Going Gray… Month 9

Original Date: Oct 17, 2017

Since going gray, I have received many wonderful comments from my yoga students each week in class! I certainly have a supportive network around me. Going gray was and is a very personal decision. I certainly wasn’t ready for a long time, and I will not judge another person’s decision about their own health and beauty choices. But I will say that it should be socially acceptable for a woman to not dye her hair. It was 9 1/2 months ago that I decided enough was enough. I was tired of covering up my hair with toxic chemicals every two weeks. I couldn’t keep on top of those gray roots! I tried henna, “natural dyes, ” and more — you name it, I tried it. Being conscious of my health and the environment is so important to me, and I felt that I simply wasn’t walking my talk. I said to Josh “I am done dying my hair, and it doesn’t matter to me who doesn’t like it.” I meant it, but it was still difficult at times. Those first few months were rough. Also, I did this during our big move and transition, an emotionally challenging time — so that certainly did not make it easier! But my family was so supportive, especially Josh and my girls. I am so happy I made this decision. I feel like me, and I am not hiding anything anymore. Some might think I look older. I would say to them: This is what a healthy 41-year-old woman and mother of two looks like — get used to it. We need to rethink what age means and what aging looks like. As a culture, we are not used to seeing women under 80 years old with gray hair, never mind women under 50 with gray hair! I am willing to bet that a lot of women my age are gray. Now I can’t wait for long flowing silver locks!

Previous comments:

Cathy A on October 20, 2017 at 12:10 pm

You are beautiful inside and out!
Your hair looks lovely! I had colored my hair since I was 25, and three years ago I made the decision to “ditch the dyes”. It’s taken a while to get comfortable with my white hair(90%white). I had very dark brown hair and this has been a drastic change.
I’m embracing me… the way I am… authentic and untouched

Jennifer Canfield on October 20, 2017 at 1:57 pm

Yay Angie..it’s beautiful!!! I stopped coloring mine about 10 years ago 

Karla Meyette on October 20, 2017 at 4:04 pm

Hi Angie,

I applaud your decision! I am much older than you but my hair turned white early and I have left it that way. I cannot imagine trying to keep the roots colored.

Sincerely,

Karla

Eirene on October 22, 2017 at 3:31 pm

I think you look utterly beautiful with your silver gray hair!

Marilee Spanjian on November 30, 2017 at 12:09 pm

I look forward to meeting you and taking your yoga classes.

I stopped coloring my hair and went gray in my 40s. It was a journey. I’ll never forget the tipping point, that moment when I said, “Enough is enough.” I just finished a workout class and was talking with a close friend. She pointed to my temples.

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

“No, your gray is showing. If you go gray, people will think I’m older than I am.”

That was it. That day I decided enough chemicals, enough cover-up.

Hope to see you soon!

Anna on August 22, 2018 at 3:39 pm

Angie, let me really really thank you for your words.

I’ve just decided to stop dying my hair and it’s hard in the workplace to hear all the comments and suggestions everybody feels entitled to give you to “be better”, while I just want to be me!!!!
It’s embarassing to feel unkept (and I live in Italy where it’s really hard to find a gray woman).
I’m now 7 weeks from the last colour and your words are like balm on the wounds some colleagues are giving me, they resonate so much with what I feel and the motivation is coming from the inside of me. I hope to learn something during the transition phase, I will surely do learn a lot, but I can’t wait to be at the end  and feel “put together” again.

Thank you for responding. I am so happy to hear that these words resonate with you. It takes a great deal of inner strength to power through those tough times. They get to all of us! Having a supportive community can make all the difference. I am so glad this post has helped you find a way to keep going. If we are going to change the workplace and make a difference for other women, we have to support each other when we do it. I know that I feel more myself and much happier now that I am free from the dye. I am now at the year and a half mark. It feels amazing! Best of luck to you!