Shania Twain (60) has stopped fighting against her age. "I'm not trying to be 30. I'm not trying to be 25, and I never will be again", the Canadian country singer says in an interview with the US magazine "People". An attitude she had to work her way toward.
There were years when she simply avoided looking in the mirror. "I go from this young, stunning figure, beautiful skin, everything in the right place, to a time in my life where I couldn't look in the mirror because I only saw flaws and didn't want to be this curvy thing", Twain recalls about the phase when her body was changing.
Today she faces the mirror again. "Now, as I'm becoming an older woman and I look in the mirror, it's not a problem. I think to myself, I just have to rise above it, because with every day that passes, I'm getting older. The dimples and bulges and sagging are becoming more pronounced." Her priority now lies elsewhere: "It's always about well-being first."
The price of self-optimization
Twain has experienced firsthand what happens when this order of priority is reversed. In 2019, she tore two muscles in her thigh during her concert series in Las Vegas and had to be carried off stage. At the time, she had been eating poorly because she had cut certain foods from her diet.
"I tore two muscles in my thigh, and a lot of it was due to dehydration because I hadn't really adjusted to the climate in Nevada", the singer tells "People". "I wasn't drinking enough water, I wasn't eating enough protein."
Instead of fighting against the changes, Twain now works with them. "I'm just learning in every phase I go through, and adapting", she says. This is particularly evident on the tennis court: "I can't play tennis like crazy anymore like I did in my 30s, because otherwise I'll wreck my body."
"My body is not shameable"
Comments about her appearance have accompanied Twain for decades. Only now does she let them bounce off. "My body is not shameable. This courage comes with time and maturity", she explains to "People". "Body shaming is nothing that will influence me."
The singer sums up her approach to aging in one sentence: "Vanity isn't worth the pain." She blames herself for not coming to this realization sooner: "That's my own fault, because I didn't look in the mirror when I was younger, and shame on me. I encourage everyone: Enjoy yourself as you are right now, and love it."
It's advice she's been giving out for a while. Already in 2023, she told the "New York Post" that she had learned to quickly say: "You know, it's not going to get better. So just love yourself now. Just get over your insecurities, they're in your way. And fear is in your way." Last month, she told the British "Times" that menopause had helped her with this: "It was very good for me because I learned that you can't control some things."
