A Woman's Guide to Great Sex after 50

Vibrant Nation is an online community where women over 50 share information about subjects that interest them through blog posts and conversations. Whether you're concerned about yourself, your relationship or family, work or wellness, you're bound to gain clarity.

The website has recently launched a health and beauty blog and a library with publications from experts. One of the experts is Dr Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the University of Washington. She has appeared on television programs like The Oprah Winfrey Show and lectures on topics such as sexuality, women's issues and male/female communication. Dr. Schwartz has collaborated with Vibrant Nation and written an ebook, A Woman’s Guide to Great Sex After 50: Getting Your Mind, Body and Relationship Ready for Pleasure. Vibrant Nation provided us with this ebook and I want to tell you a little about it.

Right off the bat, Dr. Schwartz normalizes the decrease in libido that can occur with menopause and diminishing hormones. She explains the potential effects of infidelity and erectile dysfunction. And how changes in physical health and an increase in stress level can impact your sexual relationship.

Dr. Schwartz's sense of humor and her use of other women's stories make this sometimes touchy subject very accessible. She lets us know there's a high degree of satisfaction among couples who remain sexually active and how important it is to "use it or lose it."

The technical material on sexual frequency and satisfaction is concise and her recommendations are practical. For more regular orgasms, she suggests strengthening vaginal muscles, letting go of old scripts, listening to your body instead of the rules and talking openly with your partner about what you need. As women have fewer erotic fantasies, Dr. Schwartz advises masturbation as a means to greater desire and a more intense sex life. She recommends sex toys and different types of vibrators as well as the websites where you can order them, some of which have psychiatry and ob/gyn physicians available for consultation.

If you're interested in purchasing Dr. Schwartz's ebook from Vibrant Nation, you can find more information on this link to their site. And when you join Vibrant Nation, you can also receive their free report, Top 5 Treatments for Vaginal Dryness and Dyspareunia (Sexual Intercourse Pain). It's full of helpful information about improving your sexual health and increasing your enjoyment of physical intimacy, even after menopause.

You can read these articles about relationships on our website, HerMentorCenter.com, if you're interested in how remaining faithful or re-examining your relationship can impact your sexual wellbeing. Here's an AARP survey about sex in the 50s. And for more insight about sexual health, read myths about sex after 50 and secrets to great sex after 50.

Log on Wednesday - we'll be sharing practical tips on how to celebrate the holidays with the gift of time.

Information to Help You Enjoy this Time of Life

Here at Nourishing Relationships, we've developed a rapport with Vibrant Nation, an online community devoted to serving the needs of women over 50 by offering tips as well as the chance to join in conversations about work, relationships, wellness, books, and more. Just as we encourage you to do here at Nourishing Relationships, at VibrantNation.com you can connect with other women at your stage of life and discuss the issues you are passionate about.

One issue that may affect you, as it does many women over 50, is menopause and the symptoms it brings. Vibrant Nation has addressed this issue head on by joining with Dr. Holly Thacker, a physician and Director of the Center for Specialized Women's Health at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic, to publish an ebook dealing with menopause, Recognizing and Treating Menopause Symptoms: A 50+ woman’s guide to managing hot flashes, weight gain, mood swings, depression, vaginal dryness, night sweats and other menopause symptoms

I've read the ebook, provided to us by Vibrant Nation, and found it to be a comprehensive guide to menopause, written in a conversational, easy to understand manner. As well as discussing the physical symptoms of menopause, Dr. Thacker clearly talks about treatments for the accompanying experiences - hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, irritability, stress, memory loss, weight gain, hair loss, brain fog - that plague many women. She also tackles all the conflicting information from the media about hormone therapy and explains how you can sift through the data and make your own decisions. Recognizing that each woman is unique in her reactions to menopause, Dr. Thacker's ebook directs you how to find solutions that work for you.

Dr. Thacker has been credentialed as a health expert by NAMS, the North American Menopause Society. Founded over 20 years ago, NAMS is North America's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the health and quality of life of women through an understanding of menopause.

If you're interested in purchasing Dr. Thacker's ebook from Vibrant Nation, you can find more information on this link to their site: Recognizing and Treating Menopause Symptoms: A 50+ woman’s guide to managing hot flashes, weight gain, mood swings, depression, vaginal dryness, night sweats and other menopause symptoms

When you join Vibrant Nation, you can also receive their free report, Top 5 Treatments for Vaginal Dryness and Dyspareunia (Sexual Intercourse Pain) It's full of helpful information about improving your sexual health and increasing your enjoyment of physical intimacy, even after menopause.

For more insight about treating the symptoms of menopause, you can read one of our Stepping Stone's newsletters Navigating Through Menopause, on HerMentorCenter.com and give us your feedback about how they worked for you.

See you back here on Wednesday, December 15, when we'll be hosting a Virtual Book Tour with Barbara Briggs Ward. She'll be answering questions about her new novel, The Reindeer Keeper, which has arrived just in time for the holidays.

Aging vs. Growing Old: Betty White as a Role Model

A real standout this summer on TV - amidst all the youthful faces or wanna' be's botoxed, lifted, heavily made-up ones - has been Betty White on the new sitcom Hot in Cleveland. As Betty said in a recent episode, "I had to wait until I was 88 to learn I had game." Paired with blind date Carl Reiner, also 88, the two personified the goal of aging without growing old.

How does she do it?

With the population of older adults growing, the percentage of adults over 65 is projected to grow from the current number of 12% to 19% of Americans in the next twenty years. Given this expected exponential growth, the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has compiled numerous reports providing the results of current research and suggestions for achieving healthy aging.

If you're looking for some ideas about how to age without getting old, we've got some tips for you this week. Here are three to get you started - using Betty White as your role model:

Cultivate humor in you daily life. Enjoy some belly laughs, even if the joking is aimed at you. Be playful, have fun and do something silly for a change. If you don't have friends with a good sense of humor, watch a comedy movie or TV show, read the newspaper "funnies," get a book of jokes. The more pleasure you bring into your surroundings, the happier you will feel. You may even be increasing your lifespan and improving your health, indicates the National Institute on Aging.

Hang out with your peers. You'll find, like Betty and Carl did, that you have lots of shared memories and can relate to the same music, references and events. Studies show that, even though it's heartwarming to spend time with your adult children and grandchildren, active seniors sometimes prefer relating to others in their own cohort. To meet new friends with similar interests, contact your local university or community center for a schedule of their life-long learning opportunities.

Find the time to interact with younger friends too. You'll enjoy their different perspectives and the challenges they may open up to you. If you share the same interests and hobbies, the fact that you are from different generations is less important than what you can each contribute to one another. When Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live, she had fun, the show registered it's highest ratings in years and it recharged her career.

And for some tips about how to increase you brainpower as you age, especially if you are a Sandwiched Boomer, visit our blog on Vibrant Nation. We've gots lots of good ideas there to help you keep your mind young an active.