Why Physical Activity is Important as We Age.
12 Simple Makeup Tips for Midlife Women
Just like you refresh your wardrobe and update your style, you can use makeup and skincare to reflect your style and personality. Our friends Multi-Media Make-up Artists Amy Marie Reed and Carmelle Eickhoff provided 12 simple makeup tips for midlife women to adjust their routines to feel fresh and vibrant while living well from the inside out.
We don’t talk much about beauty trends and makeup in midlife because we deeply oppose the anti-aging messaging we witness in beauty industry marketing campaigns. This type of advertising puts too much unrealistic pressure on midlife women not to age. The messages women shouldn’t have wrinkles, gray hair, or sagging skin feed on our vulnerabilities and are wrong.
We are aging. We shouldn’t hide from it. What we know about aging has evolved, providing us with opportunities to age well and differently than previous generations. It’s time to embrace our age, enjoy life, and live vibrantly into the future.
Living well as we age and focusing on doing it from the inside out is possible. But, we also understand part of living well is feeling good in whatever ways work for you. If that means wearing trendy clothes, using makeup, using the latest skincare products, or dying your hair, we’re all for it! We do it too!
In 2021, we were so pleased to work with Multi-Media Make-up Artists Amy Marie Reed and Carmelle Eickhoff. They educated us and other midlife women on how to adapt our makeup routines as we age.
The information provided was so helpful that we asked them to share a few simple tips to help you make adjustments in your makeup routine so you continue to feel fresh and vibrant in midlife.
Just like you refresh your wardrobe and update your style, you can use makeup and skincare to reflect your style and personality.
Take care of your skin first!
Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize.
Apply moisturizer before makeup and let it set before applying makeup.
Use a foundation or tinted moisturizer to even out skin discolorations over the entire face.
Apply under the chin and down the neck area and blend well.
Use silicone moisturizers under silicone-based foundations. If you use a water-based moisturizer, use a water-based foundation.
Switch from cake or powder foundations to one that is cream or liquid.
Reconsider blush.
Use cream blushes blending to hairline and high on cheekbones.
Enhance your lips!
Use lipsticks, glosses, and blushes interchangeably.
Avoid frosty lipsticks.
Have fun playing with color and top off with a “sticky” clear lip gloss for moisture.
Avoid “smeary” glosses that will settle into lip lines and smudge.
Use your lip liner to fill in your entire lips for a long-wearing, matte lipstick look.
For smoother, softer lips, use an exfoliator at night. Follow it with a Vitamin E Stick to bring full moisture back to your lips.
To prevent your lipstick from bleeding, try semi-matte lipstick. It has less moisture, but moisture is what creates movement of the lipstick.
After applying your first layer of lipstick, set your lip look with a translucent powder just like you would set your makeup, and then use another layer of lipstick for a long-lasting hold.
Avoid using too much powder, especially under the eyes.
Using a colorless powder over foundations to “set” foundations or conceal pore areas is fine - but less is more.
Showcase those lashes.
Consider using a lash curler to lift lashes.
Apply mascara at the very root of lashes - wiggling it to get in the lash line. You may need two coats of mascara and remove any clumps after application.
Take care of your eyelids.
Eyelids get oily as time passes, so use an eyeshadow primer to help with shadow adherence and longevity and even out skin discoloration before applying shadow.
Stick with soft neutral shadows. Shadows with a sheen are preferable to shimmery or sparkly.
Eyeshadow primer is also helpful on lower lashes and lower lid areas to apply shadows used as a replacement for eyeliner. Avoid lighter or shimmery colors on hooded eyes.
Replace eyeliner with an eyeshadow in lash lines to darken and enhance lashes.
Be sure to blend.
Blend edges of all makeup, whether blush or shadows, to eliminate harsh lines.
Consider concealers.
Start with very thin layers, and be sure not to miss the inner corners of eyes that tend to darken with time.
Gently tap concealers with a brush under your eyes or use the warmth of your ring finger to tap in. Less is more!
Set your look.
Using a final overall face mist with a setting spray helps secure your makeup and make it last.
Leave your brows to professionals.
Professionally wax and tint your brows.
Touch-up brows with eye shadow or pencils in between maintenance appointments.
End your day with a clean face!
Wash makeup entirely off your face and neck every night.
Would you like more midlife fashion and style tips? Download Rumblings Media's Fashion After 50 Tips curated by fashion experts to help you edit your closet, build a capsule wardrobe, select swimwear, and more!
Can protein help women age well?
Eating adequate protein plays an essential role in preserving skeletal muscle as women age. Now is the time to assess your intake, review the quality, and look at how you distribute protein in your meals and snacks. Eating high-quality protein throughout the day along with resistance training will ensure you live well and flourish postmenopause.
Eating adequate protein plays an essential role in preserving skeletal muscle as women age.
It’s impossible to move through your day without seeing a headline about what you should eat for good health. In your lifetime, you’ve most likely witnessed the popularity of macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, or protein) rise and fall. Most of us are old enough to remember the nonfat obsession of the early 90s. Today protein is all the rage, but does it have a role in aging well through menopause and beyond?
Eating protein is essential to good health. As you age, it helps maintain healthy muscles and physical functioning. Compared to carbohydrates and fats, protein also takes the longest amount of time (and energy) for the body to digest and absorb, so it has a significant role in helping you stay full longer after a meal.
A growing body of research suggests that loss of skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) and strength along with fat accumulation in muscle tissue begins in your 40s. Decreasing estrogen plays a part in the process, but so does the increase of sedentary time (e.g., sitting too much) and decline of physical activity. The combination over time decreases muscle strength and power by two to three percent a year. The progression can lead to increased risk of falls, metabolic dysfunction, heart and respiratory disease, early mortality, and decreased quality of life.1
The good news is you can prevent this decline by eating high-quality protein throughout the day and exercising (prioritizing, strength, or resistance training). You can read more about the keys to getting fit after 50 and how to sit less and move more in previous blog posts. Today we’re focusing on protein as part of a nourishing eating pattern for aging well after menopause.
Why do you need protein?
Eating adequate protein plays a role in making and preserving skeletal muscle before, during, and after menopause. Protein distribution at meals and quality have also been reviewed recently in the literature.
The current Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is .8 grams per kilogram (1 kg = 2.2 pounds) of body weight. The RDA is the amount of protein healthy adults need each day to prevent deficiencies. However, there has been criticism that these recommendations may not be optimal for older adults who may need additional protein to sustain muscle mass and functionality.
Experts suggest that the current protein recommendations don’t account for research showing that while older people can make as much muscle as younger individuals, they require more protein to achieve the same effect.
How much protein do you need after menopause?
Your personal protein goals will vary based on your age, activity level, and goals. Working with a registered dietitian is the best approach for determining exactly how much protein you need each day.
However, several expert groups have advocated for 1.0 to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day for healthy adults and >1.2 grams of protein per kilogram per day for older adults with acute or chronic illnesses. For example, a healthy 150-pound woman would need 68 to 82 grams of protein a day.
Is there an optimal way to consume protein?
Our skeletal muscles are in a constant state of growth and repair, so it’s essential to understand how to feed them most effectively. Studies have looked at whether it is better to consume protein throughout the day or at a single meal and suggest an even distribution throughout the day helps maximize muscle-making.
Aim for 20-25 grams of protein at each meal and pair 5 to 10 grams of protein with a fruit, vegetable, or fat as a snack.
Does protein quality matter?
As women age, the protein quality may be more critical than when younger. Protein quality impacts digestion, absorption, amino acid composition (e.g., essential amino acids that our bodies don’t make), muscle growth, and muscle repair.
Animal and plant foods provide protein, but meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, and seafood supply all the amino acids that the body cannot produce. Gram for gram, animal proteins are better for stimulating muscle growth than plant proteins, but both can help you reach your protein goals. Plus, plant foods are packed with nutrition, like fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals beneficial for aging, without the cholesterol and saturated fats found in animal products.
Leucine, a branched-chain amino acid required to grow and repair muscle, skin, and bone, may be vital in preventing age-related sarcopenia. Plant foods tend to be lower in leucine than foods rich in animal proteins. Short-term studies have evaluated higher doses of leucine at meals with lower total protein content and seen beneficial effects on muscle growth. Therefore, try to incorporate foods like chicken, steak, pork chops, tuna, tofu, tempeh, chickpeas, lentils, navy beans, milk, yogurt, nuts, seeds, and eggs into your daily eating pattern.
Can protein powders help you reach your protein goals?
Although we do recommend eating whole foods to meet your protein needs, there are times when protein powders can help supplement your protein goals. There are many choices on the market.
Whey protein (from dairy) is one of the most commonly used proteins, contains all the essential amino acids, and is easily digested. Collagen is popular on the market today, but it doesn’t include all the essential amino acids. Research is still inconclusive regarding health benefits, so if you’re reaching for a supplement, you’re better off choosing an alternative to meet your protein requirements.
Many plant-based protein powders are incomplete protein sources (lacking all essential amino acids), so you may find plant-based powders contain a mixture of plant protein sources. Plant-based options include soy, brown rice, pea, or hemp. The bottom line is to choose a protein powder you like with the least amount of additional additives.
In summary
Eating adequate amounts of high-quality protein throughout the day, doing resistance or strength exercises at least twice a week, and reducing sedentary time are all vital for maintaining muscle mass and strength as you age.
No matter your age now is the time to assess your intake, review the quality, and look at how you distribute protein in your meals and snacks. Aging well may require tweaks to what you eat and your exercise routine to ensure you live the quality of life you desire in your later years.
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Eat More Fruits and Vegetables: It’s Not as Difficult as You Think
No matter what eating pattern you follow fruits and vegetables are at the foundation of the recommendations. Eating more produce is a great place to start when trying to improve your eating habits. Increasing the number of servings you eat doesn't have to be hard. Check out these 8 simple tips to get started.
You know fruits and vegetables are essential for good health and longevity. You've heard this message since you were a youngster and adults encouraged you to eat your green beans.
Yet only one in 10 adults eat the minimum 5-A-Day recommended amounts of fruits (1.5 to 2 cups) and vegetables (2 to 3 cups) on any given day.
Eating a diet abundant in plants can help reduce the risk of many leading causes of illnesses and deaths, like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and obesity.
No matter what eating pattern you follow—keto, paleo, vegan, Mediterranean, or plant-forward—fruits and vegetables are at the foundation of the recommendations. Eating more produce is a great place to start when trying to improve your eating habits for aging well.
Consider what you ate yesterday. How many servings of fruits and vegetables did you eat? For most of us, we could eat more. The 5-A-Day recommendation for good health is a baseline. Research continues to suggest that eating additional servings is even better for health.
We realize this may be old news for some, but living well and flourishing after 50 requires going back to the basics, assessing where we're at, and modifying our lifestyles to align with the recommendations for healthful eating. This is especially important as our nutrition needs change as we age.
Behavior change can be hard, especially when it comes to what we eat. We understand. We live the challenges too. Eating patterns become habits. Habits can be difficult to recognize and modify. And, even if we make changes, we often find ourselves slipping back into our old ways.
Instead of focusing on the statistics of why you should increase fruits and vegetables in your diet, let’s focus on how to do it so you can create healthier habits for good.
Because no matter where you're at on your fruit and vegetable consumption journey, it's not too late to look for ways to add more servings into your day to reap health and well-being benefits.
Let's get started.
First, assess what is getting in your way of eating more fruits and vegetables.
It's difficult to make sustained changes without identifying what is actually getting in your way. Think about what is stopping you from eating fruits and vegetables. For many people, it's the taste. Growing up, you may have been served overcooked or canned vegetables that tasted bland. Or maybe you have a habit of reaching for convenience foods for meals and snacks. Depending on your climate or location, you may even lack access to fresh produce. Whatever your barriers, write them down. Think deeply about how they impact your food choices on a day-to-day basis. The good news is that it is always easier to add something health-promoting to your lifestyle than it is to take something away.
Next, set a goal.
Start small and be realistic. Trying to make too big of a change at one time can set you up to fail. If you're eating three servings of fruits and vegetables a day right now, can you add one more serving every day this week? If you're doing well on eating enough fruit but not veggies, set a goal to substitute a veggie for a snack each day. Write your plan down and post it somewhere you can see it every day. Use your goal to make a plan for the week. For example, you may have to modify your grocery list or adjust your weekly meal plan.
Be adventurous.
Take a look at your plate. Are you eating a variety of fruits and vegetables every day or unintentionally limiting yourself to just a few? Different fruits and vegetables deliver specific nutrients and therefore promote various health benefits. Aim to choose a variety of dark leafy greens, red and orange veggies, cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, or cabbage), berries, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and garlic daily.
