As the first signs of physical aging begin to show, you may find yourself struggling to maintain confidence. This is understandable, as ageism is real. However, we’re amid a cultural shift. We’re living longer, with a higher quality of life. We have shining examples of men and women thriving in the second half of their lives. Of those 40 and 50+ dreaming bigger and achieving more than they did in their 20s and 30s. It’s inspirational!
Aging with grace is a mindset shift. Here’s how to leverage wisdom that comes with time, to age with beauty, style, and confidence in all areas of life.
What Is Aging With Grace?
There is no one-size-fits-all equation to aging gracefully. Professor Catherine Roland, Ed.D. of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology suggests utilizing the G.R.A.C.E. acronym. Use this acronym to identify your biggest areas of opportunity to tailor your approach to this season of life.
- Grace: Implement a gratitude practice to be kinder to yourself and others. From gratitude journaling, sending gratitude messages to others, guided gratitude meditations, and more. These practices aren’t just new age, as gratitude is scientifically proven to increase empathy, improve sleep, reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, improve interpersonal connections, boost self-esteem, and improve physical health.
- Resilience: Celebrating the adversities you’ve overcome over the years will help you face the years ahead with confidence, satisfaction, and joy. From divorce to losing a job, losing friends, heartbreak, grief of any kind, learning new skills, making friends in adulthood, overcoming illness, navigating times of change or transition, and more. Maybe create a list of all you’ve overcome to remind yourself how resilient you are.
- Attitude: This is less about your attitude and more about how you choose to respond to the attitude and disposition of those you interact with throughout the day. We’ve all had a day that was going well, only to be met with a 2-minute or less interaction with a rude or inappropriate colleague, customer service agent, or driver with road rage—and it ruins our day. But it doesn’t have to. Aging with grace presents the opportunity to meet these interactions with compassion. Let them roll right off so that you can go about your day. At the very least, feel your feelings, but don’t let their bad day turn into your bad day.
- Courage: This refers to the courage required to determine how to age for yourself. Yes, your body is changing and the signs of aging are visible, but you define how to navigate beauty standards. If you don’t want to dye your grey, if you want to wear your grey hair long, if you don’t want to dress “your age”, or whatever the societal limitation is. Choose what resonates with you.
- Education: This tip is more about staying self-informed. From learning how hormone replacement therapy can help you navigate menopause to exploring your range in non-surgical wrinkle treatments, personalizing your healthcare, and when needed, learning your options in local senior resources.
How to Shift Your Mindset Around Aging?
It isn’t just society, friends, and family whose feelings about aging influence how you age—you may have some internalized ageism to shed. That’s right, you may be the one holding yourself back due to your age and how you think you “should” think, feel, dress, and what you can and cannot do. The tips below will help you embrace aging with grace.
#1 Celebrate a Life Well-Lived
It’s a privilege to age. Even if you’re likely to have been on earth longer than the time you have remaining, set an intention to make the most of your time. Yes, you may tire faster than you did a decade ago, may feel stiff when you wake in the morning, or see a few more lines on your face—but these are all signs of a life well-lived.
#2 Let Go Of What No Longer Serves You
With age comes clarity and certainty. You care less about what others think, which empowers you to step into authenticity. With this newfound freedom, you can let go of things that no longer serve you. From shame to anger, regret, resentment, judgment of yourself and others, and more.
You may also feel empowered to let go of people for your social, emotional, and mental health. If not completely removing them from your life, setting healthy boundaries, or moving people from your inner circle to your outer circle.
#3 Find a Muse
We often think of identifying a muse as something reserved only for artists, but it can also be helpful to identify a muse or two for aging. This might be someone you know personally who is fierce and fabulous at every age or a mentor you’ve never met. Yes, this can include celebrities, and there is an endless option of celebrities who are doing more than aging with grace—they make aging look sexy!
- Oprah Winfrey
- Heidi Klum
- Michele Yeoh
- Brook Shields
- Jenifer Lopez
- Jane Fonda
Now let’s dive into ageless beauty tips.
