By Dr. Mara Karpel
“You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.” ~ George Burns
©M. Karpel, 2015
One day, not too long ago, I logged onto my computer browser and this is the news article that popped up on my computer screen.
NEW YORK (PIX11) – At 102 years young, Miguel Cruz sports a shock of white hair, can dominate a pool table and is in better shape than most people four decades younger. His secret? “Be active––In reality, my secret is to be active, mentally and physically, all my life.”
Cruz’ “secret” to longevity is, in fact, supported by the research. Moving our body on a regular basis is good for, both, our physical and our mental health. And staying active, mentally, and staying passionately involved in life can, not only, increase our mental sharpness and emotional well-being, but also add years to our lives.
Those Who Are Active Are Happier and Healthier
I recently returned from a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where I gave a talk to a group of American and Canadian retirees, as well as soon-to-be retirees there for a visit, about this very topic, staying active and involved as we age. (My appearance was videotaped and clips from it will soon be uploaded to my new YouTube channel, so be sure to tune in.) Near the end of my presentation, the floor was opened for discussion, and I discovered that the audience was a group of very physically active, socially active, and community-involved “boomers” and seniors.
One woman in the group shared that she was about to celebrate her 80th birthday and that she does yoga and meditation regularly, as well as swims, daily. While living in Mexico for the winter, she teaches English to the Spanish-speaking staff-members in the community where she resides, so that they can advance in their careers. Her passionate involvement brings her life lot of meaning. And her physical activity and meditation, she reported, led her to feel much happier and that she has an absence of more serious illnesses, and possesses a very positive attitude and acceptance of her decreasing vision due to a hereditary eye condition.
There was a consensus among all of the audience members that staying active and involved brought significant meaning and joy to their lives, as well as better health along with decreased aches and pains. In fact, when conducting some “man/woman on the street” interviews for the videos we were taping, the reports were all very similar. The interviewees all stated that being involved in activities beneficial for the community, staying socially connected, and engaging in physical exercise, and, for many, even some sort of mind-body relaxation, such as meditation, led to excellent health, emotional well-being, and a sense of purpose and a reason to keep going and to stay healthy.
During this same weekend in Puerto Vallarta, I also interviewed, yoga instructor and owner of Davanna Yoga, Anna Laurita, who told me that the population of baby boomers and older adults in her classes has been increasing over the past few years and that many of these mature students have never tried yoga before. Anna shared with me that she has witnessed, both an emotional transformation, including increased good mood and increased confidence, and a physical transformation, with increased balance and flexibility and decreased aches and pains, in many of these students.
Health and Emotional Benefits of Physical Activity
There are many health benefits to moving your body, including: decreased risk of heart disease; lowered risk of high blood pressure; reduced risk of osteoporosis; increased strength and stamina; improved blood circulation; better control of body weight; improved co-ordination and balance; relief of constipation; improved lung functioning; increased stamina; and improved flexibility, which decreases joint pain, decreases stiffness, improves posture, and relieves muscular tension. Indirectly, these health benefits improve mental health. If you’re feeling good, physically, and you’re able to do more, then you will feel happier and more confident. Additionally, you, obviously, will have the strength and stamina to do more of what you like.
There are also many direct mental health benefits to regular exercise. It has been shown to relieve both mild and moderate depression. Two reasons for this include the fact that exercise improves sleep and relieves tension, both of which are sources of depression. In addition, engaging in exercise causes the production of “endorphins.” Endorphins are chemicals produced by the brain that are natural pain-relievers and mood elevators.
Furthermore, studies on animals have shown that exercise increases levels of the neurotransmitters, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. The increased production of these particular neurotransmitters have been linked to improvement of mood and, in fact, antidepressant medications are believed to work because this is what they do: they increase the production of these chemicals. If this isn’t enough, exercise also increases levels of “brain-derived neurotropic factor” (BDNF). This is also a chemical that is believed to improve mood. In fact, an additional benefit of the increase of this chemical is that it may help brain cells survive longer and, therefore, may also decrease the progression of dementia.
