Your As Young As You Feel

We all have times when we feel stressed, bored, old and dull. As I have discovered for myself and for my clients, the best way to get our youthful juices flowing is by pumping some good endorphins back into the body. The optimum way to achieve this is with more laughter, good exercise, healthy natural food, love and fresh air. Use these as tools to create distance between you and your troubles, and then you can start to work out what actually makes you happy. And happiness is the secret to youthfulness!

These simple steps outlined here are my tips to help you begin to look inwards. You will find that as your mind becomes more insightful, you find the space to think about your life, what you have right now and how you want your life to turn out. You will feel happier and remain youthful on the inside and out. Worry, negative thoughts and stress are the worst culprits for ageing.

Start turning the volume down in your head. Begin by learning the gentle art of meditation to find some peace and quiet, even for just 20 minutes every day. Research has shown that meditation brings down your stress levels, lowers blood pressure, and helps maintain a strong immune system. It tames the wild horses in your head that create and embed deep worry lines. To meditate, sit comfortably when and where you won’t be disturbed, and close your eyes. Focus on your breath, in and out of the nose. The mind will naturally wander, particularly towards your anxieties, but keep drawing your thoughts back to your breath. The breath is your life force, feel it, live it. Without manipulating the breath, simply notice the sensation of the breath, in and out of the nostrils. Then start to extend the length of the in-breath and a little while later the out-breath, building up to a count of 10 in and 10 out.

Create a positive self-image. Think happy, positive thoughts. The link between negative thoughts and disease and ageing of the body is startling and comes with scientific backing. In his book “It’s the Thought that counts”, Dr David Hamilton talks about research done in 2004 by scientists from the California Pacific Medical Centre, the Institute of Noetic Sciences and MD Anderson Cancer Centre at the University of Texas. They found that practitioners of qigong could influence the growth of cultured human brain cells. Each practitioner, for a period of 20 minutes, directed healing intentions towards the cells and was able to increase their rate of growth. One explanation for how this works is that, in addition to the production of neuropeptides (happy hormones), mental intention directs the flow of energy around the body. Negative thinking blocks this energy.

Take daily exercise. The non-competitive mind-body connection of yoga strengthens the body and soothes the mind. Regular yoga practitioners ooze vitality and boast good health. The physical work of my Warrior Yoga tones the body and develops core strength – use it to develop your own inner warrior to help you cope with whatever life throws at you. I recommend daily practice of Sun Salutes – a clip showing this sequence can be found on my website podcasts at www.warrioratwork.com

Simply be… never feel guilty about doing nothing. This is essential time for the body to kick-start itself into full repair. Doing nothing and giving yourself a breather helps you reflect and re-group your thoughts, making your next actions more focused and efficient. Take memory snapshots of what you love in your life - your children, your home, your family. We don’t realise how successful or happy we are because we simply don’t allow ourselves the time to absorb what we have. Focus on what went right!

Eat right - you reflect what you eat. We all know it - eat slowly and savour your food, taking time to chew the food. Most of the time we eat too quickly and often during times of stress or anxiety, we eat without thinking. Maintain a peaceful attitude during eating – yes, you read that right. Monks eat in silence! Not what we are used to nor is it practical most of the time but just watch someone who is ranting whilst eating, it’s not very pleasant.

Eat to live but love your food. Try and eat what is in season – it is not only healthier and the way nature intended but also cheaper than buying imported food.

Get plenty of fresh air. Even when the weather is dull or wet, make time, put on your wellies and go walking. It clears the mind and can be a form of meditation. I recall one evening, when it felt like my world was falling apart, walking in the pouring rain. Initially I was crying but before I knew it I was shrieking with laughter as I looked up in the sky. Soaked to the skin I walked home, ran a bath, lit a candle, poured a large glass of wine, and counted my blessings.

Stay calm. When you want to react to a bad situation, slow down, take some deep breaths and pause. Most of the time we fly off the handle and react in the wrong way, then regret it. Calm people look younger, their faces smoother, they have less of the stress hormone, cortisol, flying through their bodies. Excess cortisol leads to lowered immunity, faster decline of the cells in the body and even increased body fat – so slow down!

Do what you are doing: Adapt the Zen of learning: When reading, read; When talking, talk; When thinking, think; When writing, write; When breathing, breathe; When resting, rest; When learning, learn. Learning can be your way to discover you. At the end of the day, have some fun and don’t take life too seriously!

Vivienne Alves is a Yoga expert and teacher based in West Sussex, and founder of Warrior at Work. Visit Viv’s web site at www.warrioratwork.com for more information