The Secret to Living Longer, Villages (part1) ........

a reply to: nugget1

Thank you for you thought out reply,I agree with all that you have written. Although I am not religious the Church for a lot of the centenarians seems to play an important role. However again this is not to do with God but to do with the community aspect to it. I am not sure the gang culture of the youth of today will prolong their life

a reply to: ValentineWiggin

Somebody needs to introduce them folks in Okinawa to butter brown sugar and cinnamon on those sweet potatoes, that life expectancy will level out in no time

Unfortunately, given the huge American military presence the youth have probably already been influenced by the American way of life.Only time will what their life expectancy will be. Are the youth there just playing x box and ps or are they helping with the crops?

a reply to: Ellie Sagan

Thank you for you reply.
Dont feel down. You can start making a better life by helping others around you. If they feel good then you feel good. The energy rubs off on you. It is quite hard growing your own food and does take some practice. I am in Venezuela at the moment and am growing tomatoes, egg plant and peppers (sweet and spicy). The peppers and egg plant have done really well. The tomatoes...hmmmm well not so well. The problem here is the heat . They are not used to it. You live an learn. Dont give up on growing your own vegetables, there is a certain satisfaction that comes from it.
It is hard not to stress, do you practice meditation? Breathing the correct way in a stressful situation is very important.
Keep feeling positive and positive things will come
Smile

would also think the older generations would be involved more with the raising and growing of the younger generations as well. Grand kids, great grand kids... have a special way of keeping the elders going I'm sure. Having them around to help with child care will ease the stress on the parents, easing the stress passed down to the children etc... trickle down effect. Not to mention more extended family.

a reply to: ValentineWiggin

Good point about the trickle down effect. It would seem surrounding themselves with younger generations keeps themselves young. Maybe the energy and positiveness the children exert also has a life prolonging effect. Hopefully the youth of these villages will continue to respect their elders and continue their way of life, however with the influence of modern day life, I am not holding my breath.

Always when there is a new oldest person in The Netherlands they ask what they do to get that old ?

The answer is always the same, stay active !

I do think the other things mentioned are also important, but don`t forgot about the staying active part as being really important.

And thanks for the nice thread OP !

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Yes keeping active is very important. A lot just sit in front of the tv and die. Its like they have given up already. Stay active,eat drink well and having a sense of community ,seem to be the key components to getting old.

a reply to: maythetruthbeknown

The more you think about time the older you get. If you dont track time like we do in the west you will end up living longer. You will also be younger and healthier.

These places are free from the reality creating clock.

Looking forward to your birthday?.......counting the days?....how many years to 30? 40? 50?

stop counting.

a reply to: maythetruthbeknown

Only when we all at once say enough will we be free from the system. You're right we can't just live off the land cus the gubmint taxes us and all the other things that come with modernity. It's modern conveniences that are the problem but the facade of our society that says there is scarcity when there is not. That forces you to be self minded to succeed so you can enjoy the high life while others slave away.

I hope to see the day when we all throw off the shackles.

a reply to: maythetruthbeknown

I know this is a long time past, but I don't really get on a lot, so I just noticed this reply. Thanks for the words of encouragement. I haven't really tried meditation yet, but try to breathe deeply and meaningfully at times and I try to clear my head by thinking about my breathing and what I see when I close my eyes, don't know if this makes sense. It does calm me. The gardening thing drives me nuts, but I will definitely stick with it!