Staying Active Slows Down The Aging Process
In 2011, a study conducted by Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky and his colleagues at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, found that exercise kept a strain of mice from becoming gray prematurely. The study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that exercise reduced or eliminated almost every detrimental effect of aging in mice that had been genetically programmed to grow old at an accelerated pace. The researchers were actually surprised by the magnitude of the impact that exercise had on the animals’ aging process. They expected to find that exercise would affect the health of muscles, including the heart, since past research had shown a connection. They had not expected that it would affect every tissue and bodily system studied. Dr. Tarnopolsky’s conclusion was that, “unquestionably, exercise alters the course of aging.”
Some Exercise Tips
Peggy Cappy, who has been teaching yoga for over 40 years and whose DVD’s, Peggy Cappy’s Yoga For The Rest of Us, can be seen nationwide on PBS, discussed the benefits of yoga at any age, when she appeared as a guest on my radio show last year. “What we know is that, as we get older, we lose muscle strength. It’s just a fact of aging. We lose muscle strength and we begin having more difficulty with balance,” she told us. “What we now know is that we can increase strength. The thigh muscles, I call, ‘our muscles of independence’ because, if we have strong legs, then we have the ability to get up and down, in and out of cars and chairs. So, those muscles have to be worked on every week. You have to be actively doing something. When we’re in our 20’s and 30’s, our normal activities take care of the strength. But, over the decades, there’s a steady decline, so people have to be proactive if they want to maintain an active life-style. What we find is that, when people do work on strength, and when they do practice balance, they really regain confidence in moving and that translates to being more active, in general. Again, being able to do the things that you love to do helps the quality of life to be very high.” As for someone who is physically challenged in any way, “there are yoga poses that will help every kind of challenge that someone has,” stated Peggy. For example, for those who are unable to get onto the floor for yoga, chair yoga can be extremely beneficial.
You can walk, bike, swim, do yoga, go dancing, take a Zumba class, lift weights, or try any other exercise that you enjoy and are able to do. There are many types of exercises that can be modified for those who have limitations. Try a few different types of exercise and figure out which ones you enjoy. If you enjoy it, you’re more likely to stick to it. But before you start, there is one common sense caution: please have a complete medical examination before beginning any new exercise program. Once you’ve been cleared by your medical doctor, it’s advised that you have a teacher or trainer in order to make sure that you’re doing the exercise correctly. For example, if you’re going to start weight training or using aerobic equipment, take some sessions with a personal trainer so that you can learn the proper way to use the equipment, in order to prevent injuries. Even with yoga, you can injure yourself, if you don’t do the poses correctly, so that having a teacher is very important.
Passionate Involvement in Activities Leads to More Life Meaning
Passionate involvement in an activity, whether it be a social cause, a hobby, a creative endeavor, social relationships, exercise, dancing, or most anything else, is a key ingredient to staying healthy, physically, cognitively, and emotionally, throughout the life-cycle. Following our dreams gives our life meaning. By finding meaning and purpose in our daily lives, even while engaging in our day-to-day activities, we will maintain our energy and enthusiasm for pursuing our larger goals.
One of the most powerful things we can do to find meaning is to help others. Volunteer. Help your neighbors. Make someone who is feeling blue laugh. If we can find something meaningful, something of value, to take even from the most difficult of situations, it will have a dramatic effect on how we deal with that situation and how agile we will be in overcoming the obstacles that we come upon along our path. Involvement in activities that we are passionate about keeps us alive and capable of contributing wisdom to our society for many more years than those who stay home and worry about health.
So, get up off the couch, get involved, and get moving. You will feel better!
©M. Karpel, 2015
[For more information, and interviews with expert guests, be sure to join me LIVE every Sunday, 5-7pm CT/6-8pm ET for “Dr. Mara Karpel & Your Golden Years.” Join the conversation by calling in, e-mailing, or tweeting, or you can listen any time on podcast.]
