Relaxation…a Way of Life in Longevity Hot Spots

Five Fundamentals of Relaxation:

You can manage stress.
Schedule relaxation time.
Slow down, breathe deeply, easily.
Watch intake of stimulants.
Respect the role of sleep.

Relaxation…a Way of Life in Longevity Hot Spots
There are no beeping, overscheduled smartphones in Campodimele, Italy, known as the Village of Eternal Youth. Only fresh mountain air, plentiful sunshine, and low stress.

When Symis meet to enjoy a classic Mediterranean meal, there’s no rushing. No clock-watching. They’re never concerned about arriving late—or staying long after the plates are cleared. Daily afternoon naps are commonplace.

Across the globe, Okinawans practice the ancient art of daily meditation…focusing on breathing to connect mind, body, and spirit. They make time for healing massages to generate new flows of life’s energy.

Relaxation is crucial to living well. People in Longevity Hot Spots lead busy lives, yet they are stress-free. They recognize the rejuvenating power of rest, respite, and relaxation. A connection to nature plays a central role in every hot spot corner, as does the simplicity of life’s daily rhythms.

Nature is restorative. It offers powerful healing qualities and a welcome way to unwind. Spending time outdoors nourishes our bodies and our souls. So do music, meditation, and moments of quiet prayer. Would you like to bring your relaxation skills closer to those of long-lived hot spot residents?

The Signs You’re Stressed
Stress gets in our way nearly every day. Maybe it’s…

receiving hurtful criticism
spilling coffee on your computer when you have a deadline
the death of someone close to you
getting caught in a maze of voicemail when you just want to ask a quick question
trying to pack for a flight at the same time as getting your young kids dressed, fed, washed, and ready…aaargh!
If you feel stress doesn’t affect you every day, you are lucky. There’s one thing you can pretty much be sure of in life—and that’s that you will encounter stressful situations on a regular basis.

But here’s the key: How do you react? Do you smile peacefully throughout, like a Buddhist monk meditating in a temple? Do you yell and throw stuff? Do you sit stiff-lipped, while feeling your heart pumping and your blood pressure rising? Do you reach for a little something in a bottle or a packet to calm you down?

Do you wish you could be less stressed by stress?

Stress at its core
Before you build skills to manage stress, it helps to know more about it. We experience two general types of stressors:

acute stressors, or short-term events that cause temporary acute stress, such as getting yelled at by an angry driver or boss
chronic stressors, which are more general life circumstances that may be causing us long-term, low-level stress, such as overwork
If you suffer from chronic stress, you may find that small things make you flare up more easily than they should—which in turn causes more acute stress. If you feel this way, you’re not alone. You’re a typical modern human being.

Symptoms of stress
If you suffer from any of these symptoms, you may be showing the physical signs of too much stress.

Irritability and/or bad temper
Difficulty getting up in the mornings
Fatigue
Sensitivity to criticism
Difficulty sleeping
An annoying late-evening “second wind” after having been tired all day
Lingering colds and other minor illnesses
Low libido
Indigestion
Poor memory and concentration
Headaches
High blood pressure
Feeling dizzy when you stand up (a sign of low blood pressure caused by adrenal exhaustion)
Depression
Unexplained aches and pains
Reliance on alcohol, coffee, or tranquillizers
Sugar or salt cravings
The people in the Longevity Hot Spots tend to be free of these types of symptoms. Why? They are less subject to the modern stressors we have to put up with.

Instead of daily commutes through traffic, they have lovely winding paths in beautiful scenery with perhaps the odd goat rambling past.
Instead of work deadlines, they pick fruit together or go out fishing.
They don’t have mortgages or alarm clocks or voice mail mazes to deal with.
They are the kind of people who, when a minor mishap happens such as breaking something or tripping, they don’t feel annoyed—they just laugh.

Nobody in a Longevity Hot Spot is entirely exempt from stressors, however, and many of the hot spot populations practice relaxation techniques, which we can borrow. Meditation, martial arts, plenty of exercise, laughing about problems with friends and family, having spiritual beliefs and having therapeutic hobbies—these are all things practiced in the hot spots that lower stress levels.

And they are all things we can do, too. Keeping physically healthy with the right diet and exercise, as the people in the Longevity Hot Spots do, also makes us much more able to deal with stress. Just think about how you deal with stress when you are hungry and tired versus when you feel good. It can make all the difference.

Dial Back the Stress
By making just a few changes, you’ll infuse some welcome relaxation into your daily routine.

The wellness experts at Akea have assembled their favorite methods for de-stressing. Employ them and enjoy them! As you learn to manage your stress, remember to aim for a step-down approach to relaxation. This is a physiologic process. Just like you can't take a car from 100 miles per hour to 0 on a dime, the body takes time to go from a state of high excitement to relaxation.

