The Come Alive Project

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  • Energy Bite 388 – Resilience

    EB 388 – Resilience and Longevity

    One of the more fashionable buzzwords today as related to Longevity is the term: Resilience. You may have seen recent articles in newspapers and magazines about the importance of Resilience to Health and Longevity.

    What is Resilience? It’s the ability to bounce back from adversity and stress in a positive way. Stress has been know as a “silent killer” for many decades but only now does it seem to have been looked at beyond a strictly medical level. Academia and business are getting involved in “resilience” in a major way.

    According to a publication of the Harvard Medical School, Resilience is the ability to cope with stress in a positive way and is associated with longevity, lower rates of depression, and a greater satisfaction with life. A lack of resilience is the inability to handle stress and is associated with high blood pressure, a weakened immune system, and other health challenges.

    According to a publication by the World Health Organization, entitled, Strengthening Resilience: a priority shared by Health 2020 and, the Sustainable Development Goals, Resilience is a major priority, not only at an individual level but systemically through all levels of society.

    Let’s stay with Resilience at the individual level. Since we are all affected by stress in some ways, what is the best way to conquer the stress and develop resilience? The following is a bit technical but as I said, Academia is getting more and more involved in the subject . . .

    In his nearly 800 page book, The Future of the Body, Esalen Institute co-founder Michael Murphy recognized the problem and suggested that resilience can be developed through: “1. Reduction of habitual muscular tensions by somatic disciplines or biofeedback training. 2. Self-reflection that produces hopeful, though realistic, perspectives on life in general. 3. Relinquishment of chronically negative attitudes in psychotherapy or witness meditation. 4. Practiced contact with the self-existent delight revealed by witness meditation, contemplative prayer, and other religious exercises.” (Murphy, Michael, The Future of the Body, p 578).

    Hmm, got all that?

    The Harvard Medical School publication I mentioned above put it like this:

    How to build resilience:

    1. Meditation

    2. Reframe the situation

    3. Being involved in a “real” social network (real life)

    4. Positive thinking

    5. Laugh more

    6. Be optimistic.

    The only thing that the Harvard article left out was: Exercise. And I believe that exercise is one of the best tools to help cope with stress.

    Anyhow, the better our ability to handle the stresses of not only crisis situations, but those of everyday life, the better chances we have of living longer and better, and maintaining our mental and physical health.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 387 – Legs, Lungs & Staying Power

    Legs and Lungs. These can be deal breakers or deal makers as you get older. Your legs and lungs are often the first to go. But they don’t have to be. Your legs and lungs are the main two parts of the body that provide “staying power” for physical activity. When they go, your age catches up with you; when you keep them strong, you feel younger longer.

    Stamina and Endurance. Stamina is the ability to perform at a high level for a given length of time. Endurance is the ability to perform for a long time. Stamina is like sprinting. Endurance is like a marathon. Both terms apply to “staying power” and having both are important as we get older. When you lose either, it’s normally a matter of weakening “legs and lungs”.

    Years ago as I entered my 60s, an old rowing buddy from my High School and college rowing (Crew) days persuaded me to start rowing again. At age 60? You’re kidding? I did it anyway. I was terribly out of condition. The first time we took a two man boat out onto the Occoquan River outside Washington, DC, I had to stop at about every ten strokes to recover my breathing. My leg and lung capacity were virtually non-existent. The first night my legs were so shaky I could barely walk and my breathing was tortured to say the least.

    But I kept at it, and within three to four weeks, I was able to row up to seven miles with only one stop when we turned the boat around to return to the starting point. Rowing can be a very intense sport and combines Stamina and Endurance (Sprints and Marathons), all at the same time.

    Brisk walking can do the same thing for you. There is probably no better way for an older adult to build both Stamina and Endurance. Walking up hills will help with the stamina and walking long distances on relatively level ground will bring you endurance. Both are necessary to maintain your ability to “do things” as you get older. Both will build leg strength and lung capacity. I will point out that my wife has had both knees replaced and still walks. Check with a medical professional if you have a problem with your knees and most important, listen to your body.

