A New Year’s Resolution That Will Keep You Young

The secret of the Fountain of Youth is that you have to swim across it — it is the swimming, the exercise, that produces the youth. My yoga teacher was in her mid-70’s when I first started classes 15 years ago and she still looks fit and healthy today. But if yoga isn’t your choice for a New Year’s resolution, search inside to find the type of exercise that you will enjoy and stick with, because exercise is as close to the Fountain of Youth that has ever been found.

Whether you take a walk around the block to enjoy the fresh air, join a Zumba class for the social get-together and great music, or go roller-blading because it reminds you of the thrill of your first skates, every move will bring you closer to rejuvenation.

Exercise boosts wellness and youthfulness because it works on the cellular level, on the mitochondria — where the body combines nutrients with oxygen to keep you going.

As we age, if our mitochondria dwindle and become less effective, our brains shrink, our  hair turns gray and falls out, it hurts to get out of our chairs. Well, science has proven that these changes are not inevitable. If you keep active, you may be able to offset much of this decline.

A medical researcher said, “The recipe for healthy aging is very simple, and that’s exercise. The problem is that most people find it a difficult recipe to follow.”

The secret is to find an exercise that you love to do. For instance, I live in Hawaii near a warm ocean pond because I love to swim whatever the weather, rain or shine. It makes me remember the childhood joy of going to the beach in summer and splashing in the waves, so I swim and snorkel as often as possible.

How can you find the right exercise that you will stick to? Let’s try a short creative visualization… Take a few deep breaths to relax, then close your eyes and think back to an activity that was enjoyable, that was fun for you. Whatever it was, imagine a near-equivalent that you could do today. Imagine doing it, smiling, maybe even laughing with joy. Take a few deep breaths, wiggle your fingers to bring you back to the present moment, and now call a friend to invite them to join you in your new activity. Someone who will support you in your goal to get healthier and turn back the clock.

Tomorrow – another suggestion on my countdown to a Fabulous New Year!

Namaste,

Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

http://www.thechakras.org

How to Diet Through the Holidays and Stay Healthy Too

Dear Becca,
In addition to eating the right foods to balance an unbalanced chakra, can you offer any other advice on the right diet for optimum health, especially during the holidays when “poor” food choices and habits are the order of the day?

Dana in Denver

Dear Dana,
Using “food as medicine,” and diagnosis of the correct foods for each person’s constitution and body type is a major focus of Ayurveda and can help answer that question. Ayurveda, derived from the ancient Sanskrit roots, ayus (life) and ved(knowledge), is the traditional system of holistic healing from India. In Ayurveda, all aspects of an individual are considered and treatment is prescribed to bring balance to all levels of life: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
“One need not be sick to come for an Ayurveda consultation, as we suggest the proper diet to live 100 years without having diseases,” according to Dr. S. K. Kamlesh, a seventh-generation Ayurvedic doctor, and Founder and President of the International Society of Ayurveda. According to Dr. Kamlesh, the appropriate diet to balance the three physical doshas or energies of the body – Vata, Pitta and Kapha – can help to promote health and longevity.
Through the practices of Ayurveda, a person is requested to get involved more and take responsibility for their own healing. Seasonal cleansing and rejuvenation, as well as appropriate diet, are suggested to maintain health and to slow aging.
If you’d like to pursue that path, I’d recommend a personal health consultation with an Ayurvedic physician. After a diagnostic check to find any health problems in the body’s organs and determine an individual’s percentage of Vata, Pitta and Kapha energies in their body, you would be provided a personalized diet program, with suggestions of foods, herbs, spices, aromatherapy oils and supplements for healing.
Namaste!

Lose Weight, Look More Youthful, Eliminate Pain-Use the 5 Tibetan Rites to Stimulate the Circulation of Your Essential Life Energy

Developed thousands of years ago by Tibetan monks to slow aging, increase energy, calm the mind and strengthen the body, the 5 Tibetan Rites are once-secret, ancient yoga-like poses .

The secret to the 5 Tibetan Rites was unveiled in the 1930’s when a retired British army officer discovered a remote Tibetan monastery where the monks were rumored to have discovered the legendary Fountain of Youth. The remarkably old, yet amazingly healthy monks claimed that the secret to reversing aging lay in the five special movements they performed daily. The officer learned these exercises from the monks and taught them to Peter Kelder, who documented them in the book “The Ancient Secrets of the Fountain of Youth.”

Practitioners reported improvements in strength, endurance, and energy, relief from joint pain and headaches, better memory and vision, weight loss and even a more youthful appearance.

According to Jo Caron, a certified Kripalu yoga instructor in Hawaii, the 5 Rites were meant to stimulate the energy centers of the body, the chakras, by speeding up and coordinating their spin. She recommends focusing on each chakra during a repetition of the exercises for increased benefits. Activating the chakras stimulates all the glands of the endocrine system, so the 5 Rites in effect, benefit the body’s overall functioning and aging process. The man who brought these 5 Rites to the West, stated that, “Performing the 5 Rites stimulates the circulation of essential life energy throughout the body.”

Write and tell us about your progress. Namaste, Becca Chopra, http://www.TheChakras.org