Take the Akea 60-Day Challenge. Your blood sugar levels should become more balanced, thus reducing irritability. Your ability to produce pleasure-enhancing brain chemicals such as serotonin should improve, and your adrenal glands, which deal with stress, should get certain nutrients they need, such as Vitamin C, B vitamins, and magnesium, to rejuvenate them and keep them robust.
Learn meditation. Transcendental meditation has been found to lower biological age and reduce biomarkers of aging. Meditation can help slow the heart rate, increase blood flow to major muscles, slow the breathing rate, raise levels of the ‘youth hormone’ DHEA, lower blood pressure, reduce anger and frustration, improve concentration, and reduce muscle tension and chronic pain, among other benefits.
Pray or find your own spirituality to give positive meaning to the challenges you face. Studies have shown that having spiritual beliefs lowers heart disease, liver cirrhosis, and suicide risk.
Practice yoga. Yoga improves circulation, boosts immunity, aids bone and muscle health, provides deep relaxation, and can have a profoundly rejuvenating effect on organs and systems in the body.
Take regular exercise, such as walking, dance class, martial arts, or any other form of exercise—preferably earlier in the day, as it may disrupt sleep if done in the evening. Exercise has a huge range of physical benefits which, in turn, should help improve resistance to stress. Exercise also boosts the body’s production of endorphins, the brain chemicals that make us feel happy and relaxed.
Practice deep breathing. Stress causes us to breathe more shallowly, while deep breathing enables oxygenation of body tissues and has a relaxing, rejuvenating effect. Start by sitting cross-legged in loose clothes and keeping your spine straight. Relax. Inhale and exhale slowly, expanding your chest and lower abdomen as you breathe in. Count to five. Breathe out all the old stale air and imagine the fresh, new air coming in and reaching all the parts of your body.
Go for a walk somewhere beautiful. Experiencing the vast timelessness of nature can help us to get perspective on our problems.
Have a hot soak in the tub by candlelight and think about all the things that annoyed you that day until you feel they have been processed. Then congratulate yourself for having dealt with them!
Treat yourself to a massage or reflexology session.
Have a glass of wine or cup of tea with a good friend and share any problems you have. Allow yourself time each week to enjoy some kind of social life with people who make you feel good about yourself.


Have nothing scheduled? Be proactive and arrange something.

Laugh. Watch a funny video or read a humorous book. Studies show that laughter boosts immune cell production. You could also join a laughter therapy class—check the web to find one near you.
Take up a soothing, immediately gratifying hobby such as music (either listening to it or making it), knitting, carpentry, gardening, painting, or pottery.
Gain control. If you worry about things you need to do and when you are going to do them, make a list and schedule each task. Tick tasks off as you complete them—and enjoy a satisfied sigh when you finish the list.
Be realistic about time. Don’t ask too much of yourself or spread yourself too thin. Talk to your boss if you feel you are being given unrealistic deadlines or an unfair workload.
Practice empathy. If someone seems needlessly aggressive, remember it’s their problem, not yours. Try not to take it personally. They are probably having a bad day.
Get lost in an absorbing book to distract you from your daily worries.
Relax your whole body
Ready for more relaxation? Here’s a step-by-step progressive relaxation routine that you can practice once or twice daily. You should feel results immediately.

Hold tension in forehead until uncomfortable, then let it drop.
Notice the radiation of relaxation, allow the warmth to move to the scalp, back of head, ears, temples, cheeks, and nose.
Open mouth and chin, relax jaw, whole face.
Relax neck muscles, let head tip forward, flow into shoulders, arms, and hands, then down back, over front to chest and abdomen to base of spine.
Let buttocks go limp, spread to thighs, legs, feet, and tips of toes.
Take a moment starting from the top of head and working down to check and see if any part is not relaxed.
Inhale a deep breath and send it to this area, bringing oxygen and comfort.
Exhale through the skin replacing tension with relaxation.
When quiet and relaxed, remain a few minutes more to enjoy it, then slowly rouse yourself.
[Listen to an audio of this exercise here, or download a printable copy here.]

Sleep
….the ultimate in relaxation. Make sure to get enough good-quality sleep. Experts recommend 7 to 8 hours each night. Sleep is important for keeping your immune system strong, allowing your nervous system to rest and repair, and releasing hormones. In order to get a good night’s sleep, follow these tips:

Go to bed at roughly the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning so that your body clock works efficiently and you feel sleepy at the right time.
Avoid caffeine or sugar in the evening.
Avoid watching television before bed—it can be over-stimulating.
Keep lights dim in the evening.
Have a bedtime ritual to relax you, such as having a bath and then reading a book. Or, practice the relaxation technique described above.