The Elixir of Life

219 years before Christ a Chinese alchemist, Xu Fu, took 1,000 young people on a trip to discover the secret of immortality.  He never returned.

In 1567, Ming Dynasty Emperor JiaJing is believed to have died from an overdose of the poison mercury.  Jiajing believed that mercury was the elixir of life and would enable him to live forever; instead he died aged 45.

In 18th century Europe, the Count of St Germain claimed to have found the elixir of life and to be 500 years old.  He is believed to have died in 1784, probably in his 70's rather than 500 or more, although some Theosophists and Rosicrucians claim he never died and is still living even today.

Throughout history people have been searching for the mystical elixir of life, for the magical anti ageing secrets that will help them to live forever.  I may not have quite found that magical elixir, but I do have perhaps the next best thing - knowledge of changes you can make in your lifestyle which could significantly extend your life.  And you can relax in the sure knowledge that my anti ageing medicine is not going to give you mercury poisoning!

According to Rose Anne Kenny, Professor of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin, the three most important factors that will help you extend life and live longer (obviously subject to you not having a fatal accident, suffering a terminal illness etc) are:

1 Properly managing your health;

2 Working on your personal development, continuing to develop your skills and abilities no matter what age you may be;

3 Getting involved in your community, doing things that are a real contribution, helping those around you.

Managing Your Health

I guess everyone knows they should do this and that if they do they have a greater chance of living longer.

"Eat and drink healthily" is important if you want to live to a ripe old age.  But I do not mean you have to be extreme about this.  To me, moderation is the key here.  If you enjoy certain foods that you have been told are not healthy, then I think you should continue to eat them, but only now and again rather than all the time.

Many people get confused by the concept of eating healthily and think this means you have to pick "healthy foods" and only eat those.  The reality is that there is no such thing as "healthy foods".  Yes, read that again!  The concepts of "healthy foods" and "unhealthy foods" don't really exist.  Any food would be unhealthy for you if you ate it to excess.  There is no such thing as a "healthy food", but there is such a thing as a healthy diet.  Try to maintain a good mix of foods that will provide you with all the nutrients you need, and keep a good balance of those different types of food.

Although I have just said you cannot talk about healthy and unhealthy foods, there are, of course, some foods that are not particularly good for you.  Processed foods come into this category.  Especially the packs of "TV dinners" you can buy in supermarkets.  Fresh food is far better for you.  But again, if you are particularly fond of something that is processed (perhaps a fast food hamburger or hot dog) then by all means eat it - just not too often!

Likewise with what you drink.  Don't drink an excess of coffee for example, filling yourself with caffeine.  But unless your doctor has told you to avoid caffeine I do not suggest you drink decaffeinated coffee, and nor am I recommending you give up coffee altogether.  Again, moderation is the key.

Drinking alcohol is exactly the same.  Yes, alcohol is a poison, so you certainly do not want to drink too much.  But there is nothing wrong with drinking moderately.  In fact it is believed that very moderate drinking can keep you healthier and extend your life.

Try not to be a "couch potato".  Find something you enjoy doing that doesn't involve sitting or lying down.  In my case, that hobby is Ballroom and Latin dancing, which for me combines pleasure, exercise, and a social activity.  It also sometimes stretches my mind, forcing me to remember long combinations of steps.  All this is good for maintaining youth!  In your case, maybe it is a sport.  Or going for a nice long swim, run, or cycle ride.  Perhaps a combination of these.  I certainly enjoy cycling from time to time as well as dancing.  Whatever it is you choose, make sure it involves a good bit of exercise.

Be aware of your body and the signals it may be giving you.  This is a wide category.

For example you should remain alert for any signs that could indicate cancer.  If you are female that particularly means regularly checking your breasts.  If you are male you should check your testicles.  For both sexes, stay alert for any lumps anywhere in the body that start to change shape or size, or that start to bleed.  Also stay alert for any changes in the way in which you urinate and pass stools.  Be particularly alert for any blood in your stools or urine.  I have really only touched the surface here, and I suggest you do some research yourself on ways to detect signs of cancer early on.  If you spot anything that disturbs you, contact your doctor.  Doing this can identify a cancer at an early enough stage for it to be stopped in its tracks.  I am speaking with experience, as I suffered from prostate cancer, but recognized the symptoms before it had progressed far and received treatment that completely eliminated it.

These are not the only signals your body gives you.  If you start to overdo something that could impact badly on your health, your body will often tell you.  Perhaps you will start getting more frequent and more painful headaches than you would normally expect.  If so, this is almost certainly your body trying to tell you something.  Slow down and try to listen to what it is saying.

Personal Development

If you want to stay young, then you should do all you can to develop your personal skills and abilities.  This will really make a huge difference to the way you age.  The more you do this, the slower you will age.

This is a very wide field.  It certainly includes doing things that will help you challenge and expand your intellect, even if they are as simple as crosswords and other word games.  But it also includes finding what makes you really happy, and focusing on and developing that.

