Healthy and Vibrant 50+ Aging with Darnell Cox
Darnell Cox is a 55 year old Gerontologist who studies the psychological and physical aspects for aging through the lifespan. I was so excited to have her on because this is everything my people want to learn! She got into the health and wellness field many years ago but has her education in Gerontology and Psychology (and actually went back to school for a second masters at the age of 51!) So cool!
What Drives Happiness in Midlife?
Many people claim that looking a certain way is enough to drive happiness…especially in midlife. But what I have come to realize and know is that what REALLY lights someone up is having a goal and something to keep them on purpose and working towards. Darnell is not only a fantastic example of this but also agrees. As a lifelong learner, she thinks that Inside all of us is this drive to set and accomplish goals for us throughout our whole life course. When you’re 12, you want to be 15. When you’re 15 you want to be 16. When you’re 16 you want to be 18, so on and so forth. But the real milestone is striving and continuing to grow psychologically as the number of the candles on the cake continue to increase.
What Drives Good Skin in Midlife?
Aging takes on many different forms and we are all different. But a lot of us are not giving ourselves permission to LOOK our best. Our weight, our hair, our skin, and everything that makes up our appearance, is actually really important to us psychologically and how we feel about ourselves as a whole. Darnell teaching an inside out approach to health and wellness and believes that optimal nutrition, exercise, sleep, grounding, breath work, meditation, and our internal dialogue really shines through our skin, AND she believes in treating the skin from the outside in. How you behave today is going to greatly affect your HEALTHspan. The decisions you make today about your health and lifestyle will greatly affect you years from now. So be mindful and proactive of that.
“You’re never too young to think about getting old.” -Darnell Cox
What Can Be Reversed on Skin in Midlife?
A lot of people just focus on someones face. But really, the whole body is important. One of Darnell’s favorite things to do is microneedle her whole body in places where collagen and elastin become depleted more quickly. The controlled microtrauma (microneedling) is tricking your body into thinking that it needs help from the stem cells to repair and heal. She has created a protocol of different treatments you can do (including red light, dry brushing, and microneedling) at home to help rejuvenate your skin. You can instant message her the words “Protocol” to get a copy of her monthly schedule.
Overall Midlife Health Non-Negotiables
- Lifting weights/strength training 3x/week
- Ground yourself
- Meditation – even if just 5 minutes a day to focus on breath work
- Natural, real unprocessed, organic foods
- Intermittent fasting
All of this and so much more on this episode!
About Darnell Cox
Darnell Cox is the mind, body, and soul behind Live Young Lifestyle, the platform confronting ageism and promoting healthy aging from the inside out. Among her favorite techniques to living a happier, more youthful life is grounding — the therapeutic modality of reconnecting to the earth’s energetic frequency through direct or indirect contact — but it’s a lot more than just making the time to go barefoot. To get the scoop on the ancient phenomenon of grounding, we chatted with the holistic health coach to learn the science and secrets to a practice essential to her soulcare ritual.
In this episode, you will learn:
- How to effectively feed your body in midlife
- Why anything in excess will cause fat
- How to build & grow lean muscle
- What to use for anti-aging
