The Late Summer in Chinese Medicine is the season that deals with how well we tend and “mother” ourselves. At 45 years old, I am in the stage of life where I have younger children, but also aging parents. I am tasked with balancing the needs of my kids, my parents, and myself. Recently, my parents’ health has gone downhill and required more attention from us kids to ensure they are going to doctor’s visits and other daily tasks. As painful as it is to see my parents age not-so-gracefully, it has motivated me to take my health even more seriously, so that I don’t end up like either of them as I get older.
I’m committed to aging not only gracefully, but aging well. I want to be able to be physically and mentally active my whole life, to travel the world, to speak and teach to whoever will listen, and to fully embrace life. I’m guessing that if you’re reading this article, that you feel the same. If it is our intention to age well, then it means that tending ourselves at the body, mind, and spirit level, needs to take priority.
Body
While all three dimensions (body, mind, and spirit) are important, taking care of your body is key. This is the vessel we have been given for this lifetime, and if we don’t treat it well, we age poorly and shorten our lifespan.
Food: What we put in our bodies is probably the most important and direct way to affect our health. Eating whole foods (a.k.a. an apple, not an apple pie) and avoiding “ultra-processed” foods (foods that come in boxes or containers and contain lots of ingredients, especially ones you can’t pronounce easily) is the simplest way to shift your diet to one that will support the body and help you avoid or slow down disease. Focus on eating a rainbow of fruits and veggies as the bulk of your diet, with healthy fats, whole grains and meat or seafood as supporting sides.
Exercise/Movement: Moving in any way for 30 minutes a day has been scientifically shown to help improve a variety of health measures, including maintaining a healthy weight, cardiovascular health, and management of disease. The great thing is, it doesn’t matter if you do those 30 minutes all at once, or if you split it up into smaller bouts. Even parking farther away, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, and other similar shifts that cause you to build in exercise throughout your day have been found to help people lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. So whether it’s three 10-minute walks, a 30-minute yoga session, or a local karate class, get in that movement, however you can!
Sleep: Sufficient sleep is more important than most of us realize. While a rare number of people can actually be ok on less than 8 hours of sleep, most of us need around 8 hours of sleep a night for our bodies to perform all of the repair and cleanup functions it does on a daily basis while we are unconscious. Some of us need more than 8 hours of sleep, so if you know you are one of those people, it’s important you prioritize getting even more sleep. According to the National Institutes of Health (2021), lack of proper sleep increases your risk of several diseases, including stroke, heart disease, obesity, and dementia. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like reason enough to want to get more sleep! Beyond that, when we get a proper night’s sleep, we improve our mood, brain performance, and immune system. Note that if you’re consistently sleeping for at least 8 hours a night and do not remember waking up, but still feel exhausted when you wake up, you should talk to your doctor about doing a sleep study to determine if you may have sleep apnea or another issue that is causing you to feel tired upon waking.
Regular Physician Visits/Bloodwork: Part of keeping your body in healthy working order is to have regular annual checkups, and to talk to your doctor when you are having abnormal symptoms or concerns. Many people have “white coat syndrome” and are scared of doctors, but healthcare providers are there to help. If you haven’t found a doctor you like and trust, then keep searching until you find someone you know has your best interests at heart. Your physician should also order bloodwork to determine how well your body is working, and whether you need to supplement with vitamins, minerals, lifestyle changes, or need further testing. Remember that you are your best advocate, so if something doesn’t seem right in your body, talk to your doctor, and if they won’t listen, find a doctor who will.
Mind
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health. Stress, anxiety, and depression are epidemics in our society and the top symptoms patients report to me in my acupuncture practice besides pain. So many more mental health diagnoses exist, with varying degrees of impact on quality of life. As we age, none of us want to spend our last years forgetting our loved ones or even what we did just moments before. It’s important we tend ourselves now to avoid greater impacts on our mental health and brain function.
Mental Health Therapy: For a long time, there has been a stigma in our society about going to a mental health therapist or psychiatrist. Thankfully, with the recent pandemic and so many people realizing the impact stress and loneliness can have on our lives, much of this stigma has been erased. If you are finding it hard to manage, or feel like you need someone to talk to, consider getting help by talking to a therapist. Insurance covers some sessions, and there are various ways to access therapy, including online services like BetterHelp, TalkSpace, and others.
