Yoga as a Supplement to Your DIY Longevity Prescription
We can do a lot ourselves to pursue a long, healthy life.
Longevity, extending our healthspan...there are many ways to express the idea of living our healthiest lives now and in the long term. Setting ourselves up now to avoid the injuries and diseases associated with old age is an exercise in prevention. There is a lot of great science being done currently on longevity. Many physicians are even prescribing medications and supplements to promote it. Yet, the body is far more intelligent than we will ever be and while some of this science is promising, there is still much we need to work out in human trials before we can safely adopt many of these pharmaceutical regimens. The good news is that there is much we can do right now in our daily lives to specifically target what I consider to be the three goals of longevity - physical, emotional, and cognitive health now and as we age - without ever ingesting a pill. I believe that yoga can be the backbone or ‘supplement’ to support this pursuit.
Thinking about centering our DIY longevity plan around these three goals of cognitive, physical and emotional health can simplify our approach. An approach I follow is to think of longevity being supported by three pillars: nutrition, exercise, and sleep. These pillars are the foundation of our self-actualized medicine. This medicine truly does come from within. Understanding this and putting a priority on optimizing these basics will put us far ahead of any one drug or supplement claiming to be the fountain of youth.
Lets take the nutrition pillar for starters. There are countless diets and regimens out there: keto, paleo, vegan, Mediterranean, timed restricted eating, water-only fasts, etc. While it is not my intention to give specific nutritional advice in this article, I will pull from the scientific literature and note that the only thing that across species has been clearly shown to promote longevity is having periods of ‘energy stress’. Read: not having continuous, excessive amounts of calories in your diet. Or, as it is referred to in the scientific literature, ‘caloric restriction’ or ‘CR’. I will avoid delving into the realm of fasting and the supporting literature, but I acknowledge that fasting can be a powerful tool. I also feel strongly that any strict dietary regimens or fasting plans should be made in conjunction with advice from your primary care physician as there are many nutrients we can miss if we are not careful. That being said, my basic advice is: eating too much is bad for you. In most cases, eating a little less than you think you need is good for you over the long term. We did not evolve to have constant access to plentiful calories and having times of ‘energy stress’ is something our bodies evolved to tolerate and utilize. This periodic ‘energy stress’ is actually at the heart of many of the pathways that promote longevity.
A straightforward way to avoid taking in more calories than you need is to focus on eating as non-processed as you can, slowing down your meals and sitting down and eating meals with others when possible. This is not news for most of us, but is harder to employ than we’d like to admit. My advice: avoid eating things that come in a package as much as you can, don’t eat sugar, eat mostly veggies - organic if you can - and don’t drink your calories. When you eat a meal, let it be just that - eating. Don’t have your phone or other distractions at the table. Sit down at the table to eat. Be mindful of the food you are chewing and the flavors your are experiencing. Have your meals be an experience rather than something you mindlessly get through. You will find you eat less and enjoy it more.
Moving on to the pillar of exercise, it is at the heart of longevity and follows the theme of creating ‘energy stress’. Exercise helps activate many important longevity pathways - enzymatic, hormonal, genetic...the list is long! Think of exercise as ‘good stress’. Our bodies were meant to move and were meant to do so along an exertionally broad range - from gentle movement promoting flexibility to stability exercises and weight bearing/strength building exercises to sustained aerobic work. Together, these elements of exercise have more staying power with regard to longevity than any medicine or supplement available.
And then there is the all important pillar of sleep... Without it, everything else falls by the wayside. Proper sleep is the backbone of health. Sleep is cleansing and regenerative for not only the brain but our bodies as a whole. Poor sleep promotes dysfunctional metabolic pathways, altered gene transcription, affects mood, decision-making and puts us at risk for many preventable diseases. The mechanisms are complex and involve both intrinsic pathways as well as extrinsic ones in the choices we make as we respond to external stimuli in our environment. The strategy here is straightforward: aim to get on average 8 hrs of sleep per night, and try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, including weekends. Avoid alcohol. While it may make you seem sleepy, it is only sedating you and not allowing true quality sleep. Avoid eating and using screens at a minimum 2 hrs before bedtime. If you must use a screen, try to use blue-light blocking glasses to decrease the amount of this wavelength your brain realizes. Keep your room cool.
So why am I such a believer that yoga can support lifestyle choices that reinforce the 3 pillars of our self-prescribed longevity regimen? Our yoga practice can help us gain the stability, mobility, flexibility and strength that allows us to exercise and move safely and efficiently. The meditative and restorative aspects of the practice help us avoid impulsivity that can lead to poor choices - be it food or exercise or even sleep! Yoga and its meditative qualities can help us deal with negative thoughts and intentions that may sabotage our self-esteem and emotional health. The practice can also help us recover from all the great physical work we are doing and can help us wind down as we prepare for a restful night of sleep.
It’s nice to know that the yoga practice contains within it all the tools to support our longevity-focused lifestyle choices. The body’s numerous interconnected pathways are complex and yet, with a simple approach to nutrition, exercise, and sleep, we have a wonderful head start on a life that will be full, happy and healthy. It really is that simple.