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Living Agelessly

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We wanted to pass along this essay by holistic health counselor Victoria Moran, who shares her happiness that she’s living as agelessly as she can. Her thoughts are interesting to consider alongside the Akea BluePrint for Life.

“The lifestyle typical of most Americans,” she writes, “couldn’t be more pro-aging.” True! She enumerates some lifestyle points that the BluePrint for Life is meant to counter…

  • We’re overly stressed, yet we try to portray overwork and stress as good.
  • We don’t sleep nearly enough.
  • Our lifestyle is too sedentary: “We work at desks and entertain ourselves in front of computer and TV screens,” she writes.
  • We drink unhealthy beverages, when we should be usually be choosing water, and we make unhealthy food choices.

“And yet,” she writes, “we expect, either through good genes, good luck, vitamin supplements, or cosmetic surgery, to get that full-of-life glow. It’s an illogical premise.”

She goes on to share some details of her personal approach to living agelessly…

Meditation—She equates meditation with quiet time. “You can use it for journal writing, prayer, or sitting with a cup of tea and pondering life,” she writes. However, she notes, if you want it to slow the aging process, classic transcendental meditation is ideal. She reminds readers of the study that showed people who had meditated regularly for five years or more were a whopping 12 years younger physiologically than non-meditators.

Exercise—The BluePrint for Life states this point unequivocally: Our bodies are designed to move! Inhabitants of the world’s Longevity Hot Spots spend portions of every single day <moving, LINK TO http://stevecase.akealife.com/blueprint-for-life/activity/> as part of work and play. To live as agelessly as possible, we need to make it our habit to do the same thing.

Nourishment—Nutrition, as you know, is an important aspect of the Akea lifestyle. (Are you taking your Essentials every day?) Moran makes the important additional point that we are nourished by everything we take in—”our immediate environment, the scenery, conversation, music, movies,” she says. “A chronically messy room isn’t nourishing. Neither is a hostile encounter, murder or mayhem, even on the silver screen.”

What would you add? What helps you live more agelessly? Comment here and let us know.

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Filed Under: Hot Spot Healthy Living, Longevity, Movement, Nutrition, Relaxation

Step It Up—Another Reason Why

August 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Interesting news from the world of gerontology: A large, new, long-term study concludes that an elder’s walking speed is strongly associated with physical health and longer life.

Researchers pooled the results of nine cohort studies collected between 1986 and 2000, including data from 34,485 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years or older, examining baseline gait speed data. The subjects were followed up for 6 to 21 years. Participants were a mean age of 73.5 years. Slightly under 60 percent were women. The subjects had a mean gait speed of 0.92 m/s.

There were…

  • 17,528 deaths
  • an overall 5-year survival rate of 84.8%
  • a 10-year survival rate of 59.7% (95% CI, 46.5%-70.6%).

Gait speed was associated with survival in all studies. Not only that—survival increased across the full range of gait speeds, with significant increments per 0.1 m/s. At age 75, predicted 10-year survival across the range of gait speeds ranged from 19 percent to 87 percent in men and from 35 percent to 91 percent in women.

Predicted survival based on age, sex, and gait speed was as accurate as predicted based on age, sex, use of mobility aids, and self-reported function. Gait speed was also as strongly associated with survival as age, sex, chronic conditions, smoking history, blood pressure, body mass index, and hospitalization.

That said, we should note: The researchers behind this study say their conclusions don’t mean you can have better results later on, when you’re a senior, just by walking more, and quicker, today.

But doesn’t this news make you want to step up the amount and intensity of physical movement you get each day, nonetheless? At Akea, we know there’s a lot of truth behind the expression “use it or lose it.”

Physical vigor has long been a sign of health in elderly people. It’s also one of the most visible hallmarks of life in the world’s Longevity Hot Spots, where life spans commonly reach 90 to 100 years and beyond. There, elders continue to spend full days occupied with the community’s work—whether that is fishing, farming, cooking, cleaning, or actively caring for children. In Okinawa, for example, elders continue to pick fruit from trees and take part in community sports and races. In Symi, Greece, people keep quite busy even in old age and very old age, fishing, looking after their goats and sheep, gardening, collecting herbs, eating, drinking local wine, and chatting to their friends, family, and neighbors. They also keep fit by climbing up and down the steep hillside or the 387 stone steps leading up through the village, often several times a day.

How do your daily activity levels stack up to those of the Longevity Hot Spot residents? Take some time to think about how you can work more movement into your day. Do it now—so you can keep doing it later in life.

Filed Under: Hot Spot Healthy Living, Movement Tagged With: ,

How Early Can “Healthy” Start?

