Participants: Margot Marshall (Host), Dr. John Clark, Jenifer Skues
Series Code: HL
Program Code: HL000010A
|
00:15 Welcome to Healthy Living.
00:17 I'm your host Margot Marshall. 00:19 Life is very precious and when someone lives to be 100, 00:23 the question people always ask is: "What's your secret?" 00:28 Well today we'll be sharing proven and vital secrets 00:32 of living a longer, healthier life - come and join us! 01:11 With me in the studio today is Jenifer Skues, a health 01:15 psychologist and Dr. John Clark. 01:18 Welcome Jenifer and welcome John! Thank you! 01:21 Nice to have you with us again, and John, you've got a 01:24 bunch of stories for us today. 01:26 And we're talking about longevity - living longer, 01:30 and so that's something I think 01:32 we're all a little bit interested in - especially 01:34 as the years go by. 01:36 So let's hear your first story. 01:38 You know people who live longer have become known as 01:42 living in the blue zone. Okay. 01:45 It's been a popular thing, I think "National Geographic" 01:48 sort of started that off and a lot of information has 01:53 come out of what's called "The Adventist Health Study." 01:56 And the Adventist Health Study was done back in the 02:00 60s and 70s, at least the initial one, and so they 02:04 became known as people who live longer. 02:06 Well, the National Geographic in looking for people 02:10 who live longer, tapped into that study for 02:12 the Southern California Adventists but they also found 02:17 that the Sardinians over in Italy and the 02:19 Okinawans over in Japan, all with lots of centenarians, 02:24 people who live to 100 in their people group. 02:27 Well one of the things they noted when they went and 02:30 viewed these people in person was they thought that 02:33 they were going to lose their longevity edge because 02:36 because their great grandchildren were eating more 02:38 food from crinkly bags; more refined foods; more foods that 02:43 wouldn't have as good a nutrition. 02:46 And this sort of brings me to an experience I had. 02:49 When I decided to go off to college my goal was to 02:53 work my way through college without debt and I called up 02:56 the college and said, "Is there anywhere I can live 02:58 that will be less expensive?" 03:01 They directed me to a lady who had kept students in her home 03:06 for the last number of years and she was nearly 100 years old. 03:12 Good on her. On taking in borders. 03:15 Taking in borders! Oh wow. 03:16 And so I told her my story and she said, "Well come on out." 03:20 I was in Oklahoma, I was going up to Massachusetts 03:23 to go to school - she said, "Come on out, I've never 03:25 done this before but you're so far away, I can't 03:26 interview you before you get here and you have to have a 03:28 place to land." 03:30 So I went out there and this lady was, as we say, 03:34 "sharp as a tack." Okay. 03:36 She was mentally there and we had quite a conversation, 03:41 and come to find out she had taught my grandmother 03:44 English in college! Laughter. 03:48 And here she is feeding you and 03:49 looking after you. That's incredible. Okay. 03:52 And she was in charge of the alumni at the college for alumni 03:56 that had graduated between 50 and 60 years previously! 04:02 Graduated! Well she was active. 04:04 Very active! 04:05 Well what was interesting about her is she ate 04:09 a very simple diet. 04:10 I mean, oftentimes, she'd have something like black-eyed peas, 04:14 cook carrots and peas and beans or some kind of 04:18 little salad or something. 04:19 She ate very little and she ate very simply, 04:22 and she ate good food. Okay! 04:25 Well then the cafeteria decided to her a great favor. 04:31 Let's save her the trouble of preparing her own foods, 04:35 let's send her over a tray of food every day. 04:39 How old was she when they did that? About 99. 04:42 Oh wow! Ninety-nine years old! 04:45 And so every day somebody from the cafeteria would 04:48 come over and knock on the door and sometimes I would 04:51 open the door and they would bring in this tray of food. 04:54 Lots of refined foods, always a dessert, sometimes a juice 04:59 which is a refined food and she would eat it. 05:03 Within in a year, she didn't know who she was; 05:06 her brain was gone; she couldn't take care of herself; 05:09 they had to have somebody come in and take care of her 05:12 that was paid by the university, 05:14 and within 3 years at 103, she died. 05:17 That was massive deterioration rapidly with seemed to be 05:21 change in diet. That's right. 