Far 2 Fabulous

Redefining Aging: Embracing Ageless Pursuits and Shattering Stereotypes

• Julie Clark & Catherine Chapman • Episode 47

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Episode 47
What if age truly was just a number, and the narrative surrounding it was up to us to rewrite? Join us as we embrace a bold new outlook on aging, drawing inspiration from those fearlessly flipping on gymnastics beams and pushing for black belts in karate. Through personal stories and humorous reflections, we celebrate the courage to defy stereotypes, proving that it's never too late to start something new, whether it's ballet, triathlons, or even a new career. We promise you'll leave this episode with a renewed sense of empowerment to challenge those pesky societal expectations and embrace your passions at any stage of life.

Together, we'll explore how the excitement of learning new skills can enrich our lives, providing not just fun, but also significant mental and physical benefits. Listen to inspiring tales of individuals who have shattered age limits to pursue their dreams, showing that the wisdom and resources gained with time can be channeled into fulfilling lifelong aspirations. The conversation also highlights the importance of self-care routines to support these pursuits, ultimately encouraging us all to reflect on self-imposed barriers and hubristically leap over them. Join us on this journey to redefine aging with flair, guts, and a dash of fabulousness.

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We look forward to you joining us on the next episode.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Far Too Fabulous hosted by Julie and.

Speaker 2:

Catherine, join us on a mission to embrace your fabulousness and redefine wellness. Get ready for some feistiness, inspiration, candid chats and humour as we journey together towards empowered wellbeing.

Speaker 1:

Let's dive in. Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. I forgot what I was saying. I'm seriously having an issue today. I think I need some help, Catherine. It's like my brain has decided to stop working. Julie, we're here to help other people.

Speaker 2:

What's going to happen now? Oh dear, this is a great start, Julie. What are we talking about today?

Speaker 1:

We are going to be talking about not limiting ourselves, uh-huh, because our brains don't work anymore.

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm actually just starting to think to myself that this could be, limiting if I can't get my words out, because communication is so key, especially when you're doing a podcast. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Especially when you're doing a podcast. Yeah, absolutely. Anyway, we thought we would talk about not limiting yourself, because I went to gymnastics yesterday and in the last four weeks I haven't been able to get to gymnastics for various reasons, and I went back yesterday and I felt really good and I did go in a bit hard, I suppose, and also the gym temperature was very low. So that also doesn't help when you've got an older body and you're asking it to do things that are perhaps outside of what people would normally expect you to be doing with your body when you're in your 50s.

Speaker 2:

So I hurt today and there could be a story that you could make up about that, could there?

Speaker 1:

yeah, well, quite often when I go to the gym, I've got a friend that I do gymnastics with, and she's. She's a little bit older than me and she'd recently got diagnosed with arthritis in her hip, and so every time we go into the gym we do have a bit of a joke about the fact that we're a certain age and we're about to, you know, chuck ourselves off the end of the beam or run up to the vault or whatever we're doing.

Speaker 1:

I mean, yesterday I was doing tumbling, so that's pretty hardcore when you're when you're this kind of age, and I wanted to do it yesterday because I hadn't done that since I competed. I hadn't done a somersault on the floor and if I let it go too long, I get too scared to do it. I was scared yesterday but I'd written it down. Talk about set intentions. I decided before I went to training that there was two things that I was going to do, and they're two things that scare me, but I hadn't done them and I needed to do them because I hadn't done them since I competed a month ago. So I went and I did them and that felt great and I wrote that in my training diary and I'm very happy. But yeah, we were having a joke about you know, are we? Are we too old to do this?

Speaker 2:

she's modifying her moves to.

Speaker 1:

You know, because she's got this problem with her, with her hip. I'm standing at the end of the tumble run, feeling really scared to do what I'm doing, but it's fun and we love it and we don't want to give up and we don't believe that there is an age factor there yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I was saying that with gymnastics it really highlights I was gonna say it really highlights your age, but I think I might get a whack in a minute. I don't mean it highlights your age, but you associate it with younger people. I was gonna say even I wasn't saying younger children, you associate gymnastics with younger people and so the contrast of you guys doing it you can really buy into that and all your like gymnastics is for younger people, or you're too old to be somersaulting, vaulting beams and all that sort of stuff. And when you were saying that, I the thought of the fear is one of the big things I think. As you're getting older, you're, you're suddenly far more aware of the dangers that are around you and your forethought, you, you're thinking about oh, if this happens, this, this, this is going to happen. Or if I fall off the vault and break this, then this is, this is going to happen. And so you, kind of you walk into the gym with all of that, don't you?

