helps to discipline your mind, and it trains your nervous system so it’s easier for you to process spiritual energy. Another benefit of yoga is that it can be used in combination with other treatments for anxiety, stress, depression, and other mental disorders.
While I’ve personally only dabbled in yoga, many of my friends and acquaintances have benefited greatly from it. Yoga classes are plentiful in every community. It will be well worth your time.
Stimulate Your Mind
Your mind is the gateway to your spirit, so conditioning and stimulating it are essential for achieving your spiritual journey. There are numerous ways to prepare your mind for a spiritual journey. I’ve selected the ways that I believe are practical for aging boomers and senior citizens to implement.
Drawing. Drawing or painting stimulates the right side of the brain, which inspires creativity. The more creative you are, the more you are in touch with your spirit. I don’t draw because I can’t even draw a straight line, but if you have any artistic talent or interest, painting and drawing are wonderful ways to stimulate your mind and touch your spirit. In fact, art therapy has become a popular activity for older people in assisted living facilities. It is particularly beneficial for people in memory care facilities who are afflicted with dementia.
Music. Studies have demonstrated that musical sounds strengthen the right side of the brain. Listening to music is a mentally healthy activity that can take you into a meditative state.
I’ve observed the positive effects of music on senior citizens at my parents’ senior living community. Every Friday night is music night, and a semiprofessional entertainer sings songs from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s to an audience composed of 70-, 80-, and 90-year-olds. The first time I attended one of these sessions I was astounded at the mesmerizing effect that the sweet sounds and familiar lyrics of the music had on most of the seniors in the audience. It was like the music touched their souls and spirits, and for 60 minutes their lives achieved peace and harmony.
My 96-year old dad listens to classical music to escape the realities of life and aging, whereas Bruce Springsteen songs do it for me.
Writing. When you write, you strengthen your brain’s natural ability to convey thoughts and feelings. Writing journals, diaries, blog entries, and stories are excellent ways to fulfill the needs of your brain. For older people, writing a bio legacy (your life story) can be an effective way to tap into your spirit while also adding meaning to your life.
For me, writing this book was a home run—the most stimulating activity I’ve ever been involved in.
Mind Games. Mind games are thought-provoking and challenging activities. Participating in games such as crossword puzzles, sudoku, chess, or card games is mentally stimulating and tends to engage both the left and right sides of the brain. If you are retired, dedicate a specific period of time each day (say, 3:00 p.m.) to participate in a mind game. Card games like gin, poker, and bridge are popular at most senior centers.
Reading. Reading is exercise for the mind. It would be beneficial to do some form of reading every day, and there are plenty of sources to choose from: books, magazines, newspapers, or news websites.
Love Yourself
For me, love derives from the spirit, not the ego. The more you love yourself (self-love), the closer you are to your spirit. As we age, some of us feel a diminished sense of self-worth and some may wallow in self-pity. Never doubt how truly awesome you are. You deserve love—and lots of it—from yourself. And as soon as you can give yourself more love, you are much closer to tapping into the energy within your higher self.
Final Thoughts
There is a magic wand for dealing with the inconveniences of aging—our spirit. I’ve come to believe that embracing and connecting with your spirit is a monumental event in life that opens a whole new world filled with wonderful possibilities. There is no better prescription for aging (or battling a challenging disease) than tapping into your spirit. Tapping into my spirit was without a doubt my greatest asset during my battle with cancer.
When you are down and drowning in past thoughts or negativity, people will tell you that you need to live in the present and feel the touch of God. I believe this advice is on target, whether you are a religious person or not. (If you are not religious, just substitute “spirit” for God.) Touch your spirit and you will be set free.
CHAPTER FOUR
Mindfulness
One of the secrets to successful positive aging is to live in the present moment. We mustn’t worry about the future or dwell in the past when confronting physical and mental decline. For many people, growing old means a simpler way of life filled with fewer distractions. This may make it easier to live in the present than when we were young and occupied with so many family, social, and work responsibilities.
Choosing to live in the past or worry about the future is self-defeating for older people because it robs them of the chance to truly live. The only important moment is the present moment. This should be quite clear to older people, whose best interest is to appreciate every precious moment in life. It is especially clear to people experiencing life-threatening diseases/conditions.
Mindfulness has enjoyed a surge in popularity in the past two decades, as reflected both in the media and in psychotherapy practices, and also in the habits and practices of millions of ordinary people. Mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience. For our purposes, mindfulness is important because it creates the right mindset for successfully aging.
Mindfulness is closely associated with Buddhist meditative practices and can be developed using the meditation techniques presented in this chapter. Meditation is typically practiced sitting or lying in a comfortable position as you focus on breathing in and out. By focusing your awareness on your breathing, you empty your mind of other thoughts. If you become distracted and a stray thought pops into your mind (which will happen from time to time), accept the distraction in a nonjudgmental way and then focus again on breathing.
Mindfulness is realizing that you are not your mind. You are not all those thoughts, judgments, and noise running through your head. You are the awareness of your mind’s activities; you are just “awareness”—you are at peace.
To attain true mindfulness, you should aspire to 30-minute meditation sessions. But you’ll need to build yourself up to that level—the more you meditate, the easier it becomes to maintain awareness of your breathing and achieve peace of mind.
It may surprise many Westerners who are unfamiliar with Buddhism, but one of Buddhism’s primary missions is to deal with aging and finality, in which mindfulness plays an important role. Buddhism was founded by a man pursuing freedom from suffering caused by sickness, aging, and death. Therefore, Buddhism provides a path to follow in dealing with the inconveniences of aging.
To gain a deeper appreciation for today’s Buddhism and how it helps us deal with aging, here is how the Buddha achieved nirvana and spread his teachings.
The Buddha and His Teachings
Prince Siddhartha sat down to meditate under a large bodhi tree, facing east. He promised himself, “I will not give up until I achieve my goal to find freedom from suffering, for myself and all people.”
Siddhartha
