Growing Old Gracefully

When I saw Physician Andrew Weil on the October 17 cover of Time mag, I knew holistic medicine had arrived to the masses – a medication which was pioneered at Meadowlark, here in Hemet, by Dr. Evarts Loomis.Shortly before Evarts died, at the age of 93, he was featured on the cover of Intergrative Medicine: A Clinician\’s Journal, that has a once a year circulation of 20,000. Time has a circulation of over 4.5 million.

The second thing that struck me was the title of the piece by Dr. Weil:

\”Aging Naturally,\” from his new book Healthy Aging. Weil is founder, director, and a clinical professor in the integrative medicine programme at the

Varsity of Arizona

In our culture, ageing receives nominal attention, yet from birth onward, we age. So , how do we do this gracefully? First by accepting that fact, and secondly by adapting through life to this natural cyle.

A Dear Friend of ours, who died in her 90s, often said that she thought the biggest hurdle to ageing was folk not accepting their limits. Sadly, yet with great lucidity, she gave up driving before she was compelled to. At last she moved in to a tiny care facility where her daily agenda included slowly and purposely using her hiker to visit each guest and inviting them to walk outside with her to enjoy the fast-changing, fabulous perspectives of Mt. San Jacinto, though she herself was nearly blind.

She once discussed that because she could no longer play the organ or read, she had more time to spend on meditation, a practice she had begun early on in life. I never heard her aspire to being unusually slim or plastic looking and she never used additions like oxyelite pro or other harmful substances. To all who knew her, she was a respected elder.

In addition to positive mental attitudes and spiritual practices, a healthy diet and routine exercise also make a contribution to healthy aging. In particular, elimination of processed sugars and flours and unhealthy fats, and an increase in fruits, veggies, and pure water will create an increased level of well-being at every age.

When Evarts reached 70, he went from jogging and major hiking trips to canoeing, and he walked each day till a little before his death.When I would protest about his growing thinness, he would remind me that he was getting ready to shed this earthly mantle. He welcomed death cheerfully and eagerly anticipated his next assignment.

Jonah White is a health articles writer who likes to practice quantum jumping, among other things.