05:24 That's very sad really, isn't it? (It is.) 05:28 To think that happened. 05:30 Tell us another story, tell us another one. 05:32 You've got a bunch there and I want to hear another one. 05:34 Well she had the longevity and her 05:35 diet was a principle factor. Yes. 05:38 Yes, she changed her diet and didn't realize 05:41 the change of diet was going to impact her. 05:43 Simple whole plant foods, not too much either. 05:47 That's small amounts, yes. No overeating. 05:49 And the big things here that would happen in changing 05:52 to a diet from the canteen, is more of these prepared 05:57 foods would have ingredients that would affect the brain. 06:00 Ahh. Yes. Okay. Sugars, fats, refined 06:04 foods - things that clog. 06:06 They make the brain very cloudy and mixtures combinations 06:09 I know, do that - like you put milk and eggs and sugar 06:12 together and it just really affects the brain. 06:15 And your certain seasonings like "natural flavors," 06:18 excitotoxins - stuff that makes the brain 06:21 so it doesn't function properly. Right. 06:25 Very, very sad and so that usually happens to a lot of 06:29 people a lot sooner than 100 even if they make it to 100. 06:33 Most people start with that and then get better 06:35 because they go the other way if they change this. 06:38 Yeah, let's talk about one that went the other way. 06:42 We happen to be staying with a gentleman now 06:45 and his wife, who, when he was in his 70s, wasn't that healthy. 06:50 He got readmitted to the hospital after an infection, 06:53 and the family didn't think he was going to make it. 06:57 Actually, he was single at the time, his wife passed away 07:01 and he married into a family of people who took health 07:04 seriously. 07:05 And they started putting him on a much better lifestyle. 07:10 And today, he's 97 and will be 98 very soon. 07:15 He drives his own tractor; he splits his own wood. 07:19 He's as sharp as a tack. 07:20 You ask him about the history, I mean any history - history of 07:24 England - he'll tell you which king came before which king, 07:27 what happened in the Reformation during that time, 07:30 just as sharp as a tack. 07:33 See, the brain can grow cells, diet is important, 07:36 but what we do in our attitude is called 07:38 "neuroplasticity." Yes. 07:40 And "neuroplasticity" is like the actual neurons and cells, 07:43 particularly in the brain are like plasticine and they could 07:46 be molded and grow. 07:48 And there are two main areas in the brain where they 07:50 store memory - emotional memory and visual memory, 07:53 but it's always stored in the five senses. 07:56 So that means things are activated by the five senses, 07:59 but they find that the particular area of the brain 08:01 where like those visual memories are about history 08:04 or what we do, it's called the "hippocampus," it actually 08:07 enlarged as you grow it and things like exercise, attitude, 08:11 certainly I believe good food and that would do it, 08:14 will enlarge that part of the brain and that's what 08:17 he was doing. 08:18 And I certainly believe diet can actually 08:21 impact the brain on that level. 08:23 So, yeah, we all need to grow our brain because 08:25 we will reach, you know, and that's part of the longevity 08:27 factor - is growing the brain and having lots of memory 08:31 cells, so even if we get impacted, 08:33 we've still got a lot to use. 08:35 What I find interesting here is that this man 08:38 not only was looking like he wasn't going to make it, 08:41 as you say, he was close to death, but he was at an 08:43 age when most people, if they haven't already died 08:47 in their 70s, they're going to expect it. 08:49 You expect it. You might expect that, 08:51 that's not an uncommon thing, but here was someone who 08:55 not only turned their health around as we've 08:57 heard your stories on other programs by being able 08:59 to turn their health around, but he was someone who 09:02 was close to the age when you might expect that - well, it's 09:04 time to go anyway. 