Being Age-less!
Ageless is an adjective describing a person or thing whose age cannot be defined. It’s one of the wellness trends being researched as the ageing population evolves into an age-less demographic, as Katrina Thorpe discovers.
Longevity is the new anti-ageing or as I like to refer to it as ‘age-less’. It has nothing to do with anti-ageing treatments but it is likely to give you a younger look and vitality. The new anti-ageing catchphrase is ‘health span’, and there are a lot of studies being conducted about how the body’s most microscopic elements contribute to ageing.
Advanced scientific research on ageing shows that the science behind living longer and healthier, can be undertaken
by analysing the cells of our body, their vitality and their decline. What’s interesting is there are a few simple things that help increase the health-span, age-less lifestyle which have nothing to do with vitamins, cosmetic surgery, a particular diet or anti-ageing skincare.
The hardest anti-ageing thing to do, while still working, is making the time to do some of these activities that increase our ‘health-span’ but I’m sure you will agree they are well worth it.
Get back to Nature to Nurture your cells
It’s recommended that we all spend at least two hours a week in nature. While getting to the beach for a surf or a run in the park is a fantastic way to spend time in nature, it’s more about spending fallow time in nature. A fallow period of time is one in which very little happens. It’s about just being and taking in the surroundings of nature on a regular basis over a week.
We are so accustomed to being productive every minute of the day that it is becoming harder to just ‘switch off’ and this is exactly what fallow time is about. Others may call it mindfulness, I feel it is less than that, but not as much as meditation.
Community can Make You Younger
The place where you live, the people you hang out with or whom you work with are your community and creating a bond with these varied groups of people can help our health-span. It’s been well researched that the longest living and healthiest people come from places of community where life is shared with others and it’s a big contributing factor in considering anti-ageing of the mind and body.
While there has been a lot of studies on the diet of the longest living people in the Mediterranean and Japan, it is
their community that provides security, belonging, recognition and a place in society that researchers are now finding is a big contributing factor to living a long, healthy, fulfilled life and helping them towards an age-less lifestyle.
Giving Back
When you give, you receive the joy of helping others. ‘Giving’ boosts your physical and mental health by helping to
lower blood pressure, stress levels and help lift your mood because the ‘feel good’ happiness of giving triggers the brain to release endorphins.
When you give your time and energy to others through volunteering or giving through what you do for work, there is a great sense of satisfaction because the feel-good endorphins are being released when your body senses a fulfilment or happiness with what you are doing. Sometimes you can see or feel this energy from others and through this we help lift each other’s spirits.
Giving of your time to others helps create a sense of community and belonging which is very beneficial for your health and known as the ‘helping high’ that comes from grouping together for a cause. Developing a purpose or a sense to give meaning to your life, is what gets you up in the morning, gives you vitality and helps maintain your wellbeing.
Keep Evolving, Keep Moving
We have all heard the expression ‘if you don’t use it, you lose it’ and I am sure we have all found this to be true.
Challenging yourself to learn something new, trying different things which can be as simple as a different place to walk, a new recipe, an activity like art or tai chi, engaging with a different age group by connecting with younger people and listening to others is a great way to keep evolving for better health and wellness no matter what age you are.
Keep moving with a variety of exercise, activities and take time to have a regular massage. Lots of people consider having a massage as a luxury but it’s a necessity to help your body recover and relax and the perfect way to connect with yourself and others to enjoy some fallowed time.
