Body
image is something that many of us struggle with
throughout our lives. But as we age, we all feel a little
uneasy about our reflection in the mirror. We respond
differently to our bodies, our bodies respond differently
to us, and how we perceive them changes. Many people
adjust well to this natural process, while others have
more trouble.
Your 30’s
When I
turned thirty, I was constantly hearing about how every
physical ailment I had must be a “normal process of aging”
because, “hey, you’re thirty now”. This left me curious as
to who made this rule that as soon as we’re approaching
thirty, we begin the slow but sure process of falling
apart. Well, it doesn’t quite work this way but it does
speak to how our society views the process of aging. For
most people, body image changes after 30, but perhaps not
so much because of direct physical changes, but rather
because of how we view aging as a whole.
Beyond Thirty
It’s a
sad thing in our society that the media pressures women to
“defy” their age. After all, aging is something that
happens to us all; it is natural and inevitable and no
woman should feel ashamed. The attitude in our media,
however, conditions women to dread growing older, as if it
is some sort of stigma. Because of this, researchers have
found negative body image, disordered eating, and
excessive exercise (all thought to be ailments of our 20’s
and 30’s) to be directly correlated with negative body
image. The sad fact is that more and more patients seeking
treatment for Body Dysformia and eating disorders are in
their 40’s and 50’s and that close to 85% of the middle-aged
population is unhappy with their appearance while still
being within twenty pounds of their normal weight range.
Perhaps these facts explain why tummy-tucks, face-lifts,
and liposuction are all becoming more commonplace for
patients that have no medical or physical reason to pursue
it. The fact is that as we age, both women and men must
choose whether they will rise above the mainstream media’s
ideal of what 40 should look like - a usually unattainable
ideal -or to succumb to these unachievable ideals of
perfection and live in constant disdain of our body’s
natural aging process.
Graceful Aging
In
reality, and in our daily lives, we choose to grow old
gracefully by accepting it and doing it with integrity at
all stages. We’ve all known someone who was nowhere near
society’s youthful standard that we loved to be with and
look at because they were so youthful on the inside.
Instead of focusing on looking younger, we encourage you
to begin focusing your efforts towards looking great and
being healthy at any age. Be more aware of the media’s
influence on your attitude towards yourself and, if
necessary, curtail the amount of time you spend being
under its influence. And finally, replace negative
thoughts about how your body is aging with positive
thoughts about who you are and where you are at this time
in your life because, after all, that’s