09:06 And so from the 70s and now in his late 90s and doing well. 09:11 Splitting his own wood and driving a tractor and whatever, 09:16 and so, to me, that makes it all remarkable! 09:20 All the more remarkable because it shows that health 09:24 can be turned around and can do it at any age. Yes. 09:29 Am I allowed to tell a little story? Oh sure! 09:32 Because I've had a lady come to one of our intensive 09:37 health programs one time and she was 87 at the time. 09:43 She had a really bad heart condition with angina. 09:46 She couldn't make it to the letter box without stopping 09:49 a couple of times. 09:51 When she went to the shopping center, she had to be 09:53 taken in a wheelchair because she just couldn't walk around, 09:56 and she had the pain there and so on, 09:59 and she had a few other things going on. 10:01 Well with that one, we took over five weeks and by then, 10:06 She was walking 40 minutes a day and she was able to do 10:10 her own gardening again. 10:11 She had had a carer; she couldn't do anything. 10:15 She couldn't clean out her cupboards; she couldn't 10:16 look after the place; she couldn't do the garden; 10:20 and she loved the garden and she had to have a 10:22 carer to look after her. 10:23 And, not straightaway, I just can't remember actually 10:27 how much later this was, but subsequent to doing that course, 10:32 she was actually a carer for a very sick cancer patient 10:37 in her home. Oh! 10:38 So if coming from being cared or, she became the carer 10:43 and we got a letter from her the other day and I'm just 10:46 trying to figure it out, I think she must be in her 10:48 mid 90s now, so just absolutely amazing! 10:53 Interesting thing about that lady is she was already 10:55 a vegetarian but she was what they call a "lacto-ovo 10:59 vegetarian," that's using milk, you know, dairy products, eggs, 11:03 and things like that - ice cream and whatever. 11:05 And so she just eliminated all of those animal products, 11:09 drank the water and did the exercise and even at 87, 11:15 she was able to turn her health around; she had no angina, 11:18 pain and so on and she was a beautiful 11:21 person, absolutely beautiful! 11:22 So it is amazing and I just would encourage anyone 11:26 tuning in - whatever age you are and however sick 11:29 you might be, you can turn that around and I hope that 11:34 you will, I hope that you will be encouraged to do that. 11:37 We must never think it's too late or we're too old. 11:40 I think that I'm too old, I'm too set 11:42 in my ways and that's not true. 11:43 You can change anything you want to. Yes! 11:45 You just need to know what it is and how to change, 11:48 and that's the sort of thing John and I do. 11:50 We help people look at that. 11:51 That's right and I think that's fantastic. 11:53 And I think it's lovely too, Jeni, the way you let 11:56 people, you know, move forward at their own pace. Yes. 12:00 Because that's important. 12:02 Everyone is an individual, we're individual personalities, 12:05 and we're all unique, fortunately, and that means 12:09 you need to learn and read the person and help them 12:11 use their uniqueness to make these steps 12:14 in the right direction. Yes. 12:16 I mean these two people we're talking about are likely 12:18 to reach the 100 mark and I've often read stories about 12:22 people who reach that 100 mark or above and usually 12:27 they have a very bright mind because they have kept 12:30 their mind focused bright and stress is a huge factor 12:33 so they don't carry the stress factor - they tend to have a 12:36 good attitude or belief system that helps them deal 12:39 with stress or deal with things that are happening, 12:41 and they just have a good attitude, you know, 12:44 and sort of positive which makes a huge difference. 12:47 Yes, and that lady was able to draw on her spiritual 12:50 resources which is huge and 12:52 her daughter was very supportive. 12:55 So that's all important, the social, the mental, physical, 12:58 spiritual, social - they all play a 13:00 role in making us well or feeling neglected or 13:03 if they're not going well, they can undermine, like 13:06 you were talking about stress, Jeni, that's the mind, 13:09 what's going on here that's affecting what's going on 13:12 in the body and you said it goes both ways. 13:14 Well the moment we get stress, 13:16 we lose our focus in the present and what happens 13:19 when we focus on the past and go over and over the past, 13:22 it feeds depression and when we focus on the future, 13:25 and we start fearing, it feeds anxiety. 