Sometimes - maybe always - nurturing the mind is as important to fitness as exercising the body.
Today, let's talk about something that will make you feel young again, really.
It may actually make you, physiologically, younger, by changing your mindset and improving your mental health, a worthy goal.
Okay.
Here it is, an easy, possibly free, and completely safe way to travel back in time.
No kidding.
It's real, possible, affordable, and you can do it.
Heck, everyone can do it.
Do something you haven't done in many years.
Do something you did as a kid or a teen, something you did often and enjoyed immensely.
Here is an example.
I just went for a swim.
I mean a real swim, over a mile.
Yes, I swam a couple of thousand yards in the pool at the Y.
For me, that's magical.
Why? Well, I grew up on a swim team, and during the summer, we practiced twice a day, morning and evening.
So, I smelled like chlorine all the time.
I guess you could say I reeked of chlorine.
My eyes were always bloodshot - no goggles back then - and I always had a tanned and at the same time, bleached, look about me.
And, of course, essential to my pleasure was the fact that when I was swimming, I was surrounded with friends.
For a few hours after practice, I felt a sweet tiredness in my muscles.
So that means I felt that sensation much of the time.
Now fast forward many years.
And I mean 'many' as I am now 56.
If I so much as get a whiff of chlorine, I start to get a sense of those wonderful times, and if I actually get in a pool and swim, it all comes back.
I know I am not as fit as then, as tan as then, as slender as then.
I know my friends - well, those friends - are not in the pool with me, but all the same, it is a delightful reminder of those days.
When I get out of the pool, the great feeling, the essence of it, lasts for hours.
I feel exactly the same sweet tiredness as I felt 40 years ago.
Exactly.
It's like a mood-altering, reality-altering drug that's not a drug but a natural, healthy, satisfying experience, and I wish it for everyone.
Now, it's your turn.
Can you recreate a pleasant childhood or teen experience? Most likely, you can.
Maybe it's fishing, going dancing, water skiing, snow skiing, playing baseball or soccer, watching a scary movie, playing cards, Monopoly, going on a road trip, camping out, or picnicking.
The possibilities are endless, but the thing is that you have to think of something you did often during your happiest growing up years.
Recreate as much of it as possible, i.
e.
, smells, clothing, surroundings, music, friends.
If you played football in school, then I bet just holding a football, feeling its weight and texture, and smelling the leather triggers memories and 'feel good' hormones.
Even the smell of a locker room, as disgusting as that may seem, probably triggers a sense of those days the same way chlorine affects me.
If you fished as a kid, then the aroma of fish may do it, the site of one of those red and white bobbers, the smell of the lakeshore - yes, there is a distinct smell when you stand on the edge of a pond - takes you back.
Even opening up a tackle box, with the distinct sound and smell triggers all kinds of memories for me.
Instantly, I back on the dock at White Sands Beach, my brother Milt next to me, early in the morning, just the two of us, quietly talking about nothing and everything.
Pick up a pole and cast just once.
It will fee so good, so familiar, so natural.
Did you play baseball? Pick up a bat and swing it a few times.
Oh, yeah.
I bet your blood pressure will drop immediately as you enjoy the familiar sensations that you haven't felt in so many years.
If you used to play an instrument in school, get one.
Seriously.
My dad is 81 now.
He played the trumpet and had a dance band when he was in college.
A few years back, my mom gave him a trumpet for Christmas.
He cried.
Holding it in his hands and smelling the metal was overwhelming for him.
He started playing again after all those years.
It's never too late.
If you spent many happy times at the beach as a kid, then you need to get back there as often as possible.
The salt smell, the cries of seagulls, the hot sun on your skin, the scent of Coppertone, and the sand, gritty between your toes, will have you zooming back in time to those beach visits years ago.
This time travel does something to your brain, something good.
I'm not a doctor, so I don't know exactly what happens, but I do know it's a way of nurturing your soul.
I'm sure of it.
What is that you say? You don't have time? Too many responsibilities? Children keep you too busy? None of those reasons is good enough.
Remember, you're not just doing this for you, although that would be reason enough; you're doing this for them, too, for your loved ones.
You will be a better friend, better spouse, and better parent if you find time to do things that make you feel good.
Such experiences have a healing power.
You will be motivated to help your loved ones create similar enriching experiences because you will be reminded of just how valuable they were for you.
You'll find yourself driven to step out of your hectic life more often to create new memories that you'll remember just as fondly twenty years from now.
Copyright - Debbie Voiles.
All Rights Reserved Worldwide.