I am currently in a contemplative mood. I have delivered over 10,000 babies in my past career and each and every time I have been acutely aware that I was witnessing a miracle. On this Father’s Day, I had the ultimate honor of being present at the birth of my first grandchild. I am still in awe at how this new beginning for my daughter and grandson has also sparked a new beginning and purpose for me. Being in this state of mind, I want to share with you how two women in my practice have used midlife as a new beginning – a time of awakening and evolving. Any woman at midlife knows it can be a difficult time of life which I will not minimize but I encourage you to look for new possibilities in midlife. These new possibilities exist – it is just up to us to allow the time and space for them to bloom in our life. At the age of twelve I adopted a mantra for my life. I wanted to make decisions that fostered Freedom, Purpose and Expansion in my life (yes I was born an old soul!). At midlife I have recently been concentrating on the Expansion part of my mantra. I am choosing not to concentrate on what I am losing as I age – I am instead focusing on what is emerging in my life. Let me share with you the stories of my two patients Denise Evans and Rhonda Barber since they illustrate this concept.
I will start with Denise Evans who at midlife has become not only a higher evolved version of herself but has become an author with her new book Zen in High Heels. I have always been impressed with Denise and her commitment to doing what it takes to stay physically healthy at midlife (go to her website or social media to see her picture which speaks for itself). As her book details, at midlife she has also been working hard on her inner self. Zen in High Heels playfully but thoughtfully teaches us how we can become more evolved and move from “surviving to thriving” by concentrating on the inner you. Let me tell you she is speaking my language when she chooses to maintain the fun part of her personality that loves high heels as she finds her Zen. At barely 5 feet tall I plan to die in my high heels! I am so thrilled that Denise has carved out the time and space in her midlife to expand who she is and what she contributes to the world. If you have a deep knowing that your life should be fuller and more at peace Zen in High Heels will help you develop the mindset and skills to move toward this goal. Her book is available at her website www.zeninhighheels.com or on Amazon. You can also find her on Instagram at @zeninhighheels.
Next I want you to meet Rhonda Barber who in her midlife years “discovered” she was a talented artist! I have always admired Rhonda’s creative side – I always looked forward to seeing her funky outfits and hairdo’s in the office (check out her social media to see her pic’s). She has also always impressed me with her insightful personality that looks at life in a refreshing and positive way. These great qualities show up in her artwork. Her art is beautiful and it draws you in but she also pairs the art with words that add to the expression of the piece. She is a nurse who gravitated towards helping troubled youth and her artwork often depicts and acknowledges their struggles. In my exam room you may have seen 3 of her beautiful prints. Being creative she has also written a book that showcases her talents of painting, photography and prose. Check out her work at www.aspacebetweenthesound.com or @rhondabarberart on Instagram and Facebook.
TIPS FROM DR. SMITH
I’m going to start calling this section – Health Yourself. The unfortunate fact is that healthcare is currently struggling. It’s hard to navigate, slow to respond and often fragmented and misguided. I’m a big believer in taking charge of your own health and doing what you can do to foster wellbeing. In this section I will share with you (usually something I am personally doing) that you can do on your own.
LET’S TALK GRACEFUL AGING
Things change as we age and as I have always liked to say “adapters survive”. Currently I am adapting and giving love to my hardworking liver and aging skin. My liver works 24/7 to process and detoxify everything modern life throws at it. I frankly do not know how it keeps up or more accurately I’m sure it can’t keep up with it all. With my genetics, I feel I have never been a good detoxifier but as I have aged it’s obvious to me that my ability to detoxify has decreased. In my attempt to love and support my liver I have worked many angles-improving my diet, reducing my exposure to toxins, sweating out toxins and rarely drinking alcohol. Lifestyle changes are always the foundation to better health but I have also added supplements to support liver health/detoxification. You all know I occasionally do a cleanse but I also have daily supplements I take to support my liver. My favorites are WholeScripts Xymogen’s Liver Protect or Xenoprotx 1 capsule daily or QuickSilver Scientific’s Liver Sauce 1 tsp daily. I actually tend to rotate these liver helpers but all of them are good choices.
Now let’s talk about my aging skin – probably the most annoying reminder that I’m aging since it is highly visible. I use the basic health habits again as the foundation to skin health but in the modern world I also like to take advantage of “little helpers”. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and is needed to maintain healthy skin, hair, nails, joints and bone. I have to admit up until recently I have been reluctant to adopt the latest collagen supplement craze since adding yet another supplement is never anything I take lightly. I eat plenty of protein which our body can use to make collagen so my thought was I didn’t need it. Enter Dr Jeffrey Bland (father of functional medicine) to finally convince me that at midlife I need to take collagen. He is on the Advisory Board for Vital Proteins and has supported the development of a new product – WholeScripts Vital Proteins Professional Bioactive Collagen for Skin Hydration and Antioxidant Support which is backed by clinical studies. I am now taking 1 scoop daily. It contains several skin healthy ingredients.
