Slowing Down the Aging Process During Retirement

Did you know that stress, anxiety and depression are cited as very common symptoms that follow dramatic change in one’s life? If you’ve recently undergone a significant change in your life such as moving, and the effects have been less positive than you expected, it’s crucial to stay on top of things and find a way to bring more balance back into your life.

The reasons for this are simple. When put into context with staying healthy and putting the brakes on aging, we know diet and poor health in general has a heavy impact on our aging rate. What is somewhat lesser known is that our aging response is accelerated when we’re stressed, feeling negative or worn out.

For over 55s, having a bounce-back strategy against stress is not only directly great for your health; it’s fantastic for slowing down aging.

So what are some of the most effective methods of slowing down the aging process? Recent studies continue to point to one extremely effective method of relaxing, calming down and introducing life-affirming elements of balance back into your life.

Meditation – why does it work?

Neuroscientists continue to study the effects of meditation on the brain and body as you read this article. What we do know is relatively straightforward in the anti-aging context:

Meditation Relaxes

Even without being a professional mediator, the value of relaxing it brings about is clear. Meditation encourages the relaxation response, which positively alters the heart rate, breathing or respiratory rate, blood pressure and brain chemistry.

Meditation Calms

Your nervous system responds readily to meditation. This means it may actually regulate the sympathetic nervous system by preparing the body for vigorous activity, which means your body is prepared to take on a challenge more than ever after meditation.

Meditation and Hormones

• A study undertaken in the US to de-construct the effect meditation has on hormones accomplished some astonishing revelations. For example, while the hormone DHEA is the sole hormone that our body stops producing as we age, meditating regularly was found to increase it to rates of between 40 and up to 90%.

• Meditation also increased a sleep hormone, melanin, making rest and sleep more attainable for those with sleep disorders.  Melatonin is also an anti-aging immune-boosting hormone and also a strong anti-depressant hormone.

• Meditation decreased cortisol, the body’s stress hormone which also causes thinning of skin, by up to 47%.

When so many millions of people champion the effects of meditation across the globe, it’s easy to see why it’s touted as an effective way to develop a better attitude to stress and aging. Why not look into some literature on meditating or find a group to connect with to kick-start your new anti-aging journey?

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