Loving Your Life's Stages: Aging and Caring for Yourself

One of the modules in my Finally Love Your Life course has to do with aging. And though the module focuses on the choice to soften into aging rather than becoming more bitter, there is an underlying question of caring for yourself as you get older.

Here’s some essential reminders when it comes to caring for your body.

In caring for your body, it’s essential you fuel it with quality food. Choosing whole foods as a building blocks for your meals.If you struggle with joint issues as you’ve gotten older, look at cutting out foods that cause inflammation.

And staying hydrated is important to caring for your body as well. That means lots of water with limited amounts of soda and alcohol. Because sleep is important as well, you may need to limit caffeinated drinks to earlier in the day. Caring for your body also means you should cut out bad habits such as smoking.

Staying active is more important that you might think.

Our bodies were designed to move. Finding exercise you enjoy is a way to ensure your body is more limber and loose. Know, too, that weight bearing exercises are also important in staving off Osteoporosis. In addition to caring for your body through being active, there are other benefits to exercise. It can also improve your mood, increase self-esteem, give you a sense of achievement, help you to relax, and relieve stress.

Staying active could be socializing with friends, playing sports, or even working. Getting older doesn’t mean you have to stop working, and places like maturity works are ideal for helping you to do this.

Caring for yourself as you age demands you have a good relationship with your medical caregivers.

Get any routine tests completed by your doctor regularly, such as checking your blood pressure and cholesterol levels as high readings could mean that you have an increased risk of stroke and heart disease, and you need to be aware of this. You should also get checked for vitamin D deficiency as this is something that has been linked to cognitive impairment, bone problems, and cardiovascular diseases.

Caring for yourself as you age may mean additional medication and supplements. If you are taking medicines, then make sure you are organized with them. If you have to take your medicine with food or at certain times, then set reminders and it’s also a good idea to have a pillbox with days of the week on it and organize this at the beginning of each week so that you don’t take more or less than you should.

Don’t forget caring for yourself as you age includes your mental health.

There are lots of ways coaching tools that I share here can be help you age more gracefully. This includes creating a gratitude practice. And making the choice to leave the past in the past. This may mean re-writing the stories you tell yourself. Finding joy in the small details of life as a way to seed your life with joy and happiness.

You can soften into the aging process and age with more grace when you commit to caring for yourself as a priority.