There is no single secret to healthy ageing and longevity. Long and healthy life is series of steps you take in day to day life that are part of your routine. We have discussed key areas which will affect you profoundly in your path to a healthy and fulfilling life.
1. Following the circadian cycle of eating and fasting.
Calorie optimization in day to day life has the potential to increase longevity and improve health, but it’s very difficult to implement in daily practice. Hence the best way to restrict the calorie or optimize the same requires following the circadian cycle of eating. The following is the plan :
Twelve to fourteen hours of fasting: You restrict food intake for twelve to fourteen hours and feed for ten to twelve hours per day (usually consuming just two meals during the feeding period). When you eat, your body stores food energy. When you fast, your body burns food energy. Therefore, maintaining an even balance is essential for everyday life. You follow this schedule by reducing or eliminating late-night feedings.
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2. Practice Mindfulness in daily life.
Mindfulness is the art of keeping in mind what you are currently experiencing. It’s an accepting, non-judgmental and compassionate awareness of what is going on right at this moment in time. When practising mindfulness, you bring your attention to the present moment without trying to change it. You are simply conscious of whatever is being experienced. You actively follow your thoughts, feelings and sensations.
Buddhism and Hinduism from where mindfulness has been originated focuses on four steps basically :
- Kāyānupassanā Satipaṭṭhāna – establishing mindfulness directed at the body. For example, the postures (including walking), breathing, material elements etc.
- Vedanānupassanā Satipaṭṭhāna – establishing mindfulness directed at feeling . That is, neutral, pleasant or unpleasant sensation (i.e. not what we call emotions)
- Cittānupassanā Satipaṭṭhāna – establishing mindfulness directed at the quality of the mind. For example, the mind is tainted by anger or not, full of desire or not, concentrated or not, loving or not, etc.
- Dhammānupassanā Satipaṭṭhāna – establishing mindfulness directed at mental states. For example, the mental hindrances, aggregates, factors of enlightenment etc.
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3. Three Pillars of fitness Nutrition, Fitness and Sleep
Three pillars i.e. of living long are —nutrition, movement, sleep—is the most important tool we have to protect ourselves as we age. Our health is largely determined by how well we balance the energy we consume, the energy we expend, and the rest we get in between all these activities. Energy spent equals the processes that keep us alive, like our metabolism and our beating heart, plus the energy we exert by walking down the block or reading this blog.
These elements of wellbeing are often written about as if they are separate subjects, but really they are parts of a whole. Good food without fitness or sleep won’t make you healthy. Working out every day but starving your body of nutrition and rest won’t make you strong. Sleeping eight hours a night but not eating well or moving enough isn’t going to keep you bright-eyed and alert. But if you do all these things consistently on a daily basis, you will be amazed at how your entire being responds.
Nutrition, fitness and sleep work together to promote cellular growth, repair, and energy production, allowing all the body’s systems to function optimally. You will be better equipped to manage whatever challenges come your way, whether illness or injury if strength is on your side at the outset.
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4. Walking is one of the best ways to help your heart and brain
Fast and aggressive walking 45 minutes a day 6 days a week is linked to 33% less Alzheimer’s and 30% less strokes. Walking a such a wonderful activity if we do with purpose and mindfulness, the result are bound to surprise you .
What is good walking speed: It can be quantified as around 100 steps per minute or 3/3.5 miles per hour. However, for active walkers, this may seem easy. The best way to gauge whether you are walking at a brisk pace or not is to see if you are slightly out of breath and/or breaking a sweat. The idea is to walk faster than a comfortable speed and get your heart and breathing rate up. If you feel comfortable walking, you are probably not walking at a brisk pace. Therefore, the ‘best’ walking pace is one where you are pushing yourself to go faster than usual but are still simply walking fast and able to sustain your pace.
Start walking and Start walking fast.
5. Start playing mentally engaging games or learning new skills.
To. keep your mind agile and healthy it’s important to learn new skills, engaging games like chess and bridge, writing books, teaching and getting yourself enrolled learning in courses which you always wanted to do. At least in the day if you can spend 2 to 3 hours in engaging activities you will feel have energy and vibrancy for the life. The Key is that activity needs to engaging and interactive, if physical and social more is the better. You need to grow your brain to remain healthy the whole of your life. Do those activities where time does not matter. And start enjoying life.
William Shatner, Star trek hero, the most famous man of space in our imaginations, hero at the age of 90 looks so profound in his expression after completing the space travel. His mind was agile, poetic and putting in context the whole experience in engaging articulation . The point is if you keep yourself engage in meaningful activities it will help to have a long and healthy life.
6. Avoid poisons like smoking.
This is one activity that doubles the rate of dementia if you really want to experience it. The most frightful thing happening to humans is losing one’s memory and forgetting who you are, who are your near and dear one, completely losing your identity. You are as good as a dead person. The choice is yours, how you want to live your life by avoiding the poisons. Please avoid them completely. Even one social cigarette or one social cigar is a poison that must be avoided. In addition, a lot of products which we use in daily life carries one form of position or another. Please check them on the website https://www.ewg.org/ it will give you a good guide on what to choose and what to avoid.
7. Be social , have fun , relax and live a long & healthy life.
Harvard studies say that having five good social ties leads to you having 50% less cognitive decline. Isolation is bad for humans . Please start doing social or volunteering work where you meet like-minded people increase your base of companionship, have meaningful engagements and be socially active.
Relaxation is important for you . Stress is one activity that causes the shrinkage of the brain than any other activity. For long and healthy life releasing the stress or managing the same is important. Stress affects your rationality of decision making, it enhances memory loss . You need to relax every day, even if it’s for a very small time. Please set aside 30-60 minutes for yourself where you can completely unwind yourself.
8. Having a purpose
Pick a Project, dream or activity that is bigger than yourself. Having a project which is larger than yourself will lead to having a purpose in life that is fulfilling and satisfying. It doesn’t matter what the Project is but don’t stress about it , just be relaxed and steadily work on it regularly. The only point is that the cause has to be outside your family, acquittances’ or your close circle. Go beyond the same.
