Which Hormones Are Best for You?
Contributing Writer: Dr. Carolyn Torkelson - Which Hormones Are Best for You? After 30 years in clinical practice, Dr. Torkelson now writes and consults on women’s health issues, focusing on mature women. If you’re considering hormone therapy, you’re not alone. Many women ask: Which hormones should I take? Is it too late to start? What’s the safest option for me now?These are thoughtful and important questions—especially as we age and take an active role in advocating for our health. Based on current research and my clinical experience, many menopause specialists recommend estradiol combined with micronized progesterone. These are often referred to as bioidentical hormones because they are chemically identical to the hormones your body naturally produces. They are FDA-approved and available by...
Rewriting the Hormone Therapy Story
Contributing Writer: Dr. Carolyn Torkelson Rewriting the Hormone Therapy Story After 30 years in clinical practice, Dr. Torkelson now writes and consults on women’s health issues, focusing on mature women. I remember exactly where I was when hormone therapy suddenly fell out of favor. It was August 2002; I was sitting in a coffee shop with a friend when my Nokia phone rang. A local TV station wanted me to come on air immediately to talk about alternatives to hormone therapy. The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study had just been curtailed, and the message was already spreading: estrogen was dangerous, and women needed something else to ease the symptoms of menopause. Overnight, hormone therapy went from a standard of care to suspect. But even then, many of us who practiced holistic women’s health were...
Nine Decades of Gratitude
Contributing Writer: Gail Zelitzky A reflection on why gratitude is the most powerful choice we can make. World Gratitude Day is September 21. I find myself reflecting not only on the blessings in my own life but also on the deep suffering that so many endure. From Ukraine and Gaza to communities across our own country, hunger, famine, and violence bring daily heartbreak. I think about the most recent shooting in Minnesota and the innocent children across the U.S. who have been killed or maimed by senseless gunfire, traumatized by sex trafficking—tragedies that could end if our leaders had the courage to act. In moments like these, I cannot help but wonder: is the ego of our politicians so great that they refuse to honor the sanctity of life? And yet, despite the darkness in our world, I am reminded of the...
Gina Orlando’s Reflections on her Celebration of Life Service March 2025
Contributing Writer: Gina Orlando (Ep 320) My spirituality is rich, wide, and deep across the world religions. I titled one of the readings in my service “Lover of God.” I’ve been gifted to feel the presence of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with me all the time. I know I’m going to the Light (there may be some life review along the way) and it’s a wonderful place of Love and Peace. I feel that I can revive and plan the next lifetime. I also feel very close to the wonderful Ascended Masters of Mary, Magdalene and other wonderful representatives of the Divine Feminine. They can help us heal this world of the distorted masculine energy and help bring about a partnership of a healthy feminine and masculine energies to create a new society. We can help that effort. I yearned to hear the beautiful music, to see all...
Gratitude and Purpose: 3 Keys to Unlocking GAP
Gratitude and Purpose: 3 Keys to Unlocking GAP After 4 ½ years of interviewing women over 70 for our award-winning podcast, Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined, it has become eminently clear that these two attributes, Gratitude and Purpose, are major drivers in creating and maintaining a vital, vibrant life as we age. And this is not only true for older women. Look around you. At every stage of life, there are women whose vitality literally seems to shine when she enters a room. It isn’t only her smile or her clothes. It’s her whole way of being. Every person she encounters feels singled out for special notice. When she’s asked, “What are you up to?”, her answers are full of excitement, verve and importance. She exudes purpose and gratitude as a natural part of her vocabulary, without ever using those two words....
IT MAKES ME FEEL OLD?
The real issue here is my desire for continued independence. I am not and don’t want to feel…needy or anything akin to helplessness. Believe me, I know I may be walking slower than I did when I was a 25-year-old Flight Attendant [Okay! Yes, we were Stewardesses then.]. BUT, you know what, my heart is still 25. My face, though it has some well-earned wrinkles, when I look at it in the mirror…I still see vestiges of that younger me. If you only see the years that have been added, you hurt me.
What Internal Ageist Beliefs Do You Hold?
Ageism is thought to be the last acceptable form of prejudice. We decry jokes about racism, gender, religion, and even weight, yet people of all ages poke fun at “old people,” based on misconceived stereotypes of inept, doddering, and fragile women and men who can’t quite fend for themselves. Yes, external ageism abounds, but what about internal ageism? We can be our own worst enemies when it comes to self-limiting, ageist beliefs about what we can and can’t do
Compassion and Caring
Our Women Over 70 blog is inspired by our podcast, Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined, where we talk weekly with women in their 70s-100s who shatter the myth that women become irrelevant as they age. You can listen to their stories in 8 different categories. While compassion is not a set category, this blog focuses on compassion and caring because this theme comes up regularly in the conversations with so many of our guests. Women Over 70 attracts vital women who care deeply about making a difference in the world they live in. As we move towards our third year, it is clear that women are involved in impactful pursuits, even if only a few have heard of them. Mother Teresa said: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." What is social activism if not action that...
Female Friendship–A pillar of wellbeing
Our Women Over 70 blog is inspired by our podcast, Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined, where we talk weekly with women in their 70s-100s about issues that matter to women as we age. You can listen to their stories in 8 different categories. This blog focuses on female friendship a topic which shows up in all categories. Friendships with women are a mainstay in both our lives. We each have female friends that reach back to elementary and high school and to college, that come from homelife and workplace, and from shared causes and interests. Close friends come from our families of origin as well. Katherine Mansfield (modernist short story writer) disclosed, “The truth is, friendship to me is every bit as sacred and eternal as marriage.” Many of us who have had romantic male partners find that our female friends...
Nurturing Your Health
Our Women Over 70 blog is inspired by our podcast, Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined, where we talk weekly with women in their 70s-100s about issues that matter to women as we age. You can listen to their stories in 8 different categories. This blog focuses on Health and Wellness. If we don’t make space to care for ourselves, who will? Our minds, bodies and spirits need constant nurturing to maintain good brain and physical health. We are the only ones who can make it happen! A running theme through our podcasts is how thoughtful these women are in nurturing their health. They recognize that it doesn’t come easy. Does one have to get sick to bring us up short? We all know about the good endorphins released during exercise. We have to exercise to experience that, however, and first, we need the motivation to...
Claiming Your Worth and Acting on it
Our Women Over 70 blog is inspired by our podcast, Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined, where we talk weekly with women in their 70s-100s about things that matter to women as we age. You can listen to their stories in 8 different categories. This blog focuses on Enhancing Career. When did the people in your circle begin talking with you, if ever, about your career aspirations? Some of our podcast guests were in families that encouraged them to dream big and become whatever they wanted to be--through education, travel, creative ventures, entering male-saturated fields. For many of our guests, however, the presumed options were limited: teacher, nurse, or secretary. One guest’s mother announced, “you will be a teacher; your brother will be the attorney.” And most women over 70 were expected to marry and raise...
Purpose with a Capital ‘P’: the Centerpiece of our Social Services Category
Our Women Over 70 blog is inspired by our podcast, Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined, where we talk weekly with women in their 70s-100s about things that matter to women as we age. You can listen to their stories in 8 different categories. This blog focuses on Social Services. As a category, Social Service has multiple dimensions. Often, these services are thought of only in terms of governmental programs that serve the welfare of its citizens. However, individuals, groups and nonprofits equally and actively engage in action that helps others. We are often asked the question, “What do your guests have in common?” That’s hard to say with 131 episodes now released. They are women from various backgrounds and geography. And, yes, they are all over 70. Yet, purpose is probably the single most common denominator...