13:28 So all the disorders I see are focused on the past or future, 13:33 and their depression and anxiety and they'll switch. 13:36 They can go - instead of being in the present, 13:39 they'll go back to the past and they'll feed the future again. 13:41 Yeah, this happened then, therefore I'm going to - 13:43 you know, they worry about that 13:44 and I call it, "the worrywart syndrome." 13:46 We can all do that but I find what a lot of what I do 13:51 is get people to them focus in the present and instead of 13:53 worrying about the future, solve the problem now. 13:56 If that happens, let's work on it now. 13:57 So they're simple things but they're very powerful 14:00 in getting the brain to be here. 14:02 And these people with longevity are like that, 14:06 they're very focused in the present and they really 14:08 work in the present and enjoy the moment. Okay. 14:11 And that's why, like the spiritual focus and the 14:13 social supports and, you know, a good attitude - it all 14:16 combines to keep them here. Very powerful. 14:18 I remember speaking to you a week or two ago and 14:22 saying something about, you know, are you getting excited 14:24 about doing this program and you said, "Oh no, I live in 14:27 the present, I practice what I preach." 14:29 And I thought, "Oh, okay!" 14:32 I'll wait till I get there then ... what's the point. 14:37 It's something that I've learned because I used to be 14:39 very anxious - I had a very anxious mother 14:41 because we can learn those habits and so I've had 14:44 to work on this; hence, what I've learned, 14:47 I can now teach others. 14:48 Yes, so did that take you very 14:49 long to actually be able to do that? 14:52 It took a long time because I didn't know the skills 14:55 because I'm going back like through the 60s and the 70s 14:58 and there wasn't a lot around. 14:59 You didn't go and see a professional person or a 15:01 psychologist, you just bumbled your way through life literally, 15:05 and it wasn't until I started to study more and I found some 15:08 books to read and that's when I went into psychology. 15:12 And I learned a lot there and that was where I was 15:15 able to help myself because I started to understand 15:17 how my brain works and why I'm stressed and why I'm anxious. 15:20 You know, so it's really reprogramming, 15:23 rewiring the brain. 15:24 Hm, and you just have to make a start. 15:26 Yes, and you have to keep doing it. Oh, okay. 15:29 So I help the person to keep doing it, so not get them 15:33 to give up or if they have a bit of a relapse or what I 15:37 call a lapse,... courage and so it doesn't matter. 15:40 You know, you're doing really well, let's get back 15:42 on the horse basically and ride again because 15:45 as soon as they do that, they strengthen that new 15:46 pathway in the brain. Yes. Yes. 15:48 So it's getting them to never give up and not be 15:51 discouraged if they make a mistake. 15:53 And we all do. Oh we do! 15:54 We all do, it just happens and one of things I say 15:58 to myself and I would actually say it to the people 16:01 tuning in - this is what I say to myself, 16:03 "Today is the first day of the rest of my life." That's right. 16:06 So whatever, you know, I haven't got thing right 16:10 today in one way or another, I just think, "Well, that's past 16:13 can't change it, move on, move forward, pick it up!" 16:16 Pick up the threads where we are and just move forward. 16:18 This is where when you keep your brain well-tuned, 16:22 and have a good attitude, you're likely to follow a better diet, 16:25 you're looking after your body more and it reduces 16:28 the stress factor. Yes. 16:29 Stress is about the past and the future, 16:31 not just about the present. Okay. 16:34 So you said, "One was about the past, one was about the future. 16:37 If you look on the past, you're looking at depressed, 16:41 and if you look at the future... 