“Old Age is a State of Mind”

As we get older it seems that we start to give up and decide that we need to sit in a rocking chair and allow life to fly buy. But that’s just the opposite of what’s really necessary to feel great and look fantastic into our 90’s and even older.

Take for instance Dr. Ales Rotas a woman doctor who is 90 years old, who’s still actively doing competitive running. She say’s I am 90 years old but in my mind I’m still 23. She runs fast and hard and those in their 80’s have a hard time keeping up with her. But it’s all about mindset, when we think we are old we get old, when we think we are young we are young.

There is even the World Masters Athletic Championships in Lyon France. Here they have people in their 60’s to over 100 years old competing in all kinds of athletic events. Albert Gay had never done any kind pole vaulting in his life, and then took up pole vaulting at 73 and pole vaulted over the 3 meters. - Wow!

And there was a great article published in the journal of Age and Aging showing that most people don’t believe that exercise is going makes any difference when it comes to living a long enjoyable life. But that’s not true, when we exercise we feel good, and look good, and have great vitality even when we get to be 100 years old.

Take for instance Jancinto Bonilla— This man is 69 years old and he is a cross-fit master. He works out with weights dead lifting 95 pounds 69 times. He also does 69 pull ups, 69 pushups, 69 squats, 69 kettle ball swings, and more. He had a bout of prostate cancer earlier in life, and from that point on he decided to keep moving and enjoying life everyday. And every year he adds another repetition to his workout routine, so next year he will be doing 70 reps of all those exercises.

Then there is Arthur Webb— He is 72 years old and an ultra marathon runner. He puts in 100 miles of running every week. He runs 2 hours every single morning and he is training for a 100 mile run coming up soon… he wants to break his old record of 22 hours.

And what about Sister Madonna— At 83 she is a powerful ironman competitor. She is a Roman Catholic Nun and she started running when a priest said she should taking up running. And from that point on she’s been a powerful competitor in lots of different events. She is 83 but looks 53 and she has the vitality of a 23 year old.

Plus Sellers Meric— At 84 he is a powerful tennis player in USTA tou
aments, and he has taken many gold medals at tou
aments at the Senior Olympics. And he has taken 2nd in the doubles championships in the 80 plus division. He started as a novice tennis player at 45 and decided that this was for him and he practices every single day.

I also workout all the time, at almost 63 years old and I do 60 pull ups, 60 pushups, 100 crunches, 40 kettle ball swings, and many more exercises and I also walk 5 miles a day. Plus I am a vegan and I don’t have a single ache, or pain, or any kind of disease process of any kind going on. And I don’t take any medications at all, and I meditate for 2 hours every single day. But most of all I believe that I’m young deep down inside.

I have always believed that getting old is a mindset, we can be young at heart for the rest of our life if we believe we can. It’s a major hurtle getting over the “I’m old and sitting down and waiting to die” idea. Well a lot of people don’t believe in that, and I for one really don’t. I believe we can live long active lives and feel great every single day no matter how old we are.

Many Blessings to Everyone!

Dr. Paul Haider - Master Herbalist