Episode 14:9 Berit Lewis Talks about the Impact of Mindfulness on Ageing Well

Berit Lewis shares insights from her new book Ageing Upward, A mindfulness-based framework for the longevity revolution. Learn how to create more acceptance, self-compassion and mental flexibility while overcoming unconscious negative beliefs and societal discrimination.

About Berit

Berit Lewis is co-founder of Thrive Life, customized mindfulness-based training programs. She is an accredited MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) Teacher, trained in ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and also trained at Mindfulness in Schools Foundations (MiSP) to teach .B Foundations for teachers.

She is a category 1 member of VMBN (Vereniging Mindfulness Based Trainers Nederland en Vlaanderen) and holds a BA (Honours) in Psychology, a MA of Communication and a MSc of Vitality and Ageing. She has extensive experience in teaching MBSR courses in groups or to individuals.

Recently as part of her master thesis at Leyden Academy for Vitality and Ageing she developed, taught and researched an online Mindfulness Based Vitality and Ageing (MBVA) course for older persons. She has previously also developed a successful mindfulness course for teenagers. 

Before founding Thriving Life, she worked as a communication- and PR specialist in Denmark and Australia – including 10 years as a communications specialist at the Danish Defence. Berit is Danish, married to a Welshman and lives in the Netherlands with two teenage children.

Key Takeaways

• When we are mindful, we are better able to sustain attention and become aware of habits, thoughts, and behavior. Mindfulness allows the freedom to consciously make new choices.
• There is a lot of advice to help people avoid aging but not much about how to cope with the challenges that we will face as we age.
• Mindfulness breeds compassion. When we meet life with compassion and kindness, we are more resilient and emotionally intelligent.