trendIng b y H e at H e r l e e
Longevity Lifestyling and the Spa
HeatHer a. lee, MSW, trained in
Mind / body Medicine at the Harvard Mind / body Medical Institute and is the Director of StresSpecialist, a private practice guiding individuals, businesses and spas in creating Longevity Lifestyles and Wellness programs. Additionally, she leads wellness and trail running retreats around the world. Previously Lee was Director of Women’ s Health Education at the University of virginia Medical Center. Learn more at heatheralee. com
for HeatHer lee’ s
Sweet and Sassy Logevity Lifestyle Secrets, click here..
Arace to the finish line. This is how many people live their lives. We long for our health and vitality to accompany us as we age, but don’ t really know the right lifestyle behaviors to accomplish this goal. While we value and cherish our health, wellness and vitality, we often live lives quite contrary to the promotion of these states. Our schizophrenic culture tells us— and sells us— on staying young forever, yet markets us foods, fastpaced lives and stressful thoughts that literally age us before our time. There is no pricey youth serum or special fitness routine that can counteract the accelerated aging brought about by stressful, breakneckpaced living. Stress creates accelerated cellular aging. Living fast means aging faster. To embrace a longevity lifestyle, we must embrace a peaceful pace of living. You must slow down to live longer. Longevity Lifestyling is a way of living that recognizes the life-extending benefits of self-care and sensibly paced living.
stressed out So many people know they need to manage their stress, slow their pace, and practice more selfcare, but knowing and doing are often two very different things. Most people still don’ t really understand the direct connection between mind and body and the physiology of stress. They think stress is just some amorphous term as opposed to a physiological state of being. The occasional situational stress response, like the one that occurs when you slam on your brakes and feel that rush of adrenaline, doesn’ t pose that great of a threat to your health.
It is the low-level, daily drip of stress hormones brought on by negative daily news, an unpleasant work environment, or an unhappy marriage, that slowly erodes our immune system and invites cellular aging. My favorite word is psychoneuroimmunology, which is the science of how our emotional states and perceptions effect our immune system. You see the most fascinating part of a stress response is this: it all starts with perception.
A stress response is the physiological reaction to a perceived threat, real or imagined. Perceived threat, which means it’ s totally individual and perhaps controllable. For example, when I see a snake, I go into a full-blown stress response. However, my herpetologist friend may be in a state of excited bliss.
Another example: two people are in a car stuck in traffic on the way to a meeting. One is in a full-blown stress state about running late, and the other is calm as can be saying,“ It is what it is.” Our physical bodies react to the messages our minds send and our minds send messages based on beliefs and perceptions. Most of our modern stress is not due to peril of bodily harm, but due to perceptions of threats to our emotional and psychological selves. To develop an effective stress strategy, you need to understand the direct connection between mind and body, thought and physiology.
learning to relax Here is a mind-boggling fact that should stop you in your tracks; longevity is 25 percent genetics and 75 percent lifestyle choices and behaviors. The lifestyle choices and behaviors we engage in are
26 PULSE ■ December 2017