Healthy Life Actions

A healthy life is a choice and an ongoing activity. I used to think a healthy body was a benefit of nature and a good genes. I've since come to the conclusion that pursuing a healthy life is something that one must seek out and actively participate. When I go online to look at health and medicine information, I've noticed that many of you are there looking up multitudes of small symptoms. It seems that many of us have lots of small health issues, aches, and pains that are part of our daily lives.
       For so many major health conditions and smaller health issues, I've noticed that the primary natural approach is to eat right, exercise, and rest. Does that sound familiar? It's the best approach to everything from losing weight, to protect against cancer, to having smooth glowing skin. I like to look at it as a three-pronged approach.

     Eat Right, mostly organic, with whole grains, lots of vegetables and fruit, and simple high-quality proteins.
     Exercise with aerobic activities like running or biking, stretching with yoga or pilates, with posture corrections and breathing.
     Rest is a very important part of the mix and something we often overlook—plenty of good sleep, physical relaxation of muscles, and mental relaxation with meditation.

     These are all steps that must be actively employed. We learn how to do them and then we practice them. Sometimes we are better at following, sometimes we backslide, always to come back to these three main elements of creating a healthy, vibrant life.

Pass Me By

Rocky Mountains Backdrop

I was on the dirt trail doing my small run along the reservoir when two young women runners jogged past me. They were chatting as they went, passed me easily. I run soooo slow. When I was younger I would probably have picked up my pace. Or I would have felt competitive and tried to catch them. But now, that's not my goal. I'm in it for Posture, Breathe, and Relax. My spine straight like a needle in a ball of cotton. My deep breaths expanding my belly for diaphragmatic breathing. And frequent check-ins to find the tension and relax muscles over all. I ran slow, but I ran almost three miles. And felt great afterwards knowing the biggest health benefits are by doing that long, slow mileage. Almost ALL runners are faster than me, so I won't say "Don't Pass Me By." I will say, "Go ahead, pass me by." I'm just inordinately pleased that it wasn't two women walking that passed me. 

Running, Over Age 50

Jimmy Carter Jogging

I used to run when I was in my 20s, 30s, and 40s. Then as the aches of getting older kicked in I slacked off. I always used to say to myself, "Use it or lose it." Because I have slacked off for so many years in a row, I have lost that easy conditioning. Now I want to get it back. 

     If you are like me and taking up running after age 50, the first thing to consider (besides asking your doctor, if you have health issues) is that you need to take it slow. Running slow is a good thing. Building up mileage or time slowly is a good thing. It will allow your heart and lung conditioning to keep pace with your muscle conditioning of legs and body. Slow is good. And running every other day allows time between runs to recover.
     I find it best to keep a comfortable easy pace. For me that is very slow, even slower than someone who is walking at a good clip. It's healthy to take it that slow, but it also has the added benefit of being easy on my motivation--I don't mind getting out there to run when I know it is easy and feels good.
     The important part of early training is to do the running regularly and make it a habit. Remember the saying 21 days to a habit? If you can keep up your runs for three weeks straight, it becomes a habit and that means you are less likely to lose motivation because its always harder to break a habit than to build one. Run slow, run easy, keep it fun and pleasant for those first three weeks.
     If you are training for a race or a fund-raising run, like a 5k, it would be easier to begin that training after those first three weeks. You will have a level of cardio-fitness built up. And the habit you've set is a good framework for beginning to build up the length or time of your runs.
     If you are like me, you are running to stay healthy and moving. I am not training for high mileage and and race speeds. I approach my running like I would do walking meditation. My big goals are to work towards good posture, breathing deeply, and relaxing my body. I count breaths or find markers that remind me to relax, just like I describe in the article I wrote for my website, SimpleTens, Muscle Relaxation of the Head and Back. I check in, scan my body, and relax everything. It feels good, I finish with good posture, and I want to keep running regularly.