEXT STAGE OF LIFE

How do you feel about the process of ageing? It seems like a simple question, but truthfully, it’s complex because our relationship with it is complex. Ageing is often painted as this dreadful inevitability that steals your youth and vitality. We see all these ads promising to ‘stop the clock’ or ‘turn back time’.

But what if we started to view the act of growing older as the fine art it really is? And what if, instead of handing over our power and hard-earned dollars to these multi-billion dollar companies, we aged on our own terms? 

As I reach my 49th birthday, these are the things I’ve been contemplating. So that’s why I’m here to share how you can choose how you experience age, without dismissing it or trying to stop it from happening.

AGEING ON YOUR OWN TERMS – A NATUROPATH’S EXPERIENCE

To be honest, I used to dread getting older. And it wasn’t even necessarily because I thought ageing itself was the bad guy! It was because of my own health issues. The thought of reaching 45, 50, or even beyond that? It left me wracked with anxiety!

But now that I’ve undergone an epic health transformation (you can read a bit about it here) and am reaching the age of 49, I’m loud and proud about my age! I had to reclaim my time, my energy, my space, and cut through the BS, but I’m officially living the best chapter of my life.

Does this seem like a stretch for you? Imagine hitting each birthday with joy, looking forward to the gifts each year brings. It’s like a fine wine that only gets better as the years pass. While we know that ageing is inevitable, dreading it is a choice, as is expecting to feel older, achier and more miserable with every passing day.

But me? I choose to embrace it and let me tell you, life has never tasted sweeter.

MENOPAUSE IS NOT THE END!

This is something I talk to my clients about on a regular basis! There is a lot of BS around women’s value and how we’re only worth something if we’re popping out babies or raising them. So as a result, we’ve been fed this belief that a woman’s life is essentially downhill from the moment menopause hits.

But the truth is that it’s the complete opposite. It’s the start of the next phase – and frankly, it’s the most powerful stage of a woman’s life! We get to choose what we want to do, see, be. And for the first time for many, we get to choose ourselves first and finally care for ourselves in the way we’ve cared for everyone else.

The transition to menopause can be the most exciting and transformative stage of your life – if you embrace it.

HOW YOU CAN AGE GRACEFULLY

So how can you approach the process of getting older in a way that is healthy for both your mindset and your body? I feel like I could talk about this for hours (perhaps I’ll do a podcast episode on it soon – make sure you’re subscribed here!) But to get you started, here are my top tips for how to grow older without the dread:

NOURISH YOUR BODY

Let’s be honest – you’ve probably spent years undernourishing yourself. Whether you’ve been trying to lose that stubborn perimenopausal weight, or you’ve been so busy running the kids around you don’t have time to eat, your body is depleted. And the best way to age well is to have a body that runs on an abundance of nutrients.

Not sure where to start with this? The best place is your plate – by making sure it’s balanced and packed full of nutrients. Make sure you download my FREE Balanced Meal Formula here.

CHOOSE A LIFESTYLE FOR YOUR LIFE STAGE

Once upon a time, you could make all sorts of questionable lifestyle choices! From drinking as much as you like, to skimping on sleep, and even doing intense workouts to drop a few kilos.

But now that you’re in a new stage of life, your body has new needs. Your lifestyle makes a far greater impact on how you feel. So now it’s time to learn how to:

• Prioritise quality sleep
• Hydrate yourself daily
• Manage your overwhelm
• Moving in a way that you enjoy (and that doesn’t put excess stress on your body)

DON’T IGNORE SYMPTOMS – INVESTIGATE THEM!

So many women are self-gaslighting themselves about symptoms that are a real concern. It’s not surprising, given how the medical model has been ignoring or belittling women’s health issues for centuries! But if you’re experiencing a pattern of one or more symptoms, don’t just put up with it.

And I don’t just mean perimenopausal symptoms as your hormones fluctuate, either. I’m talking aches, pains, anything you write off as ‘part of getting older’. And I’m even seeing it in women who aren’t even in their mid-40s, but believe that feeling rubbish is normal!

So let this be your reminder:

Most symptoms associated with ageing are not normal. They’re just common. And we can do something about every single symptom – whether it be eliminate it or reduce it.

On that note, find yourself a good healthcare team. There’s nothing worse than looking into your symptoms, only for an old-school doctor telling you it’s fine for you to feel like crap because you’re 43.

BUILD YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM

Speaking of your team, now is the time to look at who supports you. It could be that you feel unsupported currently, so you need to find people. Or it might be that you need to let your people know how best to support you.

I dive into this topic in more detail here. But long story short – you should have someone as your ally. Someone who is in your corner, holding your hand through the journey of transition. If you don’t have a village that has your back, this stage is the perfect time to build one.

EMBRACE THE NEW PHASE

From a mindset perspective, this is your most important step. If you walk into ageing with the expectation of it being miserable, overwhelming, dull, a slow decline towards death – that’s exactly what it will be.

But on the flip side, if you decide that it’s going to be your most powerful stage of life? That’s what it will become! Seek out the ways that this is your time – choose yourself, choose to do what you love, and choose to set more boundaries than ever. I know you won’t regret it.

AND ONE FINAL NOTE?

It’s never too late. You’re never too old to benefit from making changes in your food, lifestyle or mindset. Even if you’ve felt like ageing is your enemy up until now, you get to make a choice every day how you view it. So choose again – and choose to age well, rather than fighting a battle against yourself.

READY TO START AGEING ON YOUR OWN TERMS?

If you want to ditch the symptoms for feeling calm, less stressed and able to put yourself first, book in for a free discovery call today. Together, we can explore how I can help you to support and nourish yourself – mind, body and spirit.