Free Download! A Fountain of Youth: How Yoga and Ayurveda Facilitate Healthy Aging

Throughout time, mankind has been searching for the elusive foundation of youth, a well-spring that could help us retain the well-being, vitality, and fully engaged life we enjoy in our younger years.

Well, that fountain of youth may not be an attractive fantasy, but rather, something that is actually within our reach, notes healthy aging expert Dr. Baxter Bell and Ayurveda health educator Melina Meza in this free download. 

It is a myth that we inevitably peak in our 40s and then begin the long, slow descent into old age with creaky joints, chronic pain, and reduced mobility, they note. We do have a choice in how the last 30 or so years of our lives play out. And, it’s not all about genetics. 

The key? The lifestyle choices we make. How we eat, how we manage stress, how much exercise we get, how well we sleep, how balanced our nervous system is - these factors are  ultimately just as important - if not even more - in determining whether we live our last third of our life enjoying good health and vitality - or not.  

The lifestyle choices we make, we might say, are indirectly like that secret fountain of youth. And this is where yoga and Ayurveda come in. Yoga and Ayurveda takes the science of making healthy lifestyle choices to a whole new level - showing how simple daily habits can help us achieve a whole new level of balance in body, mind and spirit. 

Current scientific thinking, they note, holds that a healthy person’s life span includes a long plateau of health and well-being in the last decades of life, which can go on well into old age and only drop off in the last couple of years of life. 

“The World Health Organization points out that 80% of cases of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and 40% of cancer risks can be reduced simply by making lifestyle changes,” notes Baxter. “With the known benefits of lifestyle medicine interventions such as yoga and Ayurveda, it’s clear that we can maintain a beautiful plateau of functioning and involvement in our lives and communities,” he says.

Gearing daily activities and habits to suit our evolving needs is key to a graceful third act, adds Melina. “Things change as we age, so it’s important to keep learning and pay better attention to ourselves,” she advises. Baxter and Melina list a number of simple habits and activities we can introduce that can make a real difference over time.

You might also be interested in Baxter and Melina’s course, Preparing for Your Third Act - Yogic and Ayurvedic Tips for Healthy Aging.