Speaker 1:

Whereas when you're younger, I don't think you do that at all. Don't even think about it. Yeah, there's definitely a change in in that fear side of things. As you get older, I think doing most things yeah yeah, you don't fall as gracefully either, do you?

Speaker 2:

unless you're really drunk, I guess, which I'm assuming on the beam makes it even more difficult. Yeah, exactly, although I think it might make my beam better.

Speaker 1:

Oh, my goodness me. No, I can't even think of those things together because that would be too, too scary. But yeah, so I hurt today, and part of it is because I haven't been training properly for a month, really. And secondly, I wasn't able to put in place the the normal things that I do to support myself, because I had a particularly busy day with family stuff and I didn't get chance to, um, get in my infrared sauna, for example, or get in the bath or do my. Yeah, I just didn't get chance to do my normal things.

Speaker 2:

So I am paying the price today but it's great that you've got the awareness around that, because somebody could that was a certain age go and do something new, some sort of exercise, because they thought, oh, this is going to be good for me. And then the next day they may not have either known or had time to stretch or have a bath or drink plenty of water or something like that, and they, if there's something new, they obviously will ache and to know, have the awareness that that is normal to ache. If you've just done something that your body doesn't normally do, that is normal to ache and to feel like that and it's not a sign that you shouldn't be doing it.

Speaker 1:

No, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, I am suffering a bit today, I have to say, but I'm not going to stop going back next week. It's not going to put me off. It's just that I need to put things in place to support myself, and I am a classic one for getting probably a bit too overexcited when I go to the gym, because I do love it and I want to do all these things that I, you know, throw myself around that. Because I felt good yesterday, I didn't hold back and I just did all the things anyway. I think that that's really healthy.

Speaker 2:

and from week to week, month to month, you're going to have those episodes where you feel really vital and you throw yourself into it, and there's going to be weeks where you're not feeling on sort of full energy and you're going to pull back a bit. But the consistency is far more important and I mean that's what you've been missing for the last month, not not by any, from any fault of yourself, but that's what you've been missing.

Speaker 2:

and so the thing that's going to make you feel better well, not right now no, not right, not right now but in the weeks to come, the thing that's going to make you feel better is doing more of what you've just done, not doing less yeah, exactly that.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to do more of that. So you were saying that gymnastics is often thought of as being for younger people and, of course, as we know, I'm in my 50s and I'm doing things that maybe people wouldn't expect me to do. I do. I do like the shock factor, yeah of especially when I post stuff up on social media and people just going, oh my god, is that actually you?

Speaker 2:

yeah, when you're, when you're going round and round in circles, yeah, it's so cool.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love the shock factor, but there's nothing this we were talking trying to talk to you about not having limits. This is one of those things where, if you really want to do something because you love it, there shouldn't be an age factor that comes into play at all, should there?

Speaker 2:

no, I completely, completely agree, and it doesn't. We're talking about physical things at the moment, but it doesn't have to be that Like we were talking to Ruth in our podcast a month or so back and she was talking about picking up things that she's always wanted to do, so she's always wanted to be on the radio and so and there would be a whole, there'd be a whole lifetime of stories as to why you shouldn't go and do that and being able to be brave enough to continue that and not listen to those stories, and one of those things would be, uh, the the age thing definitely yeah, I think mindset is a huge, huge part of this, because, although we're not in denial of our age, you know I'm aware of my age, but I don't ever use it as an excuse or you know a reason not to do something.

Speaker 1:

It's a reason to do stuff. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And just because society says that once you get to a certain age, you know your metabolism slows down and your joints are gonna hurt, and this, that and the other. I'm just not available for that not available.

Speaker 2:

No, no, thank you. And that is that's half the reason why we do what we do. Isn't it so that we can really future-proof ourselves, to be able to go and do whatever it is that we want to do? And again, that's physically and that's mentally making sure that we are preparing ourselves and that we are self-aware enough that, when we start to pick up those stories that society gives us and and and have them as our own, we suddenly remember that actually, that's not what, that's not what we want, that doesn't serve me. I, I'm going to make up a new story that serves me.

