It still astounds me that more of us women don’t practice yoga, no matter our age. Even my mom who is a very fit 76 year-old biker chick doesn’t want to take the time to do yoga but after looking at this she might change her tune.

This beautiful 93 year-old woman shown in this video is living proof of the benefits of yoga – - mentally, physically, spiritually. When someone said that “what you do is a miracle.” Her reply: “Miracles already exist inside of us.”

When she had hip replacement at 87 y/o, her doctor told her about all of the things she wouldn’t be able to do. She told him, “I only want to know what I can do.”

Does gender really matter in health care?

For me, it’s obvious why gender matters in health care, just as it matters in business, leadership and politics. Since health is political, women’s health has gender bias to account for especially as women  age.  In women’s health, gender bias results from women not being included in clinical trials, for example.  Yes, although gender bias is the villain, more women-specific research must follow the fact that women simply are NOT small men.

That’s partly why several years ago, the National Institutes of Health created an infrastructure for the advancement of women’s health research in over twelve Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health throughout the United States.

Until you read a story like this, you would not appreciate that women also have  lower pain thresholds, increased incidence of lupus and MS, higher rates of fatal lung cancer and more.  There are actually at least ten differences between women’s and men’s bodies that account for big differences, according to the Society for Women’s Health Research.

There is still much that is unknown about the differences between male and female bodies. This story says it all.  Peripheral Arterial Disease or PAD is more common in women than men and very much underappreciated as it’s a result of hardening of the arteries – not the same as heart disease or breast cancer.

Our Real Women on Health on-line radio show this Wednesday, May 16th @12:30 pm EST with Dr. Gregory Pokrwyka, MD, FACP, Director of the Baltimore Lipid Center, will talk a little about this as well as heart disease and the new aspirin study.  Please join us to learn how you can prevent heart disease – it’s the number one killer of women.

I have the most beautiful Azalea tree in my front yard in Norwalk, Connecticut.  And, this is the first time I have stood underneath it to shoot a video.  How rare is this?!!!  This tree is a phenom right in my front yard and has bloomed every year for the 15 years we’ve been living here.  It is a Spring is here to stay..no matter how cold it is:))

As I mention in the video, tomorrow we’ll be talking with Barbara Slaine and Andrea Candee of the Liphe Balance Center in Weston, Connecticut.

The Center offers programs in nutrition, holistic health and integrated health care for a mind, body, soul approach to your wellbeing.

Join us on May 8th at 3:30 pm EST for our online radio show to learn more from Barbara Slaine and Andrea Candee, of the Liphe Balance Center.

HELP US SPREAD THE WORD

Buy a flower/wear a flower – or anything floral – every day in the month of May as a show of support for changing and expanding awareness and dialogue regarding female and perinatal health.

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Celebrating 40 years with Title IX!

Can you believe its been 40 years since Title IX was instituted? I can remember the days BEFORE Title IX and it was no where near as much fun as women have in high school these days.

While Billie Jean King started the Women’s Sports Foundation in the 1970s, the foundation has a new strategic partner with the University of Michigan called The SHARP Center. Their mission is to advance research and policymaking to enhance the lives of women and girls through sport, play, and movement.

The SHARP Center for Women and Girls is officially “launching” through hosting the premier national conference commemorating the 40th birthday of Title IX, May 9-May 11. Renown athletes, policymakers and researchers are presenting at Title IX at 40. For a preliminary program please see this program brochure.

UPCOMING RADIO SHOW:
TUESDAY, MARCH 24th @1:30 PM EST
DIAL IN TO LISTEN: 1-646-929-2625 OR DOWNLOAD LATER HERE!

Michele Segar, MPH, PhD, is a member of our community here and she is the associate director of SHARP. I will be speaking with Michele and Associate Director of Kinesiology at University of Michigan and Codirector of the new SHARP Center, Dr. Kathleen Babiak about this exciting new Center for Women and Girls.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND!

Remember the Golden Girls?  Well, today’s version of the girls is ours to design!  It’s no longer a secret…if you’re a healthy 50 year old woman today,  you have a good chance of living into your 90s. What will it take to live those years in a state of wellbeing?  We all have images of ourselves as “older women” – is it the “golden girls” or is it something different?

I will be sharing what it will take to live well,  what shifts we must make,  and what we can do together, to enjoy our “second half of life”.  Given what we know NOW about the brain and neuroscience, there’s good reason to shift our thinking about the second half of life.  With knowledge and inspiration, we can experience joy, love, creativity and sexuality in a new way without “loss”.

It’s time to gain the insights and tools to prepare for and Design the Second Half of Life.  Earlier this year, Real Women on Health hosted a series of midlife women’s health roundtables on our radio show.  We were joined by the Blue Thong Society and HealthyWomen.

Based on the success of those topics and based on my learnings from my trip to Bhutan,  I will be discussing how midlife women can Design the Second Half of Life information with community groups and associations in the NYC Metro area.

April 3rd @7:00 pm  Wilton Public Library on April 3rd @7:00 – 8:30 pm.  Wilton is located in Fairfield County Connecticut and the library is in the center of town.  To find out more and register, go here.

SAVE THE DATE!!!  May 19th @The Public House in New York City.  Join the Blue Thong Society  under the Blue Tent.  Blue Thongers are boomer women who are to to do good, and have fun doing it!   Download the registration form BTSBlueTentEventFlyer.

Did you miss our on-line radio show last week?

I spoke with Saralyn Mark, MD about the promise and future of women’s health in this country. Saralyn knows a thing or two about how Washington DC works, and was the first medical advisor to the Office of Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is also knowledgeable about hormones – the kind we women care about – and is an endocrinologist and geriatrician as well as women’s health specialist.

She just launched a book called Stellar Medicine: A Journey Through the Universe of Women’s Health and will be addressing women’s health leaders at the 3rd Annual Leadership Summit on the Business of Women’s Health in Boston. Following her talk, we may host a book reading so stay tuned here.

Some of the touchpoints in our on-line conversation included:

1. Future of Women’s Health: Gender and sex-based biology nears a greater understanding of how women differ from men and applying those sex-based differences in the area of personalized medicine and identification of markers. This will help improve the treatments of certain reproductive cancers, heart disease and immune disorders (lupus, MS) which primarily affect women.

2. Misogyny undermines advancement of human rights, women’s rights and health. The current conversations that have excluded women and denigrated women’s rights impact all of us men included. Women’s health is the current hot topic because it’s an election year and it’s a conversation that ignites the G.O.P. base including women who are centrists or conservatives. Nothing like a war (against women) to mobilize the troops.

3. Her book is part memoir/part guidebook on controversial health issues. Dr. Mark explores the political and social environment which shapes these issues while weaving in her unique adventures on all the continents and with the space program to illustrate her points.

She writes about menopause, alternative therapies, sex and gender based medicine, spirituality and healing, veterans health, pandemics and public fears, medical myths, reproductive health, the health benefits of sex, chocolate, wine and shopping and more. This educational and entertaining book has generated lively discussions during all of Dr. Mark’s book reading events and media appearances including NPR, ABC News and Good Morning America Health.

Her candor and humor inspire her audiences to use the book as a guide to achieve health and wellness even during times of stress. Interested in hearing Saralyn speak or read from her book? The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Policy at the University of New Mexico loved her reading on “Stardust Connection”.