{"id":6138,"date":"2019-01-14T19:18:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-15T00:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theyogasanctuary.biz\/staging\/?p=6138"},"modified":"2023-07-31T12:02:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T16:02:13","slug":"forever-young-maintaining-and-restoring-your-vitality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/forever-young-maintaining-and-restoring-your-vitality\/","title":{"rendered":"Forever Young: Maintaining and Restoring Your Vitality"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Carrie Demers, MD<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n

\"Dr.As a culture, we are obsessed with looking young.\u00a0 We dye our hair, whiten our teeth, use botox, have surgeries!\u00a0 – all attempts to hide the signs of our encroaching age.\u00a0 However, what we are truly seeking is not to look younger, but to feel <\/em>younger.\u00a0\u00a0 We want to be vibrant and healthy, strong and confident,\u00a0 vigorous and purposeful.\u00a0 These states, yoga and Ayurveda say, are our birthright.\u00a0 Our bodies and minds are capable of youthful resilience at every age.<\/p>\n

Ayurveda<\/a>, the sister-science to yoga and the traditional medical system of India, insists we\u00a0 can retain our vigor if we are willing to pay attention to the way we live.\u00a0 As we age, we can get stuck in old, unhealthy habits, that cause us to accumulate toxins, and sap our energy.\u00a0 In this state, it is easy to surrender to the societal belief that \u201cwithering with age\u201d is inevitable.\u00a0 But Ayurveda doesn\u2019t accept this verdict.\u00a0 Instead, it recommends that we rejuvenate ourselves by dropping the habits that siphon off our energy in favor of habits that support the body\u2019s natural intelligence and healing capacity.\u00a0 Perhaps we stop overstimulating ourselves with caffeine and electronic media (constantly!).\u00a0 Perhaps we take more seriously our nutrition and exercise requirements.<\/p>\n

Modern medicine is beginning to see the value in Ayurveda\u2019s approach.\u00a0 There is mounting evidence that diet, lifestyle, sleep and stress reduction are our fountains of youth!\u00a0\u00a0 These basics help keep our nervous and endocrine (hormone) systems in balance, which then support the rest of our systems in staying healthy.\u00a0\u00a0 Science is also studying the importance of our microbiome and digestive capacity – and its far-reaching effects on every other system, including our minds.\u00a0\u00a0 Dementia is an epidemic – but studies are showing that mild cognitive impairment can be reversed <\/em>with a lifestyle approach that includes daily relaxation\/yoga practices, whole foods diet, and regular aerobic exercise – and in some cases, some basic supplements as needed (Vitamin D, turmeric, CoQ10, anti-oxidants, probiotics).\u00a0 [https:\/\/www.alzheimersweekly.com\/2014\/10\/25-ways-to-mend-memory.html]<\/p>\n

Modern medicine agrees with Yoga and Ayurveda about another approach to well-being: meditation. Multiple scientific studies show that meditation is good for our brains and our peace of mind (yay!) – but science tends to sidestep the why of that.\u00a0 Ayurveda and Yoga are more able to address the spiritual effects of meditation, and how it helps us connect to a deeper dimension of our selves.\u00a0\u00a0 They tell us that awareness of this part – our true nature – taps us into an immense, inexhaustible\u00a0 well of energy, vibrancy, intuitive wisdom, and joy.\u00a0 The catch is that it takes determination\u00a0 – and regular practice! – to establish and maintain that connection.\u00a0 But over time, with consistency, the fruits of our practice become more and more evident.\u00a0 We become clear, purposeful, compassionate, vibrant and joyful.\u00a0 Even post-retirement!<\/p>\n

The external world makes demands on our energy and time.\u00a0 And it is easy to keep our vision focused outward – and spend all our energy there.\u00a0\u00a0 But ultimately, the internal world gives us more return on our investment.\u00a0\u00a0 It is there, at the core of our being that we abide\u2014ageless, limitless, and eternally vital.\u00a0 If this is to be an experience rather than an act of faith, we must turn our attention inward and meet ourselves there at the center of all that is. That is the purpose of life and the gift of meditation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Carrie Demers, MD As a culture, we are obsessed with looking young.\u00a0 We dye our hair, whiten our teeth, use botox, have surgeries!\u00a0 – all attempts to hide the signs of our encroaching age.\u00a0 However, what we are truly seeking is not to look younger, but to feel younger.\u00a0\u00a0 We want to be vibrant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[102,129,114],"tags":[168,216,43,218,217,64],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6138"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6145,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6138\/revisions\/6145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theyogasanctuary.biz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}