Speaker 2:

Thank you very much, yeah and yours is that I can tumble and twist and vault and karate, and long may that continue.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so with the karate thing because that's a little bit of a new thing is that last year in September, I decided that I would take up karate as a completely new skill, because, mainly driven by my children, because they were going to karate and I was the one doing the running there and back, there, and back there and back on a Friday, and I just thought wouldn't it be easier if I just joined in. It's a true story, you know, and in in a class full of of people, I am the oldest person in the dojo, so even the, the sensei, is not far off my age, but I am the oldest person in the dojo and learning a new skill is really challenging and it they do kind of take the mickey a bit out of me in the dojo, because most of the people there are kind of teenagers. To be honest, I bet that spurs you on, though, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. It does a little bit because I'll show you, yeah, and and so I've been doing karate. I do love it because it's really good for talking about future proofing yourself and looking at. You know, when I'm looking at my age and, like I said, I'm not in denial, but I'm not going to let it limit me. I'm looking at how can I best support myself as I age to still be able to do the things that I want to do. And with karate I thought well, first of all, it's great to be able to know how to defend yourself. Yeah, absolutely, especially in today's world, unfortunately, it's good to know how to do that. But because you're working on balance and strength and you've got to use both sides of your brain and you're there's so much with it that it's incredibly challenging. And like I went to karate last night and we were doing a series of things and, a bit like the start of this podcast, it's like my brain just switches off. It's like I cannot take any more new information in, so therefore, you know no more. No, it's really funny. Yeah, but I'm just still sticking with it.

Speaker 1:

And recently I did a karate grading. So I'd got my yellow belt and then I'd done a grading and I skipped a belt and I went from yellow to green and I missed orange because I was doing so well. So I said to the sensei, just out of interest, how long does it take normally to get to a black belt? And so he said to me at the rate you're going about six years. So in my brain I'm thinking in seven years I'm going to be 60. So wouldn't it be cool if my aim was to have a black belt by the time I'm 60? That's really very very cool.

Speaker 1:

So I've put it out, I've sent it out into the universe, I've voiced this in the dojo and so that is my aim. But again, you know the kids there, or the teenagers, they're all really lovely. They've often had conversations with me saying, saying do you know what this?

Speaker 2:

this is actually really cool that you do this, because I couldn't imagine my mum doing it, and their mums are younger than me, younger than you yeah, yeah, I love that, and there's so many transferable skills that you're you're talking about with your karate and with your gymnastics and what you're talking about, even if we're going to get really boring and talk about things like falls prevention which, again, if we're talking about age, I don't really want to go there but you're with the balance, with using the both sides of your brain, with strengthening your, your muscles, with your jumping around, is fantastic for your, for your bones. It's just absolutely brilliant and it's a fun way of doing it as well, isn't it?

Speaker 1:

it's not just like a boring, like running on the treadmill or something like that no, I think we spoke before about the fact that I I'm just not somebody that that does. Yeah, running on a treadmill. I can't think of anything more dull than running on a treadmill, or even an exercise bike. I don't get it. Get outside. You know, if you want to ride a bike, get outside. If you want to run, go outside. I just, yeah, boring, boring, boring. So yeah, but if you'd asked me, even just like 18 months ago, would you know? Would you be like considering doing karate? Just hadn't, he hadn't even considered it at all.

Speaker 2:

But it's fine. But that's the great thing is that you haven't put a limit on it, because there would be plenty of people that, probably like my age or even younger, that would think that they were too old to be able to start that new skill. That whole can't teach an old dog new tricks, or am I getting too old for this? These are things that just roll off the tongue. We don't even think about it, do we? They're just programmed into us and I think it's absolutely fantastic.

Speaker 2:

You think um denise duffield thomas has just taken up ballet, so she used to do that when she was younger and she's just taken that up and there's, I'm pretty sure there's not very many people that would. Would think I've always wanted to do ballet but now now I'm 50 something, I'm going to take it up. It would be more like now I'm 50 something, I can't take that up and there'd be like an element of regret to it and you've bought into stories that weren't even yours in the first place.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I went to a gymnastics event a few weeks ago and there was a lady who was in her 60s who had just started to do adult gymnastics just started. She used to do it when she was younger and loved it and then, you know, got in with her adult life and didn't do gymnastics anymore and someone had said to her about that there was adult gymnastics and she was encouraged to come and try and now she loves it and she was going to do her first competition.

