Hello my friends,
Welcome to your weekly mental health check where we celebrate our wonderful personalities, individual differences and strategies navigating through life.
It’s all in the mind…Forget about the 5 a.m. workouts, protein shakes and supplements. Real health begins in your mind. This week’s topic: Forever young.
Longevity is trending. Biohackers with their hundreds of daily supplements, books on longevity and anti-aging are popular. Everyone has a formula: healthy eating (be it “whole foods plant based”, “intermittent fasting”, or “carnivore”); sports (resistance training, yoga); or supplements (creatine, collagen, protein). But – is that really what we observe in the real world? Are those, who are extremely focused on “living healthy” and biohacking themselves to the max, exuding youthfulness, happiness and living their best life? Eating one meal a day, following strict diets or obsessing over avoiding all types of “toxins” in our environment will certainly put a stop to most of our social life. What ever happened to the old rock and roll mindest? To die before getting old? Instead, we have created a goal no one can hope to achieve: staying forever young.
You know what really ages us is stress. Worry. Negative emotions. Look at politicians, former prime ministers and presidents – within a few years in office and they went grey overnight. Now think about the people who seem to never age, to have endless energy despite their age, no matter what they eat or how stressful their lives seem to be. The difference: mindset. For these people, the daily hassles, stressors and challenges are not draining, they are fuel. It all happens in our mind.
We see this phenomenon in immunology. The mindset of cancer survivors (“positive illusions” as put forward by Shelley Taylor) or the “broaden-and-build” hypothesis by Barbara Fredrickson explain how negative emotions such as anxiety or anger completely drain us, whereas positive emotions build new connections within our synapses and strengthen our immune system.
It’s the simple things in life…like living near an ocean
What can we learn from that? Relax and take it positive. Don’t try everything, you don’t need it. The times where I feel the most recharged are not those days where I go to bed early, but where I have an amazing time, laugh a lot, go to bed super late, and surround myself with people I love.
Often, the simple things are the most effective. A walk in the sunshine (or lets call it “forest bathing”, sounds more like a therapy), listening to our favourite songs, a party with friends (yes, including processed foods and alcohol!), will probably add more to longevity and youthfulness than getting up at 5 am and doing fasted workouts. Treat your morning with a good old coffee instead of a matcha latte 😉 And most importantly, have a laugh. Observe yourself for a day – do you walk around with a slight frown? Smile more, laugh more. Your body will thank you. And for a shortcut to longevity: book your next holiday at the sea. Researchers from the Ohio State University found out that those who live near the ocean (not a lake or river) reach older age 😉
Stay tuned for next week’s topic, where we’ll tackle how to break free from people-pleasing.
Take care – and take charge!
See you next week!
It’s me, Jules, your biggest fan
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