Aging Gracefully

• Be graceful, not just grateful: both these words have the same etymological root. But what is it that makes being graceful better than just being grateful? Thankfulness, or gratefulness, means you appreciate all that you have. It is almost self-congratulatory, as in you self-proclaim knowing yourself in a position to be thankful, as in having someone or something you should appreciate having. And we all have things to be grateful about, more or less. But gracefulness, instead, is what makes others thankful for having come across us. In other words, grace is something you cast upon others; it is sort of an aura, the persona, and personality but above all, a person. When people see someone, they often just see their persona, especially in the stages prior to meeting them or seeing what they’re really about; when they get to meet them, they may discover their personality, leaving the first impressions of a “persona” behind. If they get to know them on a more personal level, they ultimately get in touch with the person, the real one behind all those other characteristic layers. The word person, etymologically speaking, means a mask, the wooden type that actors wore to make the sound of their voice resonate off the stage. Being grateful -or thankful, for that matter -is easy, and somewhat self-absorbed, it has a narcissistic ring to it. Gracefulness takes more, it demands to develop charm, inner glow, kindness, personality traits that are admired and worth having take time, keen introspection, self-development. 

• Nutrition: eat nutritiously, that’s it. It means more whole foods, the closer to nature, the better. That is more fruits and vegetables, grains, brown rice, beans, etc. Avoid processed foods, fats, salt, or sweets. Of these, salt is necessary, but in small amounts. On the same note, however good you eat, it can only be enhanced by intermittent fasting. Japanese cell biologist  Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2016 for his research on cell regeneration through a process known as autophagy which fasting activates. 

• Sleep: it is a no-brainer. Sophia Loren used to claim that she owed her aging gracefully to sleeping well. Studies in the science of sleep have found that sleep strengthens the immune system. During sleep, our brain detoxifies, memory restoration occurs, even fending off cancerous growths. Quality is just as important as quantity here, you need both: to sleep a long night through and to make sure that it is in a comfy environment, cool temperature, etc. Easy yoga can help put you out in record time.

• No sunbathing: Stay away from the sun, as in tanning; it may look good but it is the microscopic equivalent of frying your skin. It accelerates the aging process tenfold. You do need the sunlight, but it’s enough to get it under trees on a sunny day. Always wear a hat and do not think that sun blocker creams will do the trick. No cosmetics, either: it ages your skin to be exposed to so many chemicals all throughout your life. You need your natural fatty oils; it’s not that some of these products do not work. On the contrary, they sometimes work only too well. But then your skin gets used to it and when it goes without, it relapses and suffers. It no longer wants to create its own to make up for the difference. That’s how those products work. 

• Drama: Emotions age you, the hysterical kind. The ones that you make faces, the overwhelming ones, the exhausting ones. But above all, stay away from anger and melodramatic people. They are toxic. Keep your distance, if you cannot altogether extricate them. Misery loves company. Stress and anxiety management. No jealousy. No possessiveness. No worries. Enough said. A lot of misery stems from long-term, anxiety-filled drama engage in interpersonal relationships, reenacting the failed parental approach at balancing child bearing, work, intimacy, no romance can survive emotional artillery coming from all fronts. On top of it being difficult enough as it, we're inducted into social roles and gender biases meant to farther alienate us. Gender roles, sexual orientation, expectations, finances, frustration, give our sex lives a chance if we're fortunate to find someone we love spending time with more than spending time alone. Those who cannot retire the their own selves and enjoy their solitude cannot make good company. For if you can't rejoice in your own, how can you be any good to someone else? 

• Hydrate yourself. Water, not too much, not too little. Often it is misinterpreted. People drink perhaps too much of it. Just drink water, no juice or soda which have tons of sugars and other bad stuff. 

• Meditate: meditation is, without a doubt, the unspoken new contender when it comes to rejuvenating methods. It comes with all the things that only good sleep habits can summon. But it adds serenity that helps you cope with the undesirable elements in life whether it is other people or conditions. Meditation centers us in the present which is the place to be in order to enjoy our youthfulness. What good is it to be aging well if you cannot appreciate being in this moment what you have? It not only serves well in centering us, it keeps us upbeat and focused, goal-oriented. Meditation is a lot like prayers on steroids. 

• Exercise. Need I say more? We often mistake exercise with losing weight. But that is not what exercise is for. Exercise may keep at bay unwanted fat, it does assist in keeping a healthy weight but more than that it invigorates the brain. A happy brain means an overall healthy body, skin deep. It builds character. Who wants to be a wimpy health nut?

• Reduce or eliminate altogether drugs like caffeine, alcohol, and above all cigarette smoking. The less, the better. Imagine how much time you've lost to nursing hangovers, how depleted your lung capacity is after just one cigarette. Caffeine, too, is a drug, and it dehydrates your skin and makes you moody the day you don't have your fix. If you don't believe me, try leaving it for a few days. You'll notice the difference. Your mood will improve, so will your sleep. If you miss it, drink tea instead.