Women’s Midlife Anim-Morphosis

This book challenges the unspeakable truth about women’s middle age and demolishes the myth that this is an age of fast decline which have constrained many generations of women. For the first time in history, middle age women make up a large segment of our society yet, the true history of middle age is still a mystery. In this book, Dr. Ausch fills in the gap by making a clear distinction between three sub- stages within this long life-span that starts in the late 40’s and continues into the mid 70’s. The first stage is early- middle- age from the late 40’s to mid 50’; the second stage is mid-middle- age, from the late 50’s to mid 60’s, and the third stage is late- middle- age, from the late 60’s to mid 70’s. The author challenges the reader to ask themselves: how can they navigate through their aging process without a clear understanding of when does middle- age start? When does it end and how it progress? Since everyone goes through it, opening an honest dialogue is a starting point. Dr. Ausch argues that in every century a new developmental phenomenon emerges. In the last century the focus was on adolescence development, in the 21st century a new period of development emerges as significant, “middle age.” This period of life is between young adulthood and old age. With the extended period of health and activity achieved by modern science middle- age women shape and reshape their lives intuitively seeking wisdom, knowledge, fulfillment and a continuum of high energy living. Women are making a memorable impact on society and they are challenging the definition of middle- age and its appropriateness at every level possible. They put middle- age to the test of time and its youthfulness on the map. Many women believe that age is irrelevant, what is relevant is function and ability. This is the generation of women that has said, “yes” to anti- aging medicine and decided that they have better things to do than sit around and wait to get old. They have proven that health, strength, wisdom and intrinsic motivation get a second wind at middle- age and that all the negativity that society feeds them is nothing more than a myth. This book is anchored on the premise that self-confidence, self-acceptance, self-grooming and mental and physical stamina have values at any age and they are all inter-connected. This simply means that we have to pay attention to all aspects of our life. The author emphasizes that we are all born with the power of self- discovery and challenges the readers to let go of mindless living and embrace mindfulness. The author provides specific guidance on how to do just that and create a personalized life-plan. Throughout the book the author refers to this journey of self- discovery as “Anim-Morphosis” which is a term that means “self-change.” This book is divided into 10 chapters each dealing with a specific topic: Chapter I, deals with our stages of development as well as the crisis that we experience at every stage. The author provides specific guidance on how to overcome those crisis and navigate successfully into our next stage of development. Chapter II, deals with our body-mind interconnection and emphasizes the fact that our thoughts, feelings, and emotions fuel every cell in our body. Nothing holds more power over our bodies than our minds. Chapter III , addresses the question of “ who we are” as well as our quest for the development of “self”. The author provides methods to mend our self-esteem and stay healthy, positive and loving to ourselves as well as to others. Chapter IV, deals with our brain-power and the importance of maintaining it. This chapter is based on a simple argument which says: “if we don’t use it we lose it.” Chapter V, deals with our physical stamina and provides specific techniques on how to maintain it throughout our life – cycles. Chapter VI, deals with our psychology of eating and debunks the diet mentality. Chapter VII, deals with our outer appearance and emphasizes the inter-connection that exists between our inner and outer beauty. These simply means that we cannot look good on the outside, if we neglect our inside. A frail body is equated with a frail skin and a healthy body and mind is equated with a glowing skill. Chapter VIII, deals with our psychology of dressing. The basic argument presented is that the way we dress is the way we feel and the way we feel is the way we dress. Chapter IX, examines our inner and outer toxicities that hinder our lives. By eliminating those things that do not work well today, will help us move forward with a lighter load. Chapter X, describes specific steps that we need to take to help us turn our goals into action, into reality. This chapter provides action plans as well as different ways to carry out those plans and see results. At this point, the author is encouraging the reader to honestly ask herself: 1. Am I going in the direction that I want to go or am I going nowhere— if you are going nowhere this book is for you. 2. Am I disgusted with mediocrity, disappointed by past results and not content to just drift through life – if so, these pages offer you alternatives. Regardless, this book will help the reader gain insight, knowledge, self-awareness and important guidance for self-discovery as they advance through middle- age and beyond.