The idea that youthfulness is the ultimate goal and that aging

should be concealed or avoided is something that we need to

move away from. The term anti-aging can contribute to

ageism as well, where younger generations start to

look at older people as something less and we don't

want to be perpetuating those stereotypes at all. Welcome

to The Holistic Skin Guru, where what's on the surface is just

as important as what's underneath. I'm your host, Aamena. Let's

dive deep into the world of holistic skincare. Hi

guys, and welcome back to yet another episode of The Holistic Skin

Guru. Today, I'm going to be talking about pro-age versus anti-aging

and embracing the language around positive aging.

So the language that we hear consistently on

social media has a huge impact on the

way we think about ageing and the way we

respond to the messages around ageing. So

I'm trying to be part of that movement that talks about pro-age instead

of anti-ageing, which is a more positive and empowering approach

towards our natural process of aging. Now,

the language or the linguistic transformation is crucial in

challenging age-related stigmas and fostering an

inclusive and encouraging healthy perspective on

various stages of life. So as we go through our 40s,

our 50s, our 60s, we start hearing that

word anti-aging a lot more than usual, and

it starts to impact on us quite considerably. So

start thinking about the language that you're using and how that's impacting

on how you see yourself when you look in the mirror. You

know, pro-age is emphasising the embracing of the ageing

process on a positive and enriching experience.

It's focusing on promoting wellness and self-acceptance and

celebrating your life and the ever-evolving journey

of life as such. So you know they've done some

research and some studies and they did one that was published

in the Journal of Aging Studies in 2018 and they found

that adopting a pro-age attitude is associated

with better psychological well-being and life satisfaction among

older adults. So that's quite significant and something

that we just cannot ignore. You know anti-ageing connotations

are traditionally quite negative and

imply a resistance or reversal of the ageing

process where we're trying to stay young, we're not embracing

who we are at the time that we are in. So this term is

often associated ageing with negativity, it suggests that

ageing is something that we should fight against or

conceal ourself against. So you know that can be quite

negative to the way we look at ourselves and can impact us

in our daily lives. The term anti-aging as

such can contribute to ageism as well where

younger generations start to look at older people as

something less or lesser and we don't want to be perpetuating

those stereotypes at all. So the idea that

youthfulness is the ultimate goal and that aging should

be concealed or avoided is something that we need to move away

from. I mean, it's 2024, guys. Let's get with it,

right? Language has a role in shaping

our perceptions. And another study that was done by the

Journal of Gerontology in 2018 emphasised

that the language used to describe aging can actually

influence the social attitudes around our

communities. So positive language contributes to

a more favourable perception of ageing. And

the negative language, it just reinforces that age-related stereotype.

So let's start thinking about the language that we're using, you

know. Are we embracing who we are at

every age and talking pro-age? Or are we

trying to be a younger us

by talking anti-ageing and trying to conceal our

smile lines or anything that we may be presenting that

may be considered as ageing. So there is an

impact on society overall on the language

around ageing and the World Health Organisation advocates

for positive ageing, emphasising the

need to challenge ageism and to promote the

idea that older individuals continue to contribute to

our society in various meaningful ways. So

I think this comes back to the way Western society is set

up is that we are set up in such a way that we start

off our lives in our schooling and through to university and

then we start our careers off and then we flow

through life and go through our careers and through our lives

where we end up having children and our children grow up and they they get

married and you move on and we'll move out of the house and things like

that and these things impact on our

life and we start to think that we're getting older because

of everything that's going on around us and we start thinking

that we need to fit ourselves into some kind of a box depending

on what age we're in. So if we can start thinking about our

age as just a number and we are still the

same people, we were at 20, at age 30, at age 60, we're still the

same person, Our bodies may

not function or operate the way it did when we were 20, but we're still

the same person with the same loves, the same interests and

the same personalities. So we need to work through life

understanding that although these changes are happening, there's beauty in

this change. There are studies that have been done

that indicate that people that adopt a pro-age attitude

end up with better mental health outcomes, including increased

resilience and reduction in anxiety

about aging. So people who are thinking about

empowering themselves around their age, who are not

bothered by a number each year when their

birthday runs around. Those are the people that are less anxious and

they are a lot more happier in their daily lives. Something to

take home with and we can really adopt that into

our own lives. So the next time you look in the mirror, I want you

to think look at that person, look at that reflection and

think, who am I? Who's this person looking back at me? And

what did I start my life out as wanting to be? Did

I want to be stressed out about a few lines or did I want to

live my life to the fullest? So really look back, think

about how you want to live your life in a positive manner and

try to work towards that instead of focusing on photographing

impressions that are giving you some negative feedback

about yourself. So overall, if we start adopting

positive language around ageing and we start talking about

pro-age instead of anti-ageing, we can actually move

through our life embracing the beauty and the richness of

ageing. And this is crucial in transforming these

age-related stereotypes because if every single one of us did this,

we would not be looking at a person with grey hair as someone who's

fragile or someone who cannot do certain things. we

would be actually promoting a society where individuals, regardless

of their age, are able to be valued and celebrated for their unique

contributions and experiences that they've lived. If

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