If you're looking for additional ideas for adding fruits and vegetables to your day, join us for Rumblings' Fruit & Veggie Challenge. Together we're committing to increasing our intake, enhancing the variety of choices we make every day, being more adventurous in trying new types of fruits and vegetables, experimenting in how we prepare them, and supporting each other along the way. You can download tips to get started and follow Rumblings Media on Facebook and Instagram to be inspired.
Track your progress.
Writing down your goals and progress helps you focus on overcoming your barriers, prioritize your intentions, stay motivated, and celebrate your successes. Putting specific goals in writing and then visualizing successfully achieving them is associated with a greater likelihood of reaching them. Plus, it helps you be consistent, stay on track, and recognize your progress. Writing down your goals and checking your progress is worth the effort.
Be aware of how you feel.
It's essential to recognize how you feel when you eat more fruits and vegetables and how you feel when achieving your daily goals. Recognizing positive progress impacts your confidence in your ability to make a lasting change. How we feel often dictates what we do more than knowing something is healthy for us, so make sure you're intentionally focusing on how you feel. Write down how you feel physically from eating healthfully, and how you feel about achieving your goals and making progress.
See yourself as a role model.
It's not what we say, but most often what we do that influences the behaviors of others. Think of yourself as a plant-eating role model to your kids, nieces, nephews, grandkids, neighbors, girlfriends, or partner. Not only will this positively influence others' behaviors, but it will also make it easier for you to be consistent and sustain your fruit and vegetable eating patterns. For example, talking about the great taste of vegetables helps you motivate others to give them a try.
Believe in yourself!
Self-efficacy is your belief or confidence in your ability to succeed in a particular situation. It plays a role in how you feel about yourself and how you think and act. Believing in yourself will help you achieve your goals. Believe that you have the knowledge, skills, motivation, and willpower to overcome your barriers, be consistent, and sustain your new fruit and vegetable eating behaviors for the long term. Tracking your progress can provide an external motivator until you have established a solid internal sense of self-efficacy of changing your behaviors.
Celebrate your success.
Changing behaviors is challenging, especially when adding additional fruits and vegetables to your eating plan. When you reach your goals, celebrate! Tell others about your achievements. You did the hard work and deserve the accolades. Your success will motivate others to join you in your new healthy habits!
Living well as you age will take work. It's worth it. Commit to eating more fruits and vegetables to flourish after 50.
Join us in celebrating National Nutrition Month as we challenge ourselves to eat more fruits and vegetables, support one another, and get healthier as a community. Download our free Fruit & Veggie Challenge Tips and follow Rumblings Media on Facebook and Instagram for support, sharing successes, and discussing challenges.
Together we RUMBLE!
Is your favorite chocolate the best choice for your health? Find out 4 ways to check.
Is your favorite chocolate good for you? Studies suggest adults may experience health benefits from eating one or two squares of dark chocolate a day. Find out how to choose the healthiest chocolate to reap the health benefits.
The media would have you believe that eating a superfood—like chocolate— will ensure you live a long healthy life.
Sounds good, but unfortunately, when consumed as part of an eating pattern containing mostly processed or ultra-processed foods, no food has superpowers.
So-called superfoods are nutrient-dense choices (a good thing) that should be consumed regularly as part of an overall healthful eating pattern.
Dark chocolate is often on the “superfood” list. We love that!
But, there is a lot of confusion and misinformation surrounding the health benefits, type, and how to choose chocolate that’s better for you.
The Cacao Bean
Chocolate is produced from the cacao bean and goes through steps of fermentation, drying, roasting, nib grinding, refining, conching, and tempering to make the cocoa, chips, chunks, and bars you find in the grocery stores. Many brands are available, but not all offer the same benefits.
The Benefits of Chocolate
Chocolate is rich in polyphenols—plant micronutrients packed with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and other potential health benefits. Studies suggest that chocolate's polyphenols, such as flavonoids, contribute to improved blood pressure, blood lipid levels, heart disease risk, cognition, and potentially skin health. However, a recent literature review on healthy adults and the effects of chocolate intake only supported a positive association between consumption and improved lipid levels (triglycerides).
No matter the extent of the health benefits, the reality is most everyone loves chocolate!
As with any food, when choosing what to buy or eat, you should select foods with the highest nutritional value.
How to Choose the Healthiest Chocolate
The polyphenol content of chocolate varies based on raw ingredients and types of processing. There are general rules to remember to ensure you get the best health benefits when eating chocolate.
Choose dark chocolate with a minimum of 70% cocoa content. Dark chocolate can be 50-90% cocoa solids, cocoa butter, and sugar. The higher percentage of cocoa indicates a higher concentration of polyphenols than chocolate with a lower cocoa percentage. It is also a clue that there is less sugar in the bar. The higher the cocoa content, the better! In comparison, milk and white chocolate are only required to contain 10% and 20% cocoa, respectively, so it’s best to avoid or limit them as they’re mostly sugar and have little nutrition.
Check the ingredient list. Good quality chocolate contains only cocoa solids/powder, cocoa butter, and sugar/sweetener. Ensure sugar or other sweetener is not listed first on the ingredients list. Skip chocolate with added butterfat, milk, trans fat, vegetable oils, artificial flavors or colors, and emulsifiers (e.g., lecithin).
Ensure your chocolate has not been Dutch or alkali processed by checking the ingredient list. Meant to give the chocolate a smoother mouthfeel and less bitter taste, it degrades the health benefits of cocoa.
Choose Fair-Trade and organic chocolate whenever possible. Fair-Trade will ensure the cacao bean farmer earns a fair price for the product. Choosing organic chocolate will reduce exposure to pesticides, herbicides, and other artificial chemicals while ensuring a high phenol content.
Enjoy Dark Chocolate in Moderation
Studies suggest adults may experience health benefits from eating one or two squares of dark chocolate daily. Chocolate is primarily fat, sugar, and calorie-dense, so moderation is critical for good health. Limit your serving size to 1-2 ounces (30-50 grams) daily.
The foods you eat can significantly impact your feelings, overall health, and quality of life as you age.
Learning to choose foods that are nutrient-dense and delicious is vital. The more you enjoy healthful foods, the more you’re likely to reach for them again.
Rest assured, a square of decadent dark chocolate can be a part of your healthy aging-well eating plan.
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2022 Galentine’s Day Gift Guide
Rumblings Media is excited to support women-owned businesses with our Valentine’s (or Galentine’s) Day Gift Guide featuring unique items for any woman in your life. This list was curated from recommendations from our Rumblings community, as well as from our personal experiences. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating women in your life by supporting and lifting up amazing and inspiring entrepreneurs, makers, and small businesses by shopping female-owned whenever possible!
Let’s celebrate our favorite midlife women on Valentine’s (or Galentine’s) Day with a gift made or curated by women!
There has never been a better time to shop and support women-owned small businesses.
Isadore Nut Company
Isadore Nut Company makes award-winning snacks and gifts that are more than just delicious and good for your body. They also ensure half their staff is people with disabilities. The others are women, people of color, and immigrants. They give people the chance to learn new skills and accomplish their goals by giving them a job.
Bolton Bees
Give a gift of good health and sustainability—honey. Bees are responsible for pollinating ⅓ of the world’s food supply, including many fruits and vegetables that are important to a healthy diet. Honey is a natural sweetener with nutritional benefits, but it’s also critical to the existence of honey bees, which are in turn essential to our health. Gift natural honey straight from Bolton Bees Beekeeper, Chiara Bolton. Shop location-specific, solar-produced, or custom-label honey.
Their gift to you is free shipping on orders over $14. Code: RUMBLINGS
Gaderian Wines
Gaderian Wines is a women-owned winery and wine you can drink with your friends and family around the table, firepit, picnic blanket, or living room. Celebrate these women with the woman in your life by sharing a bottle of Gaderian wine.
Chef Robin Asbell
Robin Asbell is an author, educator, and natural foods chef who creates luscious, feel-good food. Treat the food lover in your life to a new cookbook for inspiration or a virtual cooking class for fun times with friends.
Ear Things by Laura Wolovitch
Handcrafted jewelry utilizing new, recycled, and vintage materials. Shop Ear Things By Laura Wolovitch.
Laura Stamper Designs
Art jewelry by Laura Stamper Designs is described as the antidote for ordinary. Laura has been creating one-of-a-kind pieces for 29 years. You can find her jewelry on her website or Etsy.
SHExclusive by Susan Horowitz
Find Minnesota jewelry designer Susan Horowitz’s designs at one of her Etsy sites, SHExclusive or Minnesota Stoned.
LaurenErickaDesigns
Nani Nalu Beachwear Botique
Trying on swimsuits has never been a positive experience for either of us until we found Nani Nalu Beachwear Boutique. Rumblings women have described the unique in-store or virtual shopping experiences as "life-changing.”
Give the gift of a unique shopping experience to your friend, sister, daughter, wife, or mother by making an in-person appointment and purchasing a gift card for a new suit or other pieces of resort wear or a gift card to the online experience called SUITCASE. Get started here.
Kirtonized
Founded by Pam Kirton, an award-winning artist and illustrator, and Saeteesh, a model and entrepreneur, Kirtonized is a unique one-of-a-kind clothing gift. Contact Pam and Saeteesch by DMing them on Instagram at @kirtonized to co-design a custom gift.
ATELIER957
ATELIER957 is a women's fashion boutique offering hand-picked clothing and accessories from small design houses worldwide. They believe in being chic, flattering, and unique at every age, size, & shape.
Monique Maxwell
Inspirational clothing with a deeper purpose embodies what the woman in your life believes. Find motivational t-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, flannels, and more by Monique Maxwell.
Grethen House
Grethen House has been at the forefront of introducing cutting-edge fashion to Minneapolis since 1990. They showcase a thoughtfully curated collection of designers available locally and online that any woman would love.
ModernWell
ModernWell is a women-centered collaborative workspace that balances independent spirit with holistic well-being, championing a one-of-a-kind, work-like community. Membership in a well-being-focused women’s co-working space in your community is a great gift.
Kula Yoga
Kula Yoga is an all-inclusive, woman-run, boutique yoga studio providing in-person, streaming, and 24-hour playback yoga classes, workshops, private lessons, and retreats for all fitness levels. Classes range from high-intensity conditioning classes or open flow vinyasa classes to restorative classes to help you gain flexibility and relax. Kula Yoga specializes in safe, results-oriented instruction with a keen focus on physical alignment and spirituality. Give the gift of movement in an enviroment that allows women to explore and deepen a yoga practice in fresh and exciting ways.
Rhythm For Living Life Coaching
Help someone you love transform fears into compassion for being good enough as she is and find support for her to dare to become what she desires with life coaching sessions from Shelly Melrose from Rhythm For Living.
The Scout Guide
Do your female friends or family members have an upcoming trip or simply enjoy seeking new and exciting local hot spots? The Scout Guide connects people with local businesses, entrepreneurs, and others in more than 60 U.S. cities that both locals and travelers should know about.
Lip Esteem
Tameka Jones helps women feel good one tube at a time—lipstick, that is. Lip Esteem is a new cosmetic brand born out of pure ambition and passion. With more than 25 shades, the Lip Esteem look is plant-based, gluten-free, and cruelty-free, and full of life and vibrancy!
House of Colour
Personal stylists help any woman look fabulous and radiate confidence in the colors and shapes that suit her best. Check out the consultant directory to find a House of Colour stylist in your area.
Empowering Books
Between Grit and Grace: The Art of Being Feminine and Formidable by Sasha Shillcutt, MD
Her Path Forward: 21 Stories of Transformation and Inspiration Edited by Julie Burton and Chris Olsen
Notes from the Rocket by Christine Mason Miller
Unlocked: How Empowered Women Empower Women by Jane Finette
Women-owned businesses represent a critical part of economic and business growth. And, studies show that women reinvest up to ninety percent of their income in their families and communities. We hope you’ll join us this holiday season and throughout the year in supporting and lifting up amazing and inspiring entrepreneurs, makers, and small businesses by shopping female-owned whenever possible!
Are you inspired to start a new hobby, volunteer position, or career? Check out our most-read 2021 blog post-Discover How to Make Work and Life Transitions After 50.
Take Steps to Reignite Yourself After 50
In 2018, we recognized our careers were at a tipping point. Were we going to keep climbing the career ladder at the expense of our personal lives, social lives, and families? No, we were longing for change. Check out the six actions we took to leap past our fears, reignite, and create a life aligned with our values after 50.
