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april 2016yogajournal.com.auBy Louise Shannon
WHILE WATCHING MYeight-year-old
son run, recently, I noticed that his
right foot was turning inwards. It was
only slightly but there was enough of a
twist to warrant a visit to the podiatrist.
“I think my son might have crow’s
feet,” I say, offering my diagnosis while
booking an appointment.
Silence echoes down the phone line,
followed by a quizzical, “Crow’s feet?”
Bamboozled momentarily, I realise my
gaffe. “Oh, ha! I mean, I think he’s pigeon-toed.
Obviously, I’m the one who has crow’s feet!”
As I glance across to the mirror, blushing at
what might have seemed like a ridiculous obsession
with wrinkles, my hilarity subsides. There they are:
crow’s feet—resolute little lines radiating out from
the corners of my eyes, and dark circles, and the face
of ... a 40-something-year-old.
This is no time to panic; sober and rational action
will surely fi x everything. I could put a bag over my head.
I could howl, wail and curse. Or I could never look in a
mirror. Ever. Again.
Alternatively, I could embrace life at top-speed. Bring on
the hair-raising, rip-roaring, fabulous adventure: a middle-
aged woman and her magnificent midlife crisis. I will tear
around town in a Maserati (with the top down) wearing outfits
utterly inappropriate for my new age bracket, whooping “40 is
the new 30” as I party all night and drink too much booze.
I ponder my long-term future, however, and suddenly “wild
at 43” feels clichéd and hollow. It’s time to face facts. A study
published at the end of last year by a team of researchers from the
University of Melbourne concluded that the myth of a midlife crisis is,
indeed, a fact. The researchers confi rmed that lifetime happiness,
tracked on a U-curve, dips at middle age, reaching its lowest point
around age 40.
The term “midlife crisis” was coined in 1965 by Canadian
psychoanalyst Dr Elliott Jaques when he connected midlife with “having toThe much-maligned midlife crisis
does not discriminate, and its
effects can be devastating.
Learn how to use self-reflection,
meditation, and yoga to dodge
the onslaught of your middle years,
release your fears, and embrace
a positive new stage of life.
accept the reality of one’s death”. Typically,
this can occur anywhere from age 35 to 50
and triggers can include debt, divorce, or
grief; or our own psyche might rouse a
change in our behaviour. We might be
successful, and then begin to question if
everything we have is actually everything
that we really want.
A midlife crisis can manifest in different
people in many different ways including
anger, a sense of dissatisfaction, boredom,
confusion, anxiety, depression, and
irrational behaviour, which can include
drinking or craving a new relationship or
material assets.
So, is there a cure for the malady of
midlife? What is the antidote to all the
turmoil?
Melbourne-based psychologist and
author Dr Robyn Vickers-Willis, offers
some sage advice. Dr Vickers-Willis
(Navigating Midlife: Women Becoming
Themselves; Men Navigating Midlife; and
Navigating the Empty Nest: Re-creating
Relationships) prefers the term midlife
transition and says it is important to
recognise this empowering time of life
because this is when our psyche supports
us to grow in self-awareness.
“Navigating midlife transition supports
us to connect with our own values rather
than others’ values. This is in contrast to
how we have been conditioned to perceive
ourselves in the fi rst half of our life when
we look to others to determine how we
should be as this helped us feel secure
when young.
“It is vital to look within at midlife.“Navigating midlife transition supports
us to connect with our own values
rather than others’ values. This is
in contrast to how we have been
conditioned to perceive ourselves in
the fi rst half of our life when we
look to others to determine how
we should be as this helped us
feel secure when young.”