Ageless Beauty Tips
Real beauty comes from within, but we understand how important it is to look as fabulous as you feel. The tips below will help you adjust your skincare and beauty routine, minimize the visible signs of aging, and personalize your approach to aging.
#1 Update Your Daily Skincare Routine
You’ll need to update your skincare products at least every 10 years after the age of 20. This may include trending anti-aging ingredients, like Vitamin C serums, topical hyaluronic acid, and topical Retinol. However, the best approach is a personalized approach. So, consider working with a dermatologist or facialist to determine what your skin needs. This is likely to change in the winter and the summer months.
Product and serum layering may also be required to address the dryness that comes with perimenopause and menopause. As wrinkles set in, you’ll need to adjust to foundations and makeup that stay put. Many makeup products formulated for mature skin have UV protection and anti-aging ingredients mixed in.
#2 Define Your Style
Aging with grace includes maintaining or redefining your style. If you don’t feel like dressing in “mom” clothes or “grandma” clothes, wear what makes you feel confident and sexy. Yes, dress for the occasion, but don’t resign yourself to frumpy. Shop in whatever section of the store you want to!
Don’t forget the importance of accessories, investing in pieces you can wear for decades to come. Maybe take inspiration from how French women express their style with age.
Not sure how to dress to feel your best?
Local and virtual personal styling services have never been more accessible. Or consider an apparel subscription box.
#3 Prioritize Whole-Body Health
Now is more important than ever to take a proactive approach to your health. No more missed physicals, hearing tests, vision tests, mammograms, pap smears, skin cancer screenings, or trips to the dentist.
In addition to general (but extremely powerful) preventative measures, personalize your approach to whole-body health. From fitness to mental health, nutrition, weight management, and working with healthcare professionals to tailor your treatments to diagnosed health conditions.
#4 Time Management
Time is your most valuable resource, so invest it wisely. Focus on relationships that positively contribute to your social and emotional health. Yes, there will be things you must work through with your nearest and dearest. But in this phase of life, you’re likely to feel more empowered to create space from or let go of those who drain you.
This includes prioritizing professional fulfillment. This might mean lightening your load professionally, pursuing your dream job, and ensuring that little of how you invest your time feels like a compromise.
#5 Consider Hormone Replacement Therapy
Aging with grace includes maintaining a healthy sex life! If you’re between the ages of 45 and 51, and your sex drive is low, or you don’t quite feel like yourself—it could be perimenopause. Be mindful, this is the average age of declining estrogen levels in women, but perimenopause could begin sooner or later in life.
Often thought of as only a sex hormone, estrogen contributes to a woman’s whole-body health—not just libido. Men experience hormonal imbalances too that can lead to a variety of whole-body health issues beyond decreased sex drive and sexual performance. Hormone replacement therapy can help.
Symptoms of hormonal imbalance include:
- Irritability
- Hot flashes
- Decreased libido
- Weight gain
- Irregular periods
- Difficulty focusing
- Fatigue and anxiety
- Osteoporosis
- Decreasing muscle mass
- Vaginal dryness
- Erectile dysfunction
- Lack of motivation
- Mood swings
- Hair loss
- Difficulty sleeping
- Anxiety
- Poor immune function
- Poor cardiovascular health
- Insulin resistance
- Adrenal and thyroid disorders
#6 Explore Your Med Spa Options
Fine lines are a sign of a life well-lived. They form around the eyes and mouth as a side effect of the repetitive motions of smiling, laughing, and other facial expressions. Over time, fine lines develop into deep wrinkles. Lines and creases can also form on the neck earlier in life as a side effect of heads-down electronics use. Combine that with gravity and the decreased volume loss that comes with a gradual decline in collagen, and your skin can become lax and crepey. Med spa treatments can help!
How Can We Help You Age With Grace?
Valley Medical Weight Loss and Med Spa offers a variety of non-surgical and minimally invasive aesthetic treatments to smooth, firm, lift, restore, and rejuvenate your face, neck, and body. This includes options that can minimize menopause belly, fade hyperpigmentation, stimulate hair growth, and wrinkle and crepey skin treatments that support aging with grace. We have locations in Phoenix, Tempe, and Glendale.
Reach out today to schedule your complimentary consultation!