In March 2018, we planned a girls’ trip to New York City with another friend. We were working in executive positions in different cities at the time. It was going to be a long weekend filled with laughs, good food, and adventures.
The trip was all that, but it was also a turning point for us upon reflection. Our long conversations over wine were consumed with talk about burnout, the challenges of managing people, abuse in the workplace, and whether we were living our best lives. We needed this time to decompress and deeply share our challenging experiences and process these with other like-minded women in the same life stage.
We recognized our careers were at a tipping point. Was the goal to keep climbing the career ladder at the expense of our personal lives, social lives, and families? By the second glass of wine, the conversations dove more deeply into our dreams, desires, and how we wanted to live the next half of our lives. Each of us expressed a longing for something more than the current state. At the end of the weekend, we realized we all needed to make different types of changes to move in the direction of our dreams. The spark was lit in New York City.
Fast forward to 2020. We now lived in the same city and met regularly to envision Rumblings. We knew we weren’t alone facing midlife career, personal, and family transitions. We heard from other women our age who were struggling with the same challenges.
The common thread we were all experiencing was an internal RUMBLING that something needed to change to live our best lives through midlife and beyond.
The change is different for everyone. For some, it’s a career change, to start a business, or leap past fear and take on a new challenging position. For others, it’s traveling more, moving to a new city, finding new rewarding volunteer opportunities, or creating a life that aligns more closely with personal values.
Whatever your dreams are for reinvention, go for them. We’ve never looked back, and even with the ups and downs of starting a business, we know we’re on the right path—slower than we hoped, yet moving in the right direction.
These six actions helped us leap past our fears to start creating the life we envisioned.
Embrace a learning mindset. We thought we needed to know everything about starting a business for too long before we leaped. After a year of talking about beginning, we realized we had to stop talking about it and do it. In July 2020, we launched our website and built a community through social media. The most important thing we needed was an open and learning mindset.
The reality is you’ll never be fully ready, know everything, or have the perfect plan. Be willing to leap and learn. Ask questions of others who have reinvented themselves. Learn from their experiences. Open up to learning from women younger and older than you.
Leap past fear. Change is scary, but what’s more frightening is living a life not aligned with your values and dreams. It was challenging to start something new, put ourselves out there, not know whether midlife women would engage with us, and not feel perfectly ready when we did. And, the fear creeps in regularly when we try something new (like producing a fashion show!) or discuss something that feels vulnerable (showing our faces or sharing our personal stories).
But, the rewards have come on the other side of fear. So leap, friends, leap!
Forgive each other and ourselves. When you forge into something new, you’ll make mistakes. We certainly have —lots of them, to be honest. Early on, we made a pact to accept that we will make mistakes, laugh at them together, support each other through them, and move on quickly. This pact has worked for us and has helped us realize mistakes are our lessons, they’re inevitable, and they’re part of the process of living forward.
Be kind and forgive yourself and others as you move along your path.
Ask for support and be supportive. Reinvention takes support. We have called on friends and family to support our efforts to build Rumblings. In return, we make an effort to promote other midlife women reinventing themselves. These women have taught us so much as we’ve learned their whys for reinvention, seen their actions, and witnessed their successes.
Don’t be afraid to ask for support. Share your dreams and audacious goals. Ask other like-minded midlifers for help.
Be consistent. Consistency has been our biggest lesson and the action that continues to move us towards our goals. It sounds too easy, but in reality, it can be challenging. We need to remind ourselves frequently to break down tasks and take action every day. When we do, we see progress and change.
Change and reinvention are not easy. You have to stay focused on your why and take steps every day towards your dreams. It’s the daily steps that create progress.
Practice self-care. To live your best life requires you to be at your best. Take care of yourself. Sleep. Eat well. Move. Meditate. Take time for yourself. For years, we put ourselves last as we built our careers, raised children, and cared for parents. We put off medical appointments, didn’t exercise, and reached for convenient food.
As we’ve built Rumblings, we’ve reprioritized ourselves alongside our ambitions. Our dreams matter. We matter. But, only we can take steps to take care of ourselves. No one can do it for us. We’ve realized that we feel better when we do this and do better.
Now is the time. Prioritize and take care of YOU.
Reinvention is a continuous process. We’ve learned a lot and realize how far we’ve come as we reflect on that New York City weekend. We’re making progress on living the life of our dreams, and it’s exciting. We still have things we’re working on—confidence, focus, and vulnerability. We acknowledge the challenges ahead of us and reflect on these same actions as we discuss how to move past them.
It’s not too late to pursue your dreams and desires.
Let’s reignite, reinvent, and RUMBLE through midlife together.
Read more about how turning 50 inspired Rumblings and advice from other midlife women on how they reinvented themselves.
5 Ways to Reinvent Your Career
Today’s midlife women came of age during an era where women were told they could have it all; family, career, and fulfilling life where they could shape their destiny and choose their path.
We’ve spent the last year speaking with amazing midlife women who felt that same rumbling and have reimagined their lives and reinvented themselves to design a path for themselves that is more aligned with their values. They’ve reinvigorated their careers, built businesses, or taken risks to create a life to live well and flourish.
Read their advice and listen to your inner RUMBLING. You can take steps to align your career with your values to flourish through midlife.
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom - Anais Nin
Today’s midlife women came of age during an era where women were told they could have it all; family, career, and fulfilling life where they could shape their destiny and choose their path.
Many women chose to work. Others worked out of necessity, decided to work at home, or returned to work when children were school-aged. For decades women balanced work and life, leaned in, advanced in careers, and entered their 50s thinking it would be their time.
Midlife is a time of transition. Children are leaving the nest, careers are peaking, and there is more time to focus on what is essential. It is a life stage when men are at the peak of their careers and earning potential. However, what women encounter is a society that expects us to remain ageless. We experience gender ageism in the workplace. Regardless of our prior accomplishments, we face a society that finds countless subtle ways to tell us we’re not as relevant, not as attractive, and less deserving.
It’s natural and normal to feel unsettled with a desire to explore what’s next. These internal rumblings can also come with inner self-doubt and negative self-talk — “I’m too old,” “I don’t look like I should,” “I’m not seen or heard.” Many midlife women feel stuck even though we have decades left to work, live well, and flourish.
Women also describe lacking authentic and deep connection with other women, feeling burned out, exhausted, and disappointed at a time that is supposed to be the pinnacle of their lives.
Women have been trying to live up to an unrealistic standard for too long, and as a result, they feel they’re climbing a mountain but never reaching the top. Sound familiar? The good news is that you can define what will come next. You don’t have to succumb to societal norms of acceptable and how we should age. If the original path no longer contributes to how you want to live your lives, it’s time to find a new one.
We’ve spent the last year speaking with amazing midlife women who felt that same rumbling and have reimagined their lives and reinvented themselves to design a path for themselves that is more aligned with their values. They’ve reinvigorated their careers, built businesses, or taken risks to create a life to live well and flourish.
Read their advice and listen to your inner RUMBLING. You can take steps to align your career with your values to flourish through midlife.
Define your universal skills. You have learned many things from your prior roles as mother, sister, daughter, aunt, caretaker, homemaker, and career woman that you bring to the table. You’ve balanced many demanding tasks and been successful at them. For example, women have a unique ability to context switch. It means you can switch between multiple unrelated tasks and improvise as you do it.
You have superb negotiation skills from your personal, volunteer, and professional lives that you can use in any situation. You have negotiated salaries, employee engagement, bedtimes for a 3-year-old, rules for teenagers, daily living capabilities with aging parents, and everything in between.
You are resilient. You’ve successfully navigated every challenge that has come your way. You know your strengths, and you’ve learned how to either overcome, mitigate, or ask for assistance in areas of weakness.
Write down the skills you possess that are universal to any situation and how you can use them. Ask friends and family what they think your strengths are and add them to your list.
Choose your core values and purpose over societal pressure. Consider what is most important to you. What are your core beliefs? What are your values? What is most important to you in the future?
Have those values and beliefs been aligned with your decision-making? For example, have you made career or life choices that are in line with your values and best interests, or have you made sacrifices to put the interests of others first?
Answering these questions provides an opportunity to be thoughtful and intentional about your importance. For many women, it can be about supporting and empowering others. It can be about giving back to the community and making a difference in the lives of others.
It’s difficult for many women to focus on putting themselves first and discount any societal norms, but it’s crucial for finding meaningful work. If this is a challenge, ask yourself what matters more than money. Those are your values.
Dream and design your path. Consider the course that keeps you closest to your integrity, values, and goals for your life and the future.
What are the ways you can start to move towards that? It could be making changes to your current role, seeking new employment or career, taking on a side job, or volunteering. Where can you find other like-minded people with similar interests or who you can learn from?
Networking and establishing connections with people you don’t know well is another universal skill that women possess. It is a great place to use those skills to meet new people and hone what unique gifts you have to offer.
We have been amazed at how willingly other women have been to spend time with other women to share ideas, knowledge and magnify the voices of other women as they endeavor to design a new path.
Living from the inside out creates a foundation of health. It takes a foundation of good health to flourish after 50. Make your health a priority. It will support your self-confidence and help you feel connected while living genuinely from the inside out.
It’s never too late to pivot. The science around aging and lifespan is evolving. We have been amazed and inspired by all of the remarkable women we’ve met who are continually learning, growing, and changing.
Today, women who accomplish great things are more frequently in midlife and beyond. Fear is part of the equation, but courage is the calling to find clarity and purpose, and that belief is vital in the women we’ve worked with.
You are not alone in what you’re feeling or experiencing.
Women want to support other women in achieving their dreams. If the women in your life don’t support your dreams, seek out those who do.
Striving to discover your remarkable and fulfilling midlife journey ensures your process will foster purpose, belonging, joy, and gratitude. It feels good!
Embracing and stepping in the beauty, liberation, and wisdom as you move into and beyond midlife empowers other women, young and older, to do the same. By tapping into your knowledge, experience, and wisdom, you engage with others differently and bring value to the people around you.
Together we can change the way our culture views midlife and older women. We’re excited about midlife, the new things we’ll do, the risks we’ll take, and the women we’ll meet!
Let’s reinvent, reignite, and RUMBLE through midlife together!
10 Ways to Empower Women Right Now
When we help one woman we lift up all women. Discover 10 easy and doable ways to empower women right now from Jane Finette’s recent book Unlocked: How Empowered Women Empower Women. Change starts by taking one action with another person for the sake of all women. The opportunity is great and is now!
Saeteesh from @saeteeshunleashed and Jennifer Cermak from @naninalubeachwear shared personal advice and stories to empower other women at our Fashion After 50 Fashion Week MN Event. Photo credit: G. Marie Images
Have you ever asked yourself, “What is one small thing I can do to start a revolution?” Jane Finette did just that during the pandemic. She felt down and overwhelmed, so she started connecting with other strong women in her network to find out how they were coping and what they were doing. Although the media headlines were dismal, she discovered empowered women doing fantastic work to support the advancement of women and girls, and their efforts did not stop during these stressful and unprecedented times.
Talking to other women, she also found their impact did not start with a huge business plan. It began with simple, quiet, and repeatable things that they did in sisterhood. She felt these empowering stories needed to be told, so Jane summarized the lessons into her new book, Unlocked: How Empowered Women Empower Women.
Our Rumblings community had an opportunity to have a virtual conversation with Jane to discuss our ability to influence societal change, especially when systemic and policy changes necessary to address fundamental issues of gender, age, and racial biases seem so impossible.
She emphasized that change starts by taking one action with another person in our world. The opportunity is great, and we need to understand that we lift up all women when we help one woman. When we collectively do that as a regular practice, enough women will be standing in their full power, and systems and policy changes will follow.
Our conversation was so rich and empowering that we wanted to share the key takeaways for women who missed it.
How do you begin?
Start by seeing yourself as a female activist. If you think of your actions as feminist actions, you will realize the impact goes beyond helping one dear friend or work colleague, and instead, you will recognize your simple steps are for the sake of all women. When you embrace female activism as a part of your personality and identity, you will seek ways every day to fulfill your way of being that type of person in the world.
We’ve all had our own lived experiences as we’ve climbed the corporate ladder, raised children, taken care of aging parents, and made our way in the world. We know it hasn’t been easy, and we’re not here to claim that carving out even more time to help more women is easy either.
However, we hope we all agree that we want a smoother path for the women—our daughters, nieces, neighbors, colleagues, etc.— coming behind us. This starts with being vulnerable, sharing your experiences—good and not so good—and asking for help when needed.
You’re the most important person in your life. The first act of being a feminist is committing to take care of yourself first. When you make yourself a priority, you have the capacity to help other women.
