Are You Ageing Well?
It’s March, and this is my first blog for the year. Yikes! Where has the time gone???
I’m now the type of person that has started saying ‘where has the time gone’ about my life. I’ll be 46 in a couple of weeks! My daughter will be 5 this year and my son 3. Despite having tried to look after my health and wellbeing as much as possible since my 20’s I’m definitely starting to ‘feel’ my age.
I want to feel well, energetic, vital, happy, sexy, agile and strong for as long as possible. I’ve been inspired by a book called The New Rules of Ageing Well by Dr Frank Lipman. It contains a simple blueprint for ageing optimally and becoming your own personal wellness coach. So, even me, Shiatsu Therapist and Wellness Consultant extroadinaire, is going to have to make changes to prevent injury, build resilience and be open to new approaches and new behaviours.
Ageing is unavoidable but the symptoms of it are not. Chinese medicine has much wisdom around physiological processes and staying vital and strong decade after decade. And, now, modern science backs up this ancient wisdom.
Any symptom of ageing is actually a call to action to change your lifestyle so you can become the healthiest you’ve ever been. The ordinary choices you make each day can have extra-ordinary effects on your overall health.
In your 40’s and 50’s your body shifts into maintenance mode. It’s not producing and growing anymore so there is a shift in hormones and cellular function is less efficient. You can’t be cavalier with your body anymore. If you are your organs and other systems underperform and over time your immunity weakens. Blaming your family genes for how you are going to age is not acceptable. How family members aged is useful information to help you make the right lifestyle choices.
Building Immune Resilience
With new viruses like covid appearing it is critical to prioritise immunity and overall wellness. Many immune cells turn over every month but how well they function is directly related to how you take care of yourself. How and when you eat, how much sleep you get and what type of exercise you do all impacts your immune system. To keep it operating optimally you want to make sure your body’s ability to clean up cellular waste is working well. This is called autophagy.
Tuning into the larger cycles of nature - day and night, change of season - as well as your own body clock (circadian rhythm) can help all your systems work efficiently. This means you are working with the current rather than fighting the tide making it so much easier to age well.
Nurturing Longevity Genes
Have you heard of Sirtuins? Sirtuins are a family of seven SIRT enzymes found in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and mitochondria of human cells. These enzymes perform many functions that are associated with increased longevity and they also increase autophagy (cellular housekeeping). Helping to regulate longevity gene pathways through healthy habits can not only extend your life span but also expand your “health span”. Now, it is also possible through the science of nutrigenomics to support sirtuitions through supplementation.
Small healthy stresses also nurture your longevity genes. This is called hormesis. Some examples include fasting for a short time, biking up a brief, steep hill, 30 seconds of cold at the end of your shower.
Mitochondria and Telomeres
Mitochondria are the energy powerhouses of the cells. And, just like a mobile phone battery, over time they don’t work as well and don’t recharge as well.
Autophagy, cellular waste disposal, helps mitochondria stay strong which makes you feel and look better. As mitochondria are a representative of energy I consider them to be the functional basis for the Yang Qi of the body. If you’re getting good sleep but are feeling tired in the morning or throughout the day then from a Shiatsu perspective I’d be looking at how your yang is functioning. And, how much damp (cellular waste) is hanging around in your body.
Telomeres are the caps on the ends of the DNA strands. A recent Harvard study brought to light the importance of long, strong telomeres in relation to youthfulness and good health. Bad habits shortern telomeres whereas healthy lifestyle choice keep them long and strong as long as possible.
Over the next year I’ll be building on these concepts with each blog so that together we can implement the right habits that keep authophagy kicking in daily, make our mitochondria efficient, maintain our telomeres, minimise inflammation, build immune resilience and much more.
Together, let’s feel well, energetic, vital, happy, sexy, agile and strong for as long as possible. Healthy ageing in 2023.