This entire site is devoted to personal development.  Browse through it and read or re-read articles that strike a bell with you.  If you are not already one of my subscribers, take the time to subscribe now - in just a few seconds you can ensure I will keep in touch with you giving you many different ways of improving your own personal development.  You can do this at www.beallican.com.

Getting Involved

The more you get involved, whether this is with family or the wider community, the slower you will age.  Give of yourself.  Spend time helping others less fortunate than you.

There are many reasons for this.  Firstly, it has been shown that this type of activity automatically makes you happier.  Secondly, the more you are involved, the less lonely you will be.  Thirdly, there is a real sense of fulfilment when you get heavily involved.  And finally, I believe the law of karma is operating here too - by helping others you find good things come to you.  Those good things include a slowing of the ageing process.

You Are as Young as You Feel

This really is true.  Do not be taken in by all the stereotypes about ageing.  If somebody says "You are too old for that!", don't believe them!  In fact, take that as a challenge to do whatever it was you were thinking about doing!  If you do believe the stereotypes you will tend to live down to them.  You may stop doing things you enjoy doing simply because you think older people cannot do them.  Do not allow this to happen to you!

This is not just me saying this.  "The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing" proved that the more people believe they will lose their abilities as they got older, the more this actually happens.  The reverse is also true - the more you believe you can continue to do what you enjoy, the longer you will physically be able to do so.  There was also a study by researchers at Yale University which found that a group of elderly people who had a really positive attitude were able to function physically as well as another group that had undertaken a six month exercise programme.

The Irish study also found that people who had positive expectations about the future as they got older lived on average 7 years longer than those who had negative expectations!  Read that again - it is very important!  What are your expectations about your future as you get older?  Are you resigned to dying younger than really need be the case or are you ready to enjoy that future to the full?

Positive thinking really works.  This is just as true about ageing as it is about such things as getting more money, finding love etc.  Start thinking more positively now about your age.  Change how you feel about ageing and you will actually change how you age!

None of us can avoid getting older.  Every day you are older - you are one day older.  That is a simple fact, and nothing can change that unless you have some way of travelling at or close to the speed of light, in which case Einstein tells us you will age slower.  But we can all delay the onset of "old age".  Use the anti-aging techniques I have outlined above.  Don't just do exactly what I have said, and nothing else, but rather use this article as a springboard to research all the ways you can stay young and healthy.  That is the real elixir of life.  Use it well, have fun, and live long!

Wellbeing Is a Way of Life

by

Valerie Cheong Took

Wellbeing is when we feel good within ourselves: happy with who we are, with what we have and having an optimist view of life in general. To take worries off our minds, we sometimes go for activities that make us feel good - eating chocolates/ice cream/crisps, retail therapy, talking with friends and watching TV shows. There are times when all these stress busters do not work. We feel uncomfortable, not knowing what to do next. There are other times when our worries come back soon after.

Maintaining a positive outlook on life is critical as we move forward in life. The things we do to keep our motivation ongoing can impact our general wellbeing if we become dependent on them. Snacking, shopping, watching movies are all healthy activities when they are done occasionally. Everything is about balance.

Continuing shopping when our wardrobes are already full of clothes or snacking when we have weight problems indicates an unhealthy dependency. There are other forms of dependency. Clutter is another example - keeping things in case we need them in the near future. After 1-2 years, these things are lying around without having been used once. It is sometimes of no use to tell ourselves that we need to declutter, stop shopping or snacking. We all wish it were that simple!

Understand your motivation to keep on shopping though your purse is tight or there is no need to. It is the first step towards gaining back your personal independence. There can be many reasons. Eating habits are sometimes cultural. In some communities, everything revolves around food - family gatherings, celebrations. In the past, these communities had to face food shortages due to war, droughts and financial hardships. Now that food is readily available, a lot of effort and time is spent on meals. Changing our food habits may involve reviewing our cultural norms or beliefs in relation to food.

Retail therapy can be a great booster for our self confidence. Our physical brand is an essential part of who we are. However, it does not define our self worth nor will it help to address the challenges that life brings to us. We are defined by our actions, strengths, weaknesses and what we choose as our core values. Making up for the loss in our self confidence by shopping is a temporary solution. What can sustainably boost our self confidence is facing the challenges, looking at them from a different perspective and letting go of the feeling of "being stuck".

Wellbeing is about building inner resilience and resourcefulness to address our daily challenges. Every answer lies within us. Hiding behind our busy lifestyle or our good looks does not resolve our daily challenges. Life coping skills are learned by doing. There's no other way of acquiring them. Reading books on positive thinking or shifting the blame onto others or procrastinating about them only makes them worse. Addressing them by trying out different options, applying all the empowerment techniques that you have been reading about builds your inner strength and nurtures your creativity.

Changing your habits take time. So think about what you can do as from today to regain your personal power and independence. Take one step at a time and achieve quick wins, ensuring that they become an integral part of your life.

To know more about wellbeing, Valerie provides one to one coaching and workshops for groups. Please visit http://www.valeriecheongtook.com for more information.

