On longevity…it I have come to the realization that what I mean by ageless, doesn’t correlate with longevity per say, because in my understanding and in my research, it doesn’t matter if you can stay cognitively healthy, with a strong body, if you’re miserable…….if you’re constantly tormented with worry, anger, sadness, and judgement, what’s the point of living long??..
I see living agelessly as living til the end of our life span with wonder, well-being and flourishing, knowing that happy moments come and they go, and negative emotion can have a very short half-life,
if you no longer allow yourself to get lost in thought about why you are angry or sad or whatever….. and always recommitting to joy as our baseline…..This is what I deeply want for folks.
You are the chronological age you are—period. Yet those thoughts swirling around inside and outside of your head are ageless. You’re the perfect age right here in this moment, and your body, scientists are proving, can be biologically younger!
Identify yourself in what Lao-tzu calls “the subtle realm,” or the invisible domain of Spirit, with thoughts like these: I am ageless, and I can train my body to work with me in achieving anything I can conceive of in my mind. There’s nothing about my age today that prohibits me from fulfilling my dreams.
Every morning when I get up, I say, ‘this is going to be the best day of my life’” This was the incredible intentional mindset that led the 101 year, well-lived life of Tao Porchon-Lynch (also known as the world’s oldest yogi,
and what I recently found out is that she lived very close to where I have lived for the past 20 years and taught yoga at a nearby community center until age 93). She was the prime example for the idea that age doesn’t matter when you choose to keep learning new things, stay active, and stay positive. Tao took up ballroom dancing at the age of 87 and even performed on America’s Got Talent.
Although her dance partners were often more than 70 years younger than her, she kept up with their pace and danced passionately. What I have learned about Tao, it’s that she lived life to the fullest and did whatever she wanted to do even despite the limitations (something like 4 hip replacements, but don’t quote me on that stat, please:) To her, limitations could be overcome(and they were) if you believed in yourself. She cherished every moment doing what she loved and spent time with the people she loved.
My morning motto comes from poet Rainer Maria Rilke “TO BE HERE IS GLORIOUS”, now that is something I might consider getting tattooed on my arm, lol, and feel free to borrow it!