July 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

No doubt, kids need to be free to run and play—creatively, without the structures (and strictures!) imposed by adult interference. If you're a parent, or if you simply follow TV and magazines, you've probably encountered the debate about proper levels of supervision and structured play. It's the kids of Helicopter Parents versus the Free Range Kids and their Idle Parents.

Incorporating movement throughout the day is a key part of the Akea lifestyle. Why? Movement is a hallmark of life in the Longevity Hot Spots. When we keep our bodies fine-tuned and active all day, every day (allowing appropriate rest, of course), we feel better and increase our chances of long-term health and wellness.

Kids seem to know this innately, but today's Western parental lifestyles are infringing upon kids' enjoyment of outdoor playtime and opportunities for movement. Few kids walk or ride bikes to school—see this blog post for evidence that kids really do want to ride their bikes to school!

In fact, spending time outdoors seems to have a tonic effect on kids' behavior. According to the National Wildlife Federation's Be Out There! report,

  • Outdoor time has a dramatic impact on children’s attentiveness and school preparedness, including a reduction in ADHD symptoms—a problem that has exponentially increased over the last several decades.
  • Children who spend time outdoors, whether through walking or biking to school, or playing or learning outside, score higher on a wide range of tests of their academic ability and performance.
  • Research shows kids' stress levels fall within minutes of going outside to play. In today's high-pressure childhoods—where they endure the demands of long school days, increased testing, decreased playtime, and intrusive electronic media—that means a lot.

Increasingly, pediatricians and other health professionals are embracing the medicinal effects of spending time outdoors. Dr. Daphne Miller, a family physician and associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, told the National Wildlife Federation, "I’ve begun hearing about doctors around the country who are medicating their patients with nature in order to prevent (or treat) health problems ranging from heart disease to attention deficit disorder.”

So how can you provide more unstructured playtime outdoors for your family? First, remember that kids are more likely do as we do, not as we say. That's even more true as they become teens and adults. So think about the example you're setting for the young people in your life. How can you create excellent examples of healthy shopping, cooking, eating, and physical activity? How can you help make going outside to move and play their pastime of choice?

We suggest starting with the Akea BluePrint for Life. Akea has more tips on building a healthy, active lifestyle for family members of all ages.

When you live the Akea lifestyle, your kids will grow up thinking of "healthy" as "normal," not as some kind of exception or special effort. And you'll feel better knowing you have greatly increase their chances for a long, healthy, and happy lifetime—something they can one day pass along to their own children.

How do you set appropriate boundaries, yet give your family freedom to be active all day long? Comment and share your strategies!

Filed Under: Hot Spot Healthy Living, Movement, Wellness Tagged With: , ,

Get Outside! Doctor’s Orders!

June 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It sounds like the start to a bad joke: Doctors are actually writing their patients prescriptions for outdoor time. One doctor told a reporter for the New York Times that she often has to provide prescriptions, maps, and guidelines for outdoor recreation because so many of her patients “are unfamiliar with the outdoors." "They’re scared to walk through a park," said this doctor, "and they don’t know what to do when they get there.” And it gets worse: Parks are increasingly providing brochures at entrances to suggest ideas for recreation and fun. Have we really sunk this far? It seems so. And unlike a walk in the woods, the impact on society will not be pretty. The journal Environment and Behavior recently published a peer-reviewed study of poor urban children and the role the nearby natural environment can play in their well-being. Scientists found time outdoors in that environment has a much stronger effect than has previously been recognized. Children were evaluated before and after a move to a greener environment. Those whose homes improved the most in terms of greenness following relocation also tended to have the highest levels of cognitive functioning following the move. More groups are joining the effort to reconnect Western society—and children in particular—with the great outdoors…

  • SeeChange Health in California and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation in North Carolina are supporting outdoor programs in their areas, like the Kids in Parks Initiative of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. SeeChange Health this year announced a pilot project to reimburse members for visits to California state parks.
  • The National Wildlife Federation launched the “Be Out There” public-education campaign to foster a daily “green hour” during which every child could enjoy 60 minutes of unstructured play and interaction with the natural world. On its web site, the federation has posted the rationale and specific suggestions for schools and families to counter the physical, emotional, and educational drain of an “indoor childhood.”
  • The National Environmental Education Foundation is now training pediatric health care providers to serve as nature champions in their communities.

Akea considers time spent in nature important for both Movement and Relaxation, and has plenty of advice for families who wish to spend more time outdoors together. It can be as simple as playing games outdoors, or just going for a spontaneous walk or hike. Have you been working on reconnecting with nature? Comment and let the Akea community know what you've been up to—and how it's helping.

Filed Under: Hot Spot Healthy Living, Movement

Be great outdoors

May 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

–by Sally Beare

'Now I see the secret of making the best persons', said Walt Whitman, 'it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.'

