We’ve heard ongoing studies demonstrating that stress busting techniques such as yoga and meditation have positive impacts on both your emotional and physical health including lower rates of disease such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even some forms of cancer.
Of course, when we talk about longevity, there is no simple, one-factor answer but rather a complex mashup of factors that can come together to help add years to your life AND add quality to your years.
Healthy, moderate cardiovascular and strength training exercise – at least 40-minutes 3X each week – is good to keep your cardiovascular system operating, positive chemicals keeping you emotionally balanced, tuning your metabolism to operate optimally and keep your fat within a healthy range.
Eating lots of green vegetables, fibre and foods with "good fats" and drinking water to keep hydrated will help your body, mind and energy at peak operating levels.
That leaves us with stress busting!
We’ve talked about Yoga and Meditation – where there are many proven studies demonstrating the effectiveness of these techniques on lowering blood pressure, improving how your body and mind work in the face of environmental and emotional stress.
In fact, the 5-part system for increasing your achievement, reducing procrastination and improving your self-confidence in Beyond Greatness combines all of these aspects into a system that anyone can use to drive fulfillment and achievement in all life areas including career, finances, relationships, health and wellness.
Here’s a study discussed in Healthy Living that finds creative activities such as writing, painting, music and acting can not only have beneficial results to immediate stress levels but can do wonders for adding years to out lives. A good deal of this benefit comes from having control over your life, spending your time on activities you enjoy (or better yet, learning to enjoy more activities you are involved in) and taking time to explore the creative side of your brain.
I know many people that wait until they are in the final years of their life before they finally discover a creative passion that they had never tapped into earlier in their lives…what a shame since they not only missed out on so much fun and happiness but it seems, they may have also been able to extend their lives a few more years.
What about you…what creative activities have you always wanted to try or spend more time on?
Have you wanted to write a book?
How about playing music?
Are you a budding artist?
Now it looks like you have even more reasons to explore your creative side…it may actually help you live longer!
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