    Add to that some deep breathing and some squats (standing up and sitting down in a straight backed chair for a start), and you will help build your Stamina and Endurance quickly.

    Since your legs and lungs are normally the first go go as you get older, it’s best to start doing something to prevent it from happening. As they say, the best time to start was twenty years ago. The second best time to start is NOW. So get out there and start working on building capacity with your legs and lungs. It will help keep you feeling alive.

    Thank you for reading.

  • Energy Bite 386 – Help Me Test a Challenge for Seniors

    Look Good, Feel Good and have a Ton of

     Extra Personal Energy

    So, you’re starting to get older and you don’t feel as spry as you used to. Some of your joints ache. You are slowing down a little. It’s not quite as easy to do the things you used to do.

    You tire more easily.

    You get short of breath more often.

    Sometimes it takes longer to do simple tasks.

    You have some excess weight that you seem to have accumulated over time. You want to get rid of it.

    You have difficulty getting up and down from the floor and doing other physical movements that used to be easy.

    And you can’t move your arms and legs as far in any direction as you used to be able to do without minor pain.

    That’s pretty normal and if you’re like most seniors. It’s starting to become more noticeable, and you are starting to be irritated with some of the changes that are taking place.  That’s normal. It comes with normal aging.  It starts in late 50s for some. For others, it starts a little later. It gets worse as you move through 60s and 70s.

    Unless, you take action to do something about it. And you can, you know.

    Yes, it’s quite possible to loosen up your joints, regain strength and get back the ability to move your limbs through their entire range of motion and most important, develop a high level of Personal Energy for life. But you have to take action and do something about it.

    Your mind gets into it too. As you begin to get older, most of us start worrying about our bodies and our minds, and about what will happen to us (and our loved ones) as we continue to get older. We see older people around us who haven’t taken care of themselves well over the years and we pray we don’t come to that.

    The reality is that most of the problems of aging come from lack of physical movement, as well as not putting the right high octane fuel into your body. It also comes from our attitude about aging and the horror stories we tell ourselves about what will happen to us as we get older.

    That didn’t just start. It’s been going on for a long time, hasn’t it. It just didn’t seem important at first. It wasn’t even really noticeable at first.

    Now it is.

    There is a Solution —  A Re-Awakening.

    Yes, there is a solution. It involves making a commitment to yourself. It means being willing to take the time and energy to move your body and to eat healthy food. It means re-awakening your body and mind to the positive possibilities of senior life.

    You already know that you should be exercising and eating right. You’ve read that in every magazine and in newspaper articles, in blogs and articles on the internet, and on TV Spots and anywhere else that there is a chance to plug the benefits of healthy lifestyle habits . . . and often to plug a product of some sort.

    And that’s not all

    That’s right, there’s more. You don’t know what to believe. There is so much conflicting information from “experts” on the internet, on TV, well-meaning friends, and even the Medical Community, that you don’t know which direction to turn to get help. And you do want help. You do want to feel and look better. And you want to have the Personal Energy to be able to do the things you used to do.

    Most of all, you don’t want to lose your independence!

    So, What do you want?

    So what do you really want? Good health? To look better? Feel better? Do you want to be able to move easier, unrestricted by sore muscles and rusty joints?

    You want to be able to get up and down from the floor with ease.

    No more rusty joints.

    No more fear of turning into an “old” person. And most of all, no more fear of losing your independence because of your “old age”.

    If all this sounds like a sale pitch, in a sense it is. Remember I mentioned a month or so ago that I am working on a program (Challenge) to help seniors re-awaken to new energy and vitality. I’m still working on it. Remember also, that I said that any of you reading this, can be in on the initial BETA Test(s) for FREE. Many of you have already expressed in being involved in the BETA test. It will still be a while before it is ready for testing.

    So, if you’re frustrated in the search for real, long lasting Fitness and Personal Energy and Enthusiasm for life, and you are older than 55, then you will want to participate in this Re-Awakening Challenge and help me put it into a form that will truly serve other Seniors.

    If you haven’t already let me know of you interest, please email me at bob@thecomealiveproject.com and let me know.

    Thank you for reading.