The Secret to a Longer, Healthier, and Happier Life

In 2019, I had been sick on and off for most of the year. I had zero energy and was constantly struggling with digestive issues to near-constant skin issues - that came with little to no solutions from my conventional or integrative doctors. I was under immense amounts of stress with clients, in the wrong relationship, and was experiencing pre-existing mental health issues that were sending me into spirals regularly.?

It was dark.

Rock bottom came when I got the call that a biopsy had come back pre-cancerous. Some minor and major surgeries were recommended, but having multiple family members pass away from various cancers, I knew that cancer was only a symptom of my issues, not the root.

I declined surgery but knew that if I didn’t make major changes in my life that I was headed down a path of existential proportions.

What I have learned over the past two years is that we overcomplicate the shit out of everything. It’s so easy to look to the “quick fix” outside of yourself to make you feel better, happier, and healthier. Trust me, before this, I had desperately tried everything except for “doing the obvious”. Everything changed when I took responsibility for my life - no one was coming to save me.

While I am a huge believer in modern medicine and am grateful for the advancements we’ve made, true health is holistic - the sum of multiple factors of which, only about 20% is determined by your genes. So that means 80% is up to you. If you continue to create the conditions for disease to thrive, diseases will continue to crop up.?

I am a huge proponent of “doing the obvious” because most of the time if you’re experiencing health issues - it is caused or made worse by not doing some, if not all, of the obvious.

Blue Zones

Dan Buettner and his Blue Zones work with National Geographic adds beautifully to this conversation.?Blue Zones teamed up with Natural Geographic to study places that had high concentrations of centenarians, people that live to be 100, to find the secret sauce. After studying 5 regions, deemed the Blue Zones, it turns out that there are 9 overlapping factors that contribute to longevity.

The Power 9 has the ability to add at least a decade to your life expectancy which is about 78 if you’re living in the United States. We are seeing exponential amounts of preventable diseases like heart disease, auto-immune disease, etc...

So, if you want to live a longer, healthier, and happier life…here are the not-so-secret, Power 9:

1. Move Naturally: Do your own yard work (no riding mowers), take walks, or bike to the grocery store.
2. Purpose: Find your very own “reason for being” or ikigai. (If you're stuck on this, we can help with this at The Passion Centre!)
3. Downshift: Manage your stress through something like therapy or working out, anything that helps you unwind.
4. 80% rule: Stop eating at 80% full
5. Plant slant: When it comes to food, a majority of it should be whole, plant-based foods.
6. Wine @ 5: 1-2 glasses a day with friends or family appears to be a-ok…with stipulations. You can’t save up all your drinks and go on a weekend bender. And also, check-in with you. How does alcohol make your mind and body feel?
7. Belong: Connect into something bigger than you, whether religious or spiritual.
8. Loved ones first: Keep your family close!
9. Right tribe. Commit to lifelong friendships with people that you can grow with.

TIP: Find ways to make the new behavior easier than the old one that you’re trying to replace.

That being said, this Thursday, I am personally inviting you to a conversation on Blue Zones with The Blue Zone Project’s very own Nick Buettner. We’re going to dive deeper into this longevity conversation and explore how to design Passion-Based communities for sustainable growth and well-being.

Just make sure to register HERE!

??This week I’m…?

?? Reading:

• The Biography of a Yogi, Yogananda

?? Listening:

• The ocean
• Thunderstorms

????Practicing:

• Integrating old stories
• Somatic experiencing

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