Speaker 2:

That I see. That's fantastic and, in fact, being a slightly older age might mean that you've got a bit more time. You've got maybe you've got a bit more money and actually it's now a reason to do these things, not a reason to not to. Yeah, park run is full of people that started running when they were like 60 and and are now faster than me, quite frankly, and they've got more time to practice, and that's the excuse I am going for and I'm sticking to it. When we go and do triathlons, I've often ended up in conversations as we're, as we're queuing to go into the swim or something, with older people that have just started doing triathlons because they've always wanted to do it and, again, maybe they've just got a bit more time and a bit more money to be able to throw at this and and live out some of out some of these things that they've wanted to do and have just not had time to do it.

Speaker 1:

I think we are talking about activities and exercise, I guess. But you're quite right, this could mean anything, really. You know, if you've always wanted to perform, yes, you know that's another one, isn't it that people think, oh no, no, I couldn't possibly do that. Put limits on yourself. It's so easy to put limits on yourself, isn't it? Yeah?

Speaker 2:

and even like new careers and things like that. I'm trying to think I was reading reading a book or listening to a podcast about a lady that had literally started a brand new career in her 70s and she was in her late 80s now and was regarded an expert in this career because she'd really worked at it for the last 15 years. When society would tell you at 70 something.

Speaker 1:

You know, it's time to time to wind yourself up, stick your slippers on and and do less yeah, I think I've read something, or a podcast or something, listening to a lady that had started a new career in her 70s. Was she like a psychologist or something like that?

Speaker 2:

something like that yeah or she had oh, what is this? I think we must have probably listened to the same podcast and she was being it was something really obscure, it was something really niche and she'd then gone all over the world and she was doing talks and all sorts of stuff, because she had really focused on this and she'd become an expert because she'd managed to spend so much, so many hours in such a short space of time on it?

Speaker 1:

yeah, where do you think your mindset comes from with this age is not, you know, not an issue, especially if you've got other members of your family that maybe buy into that age thing. Where do you think it comes from for you stubbornness?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I think it does for me as well. I think, if somebody tells me that I can't do it or I'm too old for it or I'm I don't know whatever for it, I, yeah, I'm like, all right, I'll show you I think I would agree with that.

Speaker 1:

I think I have the same thing and also I think for me there is an element of control there, because I like to feel like I'm in control and so not putting limits on myself or pushing the, you know, pushing the barrier or whatever it is, is a way that I can be in, I can be the boss of me. Yeah, no absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I just I don't like somebody telling me that something is or something isn't when it might not necessarily be true for me. No, that just drives me up the wall. And or buying into stories that society tell you it's yeah, I hate it and I love looking at something differently. I love if something doesn't serve me, I like seeing if I can look at it differently. Um, I can't remember. I think I did this on a stories or something on my instagram and I got stuck behind a tractor because shock horror, I was late and um and aren't, and so normally that would have really frustrated me. And Anya the day before had said she frequently gets stuck behind tractors when she's trying to park for college in Canterbury because she ends up having to go a bit further out of the city and she ends up getting stuck behind tractors, and that she had decided that every time she saw a tractor that meant she was going to have a really good day oh, I love that.

Speaker 1:

That is very cool what a reframe yeah, you've taught your child well I mean.

Speaker 2:

So then she taught me. So then I saw this tractor, I remembered what she'd said, I slowed down a little bit, didn't try and insert the front of my car up the back of the tractor and I, just I breathed and I was like, oh well, I'm clearly gonna have a really good day.

Speaker 1:

I like that. You know, a few weeks ago I did an episode on my own that was the power of words. Yes, this ties into that as well, because if we, you know, we voice in these things that, oh I'm, I'm too old for that, or I'm getting old, or maybe I shouldn't do that, or whatever it is, we do start to speak that into existence, don't we?

Speaker 2:

yeah, without a doubt we don't even know we're doing it no like these stories have just been handed to us, like the old dog, new tricks saying, and we joke about that, but it's, you know, it flows off of the tongue. We just think about that straight away, and I've had certainly had conversations with lots of friends that have said, oh so this happens at 40, this happens at 45, this happens at 50, yeah, and, and yes, lots of things do. Yes, my eyesight has deteriorated at these times, and that still doesn't mean one that you have to buy into it or that you have to give into it. You just either reframe and you keep making sure that you're future-proofing your body and your mind and not buying into society bs yeah, you've got to work around it.

Speaker 1:

I think you know there is. Aging is inevitable, but we don't have to age in a way that makes us do less or makes us feel worse or or does put limits on us. We can totally change that and still have fun and do the things we want to. And, like you said, it's never too late to do something that you've always wanted to do, whether that is have a radio show or, like that lady, doing a new career or whatever it is.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, it doesn't have to necessarily be throwing yourself off a vault.

