Growing Old Gracefully

What good is it to add years to life if we do not also add life to years? In fact, unless people become skilled at enjoying life and growing old gracefully, the extra years may be an added burden.

From 18 to 30 years is generally the period of the highest physical and mental energy. The experiences we have from the day we are born help us to preserve and to use our physical and mental abilities more wisely, so that for some time after 30 years we are able to perform increasingly well in spite of our slowly slipping vigor. After age 50 the increasing accumulation of experience is no longer able to offset the now more rapidly energy and therefore aging begins to assert itself noticeably and in many ways.

A number of things may come about gradually such as people who have not used eyeglasses before may at some time in their forties need them for reading, and in the fifties they usually need bifocals.

Also in the forties, people are likely to put on weight because there is a general slowdown in the oxidation rate of the aging body tissue. Also we tend to do less strenuous work with no reduction in the amount of food consumed.

Aging is generally accompanied by a loss in physical and mental flexibility. This is noticed in a tendency to become stiff in the joints; in slower comeback after a strenuous trip, excessive "night life," or hard work; in slower healing of wounds, sore muscles, and sprains; in slower recovery of pep after an illness; and in greater difficulty to adjust to new people, new places, and new ideas.

Men, especially, will notice loss of muscular strength. There will be increased unsteadiness and delicate muscle movements will be more clumsy and the stride in waking will become shorter. The conclusion now is that the performance and ability of the elderly has long been underestimated and can be greatly improved by a proper diet, sleep and exercise along with rest and relaxation.

Many elderly people tend to lose their joy and will to live and chronic worriers may mope around and withdraw. Medical authorities now say that laughter is one of the best medicines for the elderly. You can always keep your sense of humor tuned up by surrounding yourself with pleasant and interesting people. Just act your age and don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself even when no else is around. Knowing all of the above, I want to give you another, less known secret that will change your life. During the last few decades, Western Universities have become interested in the various techniques of deep relaxation and the effects it has on the body. During a deeply relaxed state, the heart rate slows down, there is a lowering in blood pressure, a decrease in oxygen consumption, a reduction in the blood lactate (high levels are associated with anxiety), and last but not least, the electrical activity of the brain changes. In recent years it was discovered that the brain has the ability to change its vibrations and in doing so, changes behavior as well as involuntary functions of internal organs. Doing a breathing exercise for 20 minutes everyday will improve your health on every existential level, and we will be physically healthier and emotionally stronger.

Here is a breathing exercise from which you will benefit in a major way:

Sit in an upright chair with the spine straight and the eyes closed, feet flat on the floor a few inches apart. Keep your hands relaxed and in a comfortable position in your lap. Take a long, slow, deep breath and hold for a count of three. Exhale and feel how the body relaxes. Repeat three times. After the three deep breaths in which you breathe in slowly, hold for a count of three, exhale and relax, you keep on breathing slowly while you remain in the straight-spine position. Now become aware of how your breathing consciously slows down, relaxing the body more and more as it goes deeper and deeper into a state of deep relaxation. Concentrate only on your breath, breathing deeply until you feel a stillness you have never experienced before. Be at peace with yourself and the world. Breathe deeply for approximately 20 minutes while you think only of your breath and your breathing. And when your mind wanders, which it will, just bring it back to your breathing.

You will a difference in your physical and emotional life within a few days.