250 Rewrite Your Aging Story: Conscious Aging, Identity and Healthspan Extension with Wayne R. Lehrer
Growing Older Living Younger: About longevity, wellness, healthspan,
Release Date: 02/02/2026
Growing Older Living Younger: About longevity, wellness, healthspan,
Dementia is one of the greatest fears associated with aging—but what if it didn’t have to mean loss, disappearance, or despair? In this deeply moving episode, author and arts innovator Marilyn Raichle shares how walking toward her mother, rather than away, transformed dementia into a journey of presence, creativity, connection, and joy. This conversation offers a profoundly human reframe of memory loss and aging. For many people, dementia is equated with the loss of self, meaning, and value. Families are often advised—explicitly or implicitly—to disengage emotionally, preparing for...
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What if the way you age isn’t determined primarily by your genes, your diet, or even how much you exercise—but by how intelligently you manage your thoughts, emotions, and everyday habits? Many of us make well-intentioned health plans that never quite stick—despite knowing what we should be doing. This episode explores why behavior change is so difficult, how unconscious programming shapes daily habits, and what science reveals about making lasting change without burnout or deprivation. Today’s guest brings a powerful framework—Lifestyle...
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What if stubborn weight gain, brain fog, poor sleep, and chronic inflammation aren’t “just aging”—but signals from your gut that started decades earlier? Today’s conversation challenges the myth of inevitable decline and shows how understanding your microbiome can make your chronological age truly just a number. After 40, many people find that diets stop working, digestion becomes unpredictable, hormones feel out of control, and inflammation quietly creeps in. This episode explains why gut healing becomes harder with age, what’s actually changing...
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What if chronic inflammation—not aging itself—is the real reason energy fades, disease risk rises, and resilience declines as the years go by? Today’s conversation challenges the idea that inflammation is just something that “comes with age.” Instead, we explore how targeted science, smart biology, and informed choices can dramatically reshape how you age. Chronic inflammation is the silent driver behind many of the diseases we associate with aging—cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, metabolic dysfunction, autoimmune disorders, and even cancer. Yet most people...
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What if the most powerful breakthroughs in reversing chronic disease had less to do with new drugs—and everything to do with understanding human behavior? Type 2 diabetes is widely treated as a lifelong, progressive condition. But what if that assumption is wrong? In today’s episode, we explore how reclaiming personal agency, supported by behavioral science and AI-driven personalization, can fundamentally reshape how you age—because age is just a number, but how you age is a choice. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases associated with aging, yet conventional...
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In recent years, headlines warning about microplastics in fish, water, and even the human body have triggered widespread anxiety. While fear-based narratives grab attention, they also keep the nervous system in a chronic stress state—driving inflammation, impaired decision-making, and accelerated biological aging. The question is no longer just environmental, but deeply personal: what happens when alarming headlines age us faster than reality? For those committed to healthy longevity, constant environmental alarmism can quietly undermine well-being. Chronic stress is a known driver of...
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Many people enter retirement feeling uncertain, disconnected, or afraid of becoming irrelevant. In this episode, author and conscious aging advocate Wayne Lehrer reframes later life as a powerful third act—one that can be consciously designed for purpose, vitality, and authentic happiness. You’ll learn how mindset, meaning, and daily practices shape not just how long you live, but how well you age. Wayne Lehrer is an author, sculptor, meditation teacher, and conscious aging advocate. A former World’s Fair and theme-park designer and IMAX filmmaker, he now leads international...
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Women entering perimenopause and menopause are often told to “do more cardio,” “eat less,” and “push harder” to stay fit. Yet for many, these strategies lead to exhaustion, stalled progress, injuries, and declining confidence rather than improved health. As estrogen declines, muscle loss accelerates, recovery slows, and stress hormones become more influential on weight, sleep, and inflammation. Following outdated fitness rules during this phase can quietly accelerate biological aging and undermine long-term healthspan. Today's guest, Alicia Jones, combines kinesiology,...
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Canada’s healthcare system is under unprecedented strain, with thousands of people experiencing serious harm—or death—while waiting for diagnostic procedures, specialist care, or life-saving treatments. Despite public trust in the system, delays have become a hidden personal risk that most Canadians fail to plan for. As we age, delays in diagnosis and treatment don’t just affect outcomes—they accelerate physical decline, cognitive stress, emotional exhaustion, and financial vulnerability. Loss of access means loss of control, which directly undermines resilience, independence,...
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Extreme diets dominate social media, but what actually happens inside your body when you follow them? In this episode, registered dietitian Andres Ayesta shares the results of a 60-day self-experiment comparing a carnivore diet with a whole-foods, minimally processed approach. Using lab testing, DEXA scans, and behavioral science, he reveals what truly changes—and what doesn’t—when it comes to weight, body composition, energy, and long-term health as we age. Andres Ayesta is a registered dietitian, sports nutritionist, and founder of Planos Nutrition. With...
info_outlineMany people enter retirement feeling uncertain, disconnected, or afraid of becoming irrelevant. In this episode, author and conscious aging advocate Wayne Lehrer reframes later life as a powerful third act—one that can be consciously designed for purpose, vitality, and authentic happiness. You’ll learn how mindset, meaning, and daily practices shape not just how long you live, but how well you age.
Wayne Lehrer is an author, sculptor, meditation teacher, and conscious aging advocate. A former World’s Fair and theme-park designer and IMAX filmmaker, he now leads international workshops on purpose, vitality, and later-life fulfillment. His work integrates psychology, spirituality, and practical wisdom for aging consciously. Wayne Lehrer brings a rare multidisciplinary perspective shaped by careers in design, filmmaking, yoga, meditation, and health advocacy. After confronting his own third-act identity crisis in his early 60s, he distilled decades of insight into a practical framework for conscious aging.
Modern longevity has given us decades of life beyond traditional retirement, yet few people are prepared for the psychological and identity challenges that come with it. Many experience boredom, depression, loss of purpose, or fear as familiar roles fall away. Aging is not only biological—it is deeply shaped by belief systems, emotional patterns, and purpose. Chronic stress, rumination, and disengagement quietly accelerate biological aging, while meaning, connection, and intention support healthspan and resilience. Listeners will learn the difference between circumstantial and authentic happiness, why identity loss—not aging itself—drives late-life distress, and how simple daily practices can transform later life into a period of contribution, creativity, and joy.
Episode Timeline:
00:00 — Introduction and reframing aging as a third act
03:50 — Wayne’s early career and creative reinventions
10:20 — The turning point: identity loss in the early 60s
15:45 — Second-act vs third-act identities explained
20:55 — Why conscious aging is an art
28:30 — Circumstantial vs authentic happiness
34:30 — One behavior to stop immediately
37:45 — Final reflections on life purpose and retaining vitality
Connect with Wayne:
https://www.instagram.com/lehrerwayne
https://www.facebook.com/waynerobertlehrer
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wayne-robert-lehrer-3a06957/
Call to Action:
Contact Dr. Gillian Lockitch at askdrgill@gmail.com to explore your personal roadmap to longer healthspan and living younger longer.
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