How to Add 7 Years to Your Life
If you’re looking for a women’s wellness pioneer to guide you on your path, Dr. Christiane Northrup should be at the top of your list. She’s not only a board certified OB/GYN, but also penned the bestselling classic Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, which teaches women how to thrive at every stage of life.
Dr. Northrup says her new book Goddesses Never Age is about ageless living. She explains that agelessness is “what you experience when you engage life without fear that you’re going to fall or fall apart. Dr. Northrup believes that we are long overdue for a shift in the discourse over how we think about growing older.
Danielle Diamond: As a woman over forty who is noticing unexpected physical changes every day, I love your perspective on aging. But for those who are obsessed with wrinkles and weight, how do you suggest making a transition to loving the skin they’re in right now?
Christiane Northrup: The best thing is to focus on what is working well! Research shows that the majority of women become depressed within minutes of reading fashion magazines. They pigeonhole women into decades, which is ridiculous; “Best hair for your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, etc.” This kind of thinking profoundly affects our health and happiness by locking us into expectations that are irrelevant and potentially damaging. The truth is that what we call aging begins in childhood and speeds up around age 20. Most cellular decline is all about belief and lifestyle—not one’s chronologic age. Understand that those magazines are a fantasy, and stop reading them if they are a trigger for low self-esteem.
You have such a positive outlook on aging gracefully, but most of us dread the decline. What is your best advice for creating the “entirely different experience in body and soul” that you mention?
By focusing on pleasure, and doing more of the things that make you happy. The decline you’re talking about is not inevitable. It’s a cultural construct that is learned. Want to know what makes you “old?” Worrying about getting old, talking about it and thinking about it!
In the book you say, “You can be younger at 60 than you were at 30 because you’ve changed your attitude and your lifestyle.” What changes in attitude do you recommend that have the biggest impact?
Just stop using your age as an excuse for not doing what you love and want to do. Stop telling your body how old you are. And what that is supposed to mean, e.g. “ I’m too old to fall in love, learn a language, drive at night, etc.”
What about lifestyle changes?
Rejecting processed foods, releasing stuck emotions, and having your health dictated more by beliefs than biology. One study from Ellen Langer, PhD from Harvard and her former student Becca Levy, PhD, a gerontologist, has shown that what we believe about growing older is far more potent than our genes. Those with positive perceptions about the value of getting older, such as gaining wisdom, added 7.5 years to their lives. In other words, it was their belief alone that added those seven years—regardless of whether they smoked, were overweight, didn’t exercise, etc.
Based on the title Goddesses Never Age, what is your main message to women about getting older?
That Divine Love is the most potent force for good in the universe, and that when we tap into it, we find an endless stream of joy and inspiration that allows us to truly flourish. When you realize that you are more than your body and more than what you can see, then everything changes.
For inspiration on aging like a goddess, follow Dr. Northup’s Pinterest board.
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