Speaker 1:

No, although I would recommend it. Yeah, and again, I think a lot of people assume that I did a lot of gymnastics when I was younger and I didn't start gymnastics until I was 41. Other than when I was younger, I did a recreational class. I went to a local sports centre on a Saturday. I definitely had a natural affinity to it. I loved it. I spent most of my my childhood upside down. I was always walking on my hands, hanging off the sofa, jumping on my bed, all of those kind of things. That was just, that was the natural tendency for me. But I didn't start doing gymnastics until I was 41. And within my first, I'd say, four years of doing gymnastics I could do way more than I ever could as a child. Yeah, you're just a bit more determined at that point ever could as a child.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you're just a bit more determined at that point. Well, direction, I mean, to be honest, the first time I went to the gym I didn't actually think I would go back, because everything was so hard and so scary I couldn't do anything. You know, I got up on the beam and thought this is really high. I remember trying to walk along the beam thinking why would anybody do this? This is crazy. And and just like when you, when you are starting something new a bit like with the karate and stuff as well, you know you can't do anything and you're looking at the people around you and they're doing amazing things and you're like, oh, I can't do that, but you just got to. You know, stick with it. You keep working on it and then, before you know it, you're the people that the new ones are looking at going.

Speaker 2:

Oh my goodness me, look at that, look at that lady and what she's doing but you could quite easily have used age as a really good excuse at that point, couldn't you? And gone.

Speaker 1:

Oh no, I'm too old for that, I can't do it yeah, but I didn't, and I and I'm never going to say that, no, I love that, so, so much. So I think that anybody listening given that we're nearly at the end of another year and it does kind of make you think, doesn't it? Even though we don't like the whole new year, new start thing I think when you get to another year, you do think about what have I done this year? Where was I last year? What was I hoping for? What have I not done? Again? I think just thinking to yourself where have I put limits on myself? What have I said that I can't do because I'm a certain age or my circumstances? And, like I said, it doesn't have to be going to gymnastics, it could be anything. It's to just think to yourself how can I support myself to be able to do this next year?

Speaker 2:

yeah, absolutely and when you hear the excuses come up, just ask yourself is that true? And is that true?

Speaker 1:

for me, that is a great, a great phrase to think about.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I. Often I actually I use it more at other people than I do to myself, but it is a great thing to turn on yourself. Yeah, it'd be fantastic to start new things, and it's these things that will keep us not only fit and healthy if we're doing physical things, but the sort of new mental challenges as well will keep us not only fit and healthy if we're doing physical things, but the sort of new mental challenges as well will keep us vital. We are living longer and hopefully we are healthy in these later years in life. As long as we have future-proofed ourselves, as long as we're not being kind of held together by pharmaceuticals, proved ourselves, as long as we're not being kind of held together by pharmaceuticals, then now yeah, it's it's, then it's a really great time to be doing these things yeah, and you saying about the brain side of it, we had that conversation with Helen about the brain and that learning a new activity is so beneficial.

Speaker 1:

So, just getting to that age thinking, oh I'm just you get into habits, don't you? Yeah, I see this with my, my parents. You know, at certain there's so many habits formed, there's so many routines. Yeah, actually, if you take yourself out of those, you really really benefit your brain. So, yeah, have a think about that and then come and talk to us in the facebook group yes, please tell us what you're going to start.

Speaker 2:

That's new. Tell us what you do could shock us, because I do. I know julie does love that shock factor with with gymnastics I'm not the only one fantastic. That's the same as when I go um like cold water swimming, and people look at me and I you know, and they say, oh, what do you wear? Like a wetsuit and stuff? I'm like, no, I was in my bikini last week, that's just showing off.

Speaker 2:

I was showing a lot off, especially when it's windy and the waves are high and I and I love that shock factor I love, and people will say, oh, I can't do that, oh it would give me a heart attack, and actually it's totally the opposite it would help you not have a heart attack. So swap these things around, but I love that shock factor. So do come into the Facebook group and tell us what you do, and if you want to divulge ages, then you can do that as well, but give us a shock factor, because we'd love that Love to continue this discussion I love the shock factor idea and challenging it challenges someone's belief when you shock them with what you can do.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, let us know, I'm really intrigued thank you for keeping us company today.

Speaker 2:

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