The Hunt for the Pink Zones:

Gathering what helps you not just live longer, but thrive in midlife and beyond.

When National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner introduced the world to the Blue Zones, he gave us a map of regions where people live the longest, healthiest lives.

His work brought global attention to the conditions that support human longevity. It had a huge impact and inspired many, me included!

For me, that inspiration also traces back much further, to when I was a young girl poring over the National Geographic magazines that arrived at my house.

By 14, I had discovered anthropologist Margaret Mead, whose work so captivated me that I declared I would become an anthropologist myself.

What drew me in was the idea of being an activist anthropologist, doing “participatory action research” where collaborative research could lead to community-led positive systemic change.

That spark led me through scholarships to study anthropology, unforgettable fieldwork opportunities, and eventually toward an even more actionable, “put theory-into-practice” path: naturopathic medicine. I trained at the oldest naturopathic medical school in the U.S., where the philosophy of treating the root cause (carried forward from its licensure in North America in the early 1900s!) remained the guiding lens of the medicine.

It was in studying this dynamic field—one anchored in a holistic lineage yet remarkably powerful in its relevance for our times—that I encountered mentors who embodied Mead’s famous words:

“There is no greater force in the world than a post-menopausal woman with zest.”

Something clicked.

(an aside: In a future piece, I’ll share more about my training with pioneering naturopathic doctors who were supporting women with bioidentical hormones long before the mainstream caught up—a story that shows how women’s health has so often been reshaped by trailblazers undeterred by resistance and the bias that persists in medicine to this day!)

Through those years and the decades since, I see how I’ve been on a lifelong hunt for what I now call the Pink Zones.

I didn’t have the name for this until recently, but the Blue Zones helped me recognize what I’d been seeking all along.

As a naturopathic doctor focused on women’s health — and one who sees longevity through an anthropologist’s lens — I began asking: Why do some women flourish through midlife and beyond, while others struggle? What conditions make the difference?

In searching for answers, I’ve explored cultural practices, health rituals, and modern science that reveal how women live well — not just long.

What emerges is clear: this is not about anti-aging. After all, aging is the goal. What I’m interested in is vitality — something that, as both a naturopathic doctor and a woman juggling a lot (a few times acquainted with the unsavoury edges of burnout), I know vitality is central to health.

That’s why I’ve been mapping the Pink Zones: the conditions that allow women to thrive in midlife and beyond.

These pillars are the heart of the Pink Zones — evidence-informed conditions that support women’s health and vitality through midlife and beyond.

In upcoming articles, I’ll unpack each pillar in depth, drawing on research, clinical experience, life histories of women I interview and cross-cultural insights.

I hope that you’ll see yourself in this roadmap — and find ways to create your own Pink Zone, wherever you are in life!