Proactive Anti-Aging – Brain Power - Does White Matter Really Matter?

 

 

 

 

Here’s another reason to keep active. Studies show that older adults who are active regardless of type (light, moderate of vigorous) have more white matter in the structure of their brains. But what does this mean? White matter connects the grey matter (cell bodies) of our brains and carries nerve impulses between the nerves. More white matter increases the speed of the transmission. Those with more white matter scored higher on mental test than those with less. What scientist discovered was those with more white matter had more brain variability. Brain variability is associated with greater cognitive functioning. Scientist used blood oxygen levels to measure cognitive  functioning of older adults and found that it’s not how hard you work, but how active you are that counts when it comes to increased brain power.

So go ahead and thumb your nose at all those young tech savvy kids sitting for hours glued to their computers and smart phones. Get moving and grooving and you will add variability to your thought processes at accelerated speed because when it comes to the brain power (and wisdom) white matter matters!

Doctor Lynn

http://www.facebook.com/DrLynnAnderson

You Earned It - Proactive Anti-Aging

 

 

 

 

 

Last week I worked seven days in a row. This week I really feel it. It’s not that I didn’t feel it when I was younger. It’s just that now I have no problem kicking back and slowing down. I don’t want to push, compete, run, worry and stress anymore.  Stressful worry adds years to your life. Putting your feet up and taking a breath adds health to your life. I’ll take health over years any day.

I’m trying to do a project using the computer and I must say I am at a loss. What I really want to do is hire some young kid to come in and solve my problem while I have my feet up, breathing and may-be even sipping a glass of wine.

I taught my classes this week and did a talk radio interview. After each class I found myself wanting to take a break.  I’m pacing myself by taking time to put up my feet, take a breath, sip a glass of wine and smugly smile because I know that the best thing I can do for my health is to take a proactive approach to aging; I’ll get to it, whatever it is,  when I feel like it. Put your feet up and smile.  You earned it!

Doctor Lynn

Proactive Anti-Aging - Purifying the Soul

 

 

 

 

 

They say that a drenching of water from the Ganga River in India will purify the soul. It is also said that adventure awakens and enlightens the soul. If you want to stay young you have to be willing to venture out and attempt to do something that expands your horizon. But it must be done with care and a little thought.

When chronologically young we feel the invincibility of youth. Everything is a new challenge. Experience is yet to be earned. As we age we begin to pay for our youthful escapades.  There are the  times when we jumped head on into rollicking and rolling feats that left us in our later years with memories of pain and arthritic tenderness as our badge and testament of our courage or stupidity. Experience teaches us that sometimes it is best to pause for a moment and assess the situation before jumping in. Maturity teaches us to evaluate the risk.

As I arrived in Rishikesh India and headed for my lodging at the upper end of the Ganga River I was met by a group of young water sports guides. They greeted me with such enthusiasm as they informed me that part of my stay included a rafting trip down the Ganga. OMG I thought, can I really do this?

There were two levels of rafting. One was a short four mile easy ride and the other was a sixteen mile rather intense ride. I opted for the short ride. Suited and ready to go my team mates (all three about thirty-five) kept pestering me to complete the full ride. They needed me to balance out the raft and to balance out the energy and fun. So after the first four miles will little more than a bit of paddling and one small set of rapids I was easily persuaded to finish the sixteen mile ride. OMG I was now committed.

Three hours, sixteen miles and about ten really wild rapids later I finished the ride soaked from the Ganga River. I purified my soul and awakened it to the youthful joy of doing something for the first time that left a lasting impression on my being.  I’m not invincible and I know enough to pick my challenges wisely.  I am strong and in good shape so I knew I could handle the job of navigating the rapids on the Ganga. I also knew my soul felt free flowing with the river in the midst of nature on a beautiful spring day in the land of peace and serenity. Now I can honestly say the Ganga purified, awakened and enlightened my soul and that is proactive anti-aging at its best!

Doctor Lynn    

http://www.facebook.com/DrLynnAnderson

A Sense of Adventure – Proactive Anti-Aging

 

 

 

There’s nothing like a great adventure to keep you feeling young and vibrant. Adventure instills curiosity and curiosity is one of the nectars of youth. They say it killed the cat, but I’m not sure what that means? Wouldn’t it kill the cat more to be lazy and complacent?  The rest of the proverb says that satisfaction brought the cat back.  The proverb actually means that worry kills the soul and satisfaction brings it back.

