In last month’s newsletter the article was called Divorcing Drama and it must have struck a nerve because I got lots of email from women who said “thanks, I needed that.”

Drama is everywhere and somehow we came to believe it’s “just a part of life.” Or is it? For some it’s not only a part of life it’s life’s blood, it’s breathing, food, sustenance. The main point in the article is that midlife is a time when what no longer serves us needs to be let go. Letting go is hard sometimes especially when the payoff–negative or positive–is one we have come to rely on. Think about a cigarette’s effects. It’s not just the nicotine that smoker’s come to the habit for. There is the social aspect, the physical inhaling–that’s a deep breathing exercise in disguise if I ever saw one, the pavlovian stimulus/response conditioning.

Drama can be the same. When we create it–and it’s often within our merlin’s bag of tricks–on a regular basis we get paid in attention, bragging rights, a flood of stress hormones which give us a boost, and a pity party if we are in victim mode.

Maybe you feel I’m being a bit harsh. Let’s pose a few scenarios and see if you change your mind.

Mary puts off paying her sales tax which were due 6 months ago. She looks at the bill every day or so, has the money but doesn’t want to spend it, says “I keep forgetting” when telling her friend how she MUST pay her sales tax. Suddenly, (not) she gets a letter from the IRS saying she owes a 25% penalty which is accruing with interest every day she delays paying. now she has to cough up another $400 which she feels is unfair. Is it or is it drama creation?

Gina has an old car, it’s really old and it has a few problems. She belongs to the duct tape school of repairs and rather than taking the car in for a major–read expensive–repair she “fixes it” herself and worries aloud, “I hope this holds til I get to my sister’s.” She has been saying the same thing for 2 years and finally, about 2/3 of the way to her sister’s, on a major highway with exits spaced 30 miles apart, the car gives up, the engine catches on fire, and she is stranded. Oh, and she never did sign up for AAA even though she “knew” she should. No am I being harsh when I say that some of us are masters at inviting it or can you see how subtly we weave this magic?

We have these blind spots–no one wants to be stranded on the highway of life–that at midlife it’s time to shine a light on. How we do that is by reviewing the things in our lives that make us go, “CRAP” I really ought to do something about this, and then doing that thing you ought to do.

If it’s your health, mental or physical that needs some attention then why not get some information that might help you? Find a new doc, one who listens and practices with alternative as well as western medicine. Get into a mastermind group that works on strengthening self esteem or self care. Perhaps go to an event that’s all about health, what’s new, what’s outside the box but proven safe.

You can stay home and get some great information by joining me for the Midlife Women’s Mind and Body Experts Series. I’ve got 13 experts live on hour long calls throughout the month of September. It’s free and you can sign up here.

It’s not going to cure your life of drama creation but it’s a great place to start learning about how to release it from experts like Dr. Sue Morter and Mary Allen who are masters at releasing techniques and the how of creating something we love vs drama. The other experts–like Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman, Dr. Jonny Bowden, and Dr. Susan Brown are going to help us avoid the drama of lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes and cancer. Jan Sinatra is talking to us about women’s heart health measures, Kelley Herring will teach us where hormone damaging chemicals lie in every day life and products and what to substitute. Suzanne Falter Barns is laying bare her soul on spirit guided drama reduction, Jen Louden comforts us with a mini-retreat, Mia Lundin helps us avoid the female brain gone insane syndrome and Amy Ferris, award winning midlife author will help us laugh our way through the drama we do encounter.

Don’t miss out on these wonderful people’s insights and information. Drama is your friend when you are at the top of a high mountain peak cause you trained and climbed it, or on Oprah, or seeing your first book in print. How to get to the good drama? Plan for it, eliminate what might take you away from it like ignoring the gut instincts that tell you to take care of something or show up somewhere.

Well it’s official, my Midlife Women’s Mind and Body Experts Teleseries is fully loaded and hoping you’ll join us.

I’ve got quite the line up of men and women who are experts in the very things that show up and drive us crazy at midlife. Like what? Like our sudden mid-section spread, our fuzzy thinking, our mood swings, not feeling sure of what’s next, not having a plan for aging in good health, and on and on.

What’s bothering you right now? I bet there is someone in the line up who can offer help. You can view the speakers at the website.

You can also view the schedule. I’ll be interviewing the experts almost every weekday in September–not on the 10th as that’s my bro’s 50th and I’ll be celebrating with him. Each call happens at 3pm EST.

The subjects we’ll be covering over the course of the month are: bone health, heart health, how to keep a full mane of hair, inner peace no matter what, how to break through mental and physical blocks, weight loss, what works and what doesn’t in the exercise realm at this age, and more and more.

If you can’t make the calls live–oh, by the way, they are free–you can listen to a replay line for up to 48 hours after the live call. Got schedule conflicts? Upgrade to VIP status. You’ll get recordings of all the calls + some live calls after the series is over to see how you are doing implementing what you learned. I’ll be the host of those calls and only VIPs will have access to them. There are a few more goodies if you upgrade so why not take a look. We all know we have the best intentions to show up and listen live but life gets in the way. What if the one person you missed held the key to your feeling better, looking better, doing better in your business, etc? Don’t risk missing that nugget, grab an upgrade now.

At the very least take a look at the website, it contains all the information you need to make a decision about joining us. Right below the header there are tabs that will take you to all the different bits of info you need such as, Meet the experts, WIIFY–what’s in it for you, Speakers schedule, and FAQs.

Hope to be with you during September. In case you wonder why I’m doing this it’s simple. Part of my mission is to help midlife women feel better, feel great, live fully expressed. You need your health and your sanity to do any of that and I bring the people I feel have some answers, resources–in short, help. I love sharing what I’ve learned and have the experts I learned from tell you themselves.