16:42 You get anxious and you worry about it. 16:45 But also, the brain function changes; the left brain is 16:48 too active when we get depressed and the right brain 16:51 is too active when we get anxious and the right brain 16:54 is the connection to the emotional brain which is 16:56 the fear and the anxiety. Okay. 16:58 So when we get hypervigilant, we've got an imbalance 17:01 and that's that anxiety and when we get depressed 17:03 we have another imbalance because of the 17:04 left brain as being compromised. 17:06 Do you know, I read a study where prayer actually helps 17:09 to coordinate the two hemispheres of the brain. 17:12 That's because you're focused in the present. Yes. 17:13 So whatever we do in a positive way focused 17:15 in the present balances, brain function - that means the 17:18 whole brain is now in balance and that means 17:21 we'll digest our food; we'll make better choices; 17:24 better decisions - you see how. 17:26 And we're more alert in the present, therefore, we're 17:28 going to pick up on things. Thank you for that. 17:30 I think it's time for another story. 17:32 You know folks, discussion here reminds me 17:35 of the gentleman I told you about just before 17:40 we got into this discussion, that in his 70s, 17:43 he was about to die. 17:45 He had this time when his social group, that he was a part of, 17:49 sort of rejected he and his wife. OH! WOW! 17:53 Traumatic! 17:55 And his wife took it very, very hard and she actually died. 18:00 But he said, when he reflected on it, "Well I sort of liked 18:03 the fight and I sort of enjoyed it!" 18:09 Same situation but different reactions 18:12 to exactly the same thing, isn't that interesting? 18:15 And so for people who have a superior longevity, 18:19 one of the hallmarks is a lot of good social connections. Yes. 18:23 And a good attitude, being more robust - so if someone 18:25 isn't right socially or doesn't like you, you don't 18:28 go down with it, you can bounce off of it all or sort it. 18:32 Maybe you don't personalize. 18:33 Yes, you don't or contextualize it or make it the 18:36 focus of everything. 18:38 Yes and another - when I was in grade school, 18:41 I was interested to find in the local newspaper, 18:45 a story about a lady they had found that claimed to be 18:49 135 years old! Wow! That's old! 18:54 And the newspaper reporters went to her with the question, 18:57 "WHY do you think you've lived so long?" 19:00 Her answer was this, "I chew my food until I can 19:05 swish it through my teeth and swallow it!" 19:09 Laughter. Oh come on! 19:10 You know what? That's something kids do that 19:13 I cannot picture - I cannot picture someone who is over 19:17 100 doing what I've seen kids do. 19:20 Well, maybe you could practice it and get the hang of it too. 19:23 Oh, I don't think so! You could get to 130 too. 19:25 Well, uh no, I'm sorry Jeni, the other things I'm fine with, 19:29 but I just don't feel like doing that. 19:32 But you know something, now I think about it, 19:36 I think she must have actually still had her own natural teeth 19:39 because I don't think you can do that with dentures. 19:42 So, I mean we could probably say that's likely to be the case. 19:47 But this chewing of the food, do you think that could have 19:51 played a role - I mean that was her belief. 19:53 Is there any support for that belief that she had? 19:56 There certainly is - there have been studies done on chewing 19:59 your food well. 20:01 They often compare 15 chews to 40 chews, 20:06 and when they compare the difference, those who chew 20:08 their food 40 times, eat less food, have better satisfaction 20:14 with their food, end up with better hormonal results 20:19 with their digestive system, the hormones are better. 20:23 And so it actually makes for a much healthier person. Wow. 20:27 Now, and you're actually getting your nutrition. 20:29 I mean, we fed our dog a bunch of raw peanuts one time 20:33 and then we went around the yard and picked up the stools 20:36 that had raw peanuts in it. 20:37 Yeah, he wasn't chewing them. 20:39 He wasn't chewing them. He Just gulped them down! 20:40 Yeah, you think he got any nutrition out of those peanuts? 20:43 Well guess what - when you're stressed, you gulp your food, 20:45 and you don't chew it, you see. Yes. 20:47 So one of the things for de-stressing is to chew your 20:50 food, taste the foods, smell the foods, activate the senses. 