Today’s story (with incredible tips!) on body confidence after 50 was contributed by Astrid Longhurst, a world-class body confidence coach, fitness expert, author, and age empowerment coach. She has provided expert advice, articles and comment for Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, and many more. This story motivated me to be kinder to myself and take action! Enjoy, darlings.

Transitioning to Visibility & Body Confidence After 50

I was coaching this fabulous lady the other day in one of my age empowerment body confidence sessions. She had no idea of just how marvelous she was. As we sat talking about her life and where she was now at age 60, she said, “I don’t feel like myself anymore. I feel as if I have become invisible and it makes me feel sad.” If only you could have seen her. Her energy and warmth simply shone out of her eyes, and she had a sense of grace that flowed effortlessly through her body and soul.

I asked her who she saw when she looked in the mirror. She replied that she had stopped looking in the mirror a long time ago because what she saw reflected back disappointed her. As we continued to speak, it became clear that somewhere along her life journey, she had become invisible to herself. She had stopped seeing the wonderful vibrant woman that she was. She felt disappointed by her amazing body that had safely carried her through three miscarriages, gave birth to two healthy children, had undergone two bouts of Cancer, and was still looking after her every day of her life.

And so began her journey of coming “home” to herself. Of recognizing just how extraordinary she is and gently choosing to become visible to herself again. It’s a journey that all of us take at some point or another in our lives. Life is constantly inviting us to grow, evolve and transform into the next version of who we might become. This is never more profound as we grow older and are asked to step into ALL of who we authentically are. 

Become a force of fabulousness

Reinventing and boosting our body confidence is one of the key ways we begin to see ourselves anew and step into the woman we most desire to be. Our bodies are where we live. They are our “homes” throughout our lifetime. When we make our bodies the happiest, safest and most beautiful places to live, we are able to express all of who we are in ways that feel exciting, authentic and alive with purpose.

Body Confidence After 50: My Top 5 Tips to Invigorate Your Body, Mind, Heart, & Soul! 

# 1 Reinventing and boosting your body confidence after 50 begins with a feeling. 

Write down your five top feelings you would love to experience daily. There are so many feelings that you can choose. Go with the ones which feel the most alive for you. Some ideas are; feeling free, excited, happy, content, peaceful, motivated, passionate, wild, blissful, joyous, harmonious, radiant, loved, safe, etc.

Once you have the list of your top five desired feelings, write a small action that you can take every day which helps you to embody that feeling. For example, feeling free is one of my top feelings and dancing always brings me that sense of freedom.

Once you have your list of actions, make it your priority to bring them into your life every day. 

# 2. Smile — it’s all good. You got up this morning.

Smiling is often overlooked as a way to boost our confidence and make us feel better. However, it has a profound physiological and psychological impact on our state of being. When we smile, we give a message to the nervous system that all is well in our world. The body reads this as “I am safe.” We often forget to smile at ourselves and yet will happily smile at those we love in our life.

Every single morning as you awake, give yourself a smile smoothie. This consists of three smiles. The first is for your body as gratitude for keeping you safe through the night. The second is as for your beautiful spirit as you look in the mirror and honor how amazing you are. And the third is for this beautiful earth you live on. 

# 3. Rescript your body story and cut out any negative self-talk.

The way that we talk about ourselves and to ourselves has a huge impact on how we feel. Words are the architects of our lives. Every word conjures up an image and every image creates a feeling within our body.

When it comes to reinventing and boosting our body confidence, we need to choose the kind of words that we would love to feel every day. The words that are associated with growing older are often negative or self-limiting. Choose to reframe old age words into new age possibilities. Here are some examples of how to re-frame and choose more liberating words.

Old Age Language                      Fabulous Age Language

Old age	Timeless wisdom
Anti-aging	Pro more wonderful years
Be youthful	Be YOU
Dress age appropriate	Dress your authentic style
I am too old to….	I am far more than my age
The third act of our life	The present moment
Stay young	Keep growing more fabulous
It’s too difficult	It takes a little time
I should	I could
Look younger	Love being exactly where I am
I can’t	I choose not to
If only…	Next time…
It’s a problem	It’s an opportunity

# 4. Write a future self-journal.

This exercise helps you to turn your brain into a map of the future and to experience that future as if it is happening in the moment – in the NOW time.

Write down your intentions, how you desire to feel, what behaviors you want to practice, and what you are grateful for right now and in the future.

Every day begin your journal by writing, “Today, I see myself as………………..” Continue by building a picture of what it is you desire to feel, think, do, and be. This helps you to hardwire a new image and feeling of what you desire in your life.

# 5. Create your own authentic style and rock it every day!

Who are you? This is not always an easy question to answer, however, when you begin to explore this question more deeply, it opens up so many ideas of styles, possibilities, and combinations of clothes that you can weave together.

Some great questions to ask yourself are, “What do you love?” What era of clothing do you resonate with— for example, the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, etc.? What hobbies or pastimes do you love? For example, art, dancing, walking, singing, baking.

The secret is to take elements from all the things that you resonate with and bring them into your wardrobe. For example, I love dancing so I wear dance-inspired clothes such as my long “tutu” skirts. I also loved the freedom of the sixties, so anything with a touch of Boho and flower power fills my soul.

Our bodies are constantly changing, bringing us different versions of ourselves to love and care about. The key is in being visible to ourselves and appreciating our amazing bodies in which we get to experience all of life’s wonders. Free your mind, express your soul, and adore your body!

For more inspiration on living fabulously in your fifties and beyond, please join me on Instagram at romancing your body. I would love to meet you there. 

Astrid Longhurst – Author, Body Confidence & Fitness Expert/ Age Empowerment Coach

Astrid is a world-class Body Confidence Coach, Author and Body Image Expert.

She is the author of two books on Body Confidence. Her most recent is “Romancing your body” (How to fall deeply, passionately & wildly in love with your body & your life). Available on Amazon.

Astrid was the former fitness presenter on GMTV (UK), delivering her hugely inspirational morning workouts for every shape, size, age, and ability! Her work has been featured in major Television & media channels including GMTV, BBC, RTE, SKY LIVING, DISPATCHES, CHANNEL 4, ITV, THIS MORNING, THE CLOTHES SHOW and many more.

She is the founder and director of the Institute for Body Confidence Coaching – a transformational Body Confidence Coaching program which trains, educates & certifies up and coming body confidence coaches.

Astrid is the “Go to” Body Confidence expert of choice for the media and she has provided expert advice, articles and comment for Cosmopolitan, Company, Zest, Health & Fitness, Woman’s Way, Bella, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, Health Plus, The Irish Examiner, Good Housekeeping, Red, Glow, The TV Times, Prima, Glamour, Sugar and You Are What You Eat Magazine.

Astrid wowed the nation when she became the first Plus size fitness presenter on UK National Television motivating people to love their body, get fit and feel FABULOUS no matter what their shape, size, age or ability!

Astrid was also one of the first generation of Plus sized models who pioneered the way for women to look and feel fabulous at every shape, size and age! She graced the catwalk stage at many of the premier London fashion stores.

Her passion is to inspire women all over the world to fall in love with themselves and see how fabulous they truly are – to let nothing hold you back from shining your beautiful light into this world. 

https://www.instagram.com/romancingyourbody/?hl=en

www.astridlonghurst.com