Live Longer: Long Life For All!

Reduce Stress to Live Longer March 20, 2008

Cut anxiety and stress out of your life to live longer - that’s the message of a study carried out by the University of California. Researchers discovered that stress and anxiety cause aging damage to your body, by affecting the mechanisms that allow your cells to regenerate and stay long. So how can we reduce stress and stay young?

Everyone has their own ways to reduce stress, and all of us should search for what works best for us - whether it’s making time for your favourite hobby, pampering yourself or just stroking your cat. Here are some as suggested by the AARP in an interview with people over 85 still living a healthy life - people who are living a long life already:

• Get into a state of flow - play games: Research has shown that getting into a state of flow can help reduce stress - this is a ‘zen’ state where you are just at one with your task, whether that’s working on a fun problem, enjoying your work or playing games with friends.
• Find the laughs in life: When we find situations humorous we don’t find them stressful. As Milton said: “The mind can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven” so make sure your mind makes your life heavenly and stress free.
• Optimists live longer: My gran is now 90 and always knows everything will work out fine, especially when she has a greasy egg and bacon sandwich to keep her happy. Mmm. So stay positive and look at the silver lining. Dutch research has shown that optimists have a 55% lower risk of death!
• Friends for a long life: Keep your good friends close and enjoy quality time with them on a regular basis. People who support you affirm your life goals and make you feel good, as you do for them. Recent research has even suggested that big city life is not as bad for you as people thought, simply because in a big city you are more likely to find people who fit in with your choice of life allowing you to be happy who you are.

So stay active and happy, enjoy life and friends and most of all - don’t get stressed - then you have a reason to live a long life, as well as the opportunity to do so.