20:54 A recent study I read showed that if you chewed food 20:57 or got food that required chewing, it actually had 21:01 some substance to it, that it reduced depression. 21:05 Well it would! Yes. 21:07 So we're looking at things like apples that we found out 21:09 were good for the lungs and so on. 21:11 Apples, almonds, granola, carrot sticks. 21:15 I've got a good little story here - this happened to me 21:17 when I was very young, I remember I was at my 21:19 grandmother's and she gave me a banana and she said, 21:22 "You need to chew your food, every mouthful 32 times. 21:26 Well, have you ever tried to chew a banana 32 times, 21:30 that's very squishy and I really couldn't. 21:33 I think, "Well, I can't do it," and that's that principle, 21:36 bananas are a bit soft for that. 21:38 John, you've got to reassure me about one thing, 21:41 there haven't been any studies that say that squishing 21:45 your food through your teeth has any benefit, can you? 21:48 There are studies that show when you chew your food 21:51 really well and break it down to very small parts, 21:55 it goes into the cells a lot easier. 21:57 Oh, I could believe all of that. 21:58 So that's what the squishing of foods is. 22:00 Oh yeah, I know, I was shocked, 22:02 I just couldn't help saying that. 22:04 Well that's incredible, so we've got a few different 22:06 things going on here - in that story 22:09 it was chewing really thoroughly 22:12 and the other story you told was your attitude towards an event. 22:17 Two people with a different thing. 22:19 So that's really more in your department Jeni. 22:21 What's going on in the mind is affecting 22:24 literally to the point of death. 22:25 Well yes, it can. 22:27 Because I looked at the same thing - they looked exactly 22:30 the same event that was happening to both of them 22:32 and one took it really hard and the other actually enjoyed it. 22:36 Yeah, I mean it's sad that one passed away but she had an 22:41 attitude that was very negative and that's for every thought 22:44 you have it goes straight to every cell of the body. 22:48 Say that again Jeni. 22:49 Every cell is impacted by every thought we have. 22:52 So when I have a thought and we have our nervous system, 22:55 the central nervous system runs from the back of the spine 22:58 down, yeah the head down to the spine and then 23:01 we've got radiating nerves, peripheral nerves. 23:03 We've got an autonomic nervous system like telegraph wires 23:07 that go through our body. 23:08 Whenever I have one thought, it goes to every cell. 23:11 Every cell is impacted, so you have one negative thought, 23:14 for example - people who are depressed, "I'll never get 23:17 over it," how do they feel? 23:19 Their whole body is sagging down, you see. 23:22 Think about the things you think, you can feel 23:24 your body responding to that thought. Okay. 23:28 Actually, what about self-talk? 23:32 Have you got a few thoughts on that because this is 23:34 something we're doing all the time, not even aware of it 23:37 mostly, but we've talked about thinking about what we think. 23:40 We don't know totally the source of thought, okay, but 23:44 we always think and even when we think, we're not thinking 23:47 we're thinking! We're thinking, we're not thinking. 23:50 Okay, I won't get you to say that again. 23:51 But when we calm the thoughts, we feel at peace and calm for 23:56 it's very low level, gentle sort of thinking and it's usually 24:00 in the present, alright. 24:01 When we're stressed, we have a lot of 24:03 thinking and it's very negative. 24:05 So it's like a chatterbox in my brain can bring me unstuck, 24:10 so if I don't think I can do something and say I'm given 24:13 something to do and I go, "Oh I don't know if I can do 24:15 that, it's too hard and I remember before my brain is 24:18 doing another time, I won't do it, I'll sabotage it 24:20 or I won't be able to do it." 24:21 Whereas if I go, "No, I did that once before and it's 24:24 okay and, you know, I'll just give it a go and if I'm not 24:26 I'll get some help to do it." That makes a huge difference. 24:29 So you can see how we talk to ourself and we do a lot 24:33 of that - we have to listen to what we're telling ourself. 24:37 That's right. That's right. 24:38 We all catch ourselves out. Yeah. 24:41 And we do give ourselves good advice, 24:43 but we don't always listen to it. Laughter. 