Great conversations about powerful ageing

and then one interviewer did the obvious BS

I love the idea of being more ‘Genky’ which means lively or full of vitality in Japanese. And have been listening to talks in The Human Longevity Project summit to see how I could take steps to lay the foundation for living longer well.

In fact, this lady’s daughter told us a story of how she saw her mother, Hideko, climbing her orange trees at 95 years old to pick some fruit from the top branches!

Even at 97, Hideko still works in her garden and walks 2 km to her friend’s house on a regular basis.

Earlier this week I tuned into a great BBC interview on older women starting businesses later in life and standing out as role models. I was loving the conversation with guests Bonnie Marcus a women’s leadership expert and host of the Badass Women podcast and Tricia Cusden who founded ‘Look Fabulous Forever’ at 65.

But then the interviewer, a younger woman, did the classic f**ck up. She asked how old Bonnie was - 72 was the reply and ‘Oh you don’t look 72’.

Really and what is 72 supposed to look like? If we want to change the narrative around ageism we have to start by dropping our preconceptions that looks matter so much. Instead see the inner glow, the wisdom, the words and the actions of a growing cohort of postmenopausal women who are living life to the full.

I've posted a couple of times this week about the awful visual representation of women.

This image in particular was of someone '65+' who looks significantly older than 65. The thing is, which industry do you know of that habitually uses the label '65 plus'? Market research! It excludes people over 65 from much of the consumer research because that is how their clients describe their target market. The clients may have just this kind of image in mind. The reality of course is very very different.
In all these instances How about we push back?

On the flip side can we just take a moment to crown the magnificent Helena Bonham Carter as the poster girl of Queenagers?

The actress declared on Woman's Hour that at the age of 56, she feels she is reaching her prime and coming into her power. In the interview Helena challenged the obsession with seeing getting older as a crime, saying it should be something that's celebrated. She added that she was happier now than when she was younger and that although "my envelope may be less strictly aesthetically pleasing, on the inside I'm much more interesting and dynamic - and I think attractive" 
To which we can only respond with a resounding YES!

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Books, Podcasts and more of what I’m loving…

If you haven’t yet - do catch the phenomenal but long (like very long) interview on Huberman Lab with Dr Sara Gottfried. Trumbombs abound on everything to do with female hormones.

FACT! Women are subjected to more stress and trauma-inducing events in their life than men. And we are growing in our understanding of the impact of ACE’s on menopause. Listen to neuroscientist Professor Selena Bartlett talk with Dr Robert Anda (one of the pioneers of ACE research) on her Thriving Minds podcast.

This week I had the great pleasure of being joined on Thriving Thru Menopause by Dr Ann Hester, 25 years a clinician and author of Patient Empowerment 101 to talk about how you get the best from your doctor’s visit in a world where healthcare is broken and you have 5 minutes of their attention. Self-advocacy has NEVER been more important

A final word for a book I am just getting my teeth into which draws out that menopause isn’t some physiological set of symptoms to bashed into submission but a time when power, authority and purpose can be awakened in you. Something that is and has been for the last 8 years very central to my own coaching work

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Until next week much love

C x