If you’ve ever wondered, “Is it too late for me to...?” the answer’s NO, and The Uplifters are about to show you why. This space is for purpose-driven women who want to do big, brave things in the second half of their lives. I’m your host, Aransas Savas, and I’ve spent the last 20 years at the intersection of behavior change research and coaching.
This month for Simmer Summer, we are riffing on the power of R&R.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Somewhere in our 40s or early 50s, most of us start to notice that our brain isn’t quite doing what it used to. Words disappear mid-sentence; we walk into a room and can’t remember why; we read the same paragraph three times and still can’t process it. Maybe we start to wonder: is this just stress? Or is this something worse? Research suggests dementia has become the most feared health condition among people over the age of 50, surpassing heart disease, cancer, and stroke.
Christine Despres spent more than 30 years as a registered nurse and director of nursing, caring for dementia patients. She lost her own mother at 57. She says that what we are experiencing in perimenopause is almost certainly not that. What it is, though, is our brain sending signals about how to better protect it from cognitive decline.
In this episode you’ll learn:
Why you can lose up to 30% of brain function during perimenopause and what you can do about it right now
The four lifestyle areas that can prevent up to 50% of cognitive decline, even with a genetic predisposition or family history of dementia
The MIND diet for cognitive health
Why quality sleep is essential for brain health and Christine’s top micro habits for protecting your sleep during the menopause transition
Why brain fog and memory lapses are usually data, not disease, and what to do with that information
What blood work to request and why knowing your numbers is the first step to protecting your future self
You’ll also get to know Christine, a total Uplifter. After decades of running a skilled nursing facility in a small Montana town while raising her daughter as a single mom, midlife afforded her the flexibility to do something she’d long dreamt of: start her own wellness practice.
She packed up her house, moved across the country to Atlanta, and started over. All while going through perimenopause.
She is now the founder of The Wellness Navigator, a brain health and metabolic wellness coaching practice for women in midlife and beyond. She is a Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, a Certified Dementia Practitioner, and an Elite Brain Health Coach.
She is one of us: a woman doing a big, brave thing in midlife, figuring it out as she goes, and using everything she’s learned along the way to help other women do the same.
Her Courage Practice:
Christine’s single most powerful shift has been in her morning and evening routine, based in neuroscience.
The brain processes roughly 60,000 thoughts a day, and it latches onto whatever direction you give it in its most receptive moments: first thing in the morning, before you reach for your phone, and last thing at night, as you’re drifting toward sleep. Christine starts each day with a simple intention: today is going to be a great day. I am open to what’s coming. I can handle whatever comes my way. She ends each night with gratitude for what was good. And her brain, she says, takes those directions and works all day to make them true.
The habits accumulate. But the mindset, she says, is 95% of the work. Everything else follows when you believe it’s worth building.
Lift Her Up:
Christine offers a free monthly Brain Boost, a live virtual event on the first Wednesday of each month at 10 AM Eastern, along with a quiz designed specifically for midlife women: Why Does Everything Feel Harder After 40? Head to thewellnessnavigator.com to find both. And if you’re ready for personalized support, her four-month coaching program is built around your individual blueprint for aging well.
