Growing Older Living Younger: About longevity, wellness, healthspan,

P sychologist, Peter A Levine points out that " trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence".   In today's conversation with my guest, Louise Liebenberg, we look at ways to identify how unresolved traumas may be adversely impacting our lives, and discuss strategies to help deal with such traumas. Louise Liebenberg, is an international bestselling author, transformati...

Some of the most frequently used, possibly overused, words that I have heard over the past few years are "I'm so stressed."   Psychologist, Wayne Dyer, said that t he truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it's your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can't package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking. Yet a s a physic...

Frank McCourt, author of the memoir,   Angela's Ashes wrote, "everyone has a story to tell - all you have to do is write it. But   it's not that easy." In today's conversation, we talk about the power of telling your story and becoming part of global communities of like minded people. For most of us writing is not easy but it is worth the effort. Thinking back to when I was writing my book, Growin...

In today's episode we discuss how the study of animal genes may shed light on human disorders of aging such as stroke, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease. We know that our circadian wake and sleep rhythms are controlled by a biological master clock deep in the hypothalamus of the brain. And that the change in melatonin levels, dropping with daylight and rising at night, mediates the master cloc...

As I  was thinking about my upcoming conversation with David Loud, author of "Facing the Music", a  quote from piano man, Billy Joel, struck a chord with me. Joel said " I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.    It seemed to me that t he healing power of David Loud'...

As I was preparing to record this episode, fixing my hair and checking  my appearance, I was pondering the importance of hair to the image we present to the world. Two things came to mind. Hair is a constantly renewable resource and that means we can experiment to create the look we desire, knowing that if something doesn't work, we can try again. Often, the first impression of someone's age is in...

Today I talk with Chris Westfall,  about how to make life easier in these troubling times.  One of my all-time most admired and respected actors, Robert Redford,  comment ed " I'm interested in that thing that happens where there's a breaking point for some people and not for others. You go through such hardship, things that are almost impossibly difficult, and there's no sign that it's going to g...

In several  earlier conversations on this show, guests have pointed out that these days many people are living into their nineties and that in many locales, centenarians are the fastest growing segment of the population. Yet as longevity increases, many people will very likely not have accumulated enough wealth to sustain the comfortable lifestyle they were accustomed to. Here to share his perspec...

" You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old" (George Burns)   "I Won't retire till they bury me." (Gary Rogers) T oday's guest, Gary Rogers, exemplifies one who is "older but not old". I met Gary at an online networking event about a year ago. I was so struck by his energy and vitality, that I took him up on his offer of a free master class on presentation skills.   It was only m...

"I see retirement as just another of these reinventions, another chance to do new things and be a new version of myself." (Walt Mossberg)   When I was contemplating early retirement from my hospital and university work,   like Walt Mossberg, I believe that retirement was a chance to do new things and learn skills I had long wanted to pursue but that I had not had the time and freedom to do while I...

  As I was reflecting on my upcoming conversation on public speaking with today's guest, I came across this quote from Jane Fonda. She said "People think actresses find public speaking easy, and it's not easy at all: we're used to hiding behind masks"   Hiding behind a mask, is not unique to actors or other professional communicators. Many of us, in day to day conversation,   hesitate to share our...

" The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned ." (Maya Angelou)   "It's like putting a puzzle together, arranging the pieces to make a perfect picture." (Emma Auriemma-McKay) Several years ago, as retirement from my 25 year medical career was approaching, I was about to be living alone in the large suburban home where my family of 6 had live...

" Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods, and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts " (James Beard)   "She said to me you may have a gluten allergy. And I was like, "well, I'm a chef. I really can't. It's just not convenient. I just can't". And she said "you know, Jen, your choice of careers doesn't mean that you can consume everything". (Chef Jen Peters) As yo...

  "Once you label me you negate me". ( Soren Kiekegard)   "If you're alive, you're aging. It's as simple as that" (Jeanette Leardi ) A number of recent episodes on Growing Older Living Younger have focused on  real and perceived judgments and discrimination on the basis of age, gender, ethnicity and ability, which leads me to agree somewhat with the quote from Kierkegard. As soon as we l ose sight...

 " Diversity is about all of us, and about us having to figure out how to walk through this world together . " ( Jaqueline Woodson). " Don't let your age or ethnicity get in the way of your achievement. Your ethnicity is one of your assets and you are as youthful as you feel." ( Dr. Gaye Lang) I met today's guest, Dr. Gaye Lang, when we were both in the process of launching our respective podcasts...

 " By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, Which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest, and third by experience, which is the bitterest ." ( Confucius) But what is wisdom?   Today's guest, Dr. Dilip Jeste, suggests that " wise people are compassionate and empathetic, aware of their gifts and blind spots, open-minded, resolute and calm amid uncertainty, altruistic d...

 " The idea is to die young as late as possible. " (Ashley Montague) " The trick is to have fun, fun, fun,  die, and rectangularize your survival curve, or compress your morbidity to as late in life as possible ." (Hans Parge) Today's guest, Dr. Hans Parge shares my mission to change aging with science-based systems that extend health rather than just longevity. Dr. Hans is trained in  biomedical...

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." ( Albert Einstein) "You think of all the things we do to stay healthy, all the things we spend our money on and time thw can we get fit and healthy and the Scandinavians are primarily just walking." (Mandy Shintani) Today, I am delighted to be able to introduce Mandy Shintani, founder and developer of Urban Poling to disc...

" The only thing worse than being blind, is having sight but no vision ." Helen Keller " Glaucoma is called the silent thief of sight...because when you have elevated eye pressure, and it's damaging your eyes, you don't feel it. It can make you lose 90 to 100% of your vision before you notice it ." Dr. Daniel La Roche While Helen Keller speaks to the vision with which we approach growing older, in...

" If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it. " Lyndon B Johnson  Today we reflect on how our life on earth will be impacted, as declining birth rates and increased longevity drastically reshape...

 ' We've been merging with tools since the beginning of human evolution, and arguably, that's one of the things that makes us human beings . ' (Franklin Foer) Humankind has a very long history of using tools. Stone tools found in Ethiopia, possibly used for digging and cutting, were thought to date from 2.6 million years ago. While today we don't have to seek out and sharpen stones to prepare our...

"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm. (Aldous Huxley)  I would add "never lose the enthusiasm, the curiosity about the world and the fearlessness of childhood". The message from today's guest is that while we stay youthful and vibrant as we grow older,  we must celebrate ourselves along the journey.     It was delightful t...

'To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent—that is to triumph over old age' - ( Thomas Bailey Aldrich) Today's guest, Dr. Joseph Casciani, will encourage you to triumph over old age, by 'turning aging on its head.'    Dr. Casciani  is the author of two books, Handbook of Health and Behavior and Living Longer IS the New Normal and hosts the podcast, Living to 100 Club...

'W e struggle with eating healthily, obesity, and access to good nutrition for everyone. But we have a great opportunity to get on the right side of this battle by beginning to think differently about the way that we eat and the way that we approach food.' ( Marcus Samuelsson) Today I talk with  registered dietician,  Jen Lyman, about   new  paradigms that are displacing long standing nutritional...

 'A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.' (Steve Martin) Sadly, especially in recent times,  too many people get too little sunshine, literally and metaphorically, to make a difference in their lives. Today we talk about the sunshine vitamin, Vitamin D, and how recent science changed the way long time family physician, Dr. Dave McCarthy, thought about deficiency diseases.   We discuss Vi...