Niki Bezzant’s guide for women in midlife and beyond is a beacon of honesty and empowerment!
With her signature blend of empathy and decades of experience, Niki reframes ageing for a new generation. She tackles body image challenges, mental health and feeling lost during a time of hormonal transition.
“It’s a time when, no matter what our situation, we’re juggling a lot of balls. We have family demands; careers; relationships; financial pressures; friends; community; ageing parents… the list goes on.”
Her no-nonsense approach ditches fads in favour of evidence-based advice. There’s practical advice on eating, moving, sleeping, sex, dealing with stress and managing energy.
“Even in this age of apparent body positivity, women’s bodies are still the object of scrutiny and judgement. That seems to double-up as we age: we’re not only judged on our hotness (or not), but on how we are ageing. There’s a baffling array of double standards at play. Embracing grey hair? Be careful; it’ll age you. Dyeing your hair? Watch out; you don't want to look like you’re trying too hard. Dare to show a real older body in a swimsuit on social media - you’ll be tol,d ‘No one wants to see that’. Dare to show a conventionally ‘hot’ older body on social media, and you’ll be told ‘Stop being so thirsty’ (and also ‘No one wants to see that’. FFS).”
This book isn’t about fixing the flaws and signs of ageing, because Niki doesn’t support the anti-ageing zeitgeist. The Everything Guide is about the transition of mid-life and embracing its opportunity.
“We have the opportunity to pause for a moment, take a look at our lives, and think about how we want the next half to be. We have the opportunity to think about our health, our mind, our work, our relationships - and make changes if we want to - so that we can live the way we want to live for the rest of our life. If there's one thing any midlife woman knows by now, it’s that time flies. The next 30-50 years are going to fly by, too. So why not spend that time feeling as good as you can,” she says.
Niki Bezzant is the author of the menopause guide This Changes Everything, read our review here. Follow Niki online.
Reviewer: Andrea Molloy
Penguin