I recently came across a presentation that Dan Buettner gave at one of the TED conferences. In this presentation he spoke about Blue Zones and highlighted some principles of longevity. After years of research and study of these people who live in these “Blue Zones”, Dan has identified some common denominators that hold true among these cultures which I have in turn highlighted below.You can watch the video of the presentation that Dan gave at the TED event.
These common denominators are:
1. Move Naturally
- None of these people in the blue zone areas exercise, well at least not in the way we think about exercise. Rather, they set up their lives so that they’re constantly nudged into exercise.
- The Okinawan women sit on the ground and get up and down about 30-40 times a day. The Sardinians live in vertical houses and are forced to go up and down the stairs many times throughout the day.
- They don’t have many conveniences. Instead they walk to the store, do their own housework and yard work etc.
2. Right Outlook
- They set up their lives so that they have the right outlook. They take time to downshift, pray, and just generally slow down.
- They have a strong sense of purpose and they activate it in their lives.
3. Eat Wisely
- They drink a little bit of wine everyday.
- They eat mainly a plant based diet. Lots of nuts, beans, seeds etc.
- They have strategies that keep them from overeating
4. Connect
- They put their families and loved ones first.
- They belong to a faith based community.
- They belong to the right tribe.
These points are explained more extensively in the video.
When it comes to longevity, there is no quick fix. We have to be conscious about the decisions we make when it comes to our health and well being. And as we have seen from the video, there are some specific principles and practices to follow in order to live longer, better lives.
Question: What did you think about the video? What else are you doing to increase your longevity?
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