Growing older is portrayed as if it is an unavoidable disease. What do you believe about aging and why? Why do you believe that as you grow older you will become decrepit, diseased and feeble-minded? We've been wrongly taught to believe that when we grow older we deteriorate. We've come to expect dementia, disease and physical weakness in our elder years.

From Dr. Bruce Lipton: "There is shocking new science proving that DNA does not control our life span; humorists, who keep us laughing at ourselves; spiritual teachers who emphasize the rich harvest of wisdom that we inherit in the second half of life; and social commentators who point out the beautiful gifts of community that engaged elders can create. Alternately personal and global practices are on the forward edge of the revolution that is transforming elderhood."

To reverse long-held beliefs and the effects they've had, we can start with these very simple practices:

purposeful and conscious living
correction of diet whole natural food
nutrition focused on your specific needs
flexibility - natural exercise such as walking, swimming, biking.yoga
naturally reduce stress and blood pressure using deep breathing techniques
calm your mind and connect to God through meditation
practice gratitude
remain curious
Spirituality - stay connected with like-minded people adds years to your life

I was very blessed to have had a beautiful mother who always lived agelessly. I've naturally lived the same way. I do not factor my age into the choices I make; I've never seen a reason to include it in the way I live. My birthdays are a celebration of my life never about what age my body is. A testament to living this way, in part, is my vibrant life and state of well-being.

Our bodies are not mindless machines, there is undeniable evidence to the contrary. Death rates from cancer and heart disease are lower among people who have a strong sense of purpose and well-being. What we believe and how we see our body shapes our world, externally and internally. Our state of health is first created in our mind and then shows up in our body. Our physical strength and level of intelligence doesn't have to diminish because of the number of years we've been alive.

From Dr. Christiane Northrup “Your beliefs and thoughts are wired into your biology. They become your cells, tissues, and organs. There’s no supplement, no diet, no medicine, and no exercise regimen that can compare with the power of your thoughts and beliefs. That’s the very first place you need to look when anything goes wrong with your body.”
― Goddesses Never Age: The Secret Prescription for Radiance, Vitality, and Well-Being

Dr. Christiane Northrup, practicing physician offers these practices to transform your beliefs to living agelessly.

7 steps for getting older without aging

1. Reframe the term ‘aging.’ In the PBS special, Northrup describes a study by Dr. Ellen Langer in which two groups of men in their 70s and 80s were taken to a monastery and split into two groups. One was told to live in the present while the other was placed in a setting that re-created the era of their youth, the 1950s, and told to behave as if they were young again. Within one week, the group living as if they were younger not only looked a decade younger but also had test results that showed measurable physical improvements to their eyesight, hearing, memory, and muscle mass.

2. Change your cultural programming. Northrup says milestone birthdays can be a millstone. She cites one study showing that simply having positive attitudes about growing older and looking forward to things can add 7.5 years to your life. Plan for future activities to keep yourself on a positive path.

3. Stop participating in aging. Northrup recommends celebrating the wisdom that comes with growing older and banishing terms such as “anti-aging” or “having a senior moment” from your vocabulary.

4. Enjoy a sweet life while keeping your blood sugar stable. Growing older with vitality requires physical health as well as mental health. While Northrup doesn’t focus solely on a specific diet, she stresses the importance of paying attention to your blood sugar.

5. Don’t take life sitting down. Besides diet, we all know that exercise is important to staying healthy while growing older. Northrup emphasizes the importance of functional fitness, which means things like getting up to move to music to avoid sitting too long, maximizing exercise with interval training, and doing some basic exercises to improve balance.

6. Develop centenarian consciousness. Northrup reviewed research by Dr. Mario Martinez on healthy 100-plus-year-olds around the world that reveals the importance of being future-oriented, savoring life, and engaging in pleasurable, sustainable rituals such as a standing date with a friend, listening to music you love, or pursuing a creative passion.

7. Develop a subculture of agelessness. Staying connected to a group of like-minded people, which Northrup calls “tribes,” and nurturing those relationships helps women—and men, who tend to have more difficulty maintaining close friendships—stay physically and mentally healthy. As she says, “community equals immunity.”

The way we see aging will be forever changed when we alter our beliefs and commit to living an ageless, vibrant and exciting life.

Thank you for stopping by, Namaste

Author's Bio: 

My intention for writing articles is to share my experiences and insight based on my approach to the natural lifestyle I am living.

For years I was proud that I was working in the same field as my mother. I knew she had gotten great pleasure that her first-born was following in her footsteps. I wanted my family to be happy that I was being responsible. I wasn't aware that I was unhappy, I thought I was doing what was right for my family.

After over two decades of working in the field did I begin to realize I wasn't happy at all. It wasn't until the third time that a manager called me into the office to tell me that my job was being eliminated did I recognize that I was ready to face those nagging feelings of not belonging.

Then the process of of waking up began in earnest. The Universe, through a variety of experiences, making it clear that I was supposed to be helping people in a very different way than I had been. I am so grateful that I listened.

Living mindfully and living naturally is a lot of work that requires my full attention, but I've never felt more alive and excited about who I am and how my life is.

I no longer believe that life is the way it is and there is nothing we can do about it. My mantra is choose, then choose wisely and intentionally and everything will flow in the direction of our dreams. We get so caught up in trying to live up to expectations and please everyone else that we neglect our spirit and the person we long to be.

While I do research and offer the opinions from a variety of experts, I feel that my example is the best way for you to gain confidence that what you want and dream of can be achieved.

Living mindfully isn't something we just do and it isn't a simple life. Being awake to making a life takes courage, determination, strength of character and knowing that you're doing the right thing for yourself. This way of living is completely giving yourself over to the experience of living with your eyes wide open.