What Do You Do With Shiny Objects?

by

Wendy Bottrell

My question and thought for today is what do you do with Shiny Objects? Now this many seem like a crazy question, so allow me to explain.

I have a couple of huge passions in my life; one is helping people to be healthier through coaching and a passion for business, especially learning about online marketing. Now when it comes to business I learn quite a bit that I take back to the health and fitness side of what I do.

Over the past year, I have spent a great deal of time learning about online marketing and blogging about health/wellness.

In the online marketing world, there has been much talk about Shiny Objects! You see there is so much free information online with big promises and really, these are simply Shiny Objects! These Shiny Objects really do not provide value. All they do is take the focus away from the business goals.

Now the same is very true for health and wellness! There are all kinds of distractions for your health and wellness. A night out on the town might be a huge distraction, you know what we say, "I was good all week so this won't hurt", or the article that tells you a certain food is OK to eat, yet you know in your heart is not good for your health however, you ignore that intuitive feeling.

The T.V. commercials for the latest and greatest processed food product that is in no way healthy and yet you are the first one in your neighborhood to get it because of the promises of good health. Alternatively, the commercial for the new drug that amazingly, when they read out all the symptoms you are off to the doctor to get your free trial sample.

These are just a couple of the examples of the Shiny Objects that take us away from our good health and wellbeing.

It is time to take a stand and realize those Shiny Objects must be removed from day to day living. It is time to realize what path you are on and where it is leading you. Are you on a path for health and wellbeing or the sickness path?

Have you created your health and wellness goals? Do you have a plan on where you are going to be 20 years from now when it comes to your health? Creating this kind of goal will allow you to remain on your path and those Shiny Objects will not be a concern for you!

Creating a plan for health and wellbeing can be very simple. Create a list of 10 goals you would like to achieve for your health and wellbeing over the next year. Now pick three of those goals that are the most important for you right now. Make a Specific Plan on how you will achieve each of the three. The three are now your complete commitment and everything you did not circle becomes "avoid no matter what"! You now get to focus completely on your three until you succeed! It is really that Simple!

Allow today to be your day. Talk soon,

Wendy Bottrell,

Personal Trainer/Gluten Free Living Coach

http://wendybottrell.com/what-about-a-health-ribbon/

Improve Your Mind Power

Improve Mind Power Through These Natural And Simple Methods

by

J Wall

There are some simple, yet effective methods to improve mind power. Using these tools will impact your mind several times more than the amount of effort it requires to use them. They are also something you can do anytime and anywhere.

A crossword a day is a great tool for improving mind power and keeping age related decline away. Studies have shown that people who do some sort of mind puzzle or game tend to retain their cognitive abilities or even increase them well into their later years. Crosswords are a great tool that doesn't require a lot of time but actively works important parts of the brain that control thinking and recall.

You can do crosswords on the bus or train, while eating lunch or even during commercials while watching your evening TV programs. However, to make the most of them it is important to do them frequently, at least a couple times a week. Like regular exercise for the body, the mind works better when it is exercised regularly.

You can also improve mind power by what music you choose to listen to during the week. There seems to be a link between those who listen to complex music like Classical or perhaps even Jazz and increases in the brain's ability to do complex processes like math, logic problems, etc. Music of a complex structure works a number of areas of the brain effectively. Again, this is something you can do even in the background while performing other tasks.

Another tool is memorization. Memorizing your favorite poem, new vocabulary words, etc. also strengthens pathways in the brain and makes them more effective. Aside from improving mind power in general it also improves recall and if you are memorizing words....increases communication skills.

With memorization it is important that you use repetition, not just initially, but even after we've memorized something it is critical to go back and repeat it occasionally. Not only is repetition usually the way we memorize things, it also creates larger neural connections. Those larger connections are helpful in establishing better recall and improving mind power.

You can improve mind power through learning new skills as well. This is another two-for-one deal. If you already have something you are dying to learn...a new sport, dancing, or how to paint oils...you not only gain a new skill that you can use and enjoy you build up your mind as well. The process of learning new things keeps the mind fresh and helps retain ability as we age.

Eating right is another way to improve mind power. Healthy eating...getting more fruits and vegetables and lowering fat...is important in helping the brain to operate efficiently. Getting the right vitamins and minerals allows the brain to create important enzymes and neurotransmitters as well as fight off cellular decline and aging. Making a few changes in our diets will yield huge benefits.

However, if we can't get the right nutrients from our diet or if the foods you buy are nutrient deficient due to heavy farming or modern processing techniques you might want to consider a dietary supplement. Supplements are an easy way to boost your intake of nutrients and can often make up for what we're missing in our diets.

Using these steps to improve mind power is not something that takes a whole lot of time. All it really takes is willingness and commitment. The rewards are a stronger mind that will function longer as you age. None of us wants to have our minds give out early in our later years, so it is important that we take steps now to protect our cognitive abilities and strengthen our brains.

J. Wall has an avid interest in natural remedies for the treatment of memory loss. He is a regular contributor to the Improving Mind Power section of http://www.memory-enhancement-guide.com, a site dedicated to improving mental ability and cognitive function.