Healthy Living

Longevity

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Margot Marshall (Host), Dr. John Clark, Jenifer Skues

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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!"


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Revised 2019-08-13