When you think about it, where and when have you felt happiest and most fulfilled? Many people, when asked this question, will recall being somewhere outside in nature – on a beach, up a mountain, or in some other beautiful place amongst plants and stunning scenery. Not many people will think of an indoor location such as an office – even if they were making tons of money at the time – or art gallery, theatre, or nightspot. Mental illness is at an all-time high and anti-depressants are the number one prescribed drug in the USA. Could this be partly because we are not going outdoors enough?

People in the Longevity Hot Spots, who tend to be in a good mood most of the time, are lucky because they have forests, mountains, clear open sky, oceans and lush green fields to enjoy. They see the sun rise and set and they see the stars and moon in the sky above them every day. This brings them close to nature and gives them a sense of eternity and connectedness with the earth and the universe, which lifts the spirit and enables them to exist in the moment. They also receive a steady supply of endorphins from the sunlight and from exerting themselves physically outside. This is in stark contrast to the way most of us live, spending our time tramping along pavements in polluted air, stuck in traffic jams, wedged into stuffy offices, and sitting on crowded underground trains.

However, the vast majority of us do have access to outdoor spaces of some kind. Most cities have parks or public gardens within walking distance, and for the weekend there are any number of wilder outdoor locations often just a car journey away. There are also plenty of clubs which have organised activities in scenic places such as surfing, kayaking, mountaineering, white water rafting, or ball games such as softball.

Just pottering around outdoors in a small garden or yard can also be highly effective at lifting the mood. It was recently reported in Science Daily (May 25, 2010) that being outside causes us to breathe in or ingest beneficial bacteria called mycobacterium vaccae which is found in soil and borne on the wind. When this bacteria was given to mice, it was found to increase their serotonin levels and decrease anxiety. It also improved their cognitive ability, probably because serotonin is linked to memory and learning, with mice given the bacteria able to navigate mazes twice as fast as other mice.

Being outdoors puts us in touch with the seasons, which reminds us reassuringly of the cyclical nature of life. Children especially love to hear about what it means when the leaves are turning red and golden and that it will happen again next year and the year after that. They also get a kick from planting bulbs at the beginning of winter and seeing them miraculously grow into flowers when spring comes – as do adults.

Nature always has something enthralling to offer us, whether it is as commonplace as a spider building a web, as exotic as a crack in a glacier, or the thrill of a physical challenge. Why not try some of the following for a mental health fix:

  • 'wild swimming' – find a clean lake or river to swim in rather than the local swimming pool
  • wander through some woods or a forest; if you have children with you, collect leaves or forage for other items for a nature table at home
  • if your backyard is looking a bit lacklustre, spend time planting and weeding or growing vegetables in it
  • join a club which does an exciting sport such as mountaineering, white water rafting, kayaking, rock climbing etc
  • visit a nearby park or garden during your office lunch hour
  • make an effort to watch the sunset, if it is visible from your house or somewhere nearby you can get to
  • organise a picnic or camp fire in a local beauty spot for family and friends – somewhere the kids can run around and let off steam
  • go for a walk along the beach or somewhere beautiful you have access 
Filed Under: Movement, Relaxation, Sally Beare, Wellness Tagged With: ,

A Walk a Day Keeps the Sniffles Away

May 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Finally, the winter seems to be over. The seasons are changing, bringing a new look to your surroundings and new routines to your day—maybe even inspiring new habits and goals. It's not like you need another reason to go outside and enjoy a brisk walk or run!

But here's a great reason: That daily walk or run might well keep colds and sniffles away.

In a recently published study, researchers followed a group of about 1,000 adults of all ages for 12 weeks during the winter and fall of 2008. During those three months, people who logged at least 20 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise—such as jogging, biking, or swimming—on five or more days each week were sick with cold or flu symptoms for just five days, on average. Those who exercised one day per week or less were sick for about 8.5 days, according to the study, which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Bonus: The more active adults experienced milder symptoms when they did get sick.

Researchers point to several possible factors behind the results…

  • Exercise is thought to boost the circulation of the virus-fighting white blood cells called natural killer cells. Even though the boost is temporary—lasting about three hours after each episode of brisk movement—the cumulative effect seems to have lasting implications.
  • Endorphines, the hormones produced during intense physical activity (and responsible for the "runner's high"), affect the immune system positively.
  • And, it's always possible that the results are correlative, not causative—in other words, that the people most dedicated to frequent physical movement are also those who eat well and take good care of themselves in general.

Daily movement is one of the foundations of the Akea BluePrint for Life. People in the Longevity Hot Spots make physical activity part of daily life—and, more and more, we are learning just how beneficial movement can be in our own lives.