10 Keys to Unlock the Potential of All Women
Say yes to help another woman. Make an introduction. Have a call. Give advice when asked.
Tell her she is ready! Be her cheerleader. Sometimes she just needs a gentle reminder to own her truth and claim her destiny.
Stand behind her. Back her up. Support her through struggles. Let her know you’re there for her.
Help her help herself. Help her see everything available for her to clearly make her own choice or decision.
Talk about money. Women earn less, invest less, and two-thirds of women have the potential to retire into poverty. You must get comfortable talking about money, encouraging women to ask for what they’re worth, and sharing how to invest money.
Stand up for her. Support fairness, equity, and truth, especially when those principles are violated.
Be the example. Share your stories and personal experiences. Role model helping yourself and other women. Having empowered women as examples empowers other women.
Give her confidence. Help her see her strengths, showcase her previous successes, and move past her fear.
Send the elevator down. Make the journey easier for her by giving her a hand, hiring her, promoting her, or showcasing her talents.
Be a sister. Show up as a sister. Offer a kind word. Listen. Smile. Share a hug.
“To empower another woman is a selfless act with untold possibilities.”
- Jane Finette
Now is the time. Get started today!
It’s all about this moment. You are ready. All that you have done before now has prepared you for this moment. You know how to put the keys to work to unlock the potential of women around you. Just begin. Start today.
Jane summed up our conversation brilliantly. “We all have everything inside us to live our fullest, and most exciting, and wild lives. We have all the wisdom from the women who came before us, and we have an incredible community of women supports. Ask for help from each other and give, receive, and keep showing up to moments like this because it’s a village; we need a village.”
If this summary has inspired you, we encourage you to buy and gift the book to all the women in your life. The proceeds from your purchases go to The Coaching Fellowship, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing young women leaders working in the social impact space, founded by Jane and described as her life’s work.
A foundational principle, or Rock, at Rumblings is to advocate for and inspire women around us. Read more about our Four Rocks to Flourish After 50
Together We Live Well and Flourish After 50
Living well and flourishing after 50 is achievable! We're proving when women come together to learn, connect, and inspire one another we thrive. We're grateful to you for believing in this mission and committing to live your best life. Take a few moments this holiday season for you. Reflect, realign, and get ready to RUMBLE into 2022.
Thank you, friends! We are deeply grateful for you, our Rumblings' community, and we wish you a very happy, joyful, and reflective Thanksgiving day and long weekend, however you celebrate.
We’ll both be celebrating locally, but If you’re traveling this weekend, check out our Top Seven Tips for Successful Multigenerational Travel. Sometimes the biggest holiday stresses come from the expectations of family members and friends from different generations coming around the table together. Plan ahead, prepare yourself, and relish your time together. If we’ve learned anything over the last 20 months is that time together is valuable and something we won’t take for granted again.
We also plan to get out and enjoy the long weekend by doing a little shopping, decorating, and consuming lots of leftovers! Small business Saturday (November 27) is a great chance to support small local retailers in your area. We encourage you to seek out and support small women-owned businesses this holiday season. If you haven’t checked out our 2021 Holiday Gift Guide for Women which highlights gift ideas from small women-owned businesses, now is the time!
This is the time of year we prioritize time to pause, reflect, and celebrate our annual accomplishments, as well as strategize and plan for the next year. One annual ritual we’ve done individually and now as a business is setting one to three-word intention(s) for the year. Our Rumblings words for 2021 were learn, connect, and inspire. If you’ve never set your word(s) for the year, check out the process we use to choose our words. We’ll be going through this process in December to set our 2022 intentions.
We love hearing from you. One thing we’ve learned since we launched Rumblings is that many midlife women are looking for alignment between their professional or volunteer work, and their personal values. Two years ago, we were there too.
This rumbling often takes the form of wanting to start a new hobby, transition to a new job role, or jump into an entirely new career. We’ve been inspired by the midlife women we’ve met who have literally reinvented their career paths and are happier as a result. Whether you are just starting to feel a new rumbling that something needs to change or you’re ready to leap headfirst into a new career, read our most popular blog post of 2021—Discover How to Successfully Make Work and Life Transitions After 50.
Living well and flourishing after 50 is achievable! Together we thrive. Take a few moments this holiday season for you. Reflect, realign, and get ready to RUMBLE into 2022.
We look forward to RUMBLING right alongside you.
2021 Holiday Gift Guide for the Women in Your Life
Rumblings Media is excited to support women-owned businesses with our first annual Rumblings Women's Gift Guide featuring unique items for any woman in your life. This list was curated from recommendations from our Rumblings community, as well as from our personal experiences. We hope you’ll join us this holiday season and throughout the year in supporting and lifting up amazing and inspiring entrepreneurs, makers, and small businesses by shopping female-owned whenever possible!
After celebrating quietly amongst our immediate families in 2020, we are in the holiday spirit earlier this year, ready to shop and pick out the perfect gift for family, friends, and neighbors.
The pandemic has been a time of deep reflection and transformation for so many women. We’re inspired by their stories and are excited to support women-owned businesses with our first annual Rumblings Women's Gift Guide featuring unique items for any woman in your life. This list was curated from recommendations from our Rumblings community, as well as from our personal experiences.
There has never been a better time to shop and support women-owned small businesses with worldwide shipping delays and sparse inventory at national retailers.
Isadore Nut Company
Isadore Nut Company makes award-winning snacks and gifts that are more than just delicious and good for your body. They also ensure half their staff is people with disabilities. The others are women, people of color, and immigrants. They give people the chance to learn new skills and accomplish their goals by giving them a job.
Bolton Bees
Give a gift of good health and sustainability—honey. Bees are responsible for pollinating ⅓ of the world’s food supply, including many fruits and vegetables that are important to a healthy diet. Honey is a natural sweetener with nutritional benefits, but it’s also critical to the existence of honey bees, which are in turn essential to our health. Gift natural honey straight from Bolton Bees Beekeeper, Chiara Bolton. Shop location-specific, solar-produced, or custom-label honey.
Their gift to you is free shipping on orders over $14. Code: RUMBLINGS
Gaderian Wines
Gaderian Wines is a women-owned winery and wine you can drink with your friends and family around the table, firepit, picnic blanket, or living room. Celebrate these women with the woman in your life by sharing a bottle of Gaderian wine.
Chef Robin Asbell
Robin Asbell is an author, educator, and natural foods chef who creates luscious, feel-good food. Treat the food lover in your life to a new cookbook for inspiration or a virtual cooking class for fun times with friends.
Ear Things by Laura Wolovitch
Handcrafted jewelry utilizing new, recycled, and vintage materials. Shop Ear Things By Laura Wolovitch.
Laura Stamper Designs
Art jewelry by Laura Stamper Designs is described as the antidote for ordinary. Laura has been creating one-of-a-kind pieces for 29 years. You can find her jewelry on her website or Etsy.
SHExclusive by Susan Horowitz
Find Minnesota jewelry designer Susan Horowitz’s designs at one of her Etsy sites, SHExclusive or Minnesota Stoned.
LaurenErickaDesigns
Nani Nalu Beachwear Botique
Trying on swimsuits has never been a positive experience for either of us until we found Nani Nalu Beachwear Boutique. Rumblings women have described the unique in-store or virtual shopping experiences as "life-changing.”
Give the gift of a unique shopping experience to your friend, sister, daughter, wife, or mother by making an in-person appointment and purchasing a gift card for a new suit or other pieces of resort wear or a gift card to the online experience called SUITCASE. Get started here.
Kirtonized
Founded by Pam Kirton, an award-winning artist and illustrator, and Saeteesh, a model and entrepreneur, Kirtonized is a unique one-of-a-kind clothing gift. Contact Pam and Saeteesch by DMing them on Instagram at @kirtonized to co-design a custom gift.
ATELIER957
ATELIER957 is a women's fashion boutique offering hand-picked clothing and accessories from small design houses worldwide. They believe in being chic, flattering, and unique at every age, size, & shape.
Monique Maxwell
Inspirational clothing with a deeper purpose embodies what the woman in your life believes. Find motivational t-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, flannels, and more by Monique Maxwell.
Grethen House
Grethen House has been at the forefront of introducing cutting-edge fashion to Minneapolis since 1990. They showcase a thoughtfully curated collection of designers available locally and online that any woman would love.
ModernWell
ModernWell is a women-centered collaborative workspace that balances independent spirit with holistic well-being, championing a one-of-a-kind, work-like community. Membership in a well-being-focused women’s co-working space in your community is a great gift.
Kula Yoga
Kula Yoga is an all-inclusive, woman-run, boutique yoga studio providing in-person, streaming, and 24-hour playback yoga classes, workshops, private lessons, and retreats for all fitness levels. Classes range from high-intensity conditioning classes or open flow vinyasa classes to restorative classes to help you gain flexibility and relax. Kula Yoga specializes in safe, results-oriented instruction with a keen focus on physical alignment and spirituality. Give the gift of movement in an enviroment that allows women to explore and deepen a yoga practice in fresh and exciting ways.
Rhythm For Living Life Coaching
Help someone you love transform fears into compassion for being good enough as she is and find support for her to dare to become what she desires with life coaching sessions from Shelly Melrose from Rhythm For Living.
The Scout Guide
Do your female friends or family members have an upcoming trip or simply enjoy seeking new and exciting local hot spots? The Scout Guide connects people with local businesses, entrepreneurs, and others in more than 60 U.S. cities that both locals and travelers should know about.
Lip Esteem
Tameka Jones helps women feel good one tube at a time—lipstick, that is. Lip Esteem is a new cosmetic brand born out of pure ambition and passion. With more than 25 shades, the Lip Esteem look is plant-based, gluten-free, and cruelty-free, and full of life and vibrancy!
House of Colour
Personal stylists help any woman look fabulous and radiate confidence in the colors and shapes that suit her best. Check out the consultant directory to find a House of Colour stylist in your area.
Empowering Books
Between Grit and Grace: The Art of Being Feminine and Formidable by Sasha Shillcutt, MD
Her Path Forward: 21 Stories of Transformation and Inspiration Edited by Julie Burton and Chris Olsen
Notes from the Rocket by Christine Mason Miller
Unlocked: How Empowered Women Empower Women by Jane Finette
Women-owned businesses represent a critical part of economic and business growth. And, studies show that women reinvest up to ninety percent of their income in their families and communities. We hope you’ll join us this holiday season and throughout the year in supporting and lifting up amazing and inspiring entrepreneurs, makers, and small businesses by shopping female-owned whenever possible!
Are you inspired to start a new hobby, volunteer position, or career? Check out our most-read 2021 blog post-Discover How to Make Work and Life Transitions After 50.
Top 7 Tips for Successful Multigenerational Travel
Over time, and through trial-and-error, we’ve discovered our top seven tips for successful multigenerational travel. Whether you are planning a trip with family or friends representing different generations, use one or more of these seven strategies for a frictionless fun-filled trip.
I recently returned from a daughter, mother, grandmother trip to visit my son at Michigan State University (MSU). For almost 20 years, the three of us have intentionally planned trips to learn, connect, and seek adventure together.
The trips have ranged from visiting the American Girl store in Chicago, a long weekend in Door County, week-long getaways in Michigan to two weeks in Italy and France during my daughter’s time studying abroad.
We’ve had great times and created wonderful memories, but we've also learned how to travel well together. It’s not always easy when there is a 57 year age difference.
Over time, and through trial-and-error, we’ve discovered seven strategies that work for us for successful multigenerational travel.
1. Choose a Destination with a Personal Connection
My mom (grandma) grew up in Michigan. I was born in Michigan, lived there until I was two years old, and spent summers in my youth traveling back to Michigan to visit my grandparents. It’s been fun to intentionally plan trips back to Michigan to stir up memories and reminisce. Our trip to MSU was to visit my son at college, but also for my mom to share her stories of being a student there too.
As you plan your trip, think about the purpose of traveling together. Is there a destination that would be fun for everyone, but also have a special connection for one or more of your family members? Do you want to create memories for your children? Do you want your children to get to know your parents and their life stories better? Craft an itinerary that fulfills the purpose for everyone.
2. Plan Activities You All Can Enjoy
Given our age differences, choosing activities that we all enjoy can be challenging. Adventure sports, long strenuous hikes, or even hours spent in a museum don’t bring the same joy for all of us. However, there are two things we can all agree on—our love for local culture and food. We seek out innovative restaurants, local markets, or unique local boutiques while also stopping by meaningful locations during our trips.
During our recent weekend away, we drove by the house my parents built (my first home) and the hospital where I was born. My mom enjoyed seeing the changes in these places over time, and my daughter and I enjoyed hearing her relive her memories from her time in Lansing.
