These 3 words: Health, Wellness and Longevity all require the same mind state.
This mind state could be summed up within the concept of reducing stress.
Not only mental stress but physical stress as well.
Blue zones are the places where people live the longest and the common factors is a reduction of stress and healthy diet.
Loma Linda, California really sticks out, as these people are the only group in the blue zone category that live within a big city. The rest are in small towns with fresh air and clean water.
What are these people doing?
Maybe more than any other people in our country whether they know it or not these people make a tremendous effort to reduce stress. This is the largest concentration of 7th Day evangelist in our country and they live by a biblically strict lifestyle and dietary code. They eat a pure diet, they exercise daily, they attend church (which offers community and faith, both of which reduce stress) and they adhere to the Sabbath where they abstain from work and media.
If any of you have participated in my Weight Loss and Wellness Program you know this is a similar lifestyle we incorporate.
Basically they reduce stress on every level.
Mental stress is reduced by prayer and faith. Prayer is meditation and faith is trust.
Emotional stress is reduced by faith and community. Support of family and friends and the reduction of loneliness. Studies show that loneliness can reduce lifespan by 8 years.
Physical stress is reduced by regular exercise which dissolves muscular tension and increases blood flow. This flushes out toxins and infuses nourishment. They also follow strict dietary guidelines. This reduces physical toxins which stress our bodies systems.
All the above shouldn’t really be surprising. What’s surprising is that most people don’t do most or any of this. Why???
Because its not easy! Our culture does not support us in any of this. Actually it’s quite the opposite in most cases. So we have become accustomed or habituated to a unhealthy lifestyle and as we all know breaking habits is very difficult.
Yet if our goal is health and wellness we have no choice.
The people of Loma Linda don’t really need to go against their environments and culture (they don’t have to break as many habits) as their environment and culture support these healthy ways.
As we all know, it is not easy to break addictions (especially deeply embedded addictions) like our mentality, but the difficulty is compounded without any societal and cultural support.
It’s hard to be a spark in the middle of the ocean as we keep getting put out, yet when a bunch of sparks come together (as in Loma Linda) you get a flame and it’s much more difficult to put out that flame. The people of Loma Linda are the sparks and their community is the flame.
sincerely, bryan
The post Health, Wellness and Longevity appeared first on Power Yoga.
