Anti Aging – Anti Aging Skin Care

Archive for August, 2011

Why is Connection Important for optimal health and anti-aging?

The answer is in your brain. The limbic brain is the part of your brain that runs your emotions. Whenever you’re with other people, your limbic brain becomes engaged and active. Isolation cuts off this activity. Emotions, just like muscles, can suffer from atrophy. The key is using them or losing them.

Another reason being connected supports optimal health is that is gives you a reason to get up in the morning. Feeling needed and contributing gives purpose and meaning to your life. When my mother first moved to an assisted living facility she was unhappy because she didn’t know anyone and was concerned that she would lose contact with her old group of friends. After a few weeks her attitude changed as she made friends and became involved in various activities such as poker nights, fashion shows and Monday Night Football. She even got a job working in the store and volunteered in the re-sale shop. She became cheerful and was a positive influence everywhere she went. She felt it was her duty to help lift the spirits of her friend and co-workers. By uplifting the spirits of others my mother found purpose and satisfaction in the last years of her life.

Ways to Get Connected.

It is well researched that being connected can heal and lead to optimal health through the same mechanisms as exercise and healthy diet.

Research suggests that the number and quality of your relationships have positive health benefits. Having both provides the most benefit. Since it’s never too late to start building or growing your community, act now.

Here is a list of 25 tips to expand the width and dept of your personal community:

1. Take a class.
2. Teach a class
3. Volunteer at church, school, a hospital, etc.
4. Contact old friends.
5. Call family members.
6. Schedule family activities.
7. Join a club.
8. Start a club.
9. Talk to your neighbors.
10. Get a job (or a second job).
11. Start a hobby that involves others.
12. Get a pet.
13. Baby sit.
14. Become a Pen Pal.
15. Write a holiday newsletter.
16. Join Internet chat rooms.
17. Coach a sport.
18. Play a sport.
19. Officiate or keep score for a sports team.
20. Schedule set times to meet with friends.
21. Exercise with a group.
22. Start a bridge group, dominos group, book club, etc.
23. Attend a reunion or help organize one.
24. Schedule date nights with your mate.
25. Join and become involved in an association