When we’re younger, connection often happens without much planning. We see friends at school, live alongside people at university, share houses and build friendships through our first jobs. There are familiar faces woven into our everyday lives.
As life moves on, that can change. We move, change jobs, raise children and care for the people we love. Friendships still matter, but seeing one another starts to require diary coordination, childcare and energy we don’t always have.
The school gates can sometimes bring friendships, but much of that connection revolves around our children. When their needs change, we can realise how few opportunities we have to spend time with people simply as ourselves.
We can have busy lives, be surrounded by people and still miss feeling understood.
Making room for ourselves
Many women arrive in midlife having spent years organising, supporting and thinking ahead for everyone else. Work, children, partners and parents all need something from us. Our own needs become the things we’ll get to when everything else is sorted.
Except everything else is rarely sorted.
I recognise this in my own life. I know how easily an evening with friends or an hour for myself can slip down the list, even when I know how much better I feel afterwards.
Making time for connection gives us somewhere to bring our own thoughts, worries and interests. Somewhere we can be listened to, rather than always being the person doing the listening.
Having people who understand
Midlife can bring changes we didn’t expect. Our sleep, energy, confidence and relationships may feel different. Children become more independent, parents may need more support, and we can find ourselves questioning what we want from the next chapter.
Sometimes we need professional advice. Sometimes we need a conversation with another woman who says, “I’ve felt that too.”
As a GP, I see how much it matters to have support around us. Good healthcare has an essential role, and so does having people we can talk to honestly, spend time with and look forward to seeing.
That connection can begin in very ordinary ways.
Coffee and a proper conversation
There is something lovely about being given time to settle into a conversation. A hot drink, a comfortable seat and no need to rush off immediately.
You might talk about something that has been worrying you. You might hear an experience that helps you make sense of your own. Or you might spend an hour laughing and go home feeling lighter.
Every conversation doesn’t need to be deep or difficult. Enjoyment matters too. Having something in the diary that is simply for you can make a difference to how a week feels.
Moving together
Walking, stretching or trying a class with other women can be another way to connect, particularly if walking into a room and starting a conversation feels daunting.
An activity gives you something to share. Conversation can unfold, and familiar faces can gradually become friends.
There should be room to take part at your own pace, whatever your fitness or confidence. Our bodies change through midlife, and we deserve opportunities to enjoy movement without feeling judged or under pressure to keep up.
Learning and asking questions
There is also value in having space to understand more about our health.
Hormones, sleep, strength, mood and healthy ageing can raise plenty of questions. Learning alongside other women gives us the chance to ask those questions, hear different experiences and consider what might help us.
Often, someone else asks the very thing we had been wondering but hadn’t quite found the words for.
I want women to feel informed about their health and comfortable discussing it, with time to explore what matters to them.
Why I created The Wellness Prescription®
I wanted to create a space where women could make these connections more easily, with regular opportunities to meet, talk, learn and enjoy themselves.
The Wellness Prescription® is a private membership for women in midlife, built around community, connection and wellbeing, on your terms.
It brings together coffee mornings, menopause talks, conversations about midlife health, and a private members’ chat, so there are different ways to get involved and stay connected.
There is no expectation that you attend everything or fill your diary. Some months you may have more time than others. The aim is to give you opportunities you can return to, with people you can get to know over time.
For me, wellbeing includes feeling supported, having interests of our own and having things to look forward to. Those things deserve space alongside the care we give our physical health.
If you’ve been missing that kind of connection, you are welcome to apply to join The Wellness Prescription®.
You don’t need to arrive knowing anyone. Come along to a members’ coffee morning or take part in a conversation that interests you. Give yourself time to settle in.
You deserve a place in your own diary, too.
Find out more and apply to join at www.drjenni.co.uk.
