Taking Up Space, Season Finale Celebration
[00:00:00] This is the 50th episode of Sexy in Your 60s, and I want to start by saying something I don't say often enough. I'm proud of myself. I've shown up every single week. When I started this podcast, I hoped it would go well. I don't think I imagined I would show up every week for basically an entire year, but I did, and it has taken a lot.
Along the way, I found a cadence I'm committed to, and that commitment has given me a momentum I didn't have before. This podcast has stretched me. It's pushed me to create more than I knew I had in me, and it's changed the way I think. It has also connected me with so many people. The conversations I've had here with guests and with listeners who stop me to talk about an episode have helped me grow as much as [00:01:00] anything I've done in years.
When someone takes the time to tell me what an episode meant to them, I take that in and I'm grateful every time. Today is also the last episode of season three, which we called Taking Up Space, and it's election day. Back in episode 46, Taking Up Space at the Ballot Box, I talked about how so many decisions about our health, from menopause research to what our insurance covers, are made by the people we elect.
Women our age are the voters close elections turn on. So if you haven't voted yet, today is the day. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. The vote belongs to you. Just go cast it like it counts, because it does.
This season, [00:02:00] we started in the body. Dr. Jordan Emont, an OBGYN who is on the cutting edge of women's health, brought us some of the most exciting medical information we've had on this show, and you responded to it more than anything I've posted. In The Table, I talked about taking up space at the table and in your own body after a lifetime of being taught to take up less.
Baxter Bell brought us yoga as a way of living fully in the body we have now.
And Rosie Ballard talked with us about muscle and why strength training matters so much at this stage of life.
We also talked about your voice. In Self-Doubt is Not Imposter Syndrome, I talked about taking the seat before you have the words.
Valerie Mummert and I talked [00:03:00] about retreats and the kind of transformation that becomes possible when you design a space and an experience just for women.
And I loved my conversation with Laura Bergman. She took me through her rich history of experiences and then into the excitement of how she's been growing and evolving over the last few years. She just shared the cover of her new book, Waiting for Miles, which comes out in April, and I can't wait to read it.
So where did I take up space this season? I kept challenging myself and stepping into discomfort. And when I say discomfort, I also mean stepping into my dreams. I kept offering programs, and often I was creating them at the same time I was offering them. It took courage to show up live and facilitate, [00:04:00] and it took courage to show up in person in rooms full of people. And one of my favorite things over the last few months has been facilitating an alumni circle for the women who have finished my Sexy in Your 60s coaching experience. We meet once a month, and those conversations are poignant and intimate. We experience a deep connection, and I leave every one of them grateful. And I just made a commitment to work with Terry Bond to expand my reach and bring this work to more women. That one feels big.
Where am I still making myself smaller? I still have these birds on my shoulder. They whisper things like, "Who do you think you are? Why do you think you're important enough to put your opinion out in public and position [00:05:00] yourself as an expert?" I'm doing it anyway.
Here's what I have come to understand. This was never really about being the expert. I'm learning, and I try to learn as much as I can about every topic I bring to you. But more than that, I'm trying to create space for women 50 and beyond to explore, experiment, and discover, and to support you while you do it. There's a lot of internal work to do here for all of us, and I'm doing it right alongside you.
One of the women I'm coaching right now told me she listened to my conversation with Rosie Ballard about muscle and working out, and it inspired her to start back on strength training. That's why I do this. A single conversation helped a woman decide to take up space in [00:06:00] her own body again.
I turned 65 on October 6th. So what feels newly available to me right now? I don't have a boss. I don't have anyone else's expectations to meet. I can decide what I want to do and which direction I want to go in. Nothing is holding me back from following my dreams and passions. And with that freedom comes something I need to do, which is take care of myself. Honestly, that is always hard for me, and it's hardest when I'm taking care of other people. Here's what surprises people. I am most compromised when I'm doing one of my favorite things in the whole world, which is spending time with my adult children and my grandchildren. [00:07:00] I want so much to be doing things for them that I'll do it at the expense of taking care of myself. I'm working on that. I suspect that many of you know exactly what I mean.
Last weekend, Eric and I were in Los Angeles with our daughter's family and our oldest son's family. We celebrated our granddaughter's fourth birthday, and I feel so blessed that we've been at every one of her birthday parties. My favorite part was the next day at the beach with the four-year-old and the two-year-old. They had the best time, and so did I.
And here's what helped me take care of myself. We stayed at a hotel in a place where I'm really comfortable. Having my own space gave me a boundary. I had somewhere to rest and reset, and there was a gym so I could keep up my workouts. I also [00:08:00] took the time for a few four-mile walks along the beach on The Strand. I came to my family with more to give because I wasn't running on empty.
I also made room for me. I met my girlfriends for dinner, and we went to a comedy show to see my cousin perform with some other amazing women. Watching women on that stage completely owning the room, that's what taking up space looks like, and I needed that as much as I needed the beach.
Now I want to turn this to you. All season, I've asked you three questions. I want to leave you with them one more time. You might journal or think about them on your next walk. Where am I already taking up space? Where am I still making myself smaller? And [00:09:00] what feels newly available to me now? You don't need a plan. Just choose one honest next move. And if you'd like to talk directly to me about what comes up for you, I'd love that. You can book a free discovery call with me. The link is in the show notes.
So what's next? I'm already dreaming about season four, which I'm calling Making Room for What's Next. It follows naturally from this season. First, we claim our space, then we decide what we want to make room for. I'll share more with you soon.
Before I go, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you to every one of you who listens and watches, who has shared an episode with a friend, [00:10:00] and who has taken the time to reach out and tell me what the show means to you.
50 episodes would not have happened without you. If this show has been meaningful to you, Please follow it wherever you listen or subscribe on YouTube. When you search for the show, type Sexy in Your 60s and then add my name, Dvora Citron, and you'll be sure to find it. Share an episode with a friend who would love it.
And stay in touch with me. Join my email list so you can hear from me regularly. The link is in the show notes