Stress Management: All of us have stress in our lives. Some stress can be adaptive and good for us. If there is a real or perceived threat, for example, a rabid dog running towards us, our brain kicks into fight or flight mode, and this is appropriate. Unfortunately, most of us experience chronic stress (in other words, stress we are exposed to repeatedly, and in most cases, daily). When our brains treat every threat- work, kids, neighbors, conflicts, etc.- as a rabid dog, then it becomes harmful to not just our minds, but also our bodies. The Mayo Clinic (2021) states, “the long-term activation of the stress response system and the overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones that follows can disrupt almost all of your body’s processes. This puts you at increased risk of many health problems, including: anxiety, depression, digestive problems, headaches, muscle tension and pain, heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke, sleep problems, weight gain, and memory and concentration impairment.” It’s important to find healthy ways to mitigate stress, such as meditation, yoga, deep breathing, acupuncture, massage, taking breaks from news and social media, spending time with friends, or whatever brings you joy.
Meditation: Meditation is one of the best ways to calm your mind, and nowadays, there are more ways than you can count to try out different styles and find out what works for you. From in-person classes to apps like Insight Timer and Headspace to online videos, chances are you’ll find something you like. Even though I’ve been meditating for about two decades now, I still love guided meditations because they help me get out of my head quickly. Other people find them weird or too challenging, so deep breathing and gentle music may be more aligned for them. Meditating regularly for a few minutes each day provides stress relief and its cascade of health benefits mentioned earlier.
Spirit
Last, but not least, is the level of the spirit. You can think of your spirit as your joie de vivre, your purpose, and connection to something greater than yourself. It’s why you are here and why you want to stay here, but also a knowing that we are more than just our incarnation into this body.
Community/Connection: Tending our spirit level means examining how connected we feel to others. Feeling like we are a part of a community, whether friends, family, or neighbors, is critical for our health and wellbeing. As we get older, we are more likely to isolate and less likely to engage with others in our community. The U.S. Surgeon General recently released a report (2023) on the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in our country. He writes, “[Loneliness] is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity.” If you are not currently active in your community, find ways to connect (preferably in-person), whether it’s through events, interest groups, places of worship, or fitness.
Spirituality: Feeling a connection to something greater than yourself helps most people feel a sense of purpose and connection. While some people choose to practice organized religion, it does not have to be limited to that. It can be just as healing for someone to feel connected to the rest of humanity and want to help make a difference, whether they believe in an after-life or not. Whatever spirituality looks like for you, take time to regularly connect to that feeling; this can be through prayer, meditation, gratitude, or being out in nature.
Purpose: When you care about others and the world around you, you feel a need to do your part to help humanity and the earth. The thing is, it doesn’t have to be in a grandiose way like many are led to believe. You don’t have to be Greta Thunberg or Mahatma Gandhi. Being a caring mother or father to your child, teaching the next generations, inventing something that makes life easier, or rescuing animals in need…they’re all great purposes, even if they don’t make the front-page news. Our purpose can also change over time. What is most important is that we do what lights us up, as frequently as we can. If you’re not currently making time in your life for what truly brings you happiness, start carving out just a small pocket of time each day or week to fit it in.
Volunteering: Volunteering to help those in need can contribute to your feeling of purpose and wellbeing. What are you most passionate about? Find a non-profit or organization that is doing work in that area and volunteer your time, talents, or services. Is it important to you that everyone has a warm meal? Volunteer in a soup kitchen to feed the homeless or lend a hand at a community garden. Do you care about litter? Clean up the road sides with a local business or club. Have you always admired a certain business? See if they could use your professional skills to help further their mission. Help others and help yourself at the same time. It’s a win-win.
There are so many ways to tend yourself and improve your health. While it can feel overwhelming, start with just one thing and do it consistently. As you feel comfortable, add in another, and repeat. Soon small changes will lead to big shifts for your body, mind, and spirit.
References
Bryant, E. & Reynolds, S. (2021). Good sleep for good health: Get the rest you need. NIH News In Health, 1-2.
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2021, July 8). Chronic stress puts your health at risk. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037
Murthy, V. (2023, May 3). Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on the healing effects of social connection and community. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf
Note: This article was originally published in a local magazine for their August 2023 issue. For citation references, please contact Dr. Yocum at https://jenyocum.com/contact/
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