Planning activities with a mixture of new and old experiences creates excellent conversation and rich new memories together.
Have a conversation before your trip and identify what type of activities each person would enjoy. Consider each traveler's passions. Can you include that type of activity into your itinerary for everyone to enjoy?
Do your research. We’ve found unique activities via travel books, blogs, and most recently, Tik Tok and Instagram influencers. Keep your mind open! Some of our most memorable experiences lately have come from ideas discovered by my daughter through social media.
3. Let the Young Navigate
One of the biggest roadblocks we have tackled is how to get from A to Z. I have frequently felt stuck in the middle of a map reader (my mom) and an online Google Maps expert (my daughter). It came to a head on our trip to Europe four years ago. After living in France for six months, my daughter had Google Maps iPhone navigation down to a science. She could map us on any type of public transportation — trains, buses, and subways —in no time flat. Growing up using paper maps, my mom felt lost without seeing the big picture of where we were going to ensure we were going in the right direction. She would get anxious and frustrated with my daughter and me for not slowing down so she could review the map before deciding which direction we should go. Within a few hours, I realized I had to help my mom let go of control, trust her granddaughter's navigation skills, and be ok with following her lead so we could travel together without angst.
In our experience, letting the young navigate creates less friction and gets us where we are going more quickly. This is not always easy for the older adults in the group who have been reliant on paper maps for travel. Our advice is to discuss this before your trip, review a paper map before your day begins, and encourage older travelers to trust, relax, and let go of the need to navigate during the day.
4. Pack Light
A travel mantra I heard over and over growing up was never to pack more than you can carry. This has been critically important to remember during our multigenerational trips. We pack light and do not worry about wearing the same outfit multiple times. It keeps us mobile and allows us to quickly help one another when needed.
We recommend traveling with a lightweight roller bag with 360-degree wheels and a backpack that can easily fit under the airplane seat and be light enough to carry while exploring new areas. Traveling light helps everyone in your group feel in control of their belongings, move more efficiently, and stay together during your trip.
5. Listen
While walking the MSU campus, my mom started reminiscing about her time there from 1958 to 1962. Hearing her stories about being required to wear heels and suits to the football games, wear skirts to classes (women were not allowed to wear pants), and be in her room by curfew made Ella and I realize how far women have come in two generations. It made us appreciate the challenges women have fought to overcome so that our lives are better.
Listening to stories from the generations ahead of you can help you better appreciate your life and opportunities while gaining new respect and appreciation for their past. This experience can create new connections between all travelers.
Ask questions and listen. There is nothing like learning about someone in the place they lived or through an experience they had as a child as they relive it as an adult with you. It’s also fun for the adults to see a place through the eyes of younger generations for a fresh take on a familiar place.
6. Slow down
Let’s face it, our travel speed changes as we age. As my daughter, mother, and I have traveled together, we have had to adjust our expectations, pace, and patience as we have gotten older. We don't move at the same speed or schedule as many activities into a day as we once did.
Technology has added travel challenges. Mobile tickets, online check-ins, and QR codes can feel overwhelming when a person in your group is less comfortable with these new processes. Navigating technology-enhanced travel naturally takes more time for anyone not as familiar with digital changes.
Yet, slowing down has benefits. There is more time to enjoy the scenery, take in the sounds around you, and appreciate the moment you're in instead of anticipating the next activity or sight to see.
It’s unrealistic to expect your multigenerational travel companions to all move at the same speed. Be realistic. Modify your expectations before you travel. Take the time to help others in your group who move more slowly. Walk with them. Help them with their luggage and work with them to navigate new technology. You’ll build new bonds and nurture a new relationship.
7. Be Grateful
My daughter, mother, and I are grateful for our time together traveling and the memories we’ve created. We understand that we’re lucky to have these opportunities. We have years of travel memories together. This past weekend, we added to those as we ate gelato for breakfast, wandered local boutiques, introduced my mom to Lululemon leggings and kombucha, shared memories over coffee and wine, and walked miles and miles around campus.
Whether you are planning multigenerational trips with family or friends, consider these seven strategies for success.
What did we miss? What has worked for you and your family? Let us know.
Are you wondering what to pack when you travel? Check out our favorite tips and items in our Jetsetter's Guide: Master the Art of Savvy Packing.
13 Ways to Transition to Autumn Using a Chinese Medicine Approach
The philosophy of Chinese medicine teaches us to live in reciprocal harmony with the natural world’s cycles to maximize our health and wellbeing.
As the last warm days of our late summer wind down and the busy Yang energy of summer recedes, the transition to autumn begins. The days are shorter, the sun sets earlier, and the mornings are cool and crisp. Observing nature in transition during the autumn season, we begin to prepare for more dormant days ahead. Leaves turn and begin their journey back to the earth. Fruits fall, seeds dry, and tree sap returns to the roots. The natural world is preparing for the cold, dark, and challenging months ahead. We, too, must make our preparations at this time. We stock up on colorful and still abundant fruits and vegetables, dry, preserve, and store foods, and rediscover our forgotten sweaters and wool socks—the summer Yang energy transitions to the slower, quiet, and introspective Yin energy during this time.
Jalashree working with a guest.
Guest Blog: Written By Jalashree Pradhan, Licensed Acupuncturist and Reiki practitioner.
“There is a necessary wisdom in the give-and-take of nature, its quiet agreements and search for balance. There is an extraordinary generosity”- Suzanne Simard.
As the last warm days of our late summer wind down and the busy Yang energy of summer recedes, the transition to autumn begins. The days are shorter, the sun sets earlier, and the mornings are cool and crisp. Observing nature in transition during the autumn season, we begin to prepare for more dormant days ahead. Leaves turn and begin their journey back to the earth. Fruits fall, seeds dry, and tree sap returns to the roots. The natural world is preparing for the cold, dark, and challenging months ahead. We, too, must make our preparations at this time. We stock up on colorful and still abundant fruits and vegetables, dry, preserve, and store foods, and rediscover our forgotten sweaters and wool socks—the summer Yang energy transitions to the slower, quiet, and introspective Yin energy during this time.
Welcome to autumn.
The philosophy of Chinese medicine teaches us to live in reciprocal harmony with the natural world’s cycles so that we can maximize our health and wellbeing.
The Five Elements:
According to Chinese medicine, the Five Elements, or 5 phases, are a method by which we can explain the manifestations of this world. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water help us define our relationship to the physical world, the spiritual world, and bodies.
In Chinese medicine, autumn is represented by the Metal element and is related to the Lungs and Large intestine organ systems. The Metal element governs mind, organization, order, stability, an eye for beauty/refinement, and its ability to come together and let go. It relates to the color white. The body tissue it connects to is the skin and body hair. The sensory organ is the nose. We experience this element through a yearning for spicy, pungent, and somewhat sour foods.
When the Metal element is not balanced, we may experience excessive grief and sadness or have difficulty letting go and need control. When in balance, we experience a natural sense of acceptance of the transition of this world. We can let go with grace and grieve appropriately, recognizing change as a natural transformative process.
The Lungs and Large intestine organ systems include the nose, throat, skin, and digestive systems, designed to protect us from harmful external factors. The Qi that circulates on the surface is called Defensive Qi, “Wei Qi.” This encompasses the Western concept of superficial immunity and protects us from seasonal illnesses like colds, flu, and allergies. The Lungs are most susceptible to wind, cold, and dryness at this time of year. If Wei Qi is strong and in balance, we can generally maintain health and avoid illness. If our Lungs are out of balance due to overwork, lack of sleep, or improper diet, we are more likely to suffer from “lung conditions.”
Common symptoms associated with Lung and Large intestine system imbalances are allergies, asthma, breathing problems, constipation/diarrhea, cough, excessive grief, indifference, sadness, sinus infections, sinus headaches, shortness of breath, susceptibility for colds/flu, skin issues, pain in shoulders, elbows, and lower limbs.
Autumn is an opportune time to nourish these vulnerable systems and balance your overall energy and immune system.
There are many things you can do to transition between seasons and embrace autumn:
Stay Warm - Weather changes quickly during this dry season, so wear extra layers. Keeping a scarf around the neck and chest offers additional protection and makes a bold fashion statement. According to Chinese medicine, wind penetrates through the back of the neck and brings environmental pathogens that can lead to vulnerability to catching an illness. Cover up and protect your skin.
Practice Slowing Down - Exercise is essential at this time, but as the world around us slows down, we should reflect on the pace and not run from it. Try calmer forms of exercise – yoga, Qi Gong, nature walks, taking in the beauty of color changes of the trees, or watching a sunrise/sunset. Seek inspiration and beauty all around you. Embrace the transition.
Share activities with family and friends like raking leaves, foraging mushrooms, apple picking, and bringing the garden to a temporary lull. Take time to watch the beauty and changes as they happen all around you. These are relaxing, connected forms of mental and emotional exercise as we say goodbye to one season and welcome another.
Protect Your Sleep - Days are shorter, and nights are longer. More hours of the day are Yin (dark, quiet, cool, and inactive). Try following nature’s lead by going to bed a little earlier. Make sure to turn off screens and keep the bedroom cool and dark. Going to bed and waking up at regular hours will help restore and repair your body and mind.
Incorporate The Bounty Of The Harvest - Move away from summer’s cold, raw foods to more warm and heartier foods such as soups, stews, sautés, stir-fry, and roasts. Rich and dense foods such as winter squashes, winter peas, broccoli, beets, carrots, cauliflower, red cabbage, sweet potatoes, yams, and dark leafy greens support and help keep the digestive system strong to keep the lung system protected. Seasonal fruits such as cranberries, figs, pears, apples, persimmons, and chestnuts support the Lung and Large intestine organ systems. The season provides us much to be grateful for and acknowledge.
It’s best to avoid rich and fatty foods in autumn. They are difficult to digest and can produce phlegm that blocks the Lung Qi. Also, in Chinese medicine, excessive intake of fruits, juices, and dairy can produce mucus, causing coughs and phlegm, so best to limit these to protect the lungs.
Say Yes To Sour/Pungent Flavors - Add sour foods into your diet (olives, pickles, sauerkraut, lemons, leeks, tart apples, etc.) to help hold the Qi within us. It is wise to add pungent aromatic seasonings such as garlic, ginger, coriander, chili, mustard seed, cinnamon, sage, thyme, and rosemary. They improve Qi and blood circulation and support fluid balance to release mucus. Do use all these sour and pungent spices in moderation to not deplete the Qi and Yin. To support the Lung and Large intestine membranes and get rid of mucous, add fenugreek, marshmallow root, flaxseeds, and kombu seaweed.
Add White - The color white corresponds to the Metal energy. Incorporating white foods such as onions, garlic, ginger, cauliflower, cabbage, bamboo shoots, radishes, turnips, daikon, horseradish, parsnips, mushrooms, apples, pears, almonds, cashews, egg whites all help support the Large intestine to eliminate properly. Also, add fiber-rich whole grains and legumes such as rice, oats, amaranth, white beans, soybeans, and white lima beans. Do avoid white refined flours and sugars. Wearing white may also bring a sense of lightness.
Cultivate Simplicity - It is time to bring the energy more inward and shed things and activities to help simplify daily life. Consider how to live simply, consciously. Try the Marie Kondo approach to organizing closets and drawers and get rid of things you no longer need; it may help you feel a sense of lightness. Autumn is an excellent time to let go of emotional baggage as well. Clear old resentments, foster compassion and forgiveness, and shed the baggage of unprocessed emotions—all with loving attention and care.
Pause to Breathe - The Lung is the Yin organ of the Metal element and brings Qi, a breath of life, to mind, body, and spirit. Shallow and rapid breaths can reduce oxygen and increase stress/tension and deplete the immune function. Remember to pause and take a mindful breath in from your nose, and exhale slowly from your mouth throughout your day. This will help calm the mind and nourish the Lung system to stay healthy.
Observe and Reflect - This time of the year provides a perfect time to watch the Yang energy transition to Yin energy. It is time to slow down. As the days grow shorter, we may feel anxious or melancholic, saying goodbye to the warmer weather. As beautiful as the changing season can be, the closing days of the year can remind us of our cycles and mortality and helps us to live in alignment with what is greater than ourselves.
If we can be persuaded to put aside our fears and accept all that is happening around us and become a part of the larger life cycle, grief can be experienced as a cleansing emotion.
It is essential to make time to cry and grieve. The sound of the Metal element is weeping. The process of letting go, releasing old patterns and unresolved grief will allow us to move with courage and integrity to clarity, recovery, and finally, acceptance.
