What does aging well mean to you? 

Chris and I have been talking a lot about how women age....whether we are 20 or 60 we are all aging. And here's the deal....what we have been taught about our health and wellbeing, has been based on research done on men! We now know women age differently and need different things. 

Here's an example: in my previous area of expertise (as a fitness pro) I was told we have to workout hard in order to build muscle and cardiac health. Well that research is all based on men, and because men have a different hormonal structure, they respond to hard intense exercise differently than women. Hard exercise over time breaks women down, which is one of the reasons why auto immune dis-eases are higher for women. Even our heart health, which used to be better than men, is now equal to or less than men!

In my own life, I pushed myself really hard, both with my personal life and my professional life. I was fit and healthy.....for awhile. Over time my adrenals crashed and I developed hypothyroidism. Something I manage to this day. And even now, if I push myself too hard it takes me days to recover. As I age, I am working to balance my activities that make sense for me. 

Just like Ayurveda (and even yoga) teach us, we all need different things at different stages or seasons of our lives. We cannot all do a 10 mile runs anymore and expect to have the same results as when we were younger. We cannot eat the same things as we age, because our body and hormones can't manage the excess. We cannot stay up all night and expect our brain to function normally. We just can't!

So this is good news! We don't have to keep up with all the things....we just have to listen to the wisdom of our own bodies. As Mary Oliver says "we just have to let our bodies love what it loves".

Take a moment right now to ask your body how it feels and what it needs. Are you wired and tired? Are you lethargic and unfocused? Are you calm and happy? Our body has the ability to communicate with us if we just take a moment. Sensations of the body are its way of communicating. So listen...does something hurt? Don't go take an aspirin, change what you're doing.

I often use this as an example.....if you have a headache, stop and ask yourself when was the last time you drank any water? Because very often a headache is a sign of dehydration. If you don't drink some water and go take an aspirin, the dehydration is still there, and will show up in another way (constipation anyone).

This idea can take some getting used to, but it's profound when you finally get it. We are our own best advocate for what we need. As Mark Hyman reminds us "our body is the smartest doctor in the room".

Live Well ~ Stay Well ~ Age Well