QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Scientific studies suggest that only about 25 percent of how long we live is dictated by genes, according to famous studies of Danish twins. The other 75 percent is determined by our lifestyles and the everyday choices we make.”
― Dan Buettner, The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest
IDEA OF THE DAY
Welcome to our exploration of the Blue Zones! These are areas in the world where you find the most centenarians, living their happiest and healthiest lives. Dan Buettner, the author above, decided to explore these blue zones to figure out what the secret sauce may be.
From the steep hills of Sardinia, Italy to the seaside town of Okinawa, Japan, Dan explored five blue zone regions of the world and compiled an amazing amount of research over 20 years to help us understand how we could create blue zone opportunities within our everyday lives. Last year, Netflix came out with a mini-series sharing the secrets of living a long and healthy life- it’s an enjoyable and short series!
Dan’s work resulted in 9 core principles, which we’ll take our time exploring these next few weeks!
But what if I don’t WANT to live to 100, Joyna??
That’s ok! The goal here is to share a few ideas to see what areas you may have an interest in learning more about so that regardless of how old you want to live, you can do so in a healthy way.
This week, we’re starting with action- move naturally.
Nope- I’m not asking you to sign up for a marathon or go to the gym five times a week (unless you want to, of course!), but the goal is to find ways to automatically incorporate natural forms of movement into your daily routine. Dan’s research showed that centenarians live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about it. This could be walking, gardening, dancing in the kitchen, or climbing stairs rather than taking an escalator…the opportunities are endless! Finding ways to “move on autopilot” is the key- so that ultimately, you are moving without having to put much thought into it.
Shall we give it a try? Let’s do this!
QUESTION OF THE DAY
What is one easy way to incorporate natural movement into your daily routine?
(I like taking an evening walk on the creek path behind my house- even if it’s just for a short time to unwind and decompress from my day!)