Although I don’t mind becoming older, I mind being old. I want to stay young at heart and keep a vivacious spirit. I’m not alone in this. In a recent study, 60% of people 65 and over said they felt younger than they were. Compare that to the 25% of 18-29 year olds that said they feel older than they are! If you want to feel young at heart here are a few tips to encourage youthfulness in your body, mind and spirit.
Keep a Young Appearance
Your hair is your crown. Keep it clean, trimmed, and under control no matter what the length. The windswept looks is great for young people, but on our age group, it gives a disheveled and uncontrolled look, like life is getting the best of us. If you color your hair, add streaking. There is nothing that screams “dye job” than one-color hair.
Take care of your skin. On your face and neck, use a wrinkle preventer. At night use a product with retinol. When necessary, use a brown spot corrector. If you live in a very dry climate, you may need to use an additional moisturizer. In the shower, I use Souffle Salt Scrub for daily exfoliation. It leaves my skin feeling smooth and moist.
You should be good friends with your dentist. Clean, straight teeth serve you well in your later years. Straightening choices include Invisalign and other clear straighteners, as well as veneers. A periodontist can make sure that your gums are healthy enough to anchor your teeth. Newer options include implants for missing teeth. Dentures are way down on my list but are an option.
Neck exercises can help prevent jowls. Put your head back as far as you can. Pull your lower jaw forward. Relax, turn your head to the right and repeat. Relax, and turn your head to the left and repeat. You’ll be able to feel the muscles in your neck as they extend and relax. This is a great exercise to do in the shower!
Eat more plant-based foods. It’s good for your immune system, weight, blood pressure, and everything else about your body. It’s good for animals, too.
Keep Your Mind Young
Say It Aloud
You will find that when you express ideas, they come to fruition more easily. If I am procrastinating at doing something, I tell someone about it. I am more inclined to do it, to avoid embarrassment if nothing else, when people say, “I thought you said you were going to…”
If you are still mentally working on a problem and it is time for bed, don’t stay up all night worrying about the problem. Describe the problem out loud to the universe or higher power. A fresh perspective is always a good thing to use in problem-solving situations. You will find that group consciousness will give you a solution to a problem quicker than just trying to tough it out by yourself. Be logical. Get help!
Adopt a Stress Management Strategy
Stress not only brings wrinkles, it shortens your life. Stress takes a terrible toll on your immune system. Decide today to love your body and to ameliorate the stress in your life. The best way to do this is to change what you are doing. If you cannot change that, change how you react to it. Be slow to anger. Don’t make another person’s problem your problem. This is a free-will planet, and we are all in charge of ourselves. Retreat from someone else’s displeasure or bullying. Take as your mantra: “If I don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Be Thankful For What You do Have
Every day I talk to my DNA and my telomeres. I picture my DNA and I tell it that every day it is stronger and healthier, that I feel great. I picture my telomeres, which protect the ends of chromosomes from sticking to each other, and tell them that they grow longer at each cell division (they normally shorten) and stay active and useful. Is it working? I will probably never know. But I feel great and tend to have only minor physical issues. I thank my body for its good health. It responds by keeping me healthy.
Encourage a Young Spirit
Let’s go on a journey of the imagination. A lot of things make sense in life if we take into consideration that we might just possibly live more than one life on this good Earth. As much as our belief is that all men are created equal, that is not actually the case. Just look at us – we are not the same, even identical twins are not the same. We are born with different attributes – some people can sing, some people can compose entire symphonies in their heads, some people can write, paint, and study the laws of the universe. Where else do we get these talents but from previous lifetimes?
As Prime Women, we have a future. One that is crucial to the evolution of human society. We must increase our knowledge of the way the universe works, and to use this knowledge to create here in our world to benefit ourselves and others.
We must look ahead. What do we want to do in our future? As individuals, we want to be loved. We want to be healthy and fit. We want to be relevant. As a country, we want to be free. We want to be fair. We want to be at peace. What do we want to be as human beings? We want to be someone who matters and live lives that are moral and compassionate. Seek to fulfill these wishes, no matter what the state of our health or the number of gray hairs on our heads. Look to the future, and decide what you will be leaving the collective consciousness. Your legacy lives forever.
