None of us would want to stay alive forever if we were old and sick and in pain and lonely and depressed and all that. I would assume.
So how can we stay young and healthy indefinitely? I’m 54 myself, so I haven’t exactly proved one can live indefinitely, but I’ll have a go at putting together some thoughts about staying young that I have picked up from my own life and around the place. Here are some things we can do:
1. Work with our feelings
Physical aging is caused by suppressed feelings. As young children we most likely did not suppress our feelings, or not very much—but we were taught as we grew older that saying and showing exactly what we felt was definitely not on. So any therapies or methods for getting in touch with suppressed feelings and allowing them to flow through us will help restore health and youthfulness to the body.
2. Work with our intuition
An alive healthy person follows their intuition. They follow their gut feelings. Their intuitive promptings flowing through them and on into action are life itself flowing through them.
Anyone reading this blog would already be successful in life, so would already know how to follow their intuition in many areas of their life. The challenge, I think, is to start following intuition more in those areas where we are not yet reaching our potential.
We turn down intuitive prompts for all sorts of reasons—all of which boil down to fear of some sort. Then we get “logical” to justify not going with the intuition. It can be difficult to even know what is intuition and what is our other “voices”. There are lots of books, blogs and workshops around that help people learn to follow their intuition. I personally like Shakti Gawaine’s book ‘Living in the Light’, for this.
3. Change our thoughts
Top sportspeople practise “seeing” themselves winning—to make it come true. Top business people often have the same practice. The blogosphere is full of writings about how to attract success and abundance and anything else with our thoughts. It’s hardly a new idea that our life and reality is created by the thoughts we are putting out there.
So what effect would it have on us to believe we are going to die one day?
I’d suggest that believing death is inevitable is actually what causes all aging and death, ultimately. Because many subliminal, subconscious fears come into play and stop life flowing through us. And our hearts turn to escape, eventually.
An interesting exercise is to imagine for some time period—say, an hour or a day—that you are not ever going to die. And see how it feels, and if it sits right with you. It’s just an experiment.
It would be great to hear what you think—if you would like to write in the comments section below.
Cheers, Robin
photo by Thiru Murugan
Practical useful tips indeed!
Realizing the self helps us to understand this no age business. Then its ever fresh and alive. Even if the body catches up with age, the freshness and fragrance of the flower within radiates. Personally, i would recommend to give a try to turn within.
If I’m not ever going to die, then Social Security is definitely going to run out!
If anyone is sitting around thinking that death is inevitable, they’re not only causing death, but they’re not having much of a life either. I’ll try your one hour experiment.
Hello, you have a creative view on the topic and I like it very much. I assume that we learn to be old from old people. So why not learning to be young from young people?
Thank you for your comment in my blog – The Enhance Life.
I like the fact that you wrote about something that not many people talk about or afraid to talk about. Thinking about death and what life will hold for each of us can be rather scary sometimes 🙂
Robin,
You have a beautiful blog. I’d say that our life mirrors what our mind conceives. All we have to do is to affirm what we want in our life on a daily basis as a mantra. Man in Sanskrit mean Mind and tra means teachings. Teaching mind via a repetition is a great way to live healthy, happy life. Thanks for visiting my blog.
Needless to say, I’ve subscribed to your blog and I will come back later.
Shilpan
Well I was so blown away by the comments above (and a couple on the previous post) that I had to have a lie down this afternoon!
@mergingpoint – that is beautiful writing – thankyou
@Hunter Nutall – ha ha – we’ll take around the hat! Thanks for visiting!
@rainer – What a great perspective – I hadn’t thought of that!
@Shamelle – Thanks… I liked the cheerful tone of your blog! (especially the music with vegies)
@Shilpan – Thanks very much! And thankyou to you for your lovely and insightful comment.
Aloha Robin,
So very true and often a much ignored topic. After all, we are taught we can only live based on averages. And after a certain “age”…. well it’s all downhill, right?
Age is only a state of mind. I’m met much younger people who were mentally and physically “old”.
We all need to take time each day to find the child in us…
Thanks for popping by my blog and leaving such a thoughtful comment.
Blessings,
Rosa
These are great suggestions that will help optimize every moment, thanks for sharing.
Robin–I’m with you on #3…Changing your thoughts and controlling works!
I do have a problem with #2 beacause I have a difficulty following my intuition because I over think sometimes…I need to work on this.
Just a word to Chris first: regarding thinking, bear in mind that we rarely have all the information on which to base a logical decision. That’s why it often makes more sense to use intuition.
Robin – I think your first point is very important. Eckhart Tolle says: “The ageing process slows down if we carry less of our past around with us.”
It makes sense! If we’re suffering every day because of things we regret having done many years ago, it’s bound to take a toll on our bodies and minds.
Thanks everyone—I needed to have another lie down (just kidding)
@Rosa – I agree finding our playful child is important – Thanks for your comment
@Mark – Thanks for visiting!
@Chris – good luck with developing your intuition!
@Simon – thanks for your insights!
great post… i truly agree with your post…
Hi Robin,
If I leave a comment, are you going to go for another lie down? 🙂 I guess that’s not a bad thing.
I do agree, we can think ourselves old just by our thoughts. Doesn’t it hold true, we’re only as old as we feel?
Barbara Swaffords last blog post..Casual Friday – Open Mic
@rhosie – thanks rhosie
@Barbara – ha de ha ha… that’s funny! And thanks for coming in here with a bit more to add!
Very interesting. I’ve always looked about 10 years younger than I am, but I don’t think I did any of those things. Maybe I could increase it to 20 by doing them? I can see I’m going to have to hang around here a lot more.
More seriously, the deaths of my two beloved dogs still weighs heavily on me. None of your points really applies (not that you intended them to). Dogs already express their feelings in a healthy way and go with their intuitions.
Dots last blog post..Weeping Willow
Robin,
I am learning that the best way I can stay young is to build flexibility. Of course, we think of yoga and stretching as good ways to stay physically flexible, but cultivating mental flexibility–the ability to change–is equally important to me.
My challenge at present is cars. Throughout my adult life, cars were always the ultimate status symbol. When I had a good year, my car reflected it. When I had to retrench economically, my wheels became much more modest!
I am contemplating a time in the not so distant future when I will go completely ‘carless’ for a time, just to find out what it feels like. In anticipation of that, I have been going through all sorts of life changing attitude shifts from: ‘what will people think’ to ‘what can I learn from this new situation?’
I’ll keep you posted! G.
Graces last blog post..The Holy Ones