HeyReader!
The more I talk to you about stepping across the threshold of midlife, the more I hear how ready you are to let go of:
• diet and anti-aging industry's rule set,
• wellness and longevity medicine's fear-mongering,
• fitness industry's grind attitude,
• skincare industry's money-grabbing
• fashion industry's instruction lists
Yet, the hesitation to entirely leave that mess behind is real!
I see you!
Midlife means Change. Heck, menopause was actually called "The Change" when I was a kid. Most of what is familiar in your life, including your body, begins to shift under your feet. Most, if not all, of these changes are outside your control.
Kids grow up and leave.
Marriages may shift or end.
Friends and family members get sick and transition on.
Careers don't feel quite the same.
Your clothes no longer fit.
Your body doesn't work the way it once did.
Understandably, you want to white-knuckle around what seems controllable- your body, although that's based on a lie you've been told/sold. Your eating and movement may become an odd focal point now as you grasp for something to hold you steady through the storm of midlife+.
The thing is, this time of transition is actually an opening! This time can be your chance to reconnect with your desire, pleasure, comfort, power, and freedom.
This is a rich and inviting time to befriend your body as your life's partner and stop making it your project. Jane Fonda recently had this to say in her Wiser Than Me Podcast interview.
"...what you realize is, you go back to your girlhood, and you become all the things that she was supposed to be that you never knew at the time was really who she was because you were trying to be what other people thought she should be."
This quote stopped me because it rings so very true to my experience.
Leaning into what brought you alive before you got lost in trying to be what you thought others wanted or needed you to be is pure magic. And you know what? Your body knows the way.
The most essential and empowering effort in this season of life is to repair and reconnect with your body. Your body can be your wise guide over the threshold of midlife and into this precious season of your life.
Thank you for being here. Please know that I love hearing from you! Have questions or comments? Hit reply to this email.
With love and respect,
Deb
P.S. If you want your New Year to include coaching and community for this process, my small group coaching program, Aging with Vitality and Body Liberation, is designed for this purpose and may be just right for you!
The New Year's Cohort will run from January 7th to February 25th.
Registration for the New Year's cohort is open now and closes at midnight ET on Tuesday, December 10th, or when the group fills. Group size is limited to ensure access for all participants.
A recent participant had this to say about her experience in the program:
Before I joined the AVBL group with Deb, I was considering another diet plan and also felt a deep sense of exhaustion due to years, decades, of tinkering with my diet and exercise addiction. Coming now into menopause, I feel a strong pull toward healing and seeing diet/wellness culture for what it is.
Based on my work in the group, I actually took a whole week off from exercise (working out) in favor of gentle walking, yoga, and kayaking on a river (mainly floating), so I could really listen to my body as a companion [a wonderful term that I learned in the program]. I have noticed that I’m less sore and achy, and my face looks less stressed out/tense. I realized that taking these breaks is essential for my physical and emotional health.
The most significant result of my experience in the AVBL Group with Deb is my deeper sense of trust in my body. Ever since I can remember, I have automatically tried to adjust or correlate my eating to my exercise (how much to do to burn off whatever I ate). This “voice” is still there, but I am allowing other parts of me to gently emerge. I am excited and curious to learn more and be guided by these gentler parts of me.
-Amy Nolan
I would love for you to be with us! If you have questions or would like to chat to find out if this program is right for you, just hit reply to this email.
