The Aging Process

I recently read an interesting article about 7 ways to keep your brain young. I’d like to summarize them for you here.

1. Surf

Did you know that surfing was good for your brain? No, not the kind you do in the ocean, but the Internet variety.

UCLA scientists tell us that searching the Net engages decision making and complex reasoning parts of our brain. Their studies found that Internet searching uses neural circuitry that’s not activated during reading – but only in people with prior Internet experience. It was shown that those who repeatedly do Internet searches use 3x more brain power than those who are using the Internet for the first time, so, it is important to spend time every day – or at least a few times a week regardless of the depth or seriousness of the topic.

2. Drink Sparingly

A lot of health related blogs and newsletters are touting the benefits of drinking red wine these days, but studies caution that alcohol consumption must be kept to no more than one drink a day in order to be effective for brain stimulation. There have been studies that show that too much alcohol actually decreases brain volumn. Women are more susceptible to this than men.

3. Exercise

We know that exercise is good for the cardiovascular system and to keep our bones healthy, but now we are being shown that regular workouts actually reverse the aging of the brain. Aerobic exercise has been shown to actually help sharpen thought. When the setting used to exercise is tree-lined and peace filled, memory tests even show greater improvement.

4. Eat Blueberries

New research continues to show that blueberries may help sharpen your thought processes. Oxidative stress can be counteracted by eating blueberries and researchers continue to show that blueberries contain chemicals that can ultimately improve both learning and memory. (I just ate some while writing this article – I’ll let you know!)

5. Play Sudoku

A mom, at the age of 91, remains mentally sharp and studies have also proved that older men and women who spend time doing brainteasers or games like Sudoku or the Crossword puzzle, significantly sharpen their mental abilities.

6. Meditate

A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston discovered that meditation not only reduces stress, but actually increase brain cortex growth which controls memory, language and sensory processing. It seems as though quieting the mind actually helps to improve mental acuity.

Just fifteen minutes a day can make a significant difference.

7. Dental Hygiene

This one surprised me most – brushing and flossing have actually been linked to cognitive health, according to a team of British psychiatrists and dentists. The subject studied were from 20 to 59 and the findings show that gingivitis and periodontal disease were associated with worse cognitive function throughout adult life – not just in later years.

 

Changing Goals in Youth and the Process of Aging
    The goal of youth is to learn to live in society. The goal as we age is to learn to debunk the rules we learned that may no longer serve us. Everyone has “unresolved issues” and things that are incomplete in the developmental cycle. If we haven’t faced those issues, the aging process itself will offer some experiences that give us the opportunity for finally transcending them. Of course, aging itself is a developmental opportunity and it is our spiritual task as we age to come to grips with the changes in our minds and bodies.

Going to the Doctors
    This past month I’ve had the opportunity to have conversations with several of my friends and clients who are over 50 and in the “process of aging.” None of us would say we are old; we are simply in that process!  One of the commonalities that I’ve noticed, now that many of us are no longer going to work each day is that we are all spending more time at the doctor’s office – or at multiple doctors’ offices or alternative practitioners. Some are going to oncologists, some cardiologists, gastroenterologists, physical therapists, chiropractors, and acupuncturists. But, the “complaint” is all the same. “It’s no fun getting old.”

Spiritual Lessons
    Because I’ve been writing about the process of aging and the spiritual lessons that it teaches, I couldn’t help but reflect on what lesson these visits are attempting to teach us.  Perhaps it has something to do with self-care? I wonder how many of us who find ourselves in this position really took the proper care of ourselves before this time. Perhaps we were too busy caring for others. Or, we were so busy working and making our mark in the world, that our self-care took a back seat. God helps those who help themselves. Love your neighbor as yourself. Hmm. Could these appointments be a call to greater self-love.

    Yesterday I met a 95-year young woman and asked her the secret to her exuberance and energy even at this age.  “That’s easy, she said. I love myself.”  It’s a point worth pondering.

    I’m certain that as I reflect more on this, I’ll find an even greater understanding of the spiritual principle behind “going to the doctors as we age.” Perhaps you have an insight you can share. Click below on the comment section and let me hear your thoughts on this. We can all grow together.

Aging is defined as “the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time.” In human beings the aging process refers to physical, psychological, and social changes that are occurring as we get older. Some of these factors will grow over time, while others will decline. Our knowledge of world events and general wisdom may expand while on the other hand, our reaction times may get slower. However, research has proven that there is still the potential of mental, physical, and social growth (as well as development) at a later stage in our lives.

The term “aging” is oftentimes relegated to ambiguity in that it can be used to denote universalaging or probabilistic aging. Universal aging refers to those changes that are common to all of us while we are aging. Probabilistic ageing generally refers to those changes that occur in some of us but is not common among all of us. As an example, some people develop Type II Diabetes while others don’t.

Aging may also be broken down between chronological,social, or biological ageing with chronological aging being the most straightforward definition of the term. Social aging generally refers to the way we act or behave as we grow older, whereas biological aging refers to the physical state of a person (or organism) upon growing older.

On a more technical note, there is also distal or proximal aging as well. Distal aging is used to refer to age-based differences that are traced back to physically altering events in a person’s life, such as polio. Proximal aging refers to age-based differences resulting from some event in the recent past. So as you can see, the term aging has become very ambiguous over time.

For all practical purposes, aging is one of those natural, if not sometimes harsh realities that we will all encounter in our lifetimes. How we handle the process, on the other hand, is another story. One can look at the aging process (somewhat aesthetically) as getting older versus growing older. Despite the fact that science and medicine have come up with a plethora of techniques and products to “hide” the aging process, we still need to realize that time marches on and that you cannot turn back the clock. So how do we differentiate between getting older and growing older?

When you are getting older, it simply means chronologically, or with age. With every second that passes, you are getting older and there is no altering that process. You can have all the face lifts you want or use all the anti-aging creams that you can get your hands on in order to hide the fact that you are getting older, but the harsh reality is that you’ll never be able to alter your age in numbers of hide it physically.

Where getting older takes on a more physical connotation, growing older is relative to mental aging or the level of maturity in which we handle getting older. It’s not only a mentality, it’s an attitude. Ever heard the expression “you’re only as old as you feel”? This is what it refers to — your ability to cope with the aging process from a mental or maturity level, hence the birth of the expression.

Pursuing proper learning regarding this avails us with the ability to cope with the aging process. Maturity relates to certain abilities in a person’s life. Appreciating the simpler things in life, seeing the positive in things rather than the negative, and learning how to interact with others as well as understanding their situation is all a part of the maturity process. But the bottom line is coping and preparing.

Having the proper attitude about getting or growing older, and knowing the difference is what will make the process easier to deal with. Resisting from a physical standpoint will only get more frustrating for you as time passes. The best attitude is to make the best of it and attempt to grow older as gracefully as possible.

 

David R. Michaels