Incorporate Essential Oils - The Lungs are related to the nose and our sense of smell. When the Lung system is balanced, we can smell all five smells. Deeply inhale essential oils like rosemary, niaouli, eucalyptus, fir, or peppermint to open and clear the nasal passages, and cinnamon, clove, and lemon, in addition, can help boost immunity. Essential oils of lavender, orange, neroli, ylang-ylang, chamomile, and blue tansy help calm mild anxiety, worry, and stress.
My favorite essential oil blends that I carry at my clinic are from Snow Lotus: Vir-Away, Sinus Clear, Sweet Dreams, Stress Release, and Worry-Free.
Add Chinese Herbal Remedies - Chinese herbal remedies are a time-tested and effective support for the immune system and treating cold and flu. They can also be used to support recovery from various long-haul symptoms of COVID-19. It is best to consult with your East Asian Medicine practitioner or me for the appropriate formula for you.
These are a few formulas that can be safely added to your daily regimen as prevention and maintain health through the autumn and winter seasons:
Host Defense Immunity Comprehensive/ Stamets 7: a powerful blend of medicinal mushrooms for supporting general immunity
Griffo Base Camp: classical Chinese herbal formula with medicinal mushrooms in teas and tinctures support seasonal immunity
Dao Labs (Mpls) Immunity Support: classical herbal blend can be added to your daily autumn regimen
Balance with Acupressure Points - Acupoints can be massaged rotating clockwise for 30 seconds to balance the immune system and support the digestive function.
CV 17-Sea of Tranquility is on the center of the chest at the 4th rib space and in front of the thymus gland, opens the chest, relaxes the diaphragm, supports the immune system, and brings a sense of calm and ease to the whole body, mind, and heart.
LU2-Cloud Gate is on the upper chest, below the front of the shoulder and end of the collar bone. This point will help with cough, asthma, and pain in the shoulders, lift the cloud of sadness and grief, and allow brightness and warmth to enter by supporting the Metal element.
TB5-Outer Gate is on the backside of the arm, about three fingers above your wrist crease between the two tendons. This point powerfully reduces inflammation and balances the fluids of the whole body. Also, the Outer gate allows for a feeling of warmth and connection from others.
Restore with Preventative Care - It is more important than ever to stay healthy and balanced, as well as protect and strengthen your immune system. It is beneficial to schedule a seasonal tune-up with acupuncture, cupping, and Chinese herbs to address allergies, digestive issues, long haul COVD-19 symptoms, sadness and grieving that need compassionate attention, and so much more. A holistic, individualized plan can be developed to support and meet your unique needs. Schedule your next visit by booking an appointment here.
You can schedule in-person and telehealth appointments with Jalashree using the link above.
Check out our upcoming facial roller event with Jalashree on November 8, in Minneapolis.
5 Lessons from A Fashion After 50 Event to Inspire Midlife Women
Over 200 midlife women attended a Rumblings’ Fashion Week MN event. It was an enormous undertaking and a departure from our previous events and outside our ‘self-defined expertise.
Planning the event and meeting new amazing women was fun and exciting. The immediate excitement of the event has ebbed. What hasn’t faded is the energy and new way of thinking and self-discovery from doing something different, a bit scary, but a lot of fun!
Aside from the new friends we met and all we learned about fashion, business, and ourselves, several takeaways will inspire us as we plan future events. We hope it will inspire you to continue to learn, connect, and empower other women so that we can all flourish in midlife.
The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides...the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.
~Audrey Hepburn
Over 200 midlife women attended a Rumblings’ Fashion Week MN event. It was an enormous undertaking and a departure from our previous events and outside our self-defined expertise.
It is an understatement to say that we felt out of our comfort zones. Creating an event was familiar; however, the idea of creating a fashion event was very new. We’re not fashionistas and we have the same questions about style and dressing during midlife as many other women.
We, too, have fashion biases like believing we’re too old to wear something or our clothing choices must hide certain parts of our body we’re uncomfortable with. Yet, we believe how we dress embodies how we feel about ourselves, and living inside out is a part of living authentically.
Our mission at Rumblings is to create a community of women who come together to learn, connect, and inspire one another to flourish after 50. A Fashion After 50 event was a perfect way to create a new opportunity to personally step outside of our comfort zone and bring midlife women together.
Planning the event and meeting amazing new women was fun and exciting. The immediate excitement of the event has ebbed. What hasn’t faded is the energy and new way of thinking and self-discovery from doing something different, a bit scary, but a lot of fun!
Aside from the new friends we met and all we learned about fashion, business, and ourselves, several takeaways will inspire us as we plan future events. We hope it will inspire you to continue to learn, connect, and empower other women so that we can all flourish in midlife.
Women empower women when they come together and share their personal stories—especially midlife women. Over twenty-one, female entrepreneurs and small business owners came together to create this event. Most have reimagined their lives during midlife, taken a giant leap to jump into something new, and created the life they want.
By far, the most inspiring part of the evening was hearing stories of midlife women reinventing themselves, starting new businesses, and creating a life where they flourish. It's not too late to chase your passions. We LOVED hearing their stories and all of them inspired us.
What is your story that you can share with others? Who do you know who has reinvented themselves in midlife by changing careers, starting a business, or taking up a new hobby? Let’s start sharing our stories. Empowered women, empower women.
Community is important. Moving into midlife can create feelings of isolation and loneliness for many women. Coming together in a community with other midlife women can help by knowing other women experience similar challenges, stresses, and transitions.
Whether we’re rethinking our careers or our personal lives, midlife women especially need deeper connections with other women in the same life stage. Midlife transitions are messy. There is something deeply personal about acknowledging our collective experiences with one another.
That’s why we created Rumblings-a community of women who come together to learn, connect, and inspire one another. You can get involved by signing up for our email, attending events, or simply engaging on social media. Together we can support and encourage one another to thrive after 50.
Together we create energy. When midlife women come together, we can energize a room. The past two years have been difficult. We’ve been managing careers, midlife transitions, balancing caring for family, neighbors, and older parents while navigating a pandemic and constant uncertainty. At the event, we witnessed the collective energy of women coming together, and it was magical!
We can help one another think about how we want to shape the remainder of the second part of our lives. We are in unchartered territory in more significant numbers than women that came before us. Our mothers collectively may not have had the same options, life experiences, or financial independence as a norm that we have available to us. Sharing inspires. And, inspired women create energy. We must continually lift up one another to navigate midlife together, reimage what it means to thrive in our primetime, and have tons of fun while doing it!
Find your women. Share, support, and let go. Enjoy this fantastic time in your life.
Attendees engage with a few of the pop-up market vendors. All female-owned small businesses.
Support midlife women-owned businesses. There will be 1.1 billion postmenopausal women by 2025. Yet, few companies market or create things specifically for our demographic beyond societal norms created by others to pressure us to be ageless, beautiful, or thin. We’ve all felt at one time or another to be less relevant because of aging. After years of working, many of us are either financially independent or have significant buying power. There is no reason we have to accept marketing and advertising that caters to younger demographics or males while diminishing our value by either ignoring us entirely or trying to limit our worth based on our appearance or age. We deserve better, and together we can advocate for it.
There are amazing, diverse, and phenomenal midlife women running businesses. Seek them out. Support them by purchasing from them. Let’s create a social movement for change and show the world what it means to be a midlife woman.
Fashion is from the inside out. Fashion is a reflection of who we are from the inside out. It should make us feel good about ourselves, which means wearing what makes us happy and confident.
Download our phenomenal Fashion After 50 Tips curated by the expert panelists at our event. Learn how to edit your closet, build a capsule wardrobe, select swimwear, and more!
Missed the event? You can watch the entire evening, experience the energy and excitement, hear expert advice from our panelists, and see looks from local boutiques on real-life (non-professional models) midlife women here.
Sign-up today to get more information on how to Flourish After 50!
Together We Rumble!
Website: rumblingsmedia.com
Instagram: @rumblingsmedia
Facebook: @rumblingsmedia
Pinterest: @RumblingsMedia
Can understanding your Enneagram type help you age well?
Kate Ostrem created her business, 9 Open Doors, to share the wisdom of the Enneagram in a practical, down-to-earth way. She loves helping women better understand themselves and others. We wanted to know if learning more about our Enneagram types could help us on our journey to aging well, so we sat down with her for an interview.
Kate Ostrem created her business, 9 Open Doors, to share the wisdom of the Enneagram in a practical, down-to-earth way. She loves helping women better understand themselves and others. We wanted to know if learning more about our Enneagram types could help us on our journey to aging well, so we sat down with her for an interview.
We’ve done a lot of personality tests, from Strength Finders to Myers-Brigg during our careers. Each one teaches us a little more about ourselves and gives us a way to think about who we are and why we do what we do. We both are learners, so we find the insights fascinating.
Over the last few years, we’ve noticed more and more people referring to themselves as numbers—one through nine. It definitely sparked our curiosity enough that we both took a free online Enneagram assessment. However, knowing our number, or personality, hasn’t been enough. We wanted a deeper dive into interpreting what our number reveals about our personality and how to use this knowledge to live better.
We sought out Enneagram Expert and Educator, Kate Ostrem, for an interview. Kate is certified with Anne Mureé and has studied with some of the most prominent thought leaders in the Enneagram community, including Ginger Lapid-Bogda, Russ Hudson, Helen Palmer, Jerry Wagner, and Beatrice Chestnut. She has been an Associate Member of the Enneagram in Business Network and is a former board member of the Minnesota Chapter of the International Enneagram Association.
Kate created her business, 9 Open Doors, to share the wisdom of the Enneagram in a practical, down-to-earth way. She loves helping her clients better understand themselves and others. From a conference in New Zealand to teams in corporate environments to a few close friends in a backyard and everything in between, she teaches the Enneagram in a meaningful way for every audience.
What is the Enneagram?
The Enneagram is a fascinating, centuries-old personality tool that depicts nine different types to explain the motivation behind how we think, feel, and act.
Why is knowing your type important?
Our type has many advantages, but it can also limit us. Once we identify our type, we begin to recognize our patterns and can cultivate the ability to make intentional, conscious choices instead of acting from a place of immediate habit.
How does knowing your Enneagram type help you better understand your personality tendencies?
Understanding your type allows you to access a deeper part of who you are. Our type is the result of deeply ingrained patterns which go back decades - recognizing it can lead to the realization that we have other options accessible to us. But first, we need to understand our automatic tendencies and what's behind them.
How can we use this knowledge to be more intentional about our lives as we age?
I believe that self-awareness is the key to aging well. The Enneagram frees you from a rigid definition of who you are and what you are capable of and opens your eyes to living fully from a place of wholeness.
Can knowing our Enneagram type help us get along with others better?
Yes, understanding that we are all operating through our type can help us take things less personally. It can also allow us to make adjustments to our own reactions and responses, which can positively impact our interactions with the people around us.
Can I change my type?
While our type remains the same all of our lives, what we can do is loosen how tight a hold it has on us.
What can we expect to learn at the Enneagram workshop on October 4?
For many people, discovering your type is a process that can take a long time. My hope is that our time together on October 4th will spark your curiosity, give you some insight into who you are, and point you in the right direction of learning how your type impacts you on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to it!
Do you want to learn more about your type and how to use it to your advantage? Register for Rumblings’ Enneagram workshop here.
Best Ways to Support Friends and Family During a Crisis
During a crisis, you can show support in multiple ways to someone you care about. It’s not what you do, it’s that you step forward and reach out. Not sure what to do? Check out our nine best ways to show support.
During a crisis, you can show support in multiple ways to someone you care about. It’s not what you do, it’s that you step forward and reach out.
August 19, 2020, changed our family forever. My (Rebecca) husband had a massive stroke. I shared the details in a previous post, so I won’t go into the story again here, but as my four kids and I moved through the first anniversary, we reflected on what helped us feel supported during the last year.
The reality is after 50, we’re at an age when sickness, health events, accidents, or death happen to people we care about and love. As I’ve gotten older, seeing people I care about in crisis has happened to too many people, too often. It has felt a bit overwhelming at times.
Our family was lucky. My husband recovered well. And, we’ve felt tremendous amounts of love during a very challenging year.
I have to admit before I went through this experience, I often wondered if I was saying or doing the “right” thing for someone going through a trying time. In hindsight, I often let this discomfort prevent me from doing enough to show I cared.
Experience is our teacher.
After reflection, I thought these ideas could be helpful if you’re wondering what to do when someone you care about needs similar support.
Send a text or email without an expectation for a response. As I was sitting in the hospital for three weeks with my husband, I loved getting little notes of support from colleagues, friends, and family, just to say ‘I heard. I am thinking about you. Don’t feel obligated to respond.’ I was often happy to respond, but knowing there was no expectation to helped, a lot.
