Mar 2, 2023 6 min read

Longevity is a WE game

Longevity is a WE game
Dr David Katz, Lifestyle Medicine

"The general public lacks clear and consistent advice about the role of lifestyle medicine in promoting health"

He shares that "Too many competing voices, capitalist-driven motifs, and conflicting messages in the media have left many people overwhelmed and confused about how to best improve the health and wellbeing for themselves personally, for their families and their local communities." DR DAVID KATZ

CONNECTION is the Elixir to longevity.

The solution, no one living towards longevity is trying to do it alone.


CHALLENGES WE FACE TOGETHER...

Global health statistics in one picture

RADICAL SELF-RESPONSIBILITY.

Be honest, especially to yourself.

Be happy in your body and mind where you are, however unsettling it may be.

The first step to self-governing your health and wellbeing is to take radical self-responsibility for where you stand today, whilst casting a vision for your ultimate human potential.

From here learn to build by 1% a day, without comparison. Stay in your own lane.

In 12 months you may just surprise yourself!

Learn to take radical responsibility for our starting point, whilst learning to focus on the longevity solutions in plain sight.

If you understand that "what we focus on expands," then you will understand why problems keep getting bigger and solutions to seem further away.

We can change that today! We just need to shift our attention away from silver bullets, quick fixes, and red herrings... toward sustainable solutions for ourselves and others.


THE RED ZONE "50%"

ARE YOU PART OF THE LUCKY 8 PERCENT?

Simply by having access to this COURSE, you belong to a minority group. In fact, if you can read you are luckier than over one-billion people who cannot read at all.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, then you are luckier than the million who will not survive this week. Luckier than the 4 billion people living with a chronic preventable non-communicable disease, and even luckier because you have a provincial healthcare card that guarantees you will have care in case of illness.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...then you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend any meeting you want—political, religious, social...then you are luckier than 3 billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep...then you are more abundant than 75 percent of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace...then you are among the top eight percent of the world’s abundant population. With this in mind, let’s begin with a grateful heart and get in motion!


8 RED ZONE COMMUNITIES.

8 Countries with the lowest life expectancy 

LONGEVITY HOTSPOTS WORTH "MODELLING"

The concept of blue zones grew out of the demographic work done by Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain outlined in the Journal of Experimental Gerontology, identifying Sardinia as the region of the world with the highest concentration of male centenarians. Pes and Poulain drew concentric blue circles on the map highlighting these villages of extreme longevity and began to refer to this area inside the circle as the blue zone.


8 BLUE ZONE COMMUNITIES

8 Global Blue Zone Communities and Centenarian hotspots

7 TRAITS OF SUPERCENTENARIANS

Curious adventurers like Master Del Pe and others have noticed that centenarians and supercentenarians groups were found in specific geographical environments with overall good Feng Shui or geomancy that tuned into the natural flow of the world. Imagine tuning into the sun’s energy each morning and evening, the fresh flow and circulation of clean air, the flow of water, and growing food in living soil with an abundance of nutrients needed for daily function.

Beyond geography, these longevity hotspots have 7 simple correlations.

  1. They lived with an abundance of fresh food from natural sources, grown in nourishing environments free of chemicals and toxic pollution.
  2. They had fresh air and natural spring water with higher alkalinity.
  3. Having friends and family around, connection, was a key.
  4. People lived with a stress-free sense of lightness, laughter, and fun. Simply living.
  5. They lived functional lives, movement was a way of life, not a chore or exercise regime.
  6. They lived with a sense of purpose, beyond the materialistic world. It kept their minds sharp and active until their final breath.
  7. They had a sense of faith in the goodness of life and spiritual connection to their version of the “source” and circulation of energy in our lifetimes.

9 PRACTICES OF BLUE ZONE COMMUNITIES

  1. Right Tribe—The world’s longest-lived people have close friends (people to confide in) and strong social networks. Experts from all fields agree that isolation is the worst thing we can do to human beings.
  2. Family First—Having close and strong family connections (with spouses, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, and community) is common among centenarians. But family is more than just blood too. We are all 99.5% genetically the same anyway! Modern families are seen to be nuclear and separate from each other. Whereas indigenous and ancient cultures saw the family as kinship; where community, teachers, neighbors, and mentors were family too. I love the Maoris of New Zealand term “whanau” which can be anything from an intergenerational lineage of the family to a group of like-minded people that come together for a common purpose. It is a multi-layered, flexible and dynamic version of “family” that ensures the physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual health and wellbeing of all people. The concept is extremely powerful, especially if you are born into families that are less than nourishing, have had parents pass away or have a fall out with a blood-related “family.” Connect with your family first, look after your front doorstep and serve your proximity before trying to change the world.
  3. Belonging—Centenarians have shown that being part of a faith-based community can add 4 to 14 years to life expectancy. This does not specify whether religious or spiritual. It refers to a sense of belonging and support that inspires hope, even in the darkest of times.
  4. Eat more plants—Plants and beans are at the forefront of most centenarian diets. Eating more plants; vegetables, fruit, and whole grains, while animal-based food is eaten in small amounts.
  5. Keep moving—Moving naturally throughout the day—walking, gardening, doing housework, surfing—is a core part of living towards longevity. No one likes to sit down all day behind a computer. We all know that our backs, hips and body feels that! Motion is lotion!
  6. Slow Down—Move less, rest, and digest. Stress is part of life, but centenarians have stress-relieving rituals built into their daily routines. Adventists pray Ikarians take afternoon naps, and Sardinians do a happy hour, socially connecting and sharing wine at 5 pm.
  7. Work in Purpose—The Okinawans call it Ikigai and the Nicoyans call it “plan de Vida”—it means your purpose in life, the reason you wake up in the morning. According to research, having a sense of purpose can add seven years to your overall life expectancy.
  8. Enjoy Healthy Moderation—80/20 Rule. The world’s oldest living people have been found to stop eating when their stomachs are around 80% full. They tend to also eat their smallest meal in the early evening. Moderation is all about enjoying life without being ridiculously extreme. Enjoy life, drive off the beaten track, jump in that puddle, take a risk and enjoy that dessert. After all, life is for living.
  9. Wine at 5—Did you know that moderate but regular consumption of wine (with friends and/or food) is part of some centenarian lifestyle. Perhaps it is less about the fermented grapes and more about the social connection and natural food. Nonetheless, it is a practice that has stood the test of time.

The key point is that self-care is not about perfection. It’s about finding what works for you in the context of your life.

This means that these Blue Zone principles and the SelfCare matrix of 12 Medicines, simply become a framework to help you make better lifestyle choices each day. Create your own standards for living and take radical responsibility without guilt, self-judgment, or comparison. Ultimately your life = your choice!

SUMMARY

Longevity is a WE game, not just an individual ME game.

It takes "a village to raise a child" and a "community to heal the sick".
It also takes a "community to survive and thrive over our lifespans"

REFERENCES

This is directly referenced from the best-selling amazon SelfCare Book "Lifestyle Medicine For the People" by Rory Callaghan.  If you would like to read more content like this. Grab the free online chapters of the book or a hard copy.

We have done our best to reference everyone’s expert opinions, peer-reviewed science, and original thoughts, all references available here and referenced in the text.

We also understand that most thoughts are not our own and there is a collective unconsciousness, unconsciousness, and universal mind stream of energy that is always at work.  How are references are sorted and filtered is here

SelfCare Global Collective
SelfCare Global Collective
THE RISING BILLIONS Our mission is to remind people that they have never needed to be fixed; simply nourished.
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