24:45 And this is where on longevity, a lot of people give themselves 24:49 self-talk, "Well I'm getting old; I'm going to be on 24:51 medications; I'm going to die; I'm gonna..." Yes 24:53 "My days are nearly numbered." Yeah. 24:56 I met a woman who believed she was going to die at 24:59 something like 65 and every day she'd tell herself she was 25:02 going to die at 65- I did not follow it up, but I can imagine 25:06 that her health would have deteriorated and it's highly 25:08 likely it was a self-fulfilling prophecy because she believed 25:11 it and she said it and she thought it. 25:13 Every cell of the body is responding. 25:16 And this whole attitude thing, I met a gentleman that did 25:18 research himself in the community near his school 25:22 where he went through from house-to-house and did a 25:25 survey and he got to know the people and did the survey, 25:29 and some people just kicked him off the porch and "Get out 25:31 of here, don't bother me." 25:33 Ten years later he came back and did a survey again, 25:36 and those people who had kicked him off the 25:38 porch were no longer alive. 25:40 Isn't that interesting! Ohh. 25:43 The people with the anger... 25:45 Attitude - yeah. Anger is huge, that is such a stress factor. 25:49 We should never maintain our anger and yet we have a 25:51 lot of angry people out there. 25:54 Longevity - you cannot have a longevity 25:56 when you're angry all the time. 25:58 And the blood pressure we know, the heart is impacted, 26:01 the breath is impacted. 26:03 So it's very powerful, isn't it, the effect that our mind, 26:05 our thinking has on our body 26:07 and it works the other way around, as you've said. 26:11 I was going to say, self-talk, what we think is what 26:14 we feel and what we feel is how we behave. 26:16 So if I think I can't, I feel down, I feel discouraged, 26:21 then I won't do it. Alright? 26:23 And we can actually work from any angle, 26:25 I can say, "Well hang on, I'm not doing very well with 26:27 what I'm doing and then what am I thinking and feeling?" 26:30 Or we can go on thinking this, therefore 26:32 I'm going to stop doing it. 26:33 So we can actually pickup at any point. 26:35 So it's fascinating isn't it? 26:37 You've talked about, you know, the foods and so on, 26:40 and I don't know whether you talked about activities 26:42 today, did we? 26:44 Well the guy that runs his tractor and splits his wood. 26:47 Oh yes, yes, yes! So being physically 26:50 active is very important and then our thoughts, 26:54 and the spiritual resources that play a role, 26:58 and social support. Yeah. 27:00 This is a big thing - you don't find isolated people 27:03 living to old ages generally. 27:06 And this is the sad reality of older people who end up 27:09 in a home and no one visits them and I know I often 27:11 visited elderly people or I go when I had my mom 27:14 there, I'd go and visit someone and no one would 27:16 ever visit them and the joy they would get, you see. 27:18 So social structure is so vital. Yes, yes. 27:22 It's all of those things, all of those parts that make up 27:26 the human being - the mental, physical, spiritual, social, 27:29 they all impact one way or the other. 27:32 If they're neglected, they will impact negatively, 27:35 but they can all be utilized. 27:37 And when they're all coming together, there's that 27:39 synergy effect that's even greater than the sum of the 27:42 parts, so it's very, very helpful to utilize them all. 27:47 I think we need to remember that we can do anything 27:49 we want to with the right attitude, the right beliefs, 27:52 the right actions and staying focused in the present 27:55 and actioning and having a good life. Yes, yes. 27:58 One of the things I find so focused people 28:00 don't live as long as people who focused... 28:03 Thank you for that. 28:05 Well, I don't know whether we answered all your questions, 28:07 but if not, you can contact John or Jenifer by emailing: 28:12 healthyliving@3ABNaustralia.org .au 28:16 If you want to watch our programs on demand 28:19 or download our fact sheets, visit: 3abnaustralia.org.au 28:23 and click on the watch button, and remember... 28:25 "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!" |
Revised 2019-08-13