How do you work movement into your daily routine? How do you keep work, school, and errands from interfering with the activity you need? Have any tips on including family and friends? Comment below and share your ideas with the Akea community.

Filed Under: Hot Spot Healthy Living, Movement Tagged With: , , , , ,

Giving Herself Permission to Move

March 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We thought you might enjoy this brief, engaging essay by a blogger who rediscovered the joy of physical movement through a laid-back, free-form dance program. Read her journal here. (She is not associated with Akea.)

One of the keys to the Akea BluePrint for Life is regular physical movement—but that doesn’t have to mean scheduled gym time or a punishing run. Instead, find ways to incorporate more movement into your daily routine, as people in the Longevity Hot Spots do.

Need inspiration? Akea has plenty of suggestions to get you going.

Filed Under: Movement Tagged With: , , ,

It’s the Sitting That’ll Get Ya

October 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Take a typical American adult. Maybe it’s you. This adult sits at a desk from about 9 in the morning until noon, then again from 1 to maybe 6. After dinner, he or she watches a couple of hours of TV.

But during lunch hour, this person hits the gym hard, running and lifting weights.

That’s plenty of exercise, right?

Maybe not. A recent study shows that a concentrated period of activity—for example, a half-hour run or trip to the gym—does not counteract the ill effects of a full day of sitting. Good health through movement requires being physically active throughout most of the day.

This news comes courtesy of the Cooper Institute, which is famous for its studies of exercise physiology. Starting in 1982, researches affiliated with the Institute collected data on the physical activity of affluent men, aiming to study links between movement and health.

The researchers also collected data on the mens’ times of inactivity, but that information got pushed aside. Recently, a different team of scientists focused on those data—with startling results. The men who sat the most had the greatest risk of heart problems, whether or not they got a concentrated period of strenuous exercise.

Specifically, according to the link: “Men who spent more than 23 hours a week watching TV and sitting in their cars (as passengers or as drivers) had a 64 percent greater chance of dying from heart disease than those who sat for 11 hours a week or less.”

That poses a challenge to those of us who need to sit at work for large chunks of time. We need to look for ways to increase overall movement throughout the day. (Note that when we look at lifestyles in the Longevity Hot Spots, that’s exactly what we see.) What can you do to get more movement into your day? Take the stairs? Park farther from work—or walk or bike your commute?

Akea has more ideas.

Looking to take it further? The Akea BluePrint for Life and 60-Day Challenge offers plenty more ideas and inspiration for transforming your lifestyle into one that’s active and healthy—all day long. Sign up today!

Filed Under: Hot Spot Healthy Living, Movement Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Become an Office Athlete

September 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

—by Chuck Halbakken

Source: Flickr - Beth77Mobility…what is it? When do you do it? Why should you do it? Is it really that important? These are questions I’m asked on a daily basis. The answers are very simple.

Movement is life.

Sound too simple?

Take a look at children. What do they do? They run, play, climb trees and ride bikes. But mainly they MOVE. They can’t sit still for any length of time. Their parents scold them because they “fidget.” Look at people in Longevity Hot Spots, they move all day as well. Here is a simple way of looking at movement.

If movement is life, then the complete absence of movement is death.

Think about this; it makes a great deal of sense. Based on that statement, I’m going to make an assumption that would rather move than not, so how do you start?

The first thing we need to change is your mindset. Movement needs to be a welcome addition in your life, not “something else I have to do.” The mobility exercises I’m going to give you will make you feel more relaxed, less stressed, and will help you think a bit more clearly.

The second thing is time; you do have the time to “practice” these movements several times a day. The exercises I want you to practice will take less than ten minutes per day (spread throughout the day not in one ten minute block). Weigh the time investment compared to the gains and it’s a simple decision.

These exercises should be performed at your desk or in your parked car (don’t drive while doing these, please) while in a seated position.

Exercise One: Put one hand on your sternum and push your spine away from the back of your chair towards your hand, reverse direction to your original position. Perform three reps, three times per day.

Exercise Two: With your spine against the back of your chair, reach out in front of you with your hand palm first. Reach as far as you can without pain then raise your arm up as far as you can, then out to the side. Keep your elbow locked during the exercise. Repeat one to three reps per arm, three times per day.

Exercise Three: Sitting comfortably in your chair, tilt your head back so you are looking at the ceiling. Start opening and closing your jaw, while tilting your head farther back. When you come to a comfortable stop, relax in this position for a moment before sitting up. Do not rotate your head while your head is tilted back! Perform one rep, one to two times per day.

 

That’s it for today! The next post will include lower body exercises and some more information on movement. Remember, no amount of instruction should ever override your common sense. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.

Filed Under: Hot Spot Healthy Living, Movement Tagged With: , , , , , , ,