Spring
Spring break, Earth day, Ramadan, Easter, Passover, May day: you have got to fit in some kind of spring thing. I got a week and went to Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. It was not my first choice but I had a great time. Fishing, hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, things that make a vacation great, were all accomplished in a weeks’ fun packed adventure.
I made a choice to enjoy the food (and fresh fish) while in pursuit of salad and vegetables in the Mexican cuisine. It proved a tough task. I have proof that it is real, check out this tuna salad. This is seared crusted fresh tuna on a bed of goodness.
Guaymas and its sister resort San Carlos is on the mainland side of the Gulf of California. It has beaches and cliffs and an old world feel to the town. It should also be noted that this is not an expensive place.
Mister, I’m not doing nothing wrong.
This, unfortunately, is a quote from one of my students. We really need to address this. I was encouraging a small group of 4 or 5 P.E. boys to get into motion during our class. The boys were standing around talking to each other or texting into the cosmos. This whole scenario is way too common. The statement my student made has so many things wrong with it. It is easy to correct the English and understand its origin. “Mister”, amazingly, is the way my students address all teachers; like saying “Sir” or “Coach”. I don’t know where it came from, but it is acceptable. Then you need to consider that the group is all English, as a Second Language, learners. The wording was not meant to be offensive, it just needs work. I correct what I can and look for understanding.
Next is the real problem, the thinking. This thinking is a flaw most of us share. It is the thinking of most every non-action and couch-potato non-move. If I am not doing anything wrong then it must be okay. In the mind of a 10th grade boy, this is logic. We, adults, have to know and do better.
Physically, “not doing anything” leads to sickness and early death. You are acquainted with atrophy. The use it or lose it concept. We must move to maintain or obtain good health. All of the body processes depend on movement. Spiritually and intellectually we must seek or we become second class people. Here is an old saying I learned from a colleague, “When you are green you grow and when you are ripe you rot.”
Spiritually I must continue to seek or the universe will stagnate for me and I will lose my connection to it. The Noble Path includes Right Conduct and Right Effort…seek.
Intellectually I must continue to use my thoughts to generate a successful today, I don’t want to not lose the ability to process all sets of events and topics of the day . The negative effect of this is to see the world grow smaller and smaller until you are not part of it.
Here is a link to story about my friend Hans:
If you are interested in learning about Intermitant Fasting or fighting type II Diabetes go check out The Ultimate Health Podcast #467 with Dr. Jason Fong. You watch or just listen.
https://video.link/w/Lbzod
THE Blue Zone Lesson #4:
The Blue Zones
9 Lessons For Living Longer
From the people who’ve lived the longest
by Dan Buettner
This is not meant to be a book review, but a chance to impart some great information that we all need to know.
“Life expectancy of an American born today averages 78.2 years. But this year, over 70,000 Americans have reached their 100 birthday.”
Dan Buettner teamed up with National Geographic to find the world’s longest-lived people and study them. They found pockets of people around the world with the highest life expectancy, or with the highest proportions of people to reach age 100.
The 5 places are:
Barbagia region of Sardinia-mountainous highlands
Ikaria, Greece-Aegean Island
Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
Seventh Day Adventist-around Loma Linda, California
Okinawa, Japan-Island area.
They put together medical researchers, anthropologists,
Demographers, and epidemiologists to search for evidence-based common denominators. They found nine lifestyle and diet habits .
Here is the first Lifestyle habit:
1. Move Naturally.
“The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons or join gyms. Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about it. They grow gardens and don’t have mechanical conveniences for house and yard work.”
How do I incorporate this into my life?
“Inconvenience Yourself”
“Have fun, Keep moving’
“Walk”
2. Purpose.
“The Okinawans call it ‘Ikigai’ and the Nicoyans call it ‘plan de vida;’for both it translates to ‘why I wake up in the morning.’ Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy.”
In his book, The author says to take time to see the big picture. For me, I know some days are going to not be pain free. Having a purpose helps me push the pain and strain aside.
#3. Down shift
“Even people in the Blue Zones experience stress. Stress leads to chronic inflammation, associated with every major age-related disease. What the world’s longest-lived people have that we don’t are routines to shed that stress. Okinawans take a few moments each day to remember their ancestors, Adventists pray, Ikarians take a nap and Sardinians do happy hour.
#4. 80% Rule
“‘Hara hachi bu’ -the Okinawan, 2500-year old Confucian mantra said before meals reminds them to stop eating when their stomachs are 80% full. The 20% gap between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight or gaining it. People in the blue zones eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening and then they don’teat any more the rest of the day.
#5 is next time, don’t miss it.
Be Healthy,
Coach Brown
HEALTHY AT 120 