FEATURES
not a fad; it’s a lifestyle. We want to always reach for the best option in choosing our meals but sometimes we can’t for reasons beyond our control. Many people who become excessively focused on eating the “perfect” diet find that the added worry and stress causes them more harm than good. Our goal is to always have the best option but that’s not always feasible. The key is to strive for progress, not perfection. Releasing the idea that there is no bad or wrong way to do things allows people to improve. An example would be to start with a good option, say, a salad with some lettuce and toma- toes. If we continued to add more vegeta- bles to the salad such as a red bell pepper and some asparagus, that would be even better. Finally, if we continued to addi- tionally add beans, sweet potatoes, and a homemade dress- ing to the salad, we would have the best option because of the tremendous amount of nutritious volume in one meal.
Healthy at Any Age Having worked in the geriatrics field for the past 25 years served as my inspiration to commit a significant part of my book to educating people about the importance of brain health.
Realistically, the last time many of us even thought about our brain was in our seventh grade biology class. I’ve witnessed firsthand the significant shift in our nation towards mental diseases. Throughout the years, my office began to fill up with new clients who suffered from mental concerns; loss of concentra- tion, poor memory, depression, hyperactivity, Attention Deficit Disorder; these were rare when I began in the field. Now, we have an explosion of these maladies for a number of reasons I cover in the book. My goal was to bring awareness to mental health and the available resources we have at our fingertips which can greatly help us increase our cognitive abilities and maintain them well into our later years.
One of the first things I noticed while working in the geriatrics community was the impaired sense of smell in our senior population. Scents can invoke moods, memories, and stimulate appetite. By using scents in the geriatrics community, seniors are able to experi- ence a wider variety of emotions, elicit long forgotten memories, and stimulate their appetite.
Fun In Motion Oracle 20/20 September 2013
One of the reasons people love the workouts I challenge them with is because they’re fun and engaging not only to the body, but also their mind. I introduce various fit- ness modalities that I share in the book such as weight- ed balls, balance drills, and much more to inspire both play and fitness. What will help people come back to motion again is the element of fun. Joy and play keep us mentally stimulated, curious, and spontaneous. Without fun, it’s virtually impossible to stick with any fitness regimen for the long term and this is the reason I dis- cuss these topics at length in the book. I want people to be “doers,” not just “viewers.” Why just watch sports when we can play sports? We’re losing the desire to partici- pate in motion, in sports, in life. If we don’t move consis- tently, we’ll gradu- ally lose not only the desire, but also the physical ability to move. And this is precisely what we’re witnessing today − if we don’t change.
The dangers of sitting have been gaining greater media attention recently. Tell us why you believe prolonged sitting is
unhealthy and share some of the remedies you recom- mend in your book.
It’s hard to believe that many people sit for countless hours every day. This is a recent cultural disaster. As little as fifty years ago, people hardly sat because the demands of life dictated that they move continually all day long. That’s not the case today. Many are typing while sitting at work and lets not forget that we’re sitting for prolonged periods of time in our car before we even get to our job. This makes us less proficient in stand- ing, running, walking, and jumping. How many of us can perform these movements with some skill? I devoted a long section to primarily offering strategies that counter our sitting lifestyle in ways that everyone can easily add to their routines right now such as self-massage, gentle stretching, and proper posture awareness.
Compassion and Quality of Living I believe the compassion portion of the book is perhaps the most important because it holds the key compo- nents which support and reinforce the health modalities I introduce. Compassion encompasses the qualities of love, caring, kindness, warmth, sensitivity, tolerance,
and much more. These are the priceless “antidotes” c
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