I’m ready for some satisfaction. I am off to India for three weeks so I won’t be blogging here, but will be posting on Facebook so please join me as I journey through India. http://www.facebook.com/DrLynnAnderson

 A sense of adventure and curiosity are what keep us vibrant and moving. And that is the secret to proactive anti-aging.

 Namaste

Doctor Lynn

Rattle Them Bones -Proactive Anti-aging

 

 

The mind has a wonderful way of aging. It mellows, matures and through experience develops a sense of wisdom. It learns to laugh, appreciate and anticipate.  The soul never ages. It just grows. It remains both playful and curious while observing and acknowledging the lessons of life. But the body is something different. Left to its own devise it weakens and deteriorates. We need to direct the body towards health and fitness so that we can experience quality of life. The number one predictor of a loss of independence is bone weakness. The bones are the skeletal frame of your body. But when we think about the bones we don’t think about the importance of the joints. The joints are what allow us to move. Joints are the connecting points between two bones. Some are small, some are large. Some move a lot and some move very little.

In our western culture we are beginning to lose some of the functioning of our larger joints such as the shoulders and the hips. As a result the smaller joints such as the elbows, wrists and ankles are taking on a larger load. So to maintain and improve our physical functioning we need to accentuate the movement of these larger joints. That is exactly what we do in Doctor Lynn’s Anti-Aging Yoga Dance. Today let’s work on building strength, flexibility and balance into the joints and the bones of our body

Just like the body the mind is the connecting point between actions and words. Some thoughts are small and some are large. Some thoughts move a lot and some move very little. As we move through life, body, mind and soul it is important to remember that quality of life means the ability to approach life with a sense of balance, flexibility, strength and peace.

Namaste

Doctor Lynn

http://www.facebook.com/DrLynnAnderson

Proactive Anti-Aging- The value of saying no

 

 

 

 

Projects mounting, responsibilities overwhelming and little time to relax are all precursors to a stress attack and stress is one of the major accelerators of aging. Taking on too much can cause physical and mental turmoil. We all do it. Sometimes at different levels, but the result is the same. For some of us the stress threshold is higher. But whatever your threshold overwhelming pressure will take its toll on your health. The best thing to do is learn to say, “No.” It’s simple. Just say it.

Last week with looming deadlines and new projects evolving I found myself confronted with the need to say, no, to my friends and my family, as well as extra work. It is a word I learned to use a few years ago when someone taught me the value of saying, no. I was constantly being thrust into stressful situations with people, who were shall we say, people with unhealthy attitudes about boundaries and social interactions. What my mentor taught me was that I did not have to do anything I didn’t want to do. I had the right to say, “no.” So now, no, easily rolls off my lips without guilt and I move onto the things that must get done, that I want to do and the things that make me want to say, “yes.” 

Both no and yes for me are two very wonderful proactive anti-aging words!

Doctor Lynn

http://www.facebook.com/DrLynnAnderson

It’s Grey Day – Proactive Anti-Aging

Your chance of going gray increases 10-20% every decade after 30 years. YIKES! That means under this disguise of blond I’m 30-60% grey! But why? Initially, hair is white. It gets its natural color from a type of pigment called melanin. The formation of melanin begins before birth. The natural color of our hair depends upon the distribution, type and amount of melanin in the middle layer of the hair shaft or cortex.

Ok so I start out with white hair and I will end up with white hair. Who put that plan into action? With the white and grey beginning to sprout I’m off to the hairdresser for a much needed toucher up. I wish I could go grey, but vanity will not allow me to give way to my fading melanin. Although I have seen some beautiful grey and white hair it does somehow date you. My girlfriends agree. We’re just not ready to be old, and grey hair somehow symbolizes being old.

It’s all about the hair. We spend hundreds of dollars to keep our locks looking stylish and sleek. Three hours in the hairdresser’s chair may be torture but it is time well spent. Then we spend hundreds of dollars on hair products to keep the hair soft and frizzy free.  It would be so much cheaper and time efficient to just let the hair do its natural thing and go back to the beginning; the white purity of a new life. If only the skin would also go back to the smoothness of a babies butt, I’d buy into the white hair. Oh how happy I would be. White hair and baby smooth skin…ok if I can get that deal I’ll give up the blond and go white. Now that’s real vanity!

Doctor Lynn

http://www,doctorlynn.com