I’m so looking forward to this and I’m planning on making this an annual event. Got someone you think I should consider for next year? Drop me an email.

That ought to grab someone’s attention. The idea grabbed mine when speaking to Amy Ferris the other day. She’s the author of a book I just love called, Marrying George Clooney, 3 A. M. Musings from a Midlife Crisis. It’s a gem of honesty, humor, sadness, more honesty, and a thorough introduction to this lovely woman’s heart and mind.

Amy is kicking off the Midlife Women’s Expert Series I’m hosting in September and we got on the phone to get to know one another a bit. I knew from her book that I wanted her insights and brilliance. What I didn’t know was just how powerfully aligned she is with my mission to help women. She is driven to help women step into their power and lubricate their lives with joy.

That’s how we got to lube jobs. Amy said she thought that women were suffering not just from dryness “down there”, (ok she said vaginal, I’m still 12 and cant’ say that word in public) they are suffering an emotional dryness as well. Naturally the solution that came to mind was lubricant. What would it be for the heart and soul? Joy. Speaking our minds about what bugs us. Stop being our mothers. Really support one another. Take our dream out of the drawer where it has been hidden for so long and see it as possible. Yes, at this age. Whatever age you are right now reading this. It’s not too late to feel joy, to experience the satisfaction and exhilaration of doing what lubricates you.

We want to remind you that

a) You are ok. Do you feel that way?

b) You are not alone. Who supports you, allows you to be who you are with all your faults and quirks? Who is your tribe?

c) Nothing is impossible. Nothing, period. The dreams you have were given to you because they are a part of your possibilities.

d) The lube is inside all you need is something to invigorate you, something to jazz you to the core.

What is that one thing?

There is no more important work in my humble opinion for us to do at this time of life but answer those questions.

And raise more questions. Not the limiting ones like “how do I do this” or “how much will it cost me?” “How will I feel when I get there?” is a much better question. How will you feel if you never even give it a try?

Amy and I will be discussing these and other juicy topics on September 8th. I hope you’ll join us.

Meanwhile, grab her book. I bet you’ll see yourself in there and be reminded that you are not alone.

You’ve probably never thought about whether or not your blood is healthy. One might ask, “If I’m healthy, isn’t my blood healthy?” Maybe we should back up and ask, “What makes for healthy blood?”

Blood is the essence of life. It moves cells, oxygen, proteins, nutrients, and waste materials through the body every second. It is a life support transport vehicle. In order to flow freely our blood must be just the right consistency, or viscosity. Poor lifestyle choices, stress, drugs, and more can thicken the blood by various means. Thick blood cannot flow freely through the capillaries. The system becomes sluggish. While cholesterol gets all the attention in terms of heart disease and diabetes it’s inflammation that leads to toxic blood which leads those problems.

According to Dr. Steven Sinatra, “Toxic Blood Syndrome is an early warning sign for heart trouble to come.”

When blood is toxic and inflamed it is inefficient and is prone to clotting. Elevated viscosity, or thickness, is a starting point for coronary and peripheral artery disease. Inflammation and increased blood thickness have been linked to age related cognitive decline, increased long term risk of CVD in men, depression, heart disease, diabetes, and more.

How to keep your blood healthy?

Test don’t guess. This is one of my midlife health mantras and blood work is at the top of the list of tests I recommend. If you haven’t already ask your doc for a CRP test. CRP is manufactured in the liver in response to inflammation and is a reliable marker. Ideally your level will be below 1 mg/L. If your level is very high that could indicate an auto-immune problem or cancer so you must work with a knowledgeable doc on this. Add in a test for your Fibrinogen levels. Fib is a clot-regulating protein and a marker for your blood’s stickiness and viscosity. If yours is over 350 mg/dL-you will want to dive right into the prevention strategies below.

QUIT SMOKING! Smoke increases fibrinogen levels among other things you already know.

Eat an Anti-Inflammatory diet–This would be very low in sugar which is terribly inflammatory, high in vegetables, low glycemic carbs, with plenty of healthy fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocados and avo oil, nuts, grass fed proteins and wild fish.

Take Your Supplements–You can deny they make a difference or you can just get on the program recommended by Harvard, Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, and many more bastions of conservative medicine who are on the leading edge. A basic multi, fish oil, 2 grams per day, Vitamin D, 2 grams per day, Magnesium and potassium from foods and an extra 400- 500 mgs as a supplement.

Reduce your stress Everything about the stress response is designed to thicken blood so in the case of a Saber tooth tiger claw to the gut you don’t bleed out. Of course that seems ridiculous to us today but the physiological process remains the same.

Take care of your teeth and gums–one source of heart disease and inflammation is periodontal disease. Brush, floss, gargle with something natural not full of sugar and alcohol.

Drink plenty of hydrating fluids. You know that you should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces of water per day right? Well go grab a glass!

Exercise No need to beat this one to death. Add in healthy blood vessels and reduced inflammation to the benefits.

Ground yourself This is a topic I’ll cover extensively in another post because I’m really excited about the potential but let’s just say that with all the EMFs flying around, we need to rid them from our systems. The best way to do this is to put your hands or feet in contact with the ground, the sand, or the grass. “The known effect of grounding is that it discharges and prevents the buildup of electrical stress. Walking barefoot on the Earth, as humans have done throughout history, naturally grounds and discharges the body. The most reported benefit from people who place their bare feet directly on the Earth and ground themselves is that they “feel better.” You know I live to find ways to help us midlife women feel better and this is revolutionary.

If you want more information right now head over to this site and spend some time reading. If you can’t get barefoot on the ground there are all sorts of mats, and sheets etc one can buy to get the same results.

What will you do right now to help your blood stay healthy and free flowing? In this case prevention is much easier and less painful than the alternative.