Drop off a plant or flowers. After eight to 10 hours at the hospital, I loved coming home to a house full of flowers and plants. It felt like a big hug after a long stressful day. Even a year later, I see the plants around our house and feel the support from our friends and family.
Prepare a meal. Knowing my kids were well fed was a huge relief. The love radiated from the meals and food dropped at our home. It was especially helpful to have healthful foods that could be frozen and were easy to reheat. My neighbor organized a meal train for a month. At the time, I didn’t realize we’d need it that long, but we did, and we appreciated every meal.
Gift a meal. Gift cards may feel impersonal, but I can’t express how thankful we were to receive them at this time. My son’s friend group dropped off a stack from various local restaurants that the kids frequented together. When I was stuck at the hospital longer than expected, these gifts allowed my kids to fend for themselves. My out-of-town relatives found a local meal delivery service, and when I had time to cook again (I love to cook), it was nice to jump online, place an order, and have all the ingredients delivered to our door.
Ask first before sharing ‘your’ story. I think it’s easy to want to connect with what someone else is going through by sharing your story. It says you understand and have been through something similar. However, I realized quickly that when you’re in a crisis, you can’t appreciate the connection, and it feels like you’re diminishing what the person is going through. Instead, what helped my kids and me was hearing, ‘I went through something similar with X. If it would help to talk about it, I am happy to share my experience when the time is right for you.
Recognize the caregiver(s). It’s essential to think about the person going through the event, but it made a huge impact to have someone ask, “How are you?” I am fortunate to be involved in a caregivers’ support group. I recognize I am one of the lucky spouses. My husband is doing well. However, many caregivers are struggling. The life they knew does not exist. They’re feeling profoundly disconnected. They feel alone and unrecognized. Reach out.
Stay connected. Health events can change people. As a result, relationships may change. The ways you interacted with the person previously may need to evolve based on the health of your friend or family member. It’s often easier to avoid or pull away than adjust. Change is hard. Our family appreciates our friends who have stayed and included us in dinners, gatherings, golf outings, and walks through a tough year.
Offer to do a simple task. Everyday tasks that friends offered to do (or just did) like walking the dogs, hiring out yard work, making a Target run, grocery shopping, or covering mandatory school volunteer requirements were very helpful. We didn’t always say yes and take advantage of the offer, but we felt supported by the thought during a stressful time.
Don’t hesitate, just ask. I know people are often uncomfortable approaching someone going through a crisis. My advice is to reach out. I appreciated anyone and everyone talking to us and asking how we were doing. It felt more awkward when people turned away because they didn’t know what to say, didn’t feel comfortable approaching us, or thought we didn’t want to discuss the challenges we were facing.
What feels supportive differs for all of us, but the point here is to do something. Whatever it is will be appreciated.
You can make a difference to someone you care about. It’s not what you do, it’s that you step forward and reach out.
Surround people with support during challenging times.
Together we Rumble in good times and bad!
Seven Great Tips for Finding the Courage to Change During Midlife
Midlife is full of change. We experience transitions ranging from kids graduating and starting on their own, caring for aging parents, health issues of our own, becoming grandparents, changing marital status, household moves, and career moves. Not to mention the changes that are happening with our bodies! Some of the changes are wonderful. Others are very messy and complicated. The only constant is the change itself.
How do you move through change in a way that is healthy and develops resiliency? These are a few of the guideposts that we’ve used to help ourselves and others navigate change.
‘Courage and daring are coursing through your veins. You were made to live and love with your whole heart. It’s time to show up and be seen. That’s midlife.’ Brene’ Brown
Midlife is full of change. We experience transitions ranging from kids graduating and starting on their own, caring for aging parents, health issues of our own, becoming grandparents, changing marital status, household moves, and career moves. Not to mention the changes that are happening with our bodies! Some of the changes are wonderful. Others are very messy and complicated. The only constant is the change itself.
One of the many things the two of us have in common is our strong desire to embrace change. You might even say we intentionally seek it out. As we prepare for a significant announcement for Rumblings representing a giant leap outside our comfort zone, even for us (check our social media and website for more information coming soon), we started thinking about how we approach change.
The focus of our careers has been helping people navigate through behavior change. We’ve helped individuals change their health behaviors, assisted populations create a culture of wellness, and worked with large companies to transform their approach to improving the health of the people they serve.
Personally, each of us has always embraced change. Sometimes, we’ve purposefully sought out change, even when life events weren’t requiring it of us.
How do you move through change in a way that is healthy and develops resiliency? These are a few of the guideposts that we’ve used to help ourselves and others navigate change.
Learning to navigate through change is a skill. One of the best ways to build skills is through experience. You’ve been through change before and survived every single time. These skills you’ve developed help you become resilient in the face of change.
Try to let go of what people think and realize perfectionism is not healthy striving. When you slip, make mistakes, and even fail, give yourself grace. Be mindful of your self-talk by respecting yourself as you would speak to others about making mistakes. It is hard for everyone to show this level of self-love. We tend to live in a world framed by the words “I’m supposed to do this” or “I need to do that” before everything is good in life.
Spend time reflecting on what is truly important to you. The place to start is for each of us to spend time with ourselves in stillness, whether in nature, walking, reading, yoga, or meditation, to let our inner awareness reveal the things that no longer serve us. Being still, or time relaxing, helps cultivate creativity, reduces stress, and prevents burnout during times of change.
Cultivate a learning mindset. A learning mindset might include resetting your mindset to focus on the pleasure you experience from new things you are learning versus what you cannot do right now. It can be challenging to do this while in the middle of change, but it will help you discover the joy of so many new experiences in your life. It could be as simple as identifying what you are grateful for in the new day before your feet touch the floor in the morning.
Develop a support system. These are the connections and your community that will stand by you in times of need. They won’t try to fix your problems, try to change you, or minimize what you are going through. Instead, they are the ones in your life that will listen, provide a word of encouragement, a hug, and a reality check that you are not alone. Then, reach out to these people when you’re in need!
Minimize mindless and numbing behaviors. During times of significant change, we need a temporary respite. Are the activities you’re choosing while taking a break an escape or numbing behaviors? What actions can you select to contribute to your ability to manage through change? Be mindful to choose the activities enhancing your creativity rather than diminishing your mental and physical health. It’s challenging to think about flourishing during times of change, but you can focus on replenishing your spirit.
Remember to breathe. Change can be overwhelming, even for those of us who intentionally seek it out. When you start to border on panic, fear, stress, or paralysis, take a few deep breaths and remind yourself that you’ve experienced massive change before and made it through in one piece - although perhaps altered mentally or physically. You have what it takes to survive, and you are not alone.
The reset mindset that change is something to embrace rather than dread may be one of the most important learnings of midlife. The challenges we experience in midlife don’t go away. It’s part of life. The difference comes from understanding that we can no longer carry both the pretend facade we’ve built for the outside world and embrace showing up and giving our true gifts.
Time is growing short. We have unfulfilled dreams to live and things about ourselves to explore still. Resisting inevitable change prevents us from growing into a life that may be messy and inconvenient but also full of adventure and whole-hearted living.
Sign-up today to get more information on how to flourish after 50!
Together we Rumble!
Karyn and Rebecca
Website: rumblingsmedia.com
Instagram: @rumblingsmedia
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Reduce Stress and Improve Happiness: 14 Great Books to Read This Summer
There is still something magical and simple about a book. The power to evoke an emotion, inspire action, ignite creativity, showcase diverse views, motivate change, and transport us to a different place and time through written language is a great gift.
As lifelong learners, we both have been avid readers. Still, this past year has brought diversity in our reading and added fiction back into a routine that has previously prioritized nonfiction, professional books. What’s interesting — and maybe a little counterintuitive — is that reading fiction can contribute to overall well-being.
One of the most inspiring perks of being partners in Rumblings is sharing what we’re reading with each other. Our text message chain is a volley of must-read recommendations. Often our business meeting conversations get distracted by sharing inspiration we’re having based on a book we’ve read.
There is still something magical and simple about a book. The power to evoke an emotion, inspire action, ignite creativity, showcase diverse views, motivate change, and transport us to a different place and time through written language is a great gift.
As lifelong learners, we both have been avid readers. Still, this past year has brought diversity in our reading and added fiction back into a routine that has previously prioritized nonfiction, professional books. What’s interesting — and maybe a little counterintuitive — is that reading fiction can contribute to overall well-being.
Reading fiction is uniquely powerful in helping us imagine stories that activate regions of our brains responsible for better understanding others and seeing the world from a new perspective. Studies have shown that reading fiction can help us:
Develop our imagination
Build skills to be alone
Be more empathetic
Reduce stress (reading puts our brains in a similar state to meditation, eliciting the benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm)
Experience slower memory loss and mental decline
Develop a broader vocabulary
Makes us happier
Although we've expanded our library to include digital and even audiobooks, evidence suggests that reading on paper increases comprehension and helps induce sleep due to being visually less demanding and less distracting, and lacking light-emitting screens.
Health benefits aside, our biggest challenge is getting through our extensive list of “to-read” books.
Whichever preference you have for reading, we thought we’d share what’s on our summer reading list.
90 Seconds to a Life You Love: How to Master Your Difficult Feelings to Cultivate Lasting Confidence, Resilience, and Authenticity by Joan I. Rosenberg
All the Devils are Here by Lisa Penny
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess: 5 Simple, Scientifically Proven Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking by Dr. Caroline Leaf
Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story Remaking A Life From Scratch by Erin French
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
Ten Poems series by Roger Housden
The Monkeewrench series by P.J. Tracy
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save Your Life by Edith Eger
Think Again by Adam Grant
Universal Human by Gary Zukav
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
What’s on your summer reading list? We’d love to hear what books are inspiring you and what you’re learning. Please share with us at Rumblings Media or via social media with the hashtag #flourishafter50.
Please support your local library or small independent bookstores whenever possible.
Sign-up today to get more information on how to flourish after 50!
Together we Rumble!
Karyn and Rebecca
25 Ways to Build Strong Loyal Friendships After 50
Social connections matter throughout your life, but especially in your 50s. Research has shown that strong relationships and personal connections help you live longer and bring joy to your life. Imagine the difference you can make in your own life and the lives of others by taking the first step to connect and build deeper relationships with these 25 fresh ideas.
Social connections matter throughout our lives, but especially in our 50s. Research has shown that strong relationships and personal connections help us live longer and bring joy to our lives.
Too often, women in this life stage have told us they feel anxious, lonely, and socially isolated. But this year, more than ever, people are feeling disconnected and alone. Many women are languishing—living between feeling great and feeling down. It’s as if the effort of holding everything together to get through the pandemic has taken a toll. Now that things are opening up again, it may feel difficult to jump right back into a pre-pandemic routine and social life. And, you may not even feel like it.
These feelings are common after difficult times, disasters, emergencies, and health crises.
In addition, midlife is a time of life transition — kids leave home, marriages may end, careers peak, homes get downsized, and aging family members need care and support. Social connections built while raising kids or building careers often disappear due to these midlife challenges and can result in a lack of deep and loyal friendships at a time when we need them most.
Many women find themselves hungry for strong loyal friendships again but may struggle knowing how to develop new relationships with other women.
Maybe this isn’t you. You have a robust and abundant network of female friends you can share and confide in. You feel socially connected. Your friendships bring you joy. Great news, this puts you in a perfect position to help other women.
Whether you feel lonely, socially isolated, or deeply connected, these 25 ideas will help you build strong, loyal friendships and foster a strong social network after 50.
Connecting with other women matters. It’s up to us to ensure all women feel connected, supported, visible, and valued. We must lift each other up and ensure all women thrive through meaningful connections with one another. We need each other now, especially.
Make a goal to reach out to one woman this week who you haven’t connected with recently, or at all.
Imagine the difference you can make in your own life and the lives of others by taking the first step to connect, build deeper relationships, and create safe spaces for women to talk about what they’re emotionally experiencing.
To get started, invite a girlfriend, neighbor, acquaintance, or complete stranger to try one or more of the following ideas with you.
Share a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share and make a date to meet and divide the share each week
Explore a new local trail on foot or on bikes
Check out a local pizza farm
Try a new restaurant with a great patio
Go berry picking
Have a picnic
Get coffee at a different shop each week
Go for a walk
Check out the fresh produce at a farmer’s market
Sign up for a community education class
Learn a new sport like pickleball
Take an exercise class together
Meet at an outdoor yoga class
Take a cooking class
Go to a free summer concert
Make s'mores around a bonfire
Attend a neighborhood association meeting
Cook a meal together and try a new recipe
Host a potluck or book club
Go to a festival
Walkthrough a zoo
Explore a museum
Take a dance class
Buy tickets to a sporting event
Go bowling
Don’t stop with just one invitation. Deep, meaningful relationships take time. Reach out. Be inclusive and supportive. Reap the personal benefits of connection and give the gift of social connection to others!
