Who you calling old?

Wired Magazine has an intriguing article about aging. For example, what people call old gets older as they age: “If you’re under 30, studies show you’re likely to say old age begins at 60. If you’re in your 40s and 50s, you might say 70. If you are 60 or 70, your definition of ‘old’ might be 74 or above.”

Key point: “Thanks to advancements in science, medicine and technology, we may be living longer – well into our 70s, 80s and even 90s – and accordingly we will need to continue to redefine what it means to be ‘old.’”

Main points:

• Physical:
• “…increased emphasis on health and wellness in our society.”
• “…growing number of medical advances that address physical conditions often associated with old age.”
• Mental:
• “…seniors may prefer to ‘age in place’-at home or in their communities [resulting in an]…explosion of new experimentation with housing options for older adults that will only continue to grow as the population curve swells on the over-60 side.”
• “[Alzheimer’s] is forcing some seniors into living situations like nursing homes for round-the-clock care. But technology can help keep Alzheimer’s patients age in place, too.”
• “While dementia can severely interfere with daily life, these technologies may help us balance independence with safety.”
• Emotional:
• “…a sense of purpose in life may slow some aspects of the aging process.”
• “…because we may be living longer, we may have more time to pursue our purpose.”
• “Rather than focusing on the limiting aspects of aging, seeing possibilities-whether it’s the time to start a new career, pursue a cause, or just spend more time with family-can go a long way toward maintaining emotional health, and physical and mental health in the process.”

Think of it this way: You have unfinished business. If we take Victor Frankl to heart, we can break out of what we perceive as the bonds of old age by finding our purpose and pursuing it.

A philosophy of posture

A fascinating article about how posture is the defining characteristic of being human.

Main point: “The very notion of what in the ancient world defines the human being in contrast to all other living things is simple: upright posture.”

Key points:

• “…it was Plato who used upright posture to move the rational mind as far from the center of the appetite and the organ of generation as possible: The head, for Plato, is the “acropolis” of the body, its highest point both literally and metaphorically.”
• “For the Jews, Adam’s upright posture was a sign of being superior to the animals created by God, even after the expulsion from Paradise.”
• “Life itself is defined by human posture. Once life is extinguished, posture is no longer possible.”
• “[According to Hegel} Man does not hold himself erect naturally but stands upright by the energy of his will; and although his erect posture, after it has become a habit, requires no further effort of will, yet it must always remain pervaded by our will if we are not momentarily to collapse.”

Who knew history’s great thinkers took posture so seriously? What about us ordinary people? Let’s look at Nordic walking. Nordic walking begins with good posture and helps resurrect good posture if you haven’t done it in a while.

Here are some thoughts from my experience:

• I tend to stand straighter when I have those poles in my hands.
• I tend to lose the hunched over posture that comes from hours at the computer or staring down at a smartphone.
• The poles make me feel like I can more easily align myself from head to foot.

And the level of exercise intensity and the walker’s ability to control that intensity makes it possible to engage in that most human of activities: carry on a conversation with fellow Nordic walkers.

National Walking Month coming up