Do you need more evidence supporting the value of social connection? Check out our four discoveries from Rumblings’ 31-day Commit to Connect Challenge last October.
Together we can make a difference!
Rumble on!
14 Ways to Find Joy in Your Diet
As we enter the prime time of our lives, it's time to focus on joy and re-design our lives to live fully and authentically. Instead of a new diet for flourishing after 50, loosen the reins and seek joy in the experience of eating well without strict food rules. Use these 14 tips to bring joy back to eating.
In 2012, my husband and I (Rebecca) challenged ourselves to go 100% vegan for one month. To be honest, when I committed, I didn’t eat a lot of meat. Dave, on the other hand, enjoyed meat, eggs, and dairy foods. As you can imagine, his vegan eating pattern lasted less than two weeks. Mine lasted over seven years. However, I have to admit I was never comfortable calling myself vegan. I preferred to say I mainly ate plants, vegetarian with no dairy, or 90% vegan.
Why was I hesitant to self-identify as a vegan? I’ve always loved all aspects of food — growing, preparing, eating, and experiencing the taste, smell, and textures. I grew up traveling, and part of experiencing and appreciating other cultures always included the food. For example, when I traveled to Canada, I tried poutine, and when in Scotland, haggis. My family trips growing up included visits to local markets and joining local food tours. Now, I design and share similar adventures with my children, such as sampling various types of tacos and agua frescas from local vendors on the streets of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
For me, identifying and following one diet fad or way of eating such as vegan, paleo, Whole 30, Atkins, or gluten-free meant saying no to a valued experience. It also meant feeling like a fraud or diet imposter if I broke from the strict diet philosophy.
As I’ve moved throughout my career, I’ve seen diets come and go, and the diet feuds only get worse. Individuals with strong food identities constantly fight online about which ideology has more scientific merit, extends life, or best fends off disease. In reality, and rarely mentioned, these ways of eating have far more principles in common (more fruits, vegetables, and fiber and limited ultra-processed foods) than conflicting advice (meat and dairy types and quantity recommendations). As a result of the fighting, many people are confused, fed up, disconnected, and feel like failures because they haven’t been able to comply with one or more of these restrictive eating regimens.
I am not saying that following a specific dietary pattern won’t have personal benefits for individuals. I’ve seen people lose weight, improve blood pressure, reduce blood cholesterol levels, improve blood sugars, and feel better by modifying what and how much they eat. I firmly believe in the health benefits of food — especially fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. I also understand the medical necessity to limit foods for specific allergies or chronic diseases.
At the same time, I strongly believe in the mental and social benefits of coming around the table to share a meal with family, friends, colleagues, and strangers. Something magical happens when we eat together and fill our souls with nourishing foods. We may be restricting joy in our lives when we are so strongly attached to a certain dietary pattern, believe recommendations are rules that if broken equal failure, or refuse to see the value in other approaches to eating.
Are your food rules limiting your potential to experience joy from food or eating experiences?
Circle the statements below you practice.
I am open to trying new foods even if I am unfamiliar with the ingredients
I don’t feel guilty if I stray from my usual way of eating
I accept invitations to social events even if I know I won’t be able to find foods within my typical eating style
I don’t preach the benefits of the way I eat to others without them asking
I try foods from other cultures even if they don’t align with my preferred eating pattern
I eat and enjoy foods at holidays and family events that are considered family traditions even if they aren’t consistent with my diet rules
I prioritize eating foods that are high quality and nourishing over foods that strictly comply with a certain diet pattern
I understand that prescriptive eating patterns are merely a guide for choosing foods for good health, and understand that choosing foods outside of the recommendations will not derail an overall healthy diet
I look for ways to find commonalities in eating patterns instead of denouncing the value of the food choices other people make
I understand that eating for health and well-being includes enjoying food, experiencing culture, and celebrating with family traditions
I know that a single food or meal will not ruin or break any diet rules
I don’t avoid eating categories of macronutrients such as carbohydrates or fats
I realize a healthful eating pattern for me may differ from someone else
I understand that what and how much food my body needs may change as I age due to my activity level and body composition, and I am ok with that
Review the list. Did you leave statements uncircled? These may be areas of opportunity for you to modify and discover more joy in eating.
As I’ve aged, I have to say I am tired of the all-or-nothing approach to eating. I don’t want to restrict the enjoyment out of my life by following a rigid eating pattern. Although I follow a plant-based eating pattern most of the time, I want to be able to dine with friends, travel, and enjoy a good meal without feeling stressed that I am breaking diet rules, if I try something unusual. I don’t want to feel guilty or not a part of a particular tribe as a result of the food choices I make.
We live in a diet culture. We are experiencing a time of divisiveness where picking teams is more common than styling our lives in ways that bring us joy. As we enter the prime time of our lives, let’s focus on joy and re-design our lives to live fully and authentically.
Instead of challenging you with yet a new diet for flourishing after 50, I challenge you to loosen the reins and seek joy in the experience of eating well without strict food rules.
Rumble on!
The Key to Getting Fit After 50
What exactly is the difference between being physically active and exercising? Which is better for us for a sustainable lifestyle approach as we age?
Most of us have been told over the years that we need to participate in structured fitness programs - mainly cardiovascular or aerobic. For many, that means attending a class, getting on a cardio machine, running, or biking.
The truth is, physical activity and fitness aren’t all-or-nothing propositions. And doing one doesn’t negate the benefit of the other. The real trick is to find ways to incorporate physical activity throughout our day, every day, with or without a regular exercise routine.
“Fitness is a journey, not a destination. It must be continued for the rest of your life.” Kenneth Cooper, MD, started the aerobics movement with his book Aerobics in 1968.
As an exercise scientist with a background in health, conversations with family and friends often center around fitness and physical activity.
This year has been especially challenging as most of the women we speak with have been sharing they were more sedentary and exercised less than they had previously.
Combine this with the changes and effects of aging, and the body and fitness level changes have been dramatic.
As one family member shared, looking in the mirror is shocking enough to wonder, whose body is this?!
It’s tempting to jump on the bandwagon of quick-fix diets and exercise plans. But we’re over that! Right, friends?
Just as you may have started and failed a myriad of diets or eating fads, you may have an on-off-again relationship with exercise and physical activity. Any promise for a quick fix is exactly that - fast and unstainable. Thankfully that’s in the past!
And, unfortunately, the focus for exercising is commonly based on improving physical appearance, yet the more important benefits of exercising and being physically active come from the inside out. We need to have a long-term focus on living a healthy lifestyle.
But, what exactly is the difference between being physically active and exercising? Which is better for us for a sustainable lifestyle approach as we age?
Most of us have been told over the years that we need to participate in structured fitness programs - mainly cardiovascular or aerobic. For many, that means attending a class, getting on a cardio machine, running, or biking. Read our last blog post on how much exercise is optimal for health.
The truth is, physical activity and fitness aren’t all-or-nothing propositions. And doing one doesn’t negate the benefit of the other. The real trick is to find ways to incorporate physical activity throughout our day, every day, with or without a regular exercise routine.
Crushing it on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes, four times a week, only to spend the rest of your day sitting at a desk and moving to the sofa in the evening minimizes the health impact of your hard cardio workout.
We’ve found that many women—whether they exercise or not—are short on meeting recommendations for physical activity. Research shows that half of all women decrease regular exercise during middle age. At the same time, women lose lean muscle mass as they age.
A key to leading a more active life and being consistent in creating a sustainable movement-oriented lifestyle throughout our lives is having a foundational base of movement incorporated through everything we do.
The great news is it’s never too late to feel great, have more energy, and get significant health benefits from increasing both exercise and physical activity. It doesn’t take much to get results.
All activity is beneficial, and the health and well-being benefits are additive. It’s like getting extra credit for having fun!
Likewise, suppose you’ve been primarily sedentary. The good news is it’s never too late to begin being active. A great place to start is to incorporate more physical activity into your day. As you become a physically active person, you can add structured exercise activities that are higher in intensity and provide more cardiovascular fitness benefits.
Read more here, in our last blog post.
Whether finding a foundation of increased physical activity or building on that base with a more intense, structured exercise routine, the key is to keep moving your feet. Move more and sit less.
We both love structured physical fitness activities. We aim to do cardiovascular exercises for a minimum of 60 minutes of vigorous activity or 150 minutes of moderate activity per week (learn how to tell the difference here.) But we also work hard to walk 10,000 steps per day. That’s how we monitor our daily activity and get inspired to build more movement into our day. Finding ways to get more steps in each day requires a great deal of creativity. But it’s also fun!
Check out the tips below to get started.
Be prepared as you add more activity into your day; you’ll likely enjoy yourself so much that you’ll find yourself wanting to do more!
Start by setting a goal for yourself. Whether you want to maintain your current level of fitness and physical activity, start a new program, or kick it up a notch, you have to know where you want to go. Stay motivated by occasionally mixing up your routine or trying new activities for fun.
Next, break down how you’re going to get there. Create your roadmap. One way to do that is by looking at the goals you set and working backward to map out the steps to get there. You’ve worked on this process before, and even though it seems simplistic, it works!
Write your goals down and keep them in a place (like your bathroom mirror or the front door) where you see them several times a day as a reminder. The actual act of writing down goals ignites an entirely new dimension of consciousness—your brain starts seeing opportunities that are difficult to attain if you're merely THINKING about your goals rather than actively doing something to achieve them. Plus, writing them down and in a place where you can see them consistently keeps you focused on what you want to accomplish and why.
Review your progress regularly. Being active for life requires some creativity based on what activities you enjoy doing, your schedule, and what feels best for your body. Don’t worry about whether or not you did what you needed to achieve your goal yesterday. The real question is, what are you going to do to achieve your goal today?
Reset your mindset to focus on your body’s exceptional capabilities. Just as food is sustenance and fuel to keep your body nourished, physical activity and exercise keep your body strong, healthy, and supple to support the life you want for yourself.
Whether that is having fun with your friends, staying strong, chasing after grandkids, or keeping up with our teenagers or young adults, focus on the benefits and beauty of living an active lifestyle. Our bodies are a gift.
It is difficult to watch our parents and elders struggle with weakening bodies that are wearing out. However, research shows that physical activity and exercise significantly impact our strength and ability to remain independent and strong with more vigor and vitality until the end of our years. Now that’s something to be grateful for!
Discover the joy in the journey. Physical activity in and of itself can be fun and a means for living in the moment to create beautiful memories.
Think of things that you can do with loved ones or friends centered around being active together that would be memorable.
Moving more may also be a great goal to set together with others. It’s more fun to be active together, you’re more likely to both stay committed to your goals, and you’ll be supporting each other with a gift of health.
Being active with someone else is an opportunity to connect and can be a new way of interacting. Make a date to hike through the woods to see the beauty of a waterfall at the end of the trail, learn to play pickleball with a few girlfriends, or share a bike ride with grandkids.
Be consistent. Physical activity and exercise both have to be consistent to achieve long-term benefits. It truly is a use it or lose it proposition.
Research shows that as humans if our physical activity is purposeful (gardening, biking/walking for transportation) and meaningful (things we enjoy such as hiking or pickleball), we are much more likely to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Use these tips to incorporate purposeful activity into your life. And, remember, when you’re ready, adding vigorous exercise and fitness activities can add even more health benefits.
You can be a person that values fitness and health. If you need a reminder - keep a list of your goals, the activities you want to do, and the memories you want to create in a place where you can see them day after day.
Rumblings’ philosophy on food, fitness, and physical activity focuses on the science and knowledge that your body is made for movement. Keeping this in mind will continually replenish your zest for life and enable you to thrive!
Want more ideas on ways to be active? Want to be inspired by other women? Join us this month as we get active together. Download our idea sheet. Follow us on social media as we post our ways to #moveinmay and #flourishafter50.
In upcoming blog posts, we will cover how to measure if you’re getting enough physical activity and exercise, the importance of caloric balance and weight training for optimal health, and weight management for women in their prime time. Sign-up today to get more information on how to flourish after 50!
Rumble on!
Karyn and Rebecca
*Disclaimer: If you have doubts about your health, are experiencing signs or symptoms, have been previously sedentary, or are looking to alter your physical activity or intensity levels, please check with